Everlasting Love (Now & Forever)

by Johns, Melissa

  Alex smiled. “Of course.”

  As they walked up the stairs, Emily could feel Alex close behind her and started to get weak in the knees. She knew that her issues with Eric were on hold right now and she could work on her feelings towards Alex but it made her extremely nervous.

  They walked around the smaller room that was upstairs as Henry explained each of the pieces while they made their way back towards the office. A cute older lady was sitting behind a desk going through paperwork.

  “Barbara, I want you to meet Emily Stone. She’s the young lady that I’ve been telling you about and of course, you know Alex.”

  His wife stood up and walked over to Emily and shook her hand as Alex leaned down and kissed Barbara’s cheek. “Emily, such a pleasure and Alex, I have your print framed and ready for you. Do you have room in that gorgeous car of yours?”

  Alex laughed. “Yes Barbara, and I will pay you on the way out.”

  “Emily, what do you think of our little shop here?” Barbara asked her.

  “It’s so beautiful, I love it.”

  “It’s been our baby for many years now and we have a very strong client base. Alex can confirm that for you. If you are willing to work with us, we can sit down and talk specifics,” Barbara explained.

  “I’m definitely interested and would love that opportunity, but right now I’m in the process of finishing up everything that I need to do to graduate from college. Can we follow up in about a month to talk specifics?”

  “Of course we can, Darling!” Barbara said. “Congratulations, that’s a wonderful accomplishment. We will be here ready to work with you when you’re done.”

  Emily smiled as she said good bye to Henry and his wife and thanked them again for the opportunity to work together. As she headed downstairs she heard Alex say behind her. “I will be right back to grab the print. I’m just going to walk Emily out.”

  As Emily approached her car, Alex was directly behind her. “Thank you for introducing them to me. They are a wonderful couple.”

  Alex looked at her with that breathtaking smile. “You are very welcome, I’m happy that this relationship is going to work.”

  “Now, I just need to finish up my classes and get that degree so I can start the next chapter in this long life of mine,” Emily smiled and laughed at him.

  “You seem very different today. I haven’t seen you like this, well, ever.” Alex laughed.

  Emily smiled. “Eric and I talked yesterday, we cleared the air about certain things that needed to be said and heard.”

  Alex nodded as he leaned against her car. “What’s the verdict?”

  “We decided to part ways for now. It’s the best solution. Of course, we will see each other because of Emma but we need to find our own paths. I need time to work out some things. I have a lot going on in my mind right now.” Emily smirked at him.

  Emily could tell that Alex was trying to hold back his smile as he spoke. “If you need to talk, you can call me.”

  “I know and I appreciate it.”

  “Can I ask you something, Emily?”

  “Of course,” Emily said as leaned on her car next to him.

  Eric sighed, "You are so beautiful."

  "That's not a question, Alex."

  Alex smiled. "Will you go out to dinner with me?"

  Emily smiled and looked down at the pavement before responding. "I want to say yes, but I can't, not yet, Alex."

  He nodded at her. "I can understand that."

  "I'm sorry. I just need to finish college. I'm in the homestretch."

  Alex leaned towards her and whispered, "For you, I can wait until you’re ready."

  Emily smiled at him. "Thank you, Alex."

  He slowly leaned in and stopped right before he reached her lips. Emily’s breathing stopped and her eyes closed as he whispered, "We will talk after graduation."

  Emily opened her eyes to see Alex wink and walk away from her. She slowly took a deep breath and headed home.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  It was all over. Classes, homework and the stress of school. Emily took a deep breath as she walked out of her last exam. She was so proud of herself and next week, she would receive her bachelor's degree.

  Over the past month, she had only spoken with Eric a few times but he was also busy finishing up school and graduating. His ceremony was in a few days and she was taking Emma to see him. Her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted Alex's Audi in the campus parking lot. He was looking as handsome as ever in a pair of incredibly sexy, no doubt designer jeans and a white button down dress shirt. He casually leaned back against his car and watched her as she approached him.

  "Alex, what are you doing here?"

  He smiled at her. "I wanted to be the first one to congratulate you."

  Emily smiled. "Thank you."

  They had continued to talk over the past month, touching base with each other every few days. He had dinner at her house last week and Emma enjoyed playing with him. They were becoming close friends.

  Alex held out his arms and wrapped them around her waist to pull her close. Emily smiled as she hugged him back. "Can I take you to lunch to celebrate?" Alex asked.

  "I would love that," Emily said as she got into his car.

  He headed towards the lake to a small dive. They were able to get a table in the afternoon sun and watch the boats head in and out of the harbor. It was a beautiful sunny day in Buffalo.

  Alex lifted his wine glass to make a toast. "Congrats, Emily, I'm proud of what you have accomplished today. You are about to enter, as people call it, the real world and start upon your own journey and if I'm lucky, you will allow me to come along for the ride."

  Emily was always blown away by the way that Alex spoke to her, she smiled at him. "I owe you so much Alex, thank you for taking a chance on me and thank you for expanding my horizons and most importantly, thank you for becoming one of my close friends."

  Alex reached for her hand. "Emily, now that school is over and you are starting a new chapter in your life, would you please do me the honor of going out on a date with me?"

  Emily smiled and looked down at the table. She had no more excuses to delay this attraction that was growing between them. Her relationship with Eric was on hold, school was over and this was her chance to test out her feelings towards Alex. Her eyes met his and she calmly said, "Yes."

  Alex smirked and grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips kissing her knuckles. "How about tonight? We will celebrate properly."

  Emily nodded in agreement. "Sounds wonderful."

  After lunch, they headed back to campus to pick up Emily’s car.

  "When are you leaving for Eric's graduation?" Alex asked as he pulled in to the lot.

  "Thursday night. The ceremony is Friday afternoon and his parents got me and Emma a hotel room for the two nights that we are there."

  "That will be wonderful for Emma to see Eric again."

  Emily smiled at his choice of words. "Of course, she loves him. I can honestly say that we have been getting along a lot better lately too. Maybe it's because the draft is over and school is finally coming to an end. All the pressures of the last four years are over."

  Alex nodded. "Emily, are you sure that you are ok with tonight?"

  "Yes, it's time for some fun. I have spent the past four years raising Emma, doing schoolwork and trying to have a relationship with Eric. Alex, in four years of being engaged, we never made one decision about our wedding except that we agreed to wait until after graduation to get married. That would be in about a month from now and I definitely don't see that happening."

  Alex reached for her hand and traced her knuckles lightly. "I promise you that tonight will be about us, ok? I want to get to know you."

  Emily smiled. "What time did you want to pick me up?"

  "Does six work for you?"

  "I will be ready."

  Alex smiled as he lifted her hand to his lips. "Until tonight then, Emily."

  When Emi
ly returned home, she walked into the front door and heard, "Surprise!"

  Her family had decorated the living room with colorful balloons that had congratulations written on all of them. Emily laughed and smiled at everyone. "What's going on?"

  "Congratulations on being a college graduate, Sweetheart!" Her mother said walking over to her and kissing her check.

  "Mom, I haven't graduated yet, but I am happy to say that I'm officially done with homework. I'm not going through that again!"

  Her mother laughed. "Oh Emily, guess what? Once that sweet little Emma starts school, you will be doing homework all over again!"

  "Thanks for ruining the moment, Mom."

  "Mommy, Mommy, look what I made you!" Emma said as she handed her a drawing.

  “Emma, did you draw this?”

  “Yes, I want to be like you,” Emma said hugging Emily’s knees.

  Emily looked at her mom and they both started to tear up. “This child will be the death of me.”

  They all started to laugh as Emily bent down to look at Emma. “Your drawing is just beautiful! I think you have all the makings to be a wonderful artist one day.” That made Emma happy as she ran away to play with her dolls again.

  Her grandparents were sitting on the couch. She walked over to kiss them and receive their hugs. “Thank you for coming, Grandma and Grandpa.”

  “Honey, we are so proud of you. I don’t think we will have the strength to sit through graduation next week but we wanted to celebrate with you today.”

  “I’m so happy that you came over. This is just a wonderful surprise,” Emily said as she smiled at everyone.

  She grabbed her mom’s hand and led her into kitchen. “I just wanted to let you know that I have a date tonight, so I was hoping you wouldn’t mind watching Emma.”

  “I’m assuming with Alex?” Her mom asked.

  Emily nodded. “Yes, can you babysit?”

  Her mother nodded. “Of course but are you positive this is what you want to do?”

  “Yes, I need to explore my feelings for him, Mom. I don’t know if I can move on if I don’t deal with this first.”

  “Does Eric know?”

  “Of course not, why would he? It’s not like he bothered to tell me what he was doing. Besides, that’s part of what it means to go our separate ways, right?” Emily said raising her voice.

  “Emily calm down. I just want to make sure you are thinking everything through. If you do this, there may be no going back.”

  Emily nodded. “I realize that, but if I go out with Alex and it doesn’t lead to anything, then at least I know that I explored my feelings for him and can move on.”

  “And if you feel something for him, Emily?”

  “Then I need to see what is there, Mom. If Alex and I really have something, then I owe it to myself to see where it goes."

  Her mother smiled as she stared at her daughter. “Emily, you really have grown up over the past four years and have approached this in a very mature way. I have to remember that you aren’t my little girl anymore.”

  Emily smiled. “I will always be your little girl, just like Emma will always be mine.”

  Just then Emily heard her cell phone ring. “Hello?”

  “Emily! It’s Sam.”

  “Hey you, what’s going on? Are you done with classes today?”

  “Hell yes, I am. What about you?”

  “Just finished, came home to a small family surprise party.”

  “How cool. Do you mind if I stop over? I need to talk to you about a few things.”

  “Of course, I’m here.”

  “See you in a few minutes,” Sam said as she hung up.

  “Sam is on her way over,” Emily said to her mom.

  “Good, we can celebrate with her also.”

  Emma ran towards to the front door when she saw Sam walk up the porch. “Auntie Sam!”

  “Hey Munchkin! How’s my favorite little girl doing?”

  “Ok, do you wanna see my drawing?”

  “Of course! I would love to kiddo but I need to talk with your mom first. Then you can show me your drawing, ok?”

  Emma stomped off in a huff as Emily’s grandparents laughed. “She’s got her own little personality now, just like Emily did.”

  Emily laughed as she hugged Sam. “Did you want to talk upstairs? You can help me pick out an outfit.”

  Sam nodded as she followed Emily upstairs and stretched out across her bed. “Where are you going tonight?”

  Emily turned towards Sam. “On a date with Alex.”

  Sam’s mouth dropped open. “You are kidding me? Emily, I’m so proud of you that you are doing this. I honestly didn’t believe that you would try your luck with him. He’s so gorgeous, I’m jealous!”

  “Oh stop it Sam, Rob is awesome.”

  “Yes, he is, isn’t he?” Sam said smirking. “Oh, that reminds me – the reason I came here to talk with you.”

  “Is everything ok?” Emily asked concerned as she walked over and sat in the chair across from her.

  “Yes, we’re doing great and he’s wonderful. I’m assuming you are going to the SU graduation, correct?” Sam asked.

  “Yes, we are leaving tomorrow and spending a couple of nights there.”

  “Well, Rob is throwing a party at a local bar for the football team and I wanted to invite you but I understand if it would be too weird for you to be there and you probably would need to ask Eric’s parents to watch the Munchkin if you did go.”

  Emily sighed. “I would love to go but I don’t know. Is Eric seeing that girl now?”

  “I honestly don’t know, I could ask Rob for you but I’m not sure if he would know. You haven’t spoken with Eric?”

  “We talk, but usually just about Emma. I told him that I needed a break from all his issues so he’s respecting that by keeping our conversations to the basics.”

  Sam nodded. “Did you want to sit together at graduation?”

  “Yes, it’s still weird being alone with his parents. I know they are dealing with the situation but his mother wants us to be together and I haven’t been alone with her for a long period of time because I’m not real comfortable talking to her about it.”

  “No problem, I will call you tomorrow and we will get together once we are there. So, what about our graduation? I think we should celebrate.”

  “I agree, what do you want to do?” Emily asked and smiled.

  “Let’s see how your date goes tonight, maybe we can double date next week while Rob is in town for our graduation. Is Eric coming to that?”

  “Yes. He says he is, but I won’t believe it until he is here.”

  Sam nodded. “Well, let’s find you something sexy and fun to wear tonight.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Sam left Emily to her own thoughts about an hour before Alex was due to arrive. They had found a just sexy enough, and of course, red dress that showed off her legs nicely when she slipped on the matching red heels. Emily sat in her bathroom as she applied just a bit of makeup and smiled. She realized she was nervous and excited about tonight. After all, Eric was the only person she had ever been with and he had consumed the last five years of her life. The thought of being alone with someone she was so attracted to was a scary notion. But, then again it was Alex. He had made Emily smile when she didn’t think it was possible. He had become a very close friend and she had feelings for him that she could no longer hide from or fight so it was time to shake off those nerves and explore this honestly.

  Right at six p.m. Emily heard the front door bell signal Alex’s arrival so she grabbed her small purse and made her way downstairs. She still had no idea what his plans were for the evening, but she noticed herself getting very nervous. She heard everyone talking and Emma insisting that they play her new game.

  When Emily reached the bottom of the stairs, her eye met his instantly. “Good Evening, Alex.”

  As she approached, Alex reached for her hand and pulled it close so he could kiss her knuckle
s. “You look beautiful, Emily.”

  Emily blushed slightly as she turned to her mom. “I will see you later tonight, ok?”

  Her mother nodded and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “Just have fun, Emily. This is what you wanted so let yourself enjoy the evening, ok?”

  Emily backed up and nodded. “Emma, come say good night to your Mommy.”

  Emma dashed across the room. “Where are you going?”

  “Mr. Smith and I are going to have dinner tonight. Is that ok?”

  Emma nodded. “Yep.” She reached for her and hugged Emily and then reached for Alex. Emily couldn’t stop smiling, her daughter even liked him.

  Alex and Emily headed towards his car. “Where are you taking me tonight?” Emily asked as she got into his car.

  “You will just have to wait and see, Emily,” he said as he smiled at her.

  Emily laughed softly as she peered at him from underneath her lashes. He really was gorgeous and the dark suit he was wearing made him downright irresistible. She smiled as he looked over at her. “I’m so happy that we are finally doing this, Emily.”

  She smiled. “I am too and it’s about time that I start enjoying myself.”

  Alex nodded. “We all need to do a little bit more of that.”

  Emily stared out the window as she watched Alex drive into the city. She could see the art museum in front of them as Alex turned into the underground parking garage. He pulled into the spot marked reserved for him.

  "I thought we would start with a private tour of my newest display," Alex said as he opened his door and walked around to open Emily's.

  Emily smiled at him as he took her hand and walked her to the elevator. He pressed the button and stepped in. The tension mounted between them as the door closed. His fingers traced her hand as he looked down at her. Emily still had no idea what he had in store for her but she was overcome with sexual energy that made it hard to breath. Finally the doors opened and the night security guard was watching for them. "Good Evening, Mr. Smith. I was told you would be by tonight."

  "Yes, we will be here for awhile, Mr. Stern."