Emma stood before her wardrobe in her matching bra and panties set, shuffling neatly through the folded cardigans in the drawer in search of the dark polyester cardigan that felt so comforting on her skin. It was her favourite, the only one that matched her Juicy Couture Pear Print skirt. Sure, she had other cardigans that complemented the green fruit prints, but the cardigan was lovely and now missing from its place between her navy cardigan and her white summery tops. Where the hell was it?
It was that Thursday morning, as she yanked open draws and slammed cupboard doors in frustration, when Emma realised that she had uncharacteristically left her black cardigan hanging neatly over the armrest of Will's couch on Tuesday evening.
It had been hours after her lips had rested on his jaw as they whispered goodbye that he had called her, apologising that he had filled another box of vests for charity. Knowing that he had sold his old car the week before to afford New York accommodation for the next six weeks, Emma finished dinner and made her way over to Will's.
He was in the car park of his apartment block when Emma's headlights illuminated his form. She smiled softly at the forlorn look etched across Will's features, his eyes increasingly distant as she parked her car and greeted him.
He was shy, like a young boy who was about to ask his sweetheart to prom, and Emma found herself making much of the conversation as they attempted, for the second time in six hours, a final goodbye.
She followed Will upstairs to get the box, commenting how lovely the fire was and removing her cardigan and placing it over the armrest of his couch. Will offered Emma coffee, which she accepted, and Emma realised when she got home later that night that there were only two vests in the large box. It hadn't been necessary for her to drive eight streets over to Will's, but it had been desired.
Emma had held the back door open for Will on Tuesday night, after they had conversed over coffee, as he slid the slightly smaller box of vests across the backseat of her car.
His hands had dangled irritably at his sides as Emma lectured about the New York City crime rate as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Emma," Will had whispered when she turned to get into her car, grasping her hand in his before her back met the side door of her car and his lips were on hers.
She had never been kissed like that. Her lips parted further than they ever had before, and rather than Will's lips pressing into hers, his warm mouth almost covered hers completely. Her body flushed, her mind ran away from her, and his tongue slid wetly against hers.
Emma attempted to push the kiss from her mind as orange rays of sunlight beamed through her bedroom window, highlighting the backs of her naked thighs as she stood wondering what to wear. She pictured the cardigan there, on the edge of Will's couch, just waiting for her to drive over and pick it up.
She could go to Will's house and pick it up before school. She didn't have any appointments before ten. No one would ever know. Will was six hundred miles away in New York City with the glee club, and they wouldn't be back without him until Sunday night.
She sighed when she turned the key in the lock of Will's front door at nine that morning, remembering a moment made at the opposite time of day, when she cooked a perfect meal for Will and imagined what it would be like to be his wife. Still, that image was tainted. She had prepared the meal in the apron she found hanging on the hook at the back of the kitchen door- Terri's apron. At the time, she had pushed the thought aside, too wrapped up in the feeling that came with being Will's girlfriend. Now, that feeling was gone, and any hope of it returning had relocated interstate.
When Emma stepped into Will's apartment, a deep sense of nostalgia washed over her. The living room was cold, the room bare but for the furniture.
The cardigan was gone.
She stood for a moment in confusion, attempting to recall the place she left it two nights ago. It was right there, before Will had offered her coffee. She had bared her arms to him and whispered without voice, 'Ask me to stay for a little while longer.'
The pictures of Terri were gone from the ledge of the fireplace, and Emma was a tiny bit relieved. Will had had the sense to move them when they were dating, but when Emma dropped off some papers for Will to sign for school three months ago, they were back up.
For a moment, Emma stopped searching the living room for her cardigan and considered how a portrait of herself and Will would look upon the mantel piece. Her red hair would match the rose trim of the wood.
Emma ceased her exploration of Will's home and closed the front door behind her, as though she had never been there.
Stuffing Will's key into the inner pocket of her coat, Emma left for the day and headed to school.
Carl called at seven o'clock on Saturday night, informing Emma that he had a number of her boxes of books to drop off that they had packed up in preparation for moving into the tract house. Apparently, the small boxes had been taking up too much room in Carl's large basement.
Emma promised that she'd be home all night and Carl told her that he would be around after eight to hand her the last of her things. But when seven forty-eight ticked by, Emma threw her arms into the sleeves of her coat, locked the condo door and started the engine of her car.
She was halfway to the city centre when she realised that her purse was at home, with her license. As the good citizen she was, she pulled into the next street and stopped, intending to call a cab to drive her home.
Before she realised she was without her mobile, she recognised the street name. Will's street. She had his key in her coat pocket. She could wait there until it was okay to call a cab from Will's phone and go home, until Carl wouldn't be there and she wouldn't have to deal with the humiliation of being a failure of a wife. No one would know. It would only be a few hours.
Grabbing a book from the backseat of her car, she made her way up the steps of the apartment block and to Apartment no 3B. Locking the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe.
The living room was cold, and not wanting to start a fire or really knowing how to, Emma stepped into Will's bedroom and turned the air conditioner on, a warm breeze escaping from the vents and heating Emma's cold body.
There was Will's bed, before her very eyes. So many memories were made on that bed. Well, one in reality. One thousand in her dreams.
The bed was unmade, a bare mattress, so it wasn't an invasion of privacy when she found herself sitting on the edge and opening her book as eight-thirty ticked by. At nine, Emma's shoes were on the floorboards and her legs were folded beneath her pencil skirt as her elbow dug into the mattress. At ten, Emma was asleep with the closed book next to her nose.
When Emma arrived home on Sunday morning, making the walk of shame across the footpath of her condo dressed in the same clothes she had left the house wearing the night before, she expected to find a cardboard box full of books in the doorway. Instead, Emma found a post-it slipped under her front door.
In Carl's handwriting it read,
I returned your key to you the day we signed the papers.
I'll try to bring the books back tomorrow night.
I really hope you're home, Emma.
Carl's use of syntax was what made her walk inside, grab a change of clothes, a nightgown and a few toiletries, and close the front door behind her again.
Emma had filled a cart with groceries before lunch time, and she felt accomplished as she pushed her avoidance of Carl from her mind. Picking at different types of berries in the fruit market, Emma decided that, when she got home to Will's apartment, she would make raspberry muffins in his kitchen.
Emma stocked the fridge with juice and his cupboards with flour.
She spent the day at Will's, cleaning his bathroom, washing his windows and baking. By five pm, there were fifty-eight cookies and sixty-two raspberry muffins gracing the kitchen counter.
As the sun went down and Emma's body arched in exhaustion, she thought about how she had invaded Will's home. More distracting though, was the thought of Carl coming over again. Before she logically planned out what it was that she was doing, Emma was dressing Will's bed with cream sheets she found in the linen cupboard and fluffing a duvet she had reached for in the craft room.
Emma settled into bed after dinner, as thought sitting up in Will's bed with a book in her comfortable, warm, yet unflattering nightgown was the most natural thing in the world.
She heard a noise minutes after she had turned off all the lights and relaxed under the glow of the bedside lamp. It was only nine pm. Too early for burglars. It was probably the neighbour in the next apartment, Emma assured herself. Probably a couple. They were probably doing 'couple' things. Like having sex.
When Will stepped into the apartment, the first thing he noticed wasn't the gold Mary Janes on the welcome mat, or the dull light streaming from under his bedroom door.
Instead, Will realised that his apartment smelled delicious- like cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies.
"Emma?"
"Jesus Christ!"
She had wacked herself in the face with her open novel before she had time to cry out in fright.
Will flicked on the light by the door and Emma was out of bed and into her robe before Will could close his opened mouth. His mind registered two pieces of information. The redhead had been sleeping in his bed. The mattress would still be warm from her body heat.
He was not expecting to come home to this. If he had known, he would have been on the earliest flight out of JFK.
Emma's mind raced as her face flushed and her fingers fumbled nervously with the tie on her robe.
Oh God. What the hell was she going to tell Will? That she couldn't sleep in her own home because she was trying to avoid the man who had asked her for an annulment?
"Will, gosh! I'm so sorry." She was more mortified than apologetic. "I had no idea you'd be home so soon."
"It's okay, Em. Relax." Will chuckled as Emma ran a hand through her messy red hair.
"What happened, Em?"
"I...umm...", and the lie fell from her lips before she could stop it. "I've been evicted from my apartment."
AN: This is the introductory chapter of what I intend to be a five part series, so it's quite short compared to the rest. Let me know what you think!
I've also decided to spend some time once a week filling a prompt from a reader. You can drop your prompt in the ask box of my fanfic tumblr and I'll pick one to fill when I can. You can find the link to my fanfic tumblr on my profile. And it doesn't have to be a Wemma prompt either! But it does have to be an Emma prompt, regardless of who she is shipped with. I won't discriminate against any pairing!
Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy 'Moments Spent in Bliss and Wonder'!