Aaron struggles to hide his jealousy when Emily goes on a date with Nicholas Montgomery, a man considered to be American royalty and a big name on the hill.
Aaron sat in Emily's office one Friday evening finishing off some work on the sofa, while eating his way through a large pepperoni pizza. He had planned to save some for Emily and Seth when they most likely came in grumpy and hungry, but neither had shown up, and he couldn't stop himself.
As he was about to eat the last slice, the door opened and Emily walked in. Aaron did a double take when he realised that she was... dressed up. Rather fancily. She was wearing a square necked, fitted navy dress that came just below the knee and thick straps on her shoulders. She had her hair in a slick ponytail and navy heels to match her dress.
She walked over to her desk and started rummaging around, putting her things in her purse. Aaron cleared her throat causing Emily to jump and let out a breath.
"Aaron I... didn't see you there." she said as she awkwardly stood in her place.
"The smell of pizza didn't give me away?" Aaron joked.
"My mind is just elsewhere today..." she confessed as she walked over to him. "Are you going to eat that?" she asked, pointing down to the slice of pizza.
"No, go for it." he said as she gratefully took the pizza and ate it. "What are you so dressed up for?"
"I uh... I have a date" Emily confessed as Aaron slowly nodded his head. This shouldn't bother him, they ended whatever... thing they had when he left the white house. Now that he was back, the tension had been resumed, but nothing had been done about it. He had his chance.
"I am so nervous, and I don't get nervous but I'm a little surprised this guy wanted to go out with him..." she said picking up a napkin and wiping her lips before checking her relfection in a compact mirror. "Do I look ok? " she asked, standing up and grabbing her white pashmina to complete the look. "Sorry, weird question" she said shaking her head; "you really don't have to answer that..." she said putting a hand to her forhead.
"No" he said without a second of hesitation "... you look beautiful." he said sincerely as she returned a small smile to him. "Though there is one thing missing..." he said as he walked over to her desk.
Emily looked at him in confusion; "What is it?" she asked.
Aaron looked around her desk before spying what he was looking for. He lifted the object up and smiled; "Your trusty pearl bracelet... you never go a day without wearing this thing. Why should tonight be any different?" he asked as he lifted her wrist and clicked the bracelet in place. His hand lingered over her skin for a little longer than either of them were prepared for.
"It was my mother's and her mother's before that..." Emily explained.
Aaron nodded as he saw a small smile grace Emily's face as she thought of her mother and grandmother.
"Thank you" Emily said in almost a whisper, touched that Aaron had remembered something to small but so significant to her.
Aaron merely nodded again as they looked at each other, feeling as if they were staring into each other's souls. Before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the door and they both broke apart and spun round to greet whoever was there.
Aaron looked at the man standing infront of them. He had what looked like a very expensive suit on, perfectly groomed hair and a bright white smile. He looked like something straight out of Dynasty. It then clicked with Aaron who he was. He was Nicholas Montgomery. He was a democratic senator and the Montgomerys were one of the most respected families in the country. Practically American royalty and Nicholas was the next of them to rise through the ranks. At only 32, he was one of the youngest men to serve in the senate, and the people of American adored him. They all saw him as a shoe in for president one day.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything" Nicholas said in a low and captivating voice.
"No of course not, please come in." Emily said as she walked over to him.
"You look beautiful Emily" Nicholas said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, you look lovely too." Emily said awkwardly.
Aaron stood awkwardly behind them. He felt uncomfortable watching this moment between Emily and who he had now worked out, her date, but more than that, he was jealous. He couldn't deny that. He wished it was him taking Emily out on that dinner date that never was, but instead she had bagged herself a Montgomery.
Aaron awkwardly cleared his throat, reminding Emily that he was still standing there. Emily quickly turned around; "Oh Aaron sorry, this is Nicholas Montgomery, Nick this is Aaron Shore." Emily introduced.
Nick? They're on nickname basis now? I suppose he probably calls her Em... Aaron thought.
Nicholas reached out his hand with Aaron politefully shook; "Aaron Shore, I've heard good things about you across D.C. Everyone wants you as their right hand man. Em has said that no one runs the White House like you and her do."
Em, there is it.
Aaron laughed lightly; "I don't think I could tear myself away from the White House for anyone, and Emily's right, we're quite the formidable pair. It's an honour to meet you Senator Montgomery, I've heard wonderful things about your work."
"That's kind of you to say so Aaron, hopefully you could put a good word in around here for me." Nicholas joked as he patted Aaron on the arm with a laugh and a flash of his pearly white smile, but Aaron knew that he wasn't really kidding.
"Uh we should probably get going if we want to make our reservation" Emily encouraged, feeling uncomfortable with the situation at hand.
"Right you are, Em. Shall we?" he said holding out his arm for her to hook through.
"You go on, I need to finish gathering my things." Emily said.
Nicholas nodded, said goodbye to Aaron and left Emily's office.
"So... a Montgomery..." Aaron said, quick off the bat.
"Yes and I do not need any of your snarky comments..." Emily warned as she walked over to her desk to finish gathering her things.
"I never said anything. Love in Washington doesn't happen everyday Em. So when it comes, you got to go with it..." Aaron said unconvinced.
"It-it's just a date" Emily said quickly, a part of her not wanting Aaron to think that her loving this guy was a possibility.
"Ok, ok... just be careful though, avoid any direct light, the reflection off his teeth might blind you." Aaron teased.
"Andddd I'm gone." Emily said as she turned on her heels, leaving a chuckling Aaron behind her.
For the next while, Aaron sat and tried to do some work, but it was no use. He couldn't stop thinking about Emily going on a date with Nicholas and he couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful she looked. He had managed to play it cool infront of Emily about her going on a date, but it was eating away at him on the inside. He wanted to tell her not to go, to be with him instead, but he forfeited any right he had to do that by not fighting for her.
He gave up on his paperwork and made his way round to Seth's office and saw his friend typing away on his computer. He sat infront of Seth's desk and didn't say anything and Seth briefly looked over his screen with a confused look, wondering why Aaron was sitting there, brooding.
"You ok there Aaron?" Seth asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you know about Nicholas Montgomery?" Aaron asked.
"Charming as hell." Seth said leaning back in his chair; "Dazzling smiling, looks like a Kennedy, political royalty, all round great guy-"
"Ok, ok I get it." Aaron said holding up a hand, not wanting to hear anymore.
"Why do I get the feeling you were hoping I would have bad things to say about him?" Seth asked.
"I didn't hope that..." Aaron said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "I just- he's a Montgomery, that's great, but surely he's not that great..." Aaron said slumping back in his chair.
"Ok what is this about?" Seth asked, growing more and more confused about Aaron's apparent vendetta against Nicholas.
"... Emily is on a date with him tonight, I was just curious as to why she thinks he's so great" Aaron said looking down at his hands.
"Oh I see, you're jealous." Seth said.
"I am not jealous." Aaron said firmly.
"Yeah ok..." Seth said sarcastically.
"I'm not!"
"Anyone would be jealous of Nicholas Montgomery, don't worry." Seth assured him.
"You're not even listening to me"
"Aaron you're doing a crappy job at hiding it and it's ok to admit that you are!" Seth told him.
Aaron sighed in his spot. "I wish it didn't get to me. I want her to be happy... but I want her to be happy with me. Why didn't I fight for us?"
"Because you're both incredibly stubborn and don't know a good thing when you see it. You don't even know if this date is going to go well man, don't think you've lost her for good." Seth told him.
Aaron nodded before running a hand across his face. He had never felt this way about a girl before, he had never been so flustered and jealous. He wasn't the relationship type, his job didn't allow it, but with Emily, it all seemed possible, but he was too stubborn to do anything about it and now she'd found herself the perfect man.
Way to go Aaron, way to go.
At midnight Aaron had made his way home in a bid to get some sleep before the next day. He changed into his sweats and sat infront of the TV for a little while, trying to relax his brain. He managed to close his eyes for two minutes on the sofa before he heard a knock at his door. He checked his watch and saw that it was 1am and wondered who could be calling round at that hour.
He walked towards the door and opened it, surprised by who he saw on the other side.
"Emily... hey" he said. She was standing her her heels in her hand and a defeated look on her face.
"Please tell me you have alcohol somewhere in this apartment." she pleaded.
Aaron smirked; "you came to the right place, come on in." he said as he stepped aside and allowed her to slip inside.
A few moments later, Emily was curled up on the sofa with a blanket over her legs, her body turned to face Aaron as he brought out two glasses of wine. She took the glass from him gratefully and quickly downed it.
"Ok, good thing I brought the bottle in..." Aaron said as he set it down on the coffee table infront of him. "So what brings you by at 1am?" he asked.
"I needed a large drink after that date and I figured you would be my best bet of supplying me one" she said as she poured herself another glass.
"That bad huh?" Aaron asked.
"Just more proof that it's not all about what's on paper." Emily said as Aaron chuckled, remembering her telling him the same thing when they were picking people for cabinet. "He just talked about himself all night and he seemed to have this expectation of the woman he was with to be a dutiful wife, focusing on how to better his career than her own and that... is definitely not me."
Aaron smirked; "no it is not... Washington is definitely a better place with you running it."
Emily smiled at him before looking down at her glass; "I love my job, if I can make even the smallest difference in the world with what I do, then I would die happy. I was not made to be the perfect little stepford wife, I'm not some minor leaguer just waiting for a husband to come."
"You are definitely not a minor leaguer..." Aaron confirmed; "Montgomery's a douche who clearly doesn't see your worth, which is at least ten of him."
"Is this what dating in Washington is going to be like?" Emily asked, feeling disheartened.
"Pretty much yeah. Most people's egos suck all the oxygen out of a room." Aaron said with a light laugh.
Emily smiled; "I think you were right when you said love in Washington doesn't happen very often."
"Yeah... but I don't think it's impossible." he said, looking directly into her eyes. Their heads were mere inches away from each others and it was taking everything inside of Aaron not to kiss her right there and then.
He didn't move, but Emily leaned forward, about to kiss him and as their noses grazed she laughed lightly; "I think I'm a little drunk."
"You think?" Aaron said as Emily's head fell onto his shoulder.
"I think we made a mistake not giving us a chance" Emily said quietly as she shut her eyes.
Aaron smiled; "Well... when you're sober... I'm going to take you out on that dinner date that never was. Hopefully then... I'll be able to show you your worth and that you can do great things Emily Rhodes. The world is your oyster."
He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep with a light smile on her face. He too then closed his eyes, knowing that they would wake up with sore necks in the morning, but the pain would be worth this moment they could have together, away from the jungle that was Washington D.C.