Emily was leaning against a wall and wishing she was dead.
Who the Hell decides to break with someone just outside a Starbucks? On the day before Christmas Eve, no less?
Emily's ex does.
She sighed once more. Her holidays were miserable over it, as her family expected her to bring her significant other to the feast. Showing up alone was right depressive.
Returning to work on the 26th hadn't been any easier, as somehow the entire office building where she worked as a secretary ended up figuring out about her shameful break-up before lunch hour. That certainly thwarted her hopes of having at least half a day of peace.
Consequentially, all her colleagues insisted terribly for her to attend the building's New Year's Eve party, as a way to 'get back on the horse', so to speak.
She pushed back as hard as she could, but she ended up caving. She supposed she could hang around until ten or so, have some cheap liquor and leave to spend midnight the way God intended.
Drunk and alone on her bed.
What the young woman did not count on was the fact that the hours between eight and ten would be Chinese torture in form of a company gathering.
Everyone around her seemed to be drunk on the sad excuse for champagne the company had provided, and the friskier were coupling up in bizarre pairings, like Crystal, the sour receptionist, and Dan, the Porno King from accounting.
Those scenes of moral decadence only served to further Emily's depression. Despite attending a prestigious university and having academic honours, she was stuck at the same dead-end job as the guy who was so addicted to pornography he just couldn't contain himself and watched it on the company's PCs. Several times. Once infecting the entire system with a trojan.
Corporate America was a soul-sucking monster and that girl was out of soul to give.
Feeling claustrophobic, the woman unlatched herself from her spot on the wall and walked over to the balcony for some air. The place was thankfully devoid of people, except for a blond guy who was smoking and leaning against the railing.
She considered leaving, but the idea of returning to the crowd was enough for giving her a small anxiety attack. No, if she hung out on the opposite end as him, perhaps he wouldn't notice, or would pick up the cue and leave her be.
And it worked for a while, she could sit down on the dirty floor and stretch her aching legs. The man finishes his cigarette and picks another one from his suit jacket and tries to light it, to no avail.
He sighed loudly and seemed to curse under his breath. He, then, turned to her and said, amicably: "Hi-ya."
She looks over to him and takes a moment to realize he's talking to her. Then, she responds with a lazy: "Hey."
"Do you have some fire?" He asks, rather supplicant. "My lighter seems to have given up on me."
"No, sorry. Non-smoker." The woman answers, still wishing for the man to go away.
"Such is my luck. Perhaps it's a sign that I smoked way too much today. It's a nasty habit, but I never had it in me to stop." He snorts, anxious. "What brings you to the smoking area?"
She looked at him, confused. "This is the smoking area?"
"Yep." He popped the p and pointed to the ash dispensers around the balcony. "I'll go ahead and say you wanted a break from all that inside."
The young woman sported a small side smile over the comment. "Pretty much. And to stay out of Crystal line of sight. After she's done with Dan, she'll have nothing else to lose."
"Dan still works here?" The blond asks, more to himself, surprised. "I was sure he'd be fired after all the data leaking."
"You and me both, pal." She says, while sipping her beverage.
"I think whom you really should look out for is Marcia from HR. I saw her pulling a busboy into a closet some half an hour ago. That woman is insatiable!" The guy bemoans, well-humored.
Emily raises a well-kept eyebrow, throws a smirk and says: "You speak out of experience?"
He laughs. "Jesus, no. It wasn't over her lack of interest, though."
"How conceited!" She accused, smiling. "I'm Emily, by the way."
He also smiled, charmingly. "Nathan. Nice to meet you."
"Nathan? Like the boss?" She asks, curious.
"You know the CEO?" He responds, surprised.
She nods. "Well, yeah, I'm one of his secretaries."
"Ah, cool." He shakes his fair head. "Life-long dream of being a secretary?"
The statement was ridiculous enough to drag a loud laughter out of the girl. "No way. I'm a writer. Well, I was a writer."
"What happened?" He asks, taking a seat next to her.
"It happened no one wanted to pick up my manuscript. Then I tried to self-publish, but that fell through pretty quickly." She sighed. "After that, I decided to cut my losses and had a friend wire me with this gig. So here I am."
He grimaces. "I'm sorry for that. If it makes you feel better, I always wanted to be an anthropologist, but my dad thought going on field studies resembled too much a vagabond lifestyle and argued that corporate law would be much more my speed. And so, here I am, and guess what?"
"What?"
"Corporate law sucks." They laugh.
"It does make me feel a little better." She pokes.
"Well, I'm glad my misery is amusing to you." The man smirks with his shiny pearly teeth.
"What brings you to this disgrace of a party?" Emily asks, blunt.
"It was a pretty good excuse not to attend my parents' disgrace of a party." He responds with a shrug. "You?"
"Some of the girls at the desk thought it'd be depressing for me to spend New Year's alone, so they nagged me until I agreed to come." She throws back an offending lock of hair.
He hummed. "That may be the reasoning of most of the people in here tonight."
"Damn year ending on a Wednesday." She huffs. "I suppose it's fitting. A mediocre year ending on a mediocre day."
"I'd drink to that." The blond echoes.
"Cheers!" She raises her lonely red cup.
Emily was going all out for that party later tonight. She had only just left the hairdresser's and was ready for putting on the dress, which hung at her closet door for over a week in anticipation for tonight.
The piece had been handpicked. She'd much prefer a Paco Rabane, but the evening required some demure, and so she went with a blue-and-gold, slit on the leg, Gucci ball gown and a matching clutch. The also blue high heels disguised her short stature and highlighted her lean legs.
Finally, the jewellery. She was covered in diamonds, from his earrings, neck and hands, everything was adorned with pieces which sported the precious gem. Even her hair was held up with an encrusted pin.
She put on the luxurious outfit and sat down to do her makeup. Supposedly, she could have had it done at the beauty parlour, but she rarely liked the results when she let others do it for her. Not to mention, she was rather disgusted with the shared brushes and products.
No, she was a dextrous woman. She could do it herself.
First, the base on her cheeks, to disguise small acne scars, some sun damage and the insistent swelling from the past few days. Then, a smidge of blush, for a healthy colouring. Emily was way too pale for her own good.
Next, the eyes. Eyeliner and mascara would make her eyes pop against the white, and now unmarred, skin. Then the mandatory red lipstick, carefully applied to her full lips.
It was a night event, she could humour herself and splurge a little with the products and not look like a clown.
When she was finally done, she picked up the clutch and checked her money, phone and documents. Then, fetching the car keys, left for the party.
"Have these naval charts approved by Tuesday, and have my car picked up from the shop first thing in the morning." The greying-haired man ordered with little as much as a look to the young woman standing by his desk.
"Yes, Mr. Sterling, sir." She nods and writes down his commands at her planner.
"You may go now, Emily." He dismisses, and the girl excuses herself.
Closing the door with care, she returns to her seat at the desk she shares with two other secretaries, Kate and Jess.
"I don't know how you can deal with that dick and keep that stupid smile on your face." Jess mentions with a sneer.
Emily shrugged. "I'm happy these days. It won't be Mr. Sterling who'll pop my bubble."
Kate scoffs, her sixth sense for a good piece of gossip tingling hard. "Happy, right. Just the other day you're lamenting on the corners because of what's-their-name. When we'll know the name of this 'happiness' of yours?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The other responds but couldn't contain the smirk.
"Yeah, sure!" Kate shouts and points accusingly. "You totally smiled. Come on! Please, please, please!"
"No! Just drop it." Emily said, good-naturedly.
"Kate, Emily's entitled to her secrets." Jess said, not as much to defend her as to get the other girl to sit quiet. Emily never could understand why, but Jess was never much of her fan.
"Fine." She huffed in response. "Meanie."
The three women finished their shift and parted ways at the company's doorstep. Emily walked over to the subway station with a skip on her step. She did not lie when she said she was very happy to be brought down these days.
Life was much too good when you're in love.
Reaching her modest one-bedroom apartment, she quickly changed her clothes and put herself to work. Her boyfriend would be stopping by later tonight, and would stay for dinner, so Emily had to whip out a first-class meal and clean up the place by nine.
Dating her boss' son was something that the redhaired did not planned for, it just happened, and it certainly took some adapting. Their relationship had to be kept under wraps, lest Jess and the other employees think she'd receive preferential treatment.
But it was worth it. When Nathan said he was actually Nathan Sterling, III, it shocked her. She felt rather betrayed, as he kept that slight detail for over a month of going out, and the 'no-telling rule' was rather uncomfortable.
But Nathan was also a caring, loving boyfriend. He makes her feel like a princess every day he's with her. He called or texted three times a day, just to check on her and talk about their day. He showered with gifts, ranging from the romantic, like flowers, to the lavish, like diamonds, to the thoughtful, like a first-edition of her favourite childhood book, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.
In the end, forfeiting bragging rights to Kate was a too small of a sacrifice. She loved Nathan, she wanted to be with him. Waiting until such time she could quit her miserable job for 'coming out' to her friends was absolutely worth it.
At exactly nine o'clock, a knock on the door jump-start Emily from the oven to skip over to the living room. She opens the door with a wide smile and says: "Hello!"
Nathan doesn't say a thing, he prefers to let down the bags he'd been holding, picking up the woman by her waist and twirl her over the cramped living room, eliciting giggles from the redhead.
Reaching the middle of the room, he smiled broadly, kissed her nose and said: "Good evening, Emily. How you're doing?"
"I'm fine. Better now." She unwrapped herself from his arms. "Just sit down, I'll finish dinner in a moment."
"Great, I'm famished!" He says, boisterous. "By the way, I brought some wine."
"I'll grab the bottle opener." She shouts from the kitchen.
Soon enough, Emily emerges with a carbonara, two glasses and a bottle opener and sets them on the table.
"And I brought another thing, as well." The blond says, a wicked smile on his face.
The redhaired couldn't help but smile over the man's childish antics. "What is it?"
"Well, remember you said Tuesday you wanted to go out dancing?" He asks, but before she could answer, he continues. "I felt really guilty I couldn't take you, BUT, I could bring an iPod and a sound box. So get ready, Em, 'cause tonight we're dancing on the hottest and most exclusive club in the city!"
Emily beamed at the surprise. She walks over to him and kisses him deeply, until them both are out of air. After they break apart, she says: "I love you."
"I love you more." He smirks and bends down to kiss her again.
She was up in the sky, and no-one would bring her down.
The party venue was a good two-hour drive from her place, across state lines. But it did not matter, Emily enjoyed driving on the highway, with the high speed cleansing her frustrations and the hustle-bustle of people driving across the land engaging her mind.
She enjoyed looking at the vehicles passing by, looking at the faraway license plates and conjecturing stories about its passengers, where they were going and from where they came.
The ferry that took her to Martha's Vineyard was no less of an enjoyable experience, feeling the salty wind hitting her face and observing the great reddish-blue expanse of the ocean beyond the sound.
Once at the wealthy suburb, she drove to a small, wooded area near the country club. She decided to walk to the venue, her old, rusty and noisy Kia would certainly be too much of a difference from the imported, luxury cars that filled the valet service.
No, she was aiming a low profile that night, and that sky-blue old machine would not do.
The fifteen-minute walk from the gates to the main salon was harder than she expected, given the heels were less for movement and more for show. Her feet would remember this night tomorrow morning.
Emily reaches the ostentatious French doors at the club entrance and gives her invitation to the usher. The young man greets her with a smile and walks her over to her seat.
A server comes and offers her champagne, which she gracefully accepts a flute and made herself comfortable.
The party was about to start.
"Emily, please, say something." Nathan pleaded, looking hurt at her while she just shrunk further within the couch. The woman was silently looking at the void for over fifteen minutes now.
"I think you should leave." Emily complied, letting out the phrase in a hoarse voice.
He really wanted to fight, to scream, to stay and have her react. Even if it meant she would throw something pointy and hard at him.
But, in the end, the whole thing was breaking his heart as well and he was never one with high threshold for pain, so he complied to her wish and walked over to the door. Before stepping out, he turns back one last time and says: "Call me if you want to talk. Anytime."
Emily did not respond. After Nathan shuts the door on his way out, she did not make a sound. She enjoyed the silence of the house, she noted the tiny steps of bugs in the kitchen, the dripping of raindrops on the windows and the leakage on the sink.
The first thought that hit her with some reasoning came who knows how later in the day, and it was a simple phrase.
Nathan's engaged.
An arranged match, he said. Kassidy Marquez's family controlled port infrastructure around the Gulf of Mexico, and it was a big move for a shipping company, as big as it was, confined within the Northeastern Seaboard.
He came by that afternoon to tell her of his father's decision, to have him wed the young girl. He confessed to know Kassidy from college, and to have casually dated her in the past, but assured Emily of his 'undying love and devotion'.
Nathan also expressed his intentions to maintain a relationship between them, even on the event of his marriage.
She didn't want to think about it. She couldn't think about it now. She was out of breath, like she was drowning in dry land.
She just wanted to draw the drapes and pretend she was dead.
"Oh my, Emily, you're such a delight!" The older woman says, laughing of something the girl had said.
"You're too kind, Mrs. Franklin." The redhead smiled politely.
"What's your relation to the couple, again?" The other wonders, remembering she had not been told.
"Oh, I'm a working colleague of the groom's." She responded. "Speaking of which, it seems they're ready to have their first dance. Would you care to accompany me?"
"I'm much too old!" The woman complains, good-naturedly. "Go along! I'll see them from over here."
"Please, Mrs. Franklin, you're much too youthful to call yourself old. But if you excuse me, I love this part of weddings." Emily stood up and walks over to the dancefloor, blending in with the crowd watching the newlywed couple.
The bride was a looker, with her long black hair and tanned skin, a shine on her eyes like a blushing virgin, that freshness of going on to a new life. Her luxurious and pristine Vera Wang dress highlighted the posture of a young aristocrat and flew through the room like a curtain dancing on the wind.
But if we're judging by appearance, the groom was the pretty one. He looked every bit like a fairy tale prince, with his tall and lean frame, white skin as if he had never met the sun in his life, and the blond hair combed backwards. The suit was midnight black, perfectly tailored overseas, and with sapphire cufflinks to give a finishing shine of upper crust.
They twirled through the room the whole fifteen minutes of Blue Danube in flawless grace, and without breaking a sweat. Soon after, they started the rounds through the guest tables, to receive the congratulations from the various guests.
A good hour later, when Nathan and Kassidy reach table 13, which contained the looser relatives on the Sterling family, they are greeted by the recently-widowed Great-Aunt Susett Franklin.
"Oh, my darlings!" She kisses each of their kisses, much to the displeasure of Kassidy. "Congratulations on the nuptials! It is such a wonderful adventure, and I hope yours to be filled with bliss and bounty."
"Thank you, Aunt Susett." Nathan says, politely. "How do you like the party? I hope you're not feeling too alone out here."
She laughs, dismissively. "Not at all! Emily has been keeping me in good company the entire party. Lovely girl, that one."
Kassidy made a face. "Emily? I don't remember an Emily at the guest list."
"I don't think you've met her, honey. She says she's Nathan's colleague, from work." The older woman comments, in passing. "A shame you've come by just when she left to freshen up. She seemed so eager to congratulate you!"
A cold shiver shot through Nathan's back. It couldn't be, could it? After months of silence, she wouldn't come to great lengths to attend the reception. However, he certainly did not know any other Emily, lest one who worked for him.
His ocean-blue eyes run through the venue, looking for that unmistakeable red hair.
And, then, he sees her.
She looked as beautiful as ever, with the dress and the accessories he had gifted her over the months of their relationship. But her eyes were different, they seemed dead and filled with tears.
She set her sights on him and seemed to pierce his soul with it and all he wanted to do was scream.
But it did not last long, as on the next second she turns around and leaves the party.
The blond muster some stupid excuse and dashes after her, not caring what anyone would think or say. He underestimates a seasoned woman on heels with a very good reason to run, as he couldn't find her on the hallway by the salon, nor at the entrance hall to the country club.
Nathan would only be able to catch up under a willow, a short walk from the main gateway of the club. "Emily! Emily, wait!" He says, and reaches for her arm, pulling her close and forcing her to face him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came for the free booze. What do you think I was doing?!" The redhead shouts to his face. "I was torturing myself like the idiot I am."
"You're not an idiot." He responded, severe. "Why didn't you call me? I'd come to you."
The woman scoffed, incredulous. "And drop your wedding?"
"I dropped it now, didn't I?" He shoots her a side smirk, trying to dispel her hostility, to no avail.
"Don't do that!" She shouts. "Don't try to charm your way out of this. It won't work."
He sighed. "Okay. But I can honestly say I really missed you."
"It. Won't. Work." She repeated.
The blue-eyed man shrugged. "It's no trick, but believe what you want. Why you're here?"
"I thought I needed to see it for myself." She declared, her voice wavering. "Shock therapy, I guess. To force myself to let go."
"You know you don't have to if you don't want it." He looked pleadingly at the woman, who stood tense and straight like the willow next to them. "I love you. I want you. We can make this work if we really want to."
"Look, Nathan, I get why you did what you did. I get that you left me for Kassidy, and that what we had wouldn't have a future. But don't ask me to be a part of your Boston Brahmin fantasy." She shot him a look. "If you can't be in it for the whole thing, at least let me find someone who is."
The reality of things start to catch up to the young aristocrat. "So you're just gonna leave? You're abandoning me?"
"You left first, Nathan." She coldly accuses. "You left me all those months ago when you said you'd be marrying Kassidy. And I'm not going down with the ship, I'm sorry."
The blond start taking steps backwards, trying to focus his eyesight, blurred by the pain he felt on every muscle of his body.
Seizing the opportunity to leave, Emily looks back at him and says: "I really loved you, you know?"
"I know." He manages to respond. "I love you, too."
"I truly hope Kassidy makes you happy." She said with a melancholic smile on her face.
"She won't." He responded, but the redhead had already left.
Emily ran the rest of the distance to her car, where she hastily took off every piece of jewellery and tried to clean off the make-up, ruined by the tears.
When she calmed herself minimally, she started the engine and drove away.