by Stella Rhys
“Omigod – Aly Stanton? Bitch, get over here!”
My jaw dropped even before I turned around but when I did, I was instantly pulled into the world’s tightest hug. I hadn’t even seen her face yet, but I already knew who it was.
“Drea!” I gasped, already forced to catch my breath when we pulled away because the excitement was so instant. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
“Three years I think!” Drea squealed, pulling me into another tight hug that wound up getting both my blonde locks and her platinum curls caught in her earring. “Oops – careful. They’re expensive and I like my earlobes!” she squeaked as we untangled ourselves, taking another half-minute or so to come down from our giggles. “Holy shit, lady. I don’t even know how I recognized you with the long hair! You look amazing!”
“And you. I didn’t think you could get more glamorous but you proved me wrong!” I pulled back to assess her outfit from head to toe. Aside from being my former boss and mentor, Drea van Dahl had also always been my style icon, and today was no different. She looked stunning in a checkered mini-dress with a long, white blazer worn over. “So what are you doing in Montauk?”
“Oh, I’m just here to visit some college friends, but I was thinking of you because I’ve been reading such amazing things about your restaurant, and I am so proud!” she said, getting all gushy and giggly again with those last five words.
“Psh, well, I couldn’t have done it without you! You showed me the ropes on how to do pretty much everything that I needed to – ”
“Oh!” Drea interrupted me with a little gasp, and only then did I realize that she had just noticed Emmett on his way back to the table.
“Oh.” I bit my smile. “That’s just – ”
“Emmett?” Drea breathed, her long lashes fluttering as he looked up and stopped in his tracks. He blinked.
“Shit. Drea.”
Oh… kay.
I stood there awkwardly because for the next few seconds, it was dead silent, and I could see the smirking assumptions of the people in the adjacent tables that peered up curiously at the situation. My face burned because I knew what they were thinking – that I was the girlfriend. Emmett was the boyfriend.
And Drea was the ex.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.
“Me neither. What are you doing here?” Emmett asked, sounding just slightly more confused than he did annoyed.
“I… was just eating?” Drea replied, her voice also a mix of something. From what I could tell it was shock and nerves, with a hint of apology. And with that, I was pretty sure I’d just confirmed the whole ex theory.
Shit. And considering Emmett only had one ex in his entire history of dating, that meant Drea was the one – the mystery girl who did such a number on him that he made that whole ten-day rule. Holy fuck.
My legs felt like lead as I stood there, unsure of what to do or say as another minute of strained conversation went on. But when it ended, it was my turn to feel a mix of emotions, because suddenly Drea was smiling awkwardly, giving Emmett a goodbye nod before facing me and saying, “It was so, so good to see you, Aly,” before walking away.
In the car, on the way home, I mentally wound the timeline back.
And it all made sense.
Drea had gone to Temple University for business management, and their campus was less than a twenty-minute drive from UPenn, where Emmett went. I didn’t need to reactivate my Facebook to know that they probably had mutual friends. I also didn’t need to see what Drea looked like in college to know that she was exactly the kind of sorority girl Emmett went for. Bubbly. Blonde. Legs for days.
Thinking about it, I couldn’t even be mad. Heartbroken, sure. Insecure, yes. But not mad.
Because I knew well how Drea van Dahl could mean the world to someone. She definitely meant the world to me.
I had been applying to Vandermark Restaurants for ages before she finally emailed me back one day. The company was the most notable restaurant group in Manhattan, and having mapped out my plan to save Dad’s business, I knew Vandermark was the best place for me to get connections, network my ass off and fully grasp the industry in the way I needed to if I wanted to successfully open a restaurant.
And Drea wound up like my fairy godmother there.
She took me under her wing. She was patient and nurturing. When I was down, she made me feel taken care of. When I was up, she fanned the fire of my confidence and reminded me that I could achieve anything I wanted.
Basically, she was amazing, and I didn’t know how to handle the fact that Emmett had once dated her.
Though he vehemently denied the fact at dinner.
We had managed to move on from the Drea fiasco, though it was not without me actively trying. I’d pried for as long as I could, asking Emmett who she was to him. He said they had worked with each other in the past but preferred to move on from the topic, and that we could talk about it another time.
And for a multitude of reasons, I obliged.
One, I didn’t want to ruin the otherwise beautiful night we’d had so far. Two, my faith in Emmett was in no way shaken.
I wouldn’t let it be.
He loved me, and I knew that. He said he’d do anything to make me happy, and I believed him – especially that night when we climbed into bed, and I nestled back into his chest.
We got into position as he draped his arm over me, tucking his palm under my ribs and cupping my breast. His thumb moved back and forth over my nipple as he kissed the top of my head, letting out that low, rumbly mmm that just sounded like home.
It was all I needed to hear to feel just fine.
Because as far as I knew, everyone had a past. But that didn’t mean that the present counted for nothing. In fact, it only made it count for that much more. After all, in the present, we were older and wiser. We’d survived our hurdles and learned our lessons, which meant the decisions we made now were the ones we knew were best for us. So as I drifted off to sleep, I did it at ease, with a smile.
Because in this room, in these arms, I was convinced that this was exactly what love felt like.
30
ALY
I knew that the next day, Emmett had meetings in the city from noon to seven. They were all regarding Saturday’s gala, and I could tell they had him tired by the middle of the day, because he called sounding exhausted.
“I know you’re at work. I just wanted to hear your voice,” he said as a bunch of cars honked in the background. When he asked about work, I told him about the nice guests who left Hannah a fifty percent tip, which led Evie and me to Google them, which led us to the discovery that they were huge food bloggers with several million followers on Instagram. They’d already posted pictures of our lobster roll and Bloody Mary, so we were fairly stoked on that.
And as it turned out, I needed the good mood.
Because by 10PM, Emmett called to let me know he wouldn’t be coming home.
“I’m sorry, baby. The dinner with the gala speakers went long, and I was already on the Upper East Side, so I figured I’d just see Mom and Gram and sleep here for the night,” he said as I walked around the big, empty kitchen, staring out the windows into the dark of the yard. “Do you want me to call Julian to pick up Ozzy?”
“No, silly,” I said. “I can take care of Ozzy. I’ll wake up a little earlier in the morning so I can take him out.”
“Baby, no. You need every minute of sleep you can get.”
“Trust me – fifteen minutes won’t make a difference. And it’ll be easier for me to get out of bed when you’re not there.”
He made a pained noise.
“I didn’t say that to make you feel bad,” I laughed gently.
“I know. But it made me remember that I’m going to be waking up alone in the morning,” he grumbled. “And I’ve kind of gotten spoiled with you.”
“Trust me. I’m in the same boat,” I sighed as I refilled Ozzy’s water bowl. “But it’s okay.”
&nb
sp; “Alright. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I blinked, a bit jolted by the sudden goodbye.
“You have to go?” I asked. He paused.
“Yeah. I think I’m going to go to bed soon.”
I glanced at the time. A quarter to ten. I frowned.
“So early,” I remarked. “But you’ve had a long day.”
“Yeah. I’ll text you in the morning, okay?” he said.
“Okay.” I made my voice sound light despite the fact that I was standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding Ozzy’s water bowl and feeling vaguely lost – at least until Emmett’s next few words.
“I love you, baby,” he said in the kind of tired murmur that made me feel like he was holding me in bed, saying goodnight to me. Whatever weight had begun to sag in my heart, I felt it lift as I returned his words with a little smile.
“I love you, too.”
It wasn’t till the end of work the next day that I felt a tinge of concern.
Or maybe it started in the morning. I’d felt instantly disoriented since I’d woken up in the guest room for the first time in ages, but I refused to let it bother me much. I threw my legs over the bed – or rather, I tried but then I realized they were trapped under the blankets because Ozzy was sleeping at the end of my mattress, pinning my sheets down. With a giggle and a nudge, I woke him up and noted that I actually hadn’t slept alone all night. So there was that.
In the bathroom, I stared at my reflection in the mirror throughout my tooth brushing, instead of drifting in and out of the bathroom and the hall, the way I usually did when I knew Emmett was just a few doors down.
Getting ready without knowing he was asleep in his room was a strangely empty feeling. I definitely felt a bit off as I left the house. But still, I told myself that today would be fine – like any other – and to just carry on.
So I did.
Despite a handful of particularly rude tables in the afternoon, I coasted through service without a single hiccup affecting my mood. We were out of both the lobster roll and the Hail Mary, which earned me the fiery wrath of a good dozen or so guests, but I just turned up the charm and sent out crab cakes on the house as a sorry.
The PM hostess wound up a no-call no-show during the lunch rush, but I was unflappable, opting to finish my paperwork at home so I could take her place and stand up front.
It wasn’t till my quick breather in the office that I felt the first chip at my confidence.
EMMETT: Baby
EMMETT: Something came up and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make it home tonight
I stared at the texts, feeling the adrenaline rush of the day start to crash. Fast and hard. Still, I breathed steady, remaining calm while texting Emmett back.
ME: Will you be home before the gala tomorrow?
His text pinged back immediately.
EMMETT: No
My heart sank. I watched as he typed and deleted his next text several times before finally sending something.
EMMETT: But I’ll arrange your transportation and meet you there.
Oh.
Still not all that comforting.
I held out hope for some bit of explanation as the ellipses came back for another few seconds. But then it disappeared without a third text.
And I wound up sending nothing in reply.
I told myself it was actually an adult move, because any text I had in mind would sound undoubtedly passive aggressive. So I stuck with my choice, left my phone on my desk and walked outside to calmly inform Evie that I would be requiring her company at home this evening.
And of course she said yes, so after work we dropped by her house to grab some of her things and make sure Mike had food for dinner. Then we looped right back to Emmett’s house, poured two glasses of wine and dug into the Ben & Jerry’s we stole from her freezer.
“Poor Mike. He’s going to be so sad when he realizes I stole the Milk & Cookies flavor,” Evie said somewhat guiltily. “But this is what he gets for eating my leftovers just because he forgot to buy himself frozen pizza. Oh my God.” She looked up at me mid-bite. “Am I boring the shit out of you? Because I think I just bored the shit out of me. Like, I actually felt it happen.”
I snorted. “No, I’d much rather listen to you than all the stupid, paranoid thoughts I’m having, because they’re telling me not to go to the gala tomorrow, and I already know that’ll crush Emmett.”
“Damn. Really?” Evie made a face as we headed from the kitchen up to my room with Ozzy trailing behind, his eyes still glued to our ice cream. “Tomorrow means a lot to him, Aly…”
“I know. Which is why I don’t want to let this paranoia push me into making a stupid decision. I’m trying to talk myself through it right now.”
“Well, talk to me, girl,” she said. “’Cause I’ve been watching you randomly shudder and cringe to yourself all day and I know it’s because you’re bottling up whatever conspiracy theories you’re cookin’ up in that pretty head. So just spill. You know I don’t judge.”
I kept my nose wrinkled as we got into my room, and even as we collapsed onto my bed.
“Oh my God, this bed is so comfortable,” Evie hissed viciously, groping the hell out of my mattress before sitting up straight, folding her hands in her lap and giving me her serious face. “Okay. I’m here. I’m ready for discussion, and I know this is about Drea, so just get it out.”
“Fine,” I exhaled, putting down my spoon. “I just… can’t help but feel weird about the fact that Emmett and I ran into her at dinner, there was clearly something weird between them, he wouldn’t talk to me about it, and then he went MIA for the next two days.”
“You think he’s at her place?” Evie winced.
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” My shoulders slumped. “In my heart, I don’t believe it. But she does live in the city. They do have a history. And he did just see her. And if she’s his one and only ex who inspired him to make his no-commitment rule, then there’s clearly a lot of unfinished business between them.”
Evie nodded, silently taking it all in before offering her opinion.
“Are you ready for my theory?” she asked, plucking my wine off the nightstand and handing it to me. That was how I knew her theory was about to be batshit. “I think that Emmett did not date Drea. But if they met and knew each other in college, that means it was during, you know, the darker times in his life. Maybe he was you know, King Frat Boy throwing some awesome party that she attended, and she walked in on him crying at some point? Like, she saw him while he was weak and down, and he doesn’t like that someone out there has seen that side of him?” Evie was already shaking her head at herself before she could finish. “Nope. That sucks. Ignore it.”
“No, I can’t ignore it now, because that actually sounds like the reason why they would get together in the first place. Because his dad just died and he needed someone and aghhhh,” I groaned to the ceiling, which Ozzy interpreted as his invitation to furiously lick under my chin. “Thank you,” I mumbled to him as Evie cooed.
“Okay, no more theories, but how ‘bout this?” she finally proposed. “Even if Emmett and Drea did date, he could very well be in the city for gala-only reasons, right? You remember what it was like when we were first opening the restaurant and meeting with a million people every day – by just five o’clock we were pooped. And you said you heard his mom’s voice in the background of your call yesterday, so he definitely did spend at least last night at her house, which counts for something. Doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, staring out into space. “And I don’t know why, but I just… have faith in him.” I glanced up at Evie to see if what I said was stupid. “I know we haven’t been dating long,” I prefaced hastily, “and I know I haven’t even known the adult version of Emmett Hoult for that long, but I believe everything he’s told me about loving me. About me being his exception. He’s just been so… quietly good to me for so many years. He let me ignore and blame him for more than a decade, and if
he really wanted to, he could’ve gone through my parents to track me down and clear his conscience by calling me out. But he just swallowed it and let me live my lie because he knew it made me feel better. But he still took me in when I needed a place to stay. He said yes to the whole platonic thing. He’s been there for me through this whole psychological emancipation from my dad, and he’s basically been the most incredible friend and boyfriend since we’ve been living together,” I finished breathlessly, my heart swelling as I realized everything aloud. “And I’m just so sold on his love that I can’t see the past two days as red flags. I just want to choose to have faith in him.”
When I finally looked back at Evie, she was chewing on her shaky bottom lip.
“Fuck, that just made me want to cry.”
My mouth wiggled into a pout. “You are crying,” I informed her.
“I thought so. Balls,” she muttered, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“Evie.” I frowned deeply when I realized she was thinking not just of Emmett and me, but of her and Mike. “Oh no, bub.” As she started fully crying, I set aside all our wine and ice cream so that I could wrap her up in my arms, letting Ozzy join in on the group hug since he’d started whimpering over the sound of her tiny sobs. “Everything’s going to be okay,” I murmured, holding her tight, smiling when I heard her weepy giggle over Ozzy’s aggressive kisses. “I know there are points where it doesn’t seem like it,” I said as our roles for the night swiftly reversed. “But I promise everything’s going to turn out fine.”
31
EMMETT
In the morning, I stayed for coffee before taking the subway back downtown to my apartment. I didn’t usually take the train much, but I felt like I needed it this morning to reset. The past two nights had been hard. Mentally exhausting, really, and I needed my brain to be a clean slate for the gala tonight.
