Emily stood before Paige's house. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. She'd scrounged up enough money for a flight to California to get to her, Paige having flown home immediately after being dismissed from the hospital. She was remotely irked by her absconding but she understood where she was coming from. After all that drama, the last place she herself wanted to be was Rosewood. She sighed contentedly as she eyed the building.
Paige's house, or rather, Paige's parents' house, was a sprawling Tuscan style Mansion, complete with manicured lawns, hedge rows, trellises and water fountains. Emily felt humbled by the grandeur of the estate. It looked like something you'd see in a home-care magazine or an episode of 'cribs'. She always knew Paige's family had money but never really realized just how much.
The building made her feel monumentally small. She realized then she had nothing to offer. Both in a physical sense, not having picked up any housewarming gifts on her way there, and in a broader sense, having nothing to offer Paige, besides her love. She can't promise that things are going to get better in the future, because history has taught her that that's a lie. Someway, somehow, things catch up to you and you're left fending for yourself and your loved ones all over again. It's a vicious endless cycle. The only thing she can promise is that she'll be beside her when that happens and that she'll fight with her. She'll fight FOR her.
She took a bracing breath, half ecstatic, half terrified, as she started gently rapping on the wooden panels of the front door.
It only took about a moment for Paige's mom to answer the door with a hopeful grin that faded all-too-fast when she realized who was standing there. As several years worth of seeing her daughter come home torn up because of the woman that stood before her, started to stir in her mind's eye, she tried to remain calm by reminding herself how much this woman meant to her daughter and out of respect refrained from giving Emily a piece of her mind. She stood instead, stalwart and stony, quirking an eyebrow up expectantly as she waited for the invader to state her business here.
"H-hi Mrs McCullers," Emily stuttered. She could tell from Paige's mother's demeanor that she was already off to a bad start. "I-is Paige in?" she inquired, kicking herself for stumbling over her words so carelessly.
The older woman seemed to hesitate a moment and steal the briefest glances towards the living room. A glance so quick that Emily almost missed it. There was something almost terrifying about the resigned way she answered "No" before shutting the door. Like she almost sympathized with Emily or felt bad for her in some sort of way. While the woman had never been her biggest proponent, she didn't exactly hate her guts either, but the way she responded had this somber finality that Emily felt like she couldn't challenge, even though she didn't believe her for a second.
Something was up with Paige, and whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
Emily was so scared that she was tempted to sneak into Paige's room and try to snoop around to figure out what was wrong. And she almost would have if Paige's father hadn't just come home from work and upon seeing her, tried to back out of the drive-way as quickly as possible, accidentally knocking over Paige's bicycle in the process.
"Mr McCullers!" Emily called out. Even though the cat was out of the bag, Nick stood firm and refused to respond to Emily's lecture.
"Mr McCullers, please, I've come all the way from Rosewood. I NEED to see Paige, wont you please let me see her, I'm begging you!" Emily tried, desperation showing in her voice. The older man was affected but there was nothing he could do for the girl. He picked his shopping bag out of the passenger's seat and marched up the driveway to his house, as steely eyed and stony faced as his wife. The only concession he did make was when he 'accidentally' handed her a small napkin from "Grégoire Restaurant" with a hastily scrawled pick-up reminder for 5:30pm on his way in. He gave her a meaningful look as her turned to close the door behind him. Even though his eyes were dry, Emily could tell he'd been crying and suffering many a sleepless night.
She nodded her understanding as the door was once again shut in her face and while she felt frustrated and there was a substantial ache in her general heart area, she had at least a little hope for her presumed meeting tomorrow, with Mr McCullers, at the restaurant.