"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." - William Shakespeare
"My plane is supposed to leave soon. I can't stay." Emily Fields murmured the words against lips that were determinedly stealing her rational thoughts.
Although they were in plain view of anyone that wanted to walk into the lounge of the Roosevelt hotel, Paige McCullers couldn't help but pull Emily even closer, running her hands down the sides of the silky dress and eliciting a gasp from the exotic beauty. Paige finally had the woman she loved in her arms, and she wasn't prepared to give her up just yet. "I'm coming with you to the airport then."
"You have to be- God!" Emily exclaimed as Paige brushed a kiss on her neck, "-here for the party."
"So what?" Paige husked as she ran her thumbs over Emily's rib cage. "I can do both. What I'm not going to do is let you out of my sight until I have to."
Emily's control was cracking under Paige's insistent hands and lips, and she finally grabbed a fistful of the singer's hair and pulled her head away so that she could think. "Wait wait wait," she gasped. Looking back at her were Paige's deep brown eyes, low light and desire dialating them into a much darker hue than normal and her full lashes serving to hood them seductively. "Paige, I really have to go."
Paige chuckled and responded, "I'm really coming with you."
Emily stared, but the other girl was unwavering. Finally, she kissed Paige hard and said, "All right. Let's go."
Paige nodded, victorious for the moment, and took Emily by the waist as they walked outside to bid farewell to the rest of the band. As they wove through people on the busy patio, Emily held tightly to Paige's arm with both hands, luxuriating in the warmth and strength she found there.
As soon as they reached Julie, the little guitarist's hazel eyes narrowed on them shrewdly and she said in typical Julie fashion, "Fucking finally, McCullers Go get a room."
Paige smiled broadly and then hugged Julie tightly, "I'll be back in a while."
"Fine. Now leave."
As the pair exited the hotel, camera flashes sparked blindingly on their way to the limousine, and Paige, playing her part, waved and smiled while paparazzi yelled her name.
Once safely inside the car, Paige looked over to her companion, nervousness written in her furrowed brows. "So are you sure you want to do this? Everyone you know is about to know about us- including your parents. Fuck, your grandparents, your friends, your enemies, and the rest of your clients will know too."
Emily's face softened at the concern, and she touched Paige's cheek, "I'll definitely need to talk to my parents tomorrow before they read it in some trashy magazine, but as for everyone else, I don't care. You're what matters to me."
Paige breathed a sigh of relief. "Good," she said as she reached for Emily to make sure she made the most of the short amount of time she had left.
"Paige!" Emily grabbed the hand that was drifting down to the zipper of her dress, "I'm not going to make it back in time for my meeting." The limo was parked on the runway, where it had been for the last half hour. Emily was parked in Paige's lap, where she had also been for the last half hour.
Paige groaned and bit Emily's sensitive earlobe lightly with her teeth. "Can't you reschedule?" she whined.
"No, but I'll try to come see you in Atlanta," Emily said as she hissed out a breath.
Paige growled at that. "But that's a week away. Stay with me."
"Paige-"
"Fine. I get it. This does not make me like this tour any more."
Emily held Paige's face in her hands, "One more month. You can do it." She gently kissed Paige again, and then she slid off her lap, readjusting her dress and running a hand through her mussed hair. When she was done, Paige opened the car door and helped her out and then they walked hand-in-hand to the plane's awaiting stairs. There, Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's neck and kissed her soundly one more time, "I'll call you tomorrow."
Paige nodded, a scowl heavy on her face. "Be safe," she commanded as Emily turned and entered the plane.
Paige stood near the jet while the stairs were retracted and the door sealed, neatly and airtightly shutting her off from the only thing she wanted. As the engines roared into motion, Paige's melancholy settled in.
Early the next morning in Nashville, Tennessee, as the jet carrying Emily flew practically overhead, Alison DiLaurentis picked up the complimentary newspaper that had been left outside of her hotel suite. Opening it alongside her breakfast, she was shocked to see Emily Fields' face in the Entertainment section, pictured holding hands with Paige McCullers from the band with the current number one album in the country.
"My my. Someone has certainly grown up," she said quietly as she sipped her latte.
"She wrote you a song?" Aria asked from where she sat on her desktop.
The four girls were all in the office of the HMF talent agency, a feat of togetherness that they hadn't managed in several months. Emily, sitting characteristically by the window with her leg curled under her, was catching them up on her whirlwind and world-altering trip.
"That's like, the most romantic thing ever." Hanna smiled dreamily, closing her laptop and leaning back in her chair. "Travis buys me dinner and thinks he's good for a month."
"Trouble in paradise?" Spencer asked dryly from her desk.
"No," Hanna sighed, "He's just not-"
Spencer groaned and stopped Hanna before she finished. "Oh my god, if you say Caleb, I will personally come over to your house and tie-dye all your clothes while you sleep."
"And I'll go tell Toby you're still pinging after him." Hanna retorted as she crossed her arms in triumph.
"You 'pine' after someone, Hanna, you don't 'ping.' If you're going to threaten me, at least use the right word."
"Whatever. I'll tell him you still want to jump his bones. And I can because Mom just hired him to replace the bannister in her house."
"You wouldn't-"
"Truce! Time out," Aria called, making a 'T' with her hands. "I want to hear about Paige and Em."
Emily shrugged. "There's not much else to tell. She wrote me a song, told me she loves me, and then I came back home for my meeting this morning, and she had to head back out on tour." The weight of the expanse of country between Paige and her sat heavily on Emily's heart, and she sighed aloud. "I'm going to try to see her in Atlanta in a week."
Spencer picked up the newspaper she had on her desk and hiked it up in the air. "Nice pictures of you guys making out in the Roosevelt, by the way. Subtle."
Emily winced, "Yeah, not how I wanted my mom to find out, but she called me this morning and made sure she got in a 'told you so.'"
"Oh please, who didn't think you were in love with her?" Hanna raised her hand. "Other than the oblivious." Spencer amended.
Just then, Emily's phone rang, and she hopped up to answer it, hoping it was Paige. When she saw who it was, she frowned, "Hi David. How are you?"
Not bothering to say hello, he launched in practically mid-conversation. "My dear girl! I must congratulate you. I didn't think she'd be tamed, but that song was most definitely for you! She clearly couldn't see anyone else last night but you."
Taken aback, Emily wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Thanks," she said awkwardly.
"And those photos! Goodness! You certainly left tongues wagging. I'm happy for you, of course, but as her manager, you must know that her being single right now makes her a lot more marketable."
"What exactly are you saying?" she asked warily.
She heard David laugh through the phone, but it only served to accentuate what was clearly a warning. "Oh, just that maybe you should tone it down. You know how it is, my darling. Be less public with your little trysts. Let her go out alone and be seen with other people. Let the public think she's available. That sort of thing."
Emily was stunned. She hadn't expected such a stinging dressing-down of her relationship, if it could even be called that, the day after it began. Not see Paige? Let her go out on dates so that she appeared single? It made Emily so dizzy she simply said, "I understand" to David just to get him to stop talking.
"Good! Good! I knew you would!" she heard him say as she hung up.
"Em?" Aria asked, "What was that all about?"
Emily blew out a shaky breath and put a hand to her forehead, "Fame and fortune can really suck."
