Emily's POV

My flight to LA landed early on a blistering Friday in July. As the plane came to a screeching halt on the runway, many of the shades of sleepy passengers were raised revealing the sun creeping out. The dark sky being painted over with bright shades of pink and fiery orange. My eyes stung from the intensity, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from the slowly rising sun bringing the reality of the day ahead of me crashing down on my shoulders. I felt the tension crawl into my muscles.

People around me were beginning to stir. The sound of yawning filled the cabin and proved to be contagious as I felt a yawn escape my lips. Out of habit, I stretched as much as the ceiling and seat in front of me allowed. I felt the tightness in my muscles ease up ever so slightly.
Static from the speaker filled the cabin and then, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles Airport. Local time is 6:08am. Currently the temperature outside is about 67° degrees." As the pilot droned on with the formalities of his landing speech, I opted to stare out the small oval window waiting patiently to be released from the plane.

I felt my seat lurch forward followed by a barrage of thumps to my back. It would have felt like a nice back massage if not for the force of kangaroo kicks seesawing my head around like a bobble head. Seven-hour flight and whoever was kicking was letting out seven hours of pent of energy. It only lasted moments following a shrill scream and a light tap to my shoulder.
I turned my head back to address the tap of my shoulder. A woman with brown eyes that were so light that they reminded me of caramel smiled ever so slightly right at me. Her hair was unintentionally tousled, and a few loose strands framed light porcelain skin. A sticky red lollipop that probably tasted of a pharmaceutical cherry cough syrup clung to her cheek and chubby little fingers pawed at the papery stick at the end. She could only get out a barely audible hello before those tiny fingers tugged at her bottom lip.

I smiled to myself as she batted the hand away from her face gently earning a displeased cry in return. She drew her attention back towards me. Her voice breaking through the banshee like cry, "I'm very sorry for my son kicking your seat like that. He's usually so well behaved but it's his first flight." I nodded in understanding though I had never found myself in that position. I smiled back at her, hoping it would alleviate the shadow of weariness that hung over her.

A lopsided smile formed on her lips as the tiny little chubby hand tugged at her cheek distorting her facial expression. "If the little guy transfers that energy into his fists, you might have the next boxing champion on your hands," I commented. This made her laugh and I could feel the silent thank you passing through the exchange. She sunk back down in her seat and I turned my attention back to the line of restless people beginning to form. It was moving quickly and I was in no sense of urgency to get up. Kangaroo Jack behind me seemed to have found a new hobby so the sit was no longer bothersome.

It had been just a few minutes before the gentleman across the aisle from me signaled me with his hand, ladies first. I dragged my purse out from under my feet and made my way down the aisle. Seven hours of sitting did a number to how my glutes and legs were feeling. If my legs could sigh, I'd have no doubt they would with a sense of relief of being moved. Being cooped up for so long never worked in my favor.

I passed the flight attendances thanking everyone for joining them on this flight. I would have whooped if it I wasn't 27 years old and that wouldn't have been completely juvenile. I slipped my phone out of my the back pocket in my black jeans taking a moment to shut off airplane mode. I locked it and clutched it in my left hand giving it sometime to fully pull in any missed calls, voicemails, texts before I even attempted to use anything else. My full focus was trying to navigate to baggage claim. My sense of direction has been and always will be terrible. Even with all the posted signs of where to go to baggage claim, I would always manage to get lost. Not this time.

I wanted to thank the man that decided to wear a highlighter yellow shirt on this flight. It made him very easy to spot in the crowd and follow down to the baggage claim area. I start following the ground of people managing to keep the bright walking highlighter in my line of vision. It was a surprisingly easy airport to navigate and before I even realized it, we were already there. I opted out of thanking of the man that I followed here. Any sane person would have seen that as a little strange.

I waited for my bag to drop down the baggage carousel. It was a slow and from the stream of bags coming down, it seemed like it would never end. The phone in my right hand started to vibrate in the pattern of a heartbeat. That could only mean one thing, "Is that the sweet sound of Hanna Marin's voice in the morning?". The woman on the other line laughed and retorted, "Emily Fields, sweet talking me in the morning? What did I ever do to deserve it?"

We broke out in laughter. Normally, not the interaction that I would have engaged in a public setting. I could feel people's eyes traveling to me and the laughter settled quickly. I couldn't blame the people that glared with annoyance at me. Most people were just getting their daily dose of caffeine to deal with the rest of the word…or at least tolerate the rest of the world. Coffee, that sounded the like cure to the yawn threatening to escape my lips. I felt my eyes stinging from the lack of proper sleep. Hanna whined on the end of the line, "When are you coming back?". I shook my head as if she could see me through the phone, "Hanna, I just left not even a full 24 hours ago. You know my goal is to not come back unless it's with a huge moving van and…"

Before I could finish my sentence the blonde on the other line huffed, "You do everything just to leave me, don't you? First college and now a job a cagillion miles away".

"Is that even a word?", I dismissed her needful behavior. I didn't want to feel guilty for wanting to leave Rosewood. Los Angeles is supposed to be my fresh start. I wanted to get away from the drama. Rosewood held far too many memories for me, not all bad but enough that it made me want to get away and not come back. The ring looped in through a little gold chain hanging around my neck felt like it had grown ten times heavier almost like it was trying to bear its mark on me. Just another thing I was trying to clear my head about while I was far away from home.

Being in love with someone should have been easy. That's the way they frame it in all the movies, the songs, and all the teen romance novels. No. Being in love was not easy. Love meant to be able to forgive and compromise; but, how much could one take before you realize you're a corner piece of the puzzle trying to match with a piece that belongs in the center. "Emily!", the shriek in my ear jarred me out of my thoughts, "are you even listening to me?"

I sighed, "I'm sorry Han, a non-caffeinated Emily Fields has the attention span of a peanut". It dawned on me in that moment and I cursed at myself. My bag! I had completely forgotten. I looked around at the carousel and saw the periwinkle blue tag of my bag disappearing nearing the flap to take another trip around. I took off after it hoping to catch it so I didn't have to wait again. I somehow managed to balance the phone against my ear as I caught my bag with my left hand. I could feel the eyes of people staring at me. LA definitely was staring to feel like a bit of a judgmental place. I shook it off. With the bag successfully in my hand, I took off in the direction of pick-ups.

"Anyway, someone from the company is picking you up, right? I read that the company is supposed to be one of the top ecofriendly property management companies in the world. You think they'll have some kind of car running a vegetable fuel or some weird shit like that?" She laughed at her own, what she would call, wit. I rolled my eyes but found myself laughing back at her ridiculousness.

"Last time I checked, that's not possible. For all I know, they're sending some white horse drawn carriage with some guy that belongs in a magazine decked out in a full suit of armor. Your guess is as good as mine." The thought was absurd. I knew that but part of me knew that Hana might take that are an actual possibility…maybe if I was applying for a day care or clown college.

Then, I saw my name written out in beautiful gold lettering on an emerald colored poster board. The poster board was held up by a young-looking guy that was bearing a 5 o'clock shadow and the most piercing blue eyes I had seen. He was decked out in some expensive looking dress shoes and a classic black and white suit. Very typical to the average chauffer attire but other than that he looked anything than average. I drew closer, "Hanna, my ride is here. I'll give a call later". I hung up the phone before I could hear another word from her.

I approached him, my nerves settled in as my hand drifted to my face and pulled a loose strand of hair. "Um, Hi...", I stammered a bit not ever having been in this situation and knowing how to approach him, "I'm Emily Fields."

A smile broke out onto his face and I swore it changed the man in front of me a colored him with a boyish charm. Crazy what a smile could do to change the look of someone. "Emily, pleased to meet you. I'm Will. Please, let me get that from you".

He took my bag from me before I could object. I quickly fell in step beside him. The silence was momentary between us before his gruff voice slashed right through it like a knife on skin. I felt goosebumps on my skin rise. "You chose the right time to land here. The beautiful city has not yet stirred to create the endless traffic jams." I noted a light accent danced in his words.

"Sounds like you're a huge fan of the traffic. I could never stand it where I'm from so I'm sure it'll be just as much of a blast to encounter it here."

He contemplated my words for a minute. Then, "You have no idea what you're in store for." Threatening almost until I saw the smile graze his lips. "Let me not scare you off before you even see the wonders of this city and the beauty of Vico".

Vico. It sounded like some fancy clothes or line of handbags. Not what I expected out of a property management company. "Do you work for Vico, Will?"

"I am a company hired driver. One of few at that. Vico has drivers on site for cross town meetings, airport drop off and picks, and whether else that they need." His response felt dry.

"Do you enjoy it?", I pressed. He shrugged, "I can't complain. It's a well-paying job, most of the passengers are on their phones so the ride is generally peacefully, and.." he trailed off momentarily as we walked up to a glossy black Lincoln SUV, "I get to drive this beautiful machine."

Typical car man, I thought to myself. He fished for the key in his pocket and popped the trunk open. I walked over the doors of the backseat of the vehicle. Before I could get my hand to the handle, Will grasped the handle and pulled the door open for me. I slipped inside and felt the smell of new leather engulf me. This felt wonderful. I sunk back into the seats and it felt like I was laying on a puffy white cloud in comparison to the seats of the plane.

Moments later, Will slipped into the driver seat. The engine of the vehicle hummed to life. Everything about this car was so sleek, so elegant, and classy. "Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride Emily. This car handles like a dream".

I believed him. No wonder Vico hired drivers onsite. Just simply sitting in the back, feeling the comfort of the leather seats was enough to feel the stress of the day lifting off my shoulders. It would have been easy to drift off but wouldn't that have been embarrassing to have him wake me. There was one thing that was bugging me about Vico. I had searched everything about this company beforehand and it was like the name of the CEO was some big secret. It was like trying to find a needle in haystack.

"Will, what's with the CEO? The man might as well be area 51 with how much information versus speculation there is about him on life."

I heard a light chuckle coming from him. "Well, he's no man. She is Miss DiLaurentis. I've never had the pleasure of meeting her so I don't know what the deal is there. There's some rumor that she's young so I imagine that would be a huge downer to some investors. Young doesn't always translate well in this world."

I felt the breath being sucked right out of my lungs. DiLaurentis. What were the odds. It couldn't be. Fate must be bored or had one nasty sense of humor. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. The name on the screen left a bitter taste in my mouth. Again, I felt the weight of the ring on my chest. I reluctantly put the phone up to my ear, "Maya, it's good to hear from you." The lies rolled off my tongue like venom spit off a cobra's tongue.