Who Knew
Authors note: This is my first attempt at Fanfiction in any way. I would greatly appreciate your feedback, but if you decide to have suggestions please use it in the form of constructive criticism. I appreciate everyone whom decides to read this! Also I do not own any of the characters listed below. I'm just using the figures of them in a story I've created from my experiences, and thoughts.
Chapter 1
She could smell the oak barrel whiskey come heavily from her friends breath at how close their proximity was from the strength of the speakers in the bar. High tempo dance music was playing in the background a remix of, The Chainsmoker's 'Roses', while Ruby was yelling into her ear.
"Emma!" Ruby yelled.
They were at their local downtown gay bar for ladies night; which they both used to go to all of the time in their college years, and occasionally would still come here. It was mostly for when they would get together when one of their friends with the same interests as them would have a celebration. This is with the exception of Ruby who made it a point to go at least once every week or two.
It was a fun atmosphere where everyone that she knew had gone has always had a good time. It was placed in an old building with the interior walls all inlayed with brick. It had multicolored lanterns hanging over the bar with pool tables on the left side with two tables. As the floor space opened up there towards the middle of the bar there were two dance boxes on each side of the inner spaces on the wall where two women would dance as well as men on some nights. When the room opened up again there was the dance floor with mirrors lining the walls.
Upstairs was an area where you could look down over the balcony to see the dance floor as a whole, as well as another bar with some couches and more pool tables. The upstairs area being much more laid back then the heat of the moment area that downstairs offered.
It took a moment for her to process that Ruby was talking to her as her eyes scanned the crowd getting lost in the moment. Emma hadn't allowed herself the pleasures of getting out with her friends as of late due to work being so busy. She liked busy when she was busy it kept her mind off of matter that she didn't necessarily want to think about. Things that she didn't want to remember. The people of her past that have hurt her consistently throughout her life. She was able to focus on her job, and her job she was good at.
"EMMA! Geeze are you even here?!"
"Ruby I'm so sorry I can't hear anything in here! How do you come into places like this still?"
Both women being 27 years old Emma thought it was a little juvenile they still came into bars filled with young 18 year olds all trying to get drunk, and crazy.
"Have you seen the women here Emma? I would put up with anything if it meant a night with her!"
Emma looked at whom Ruby had her eyes on. It was a tall leggy blonde standing at the bar. She definitely was an attractive woman, but for Emma she didn't come here to find someone. She saw the opportunity as another disappointment. She came because Ruby had begged her for the past 3 weeks, and told her that it was unhealthy to not have a social life. Emma was content she didn't need all of this to be happy, or so she thought. She first looked down at her wrists to make sure that Ruby wasn't drooling over another young girl with wristbands, and M's on her hands. She was clear. Emma had a rule of thumb if you can't buy the girl a drink at a bar then she's too young to date.
"Yeah she's alright I suppose." Emma responded.
"Alright? What are you smoking? She is an 11 out of 10 for sure!"
"If that's your type…" Emma smirked.
She always loved to rile Ruby up to get her going. This was in hopes that just maybe she would see it as a challenge, and Ruby would leave her side in attempt to bring this new girl home. If this were to happen Emma could slide out of the building unknown, and maybe make it bed before 2 am. Knowing this she egged Ruby on even more.
"I doubt that she would even let you buy her a drink Rubes."
"You wanna bet! I bet you that I could go over there right now, and I'll have a drink in her hand dancing out on the floor with me in 10 minutes."
Emma just smiled to herself at her drunken friends competitive nature.
"You have 10 minutes," Emma said. "Otherwise I get to pick the next outing that we go on!"
"You're on!" Ruby replied.
Emma watched as Ruby fluffed her long beautiful hair fixed her tight dress that clung so snug to her body, and began walking over to the bar. Undeniably Emma knew that her friend wouldn't have a problem reeling in this woman. Ruby was a beautiful young woman, with a very outgoing fiery personality that anyone could fall in love with. It took two minutes of talking before Emma saw the bartender bringing the two women both a whiskey coke with a lime on the lip of the glass. Ruby turned her head over her shoulder to shoot a wink at her best friend. Emma just smiled and shook her head. She was so happy that her friend was able to find happiness in the weekly endeavors that she found herself in at these crazy bars they went to. Emma wished she could bring herself to put her walls down for a night just to find companionship in someone even if it were for just a night. She shook her head of the lonely thoughts, and brought herself back down to Earth. This wasn't her goal in leading Ruby to the bar her goal was to set her friend up, get the hell out of this place, and try to get some decent sleep so she could get an early start to her day tomorrow.
Once she saw Ruby leading the young blonde out to the dance floor hand in hand she thought to her self, 'that's my cue.' She started walking to the doors of the building trying to wedge herself between all of the bodies in the building all yelling, laughing, conversing, and dancing around the area. She began to get claustrophobic, and tried to put a little strength in her step when all of a sudden one in the crowd turned directly into her path. Emma then tripped over this person's ankle before falling to the ground.
"Ugh seriously?" Emma groaned as she felt her knee hit hard to the ground.
"Oh my gosh I am so incredibly sorry!" She heard a dark, and husky voice say sincerely from above where she was laying on the ground.
Almost immediately the crowd backed away from the area where Emma was laying on the ground as two security men came over and helped her up.
"Mam are you alright? Have you had to much to drink?"
As they started to question her she noticed the most beautiful woman that she's ever seen standing directly across from her looking at her with concerned eyes. Her eyes. Darker than midnight the most beautiful shade of brown that she's every seen. She has smoky accents of makeup surrounding her eyelids, and mascara that elongated her eyelashes to the point where they looked like they'd never end. The woman parted her lips as if she was about to say something. But before she could make any words out the guards started to walk with Emma in hand. She became speechless as the two guards began to pull her away from the crowd to better understand her. Everything happened so fast she didn't understand what was going on. She finally realized where she was when she felt the brisk air of the summer night hit her in the face, and brought her back to the land of the living.
"Yes, I'm sorry I was just leaving and was tripped in the process of trying to reach the doors which is when I fell." She was so embarrassed that she was almost happy they were able to get her out of the building as quick as they did.
She shook her head in disbelief that this just happened, but was thankful that Ruby must've been so involved with her new interest that she didn't follow her outside. Her plan was a success as was her exit. It wasn't a very clean exit, but at least it was an exit. She began walking down the sidewalk of downtown when she realized the sharp sting in her knee.
"That's definitely going to bruise," Emma muttered to herself.
The bruise brought her back to the hazy memory of the woman whom was standing before her in the bar before she was walked outside. Who was that? Emma thought to herself she'd never seen her before, and she'd been to their local bar numerous times where most of the time she'd have seen a lot of the regulars that would go there minus all of the new young college students that were in their experimenting stage. This woman wasn't young she thought, but maybe even the same age if not a little older than Emma. She realized what she was then playing over in her head, and pushed it aside. She didn't have time to think about a woman she didn't even know. She saw it as a weakness, and therefore wanted nothing to do with it.
Emma awoke the next morning in her loft apartment to her alarm going off at 6 am. She groaned as she pushed her dismiss button, and rolled out of bed. She had walked home in about 15 minutes after leaving the bar last night. By the time she got ready for bed it was about 1 am. Going on five hours of sleep was something Emma was used to. She stretched as she stood up before grabbing her phone from the charger knowing that Ruby surely texted her about her disappearing the night before. Sure enough she had 3 new messages.
Emma! We're upstairs in the loft area playing pool come join us!
Considering that I haven't seen you in the past 30 minutes, and you still haven't come upstairs I'm guessing you took off?
Well please text me when you get these so that I know you got home okay? You know I hate when you leave without telling me. XOXOX
Emma felt a slight feeling of guilt when reading these texts. She knew she probably should've told her that she was leaving rather then tricking her, but she knew that if she would've then she would've had to stay and be the third wheel. A thought played through her mind to the beautiful brunette that she had seen when she was leaving the building.
'What if I would've stayed?' She thought to herself. Again shaking her head she just smiled to herself what was going on with her? She hasn't had any interests in over 2 years, and she didn't need it.
During this time she advanced in her career by making big moves in her line of work. She had gone to an art institution for 4 years studying in printmaking, and wood working. During her college years she made a website of her brand she created which she called "Breathe Easy" where she would post her prints, and wood creations for sale in a very earthy, and environmental style. The website had blown up with the success of sharing her items on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites to get the word out. She used her printmaking skills to make bags, shirts, sweaters, and other materials of popular interest to sell to people with her own works of art on them. Right after college she starting working and making new designs, and carvings that she hasn't seen from other artists before. In doing so she became very successful, and the high demand she was receiving helped keep her mind off the daily grind everyone else was dealing with. She was able to lose herself in her work, and she loved it. This past year was the biggest one yet. She had found a vacant building in the heartside of downtown that was up for sale. She had been profiting so much from her website that she thought it may be the chance she was looking for. The building had an apartment loft right above her work studio. It was perfect. She dove in, and took the chance by leasing the building, and moved in the very next week. It was the perfect location. Storybrook. It was a small town when she was a young girl, but had rapidly grown in the time it took for the town to build a university, and it became more of an urban lifestyle. It still was close enough to the water, and other activities that made you feel like you weren't suffocated in city life.
Most of these other attractions are where Emma found a lot of her inspiration. It was nice to bring these outside attributes into the city where people could experience them when they may not have all of the time to go out, and do so often.
Her friend Ruby during this time was such a huge help. She as well went to school with Emma; which is where they met in the first place. Ruby had a different line of work, writing. Emma knew that she needed another job while she was writing new pieces. So she had offered Ruby a job in the shop as the store manager giving Emma the freedom to work in the studio in back to continue plugging away, and building up inventory while Ruby handled customer's orders. It was a great partnership that allowed Emma the little social interaction that she needed to stay connected to the outside world.
As she thought about all of the growth that has occurred for herself this past year, and how much her hard work had paid off she thought it best that she text her friend back so she knew not to worry.
Hey Rubes! I'm so sorry that I left without telling you. I knew that you were having a good time. I didn't want to interrupt the connection between you, and your new friend either… ;) I hope that you got home safely and that you're sleeping off the soon to be hangover that we both know is coming. XO
Emma made her way towards the bathroom where she jumped in the shower to start getting ready for her day. After drying her hair she put some product in it before putting it up in a high pony tail, and began getting dressed. She had a very simple wardrobe that mainly consisted of skinny jeans blue, black, or grey. Which she then paired with solid color v-necks. She liked to be comfortable, and to her this was comfort. Ruby called her boring on multiple occasions in which Emma would then grab a jacket with a scarf and boots, but that was about it when it came to spicing up her outfits. It was all she needed. As she got dressed she made her way to the kitchen to put a k-cup in her keurig let it brew then took her cup, slipped on her vans, and headed downstairs.
The shop was not yet open, but for her the work studio in the back was always open. She turned on the lights, and her stereo as she turned her Bluetooth on her phone. She loved to play all different sorts of music when she was working. She decided today was a pretty chill, and relaxing morning she always picked to reflect her mood. She put her playlist on artist, Of Monsters and Men, 'Little Talks.' She thought it would put a little pep in her step to start her day out. Friday morning was like any other morning for Emma as soon as she picked up her utensils in her hands she then drifted away into her own world of creativity, and became mesmerized on the blank tile in front of her dreaming of ways to turn this boring item into something exciting.
