The Night After

"But no matter how many times they warn me, it's just too late because I'm falling in love with you."

Emily groaned, grabbed a pillow and put it over her face. Why did she drink so much last night? Why did she tell Sonny that she was falling in love with him?

"What am I doing? I know what his life is about. Getting involved with him would be a terrible mistake. Besides, I'm just a friend to him. I'm never going to be able to look him in the eyes ever again. I need to move back in with my family where I belong. I don't belong here. Sonny doesn't really need me anymore. I just need to go home where I can concentrate on going to school and becoming a doctor like I've always wanted."

Emily gets up out of bed, opens the closet, and pulls out a suitcase.

Downstairs, Sonny is trying to get some paperwork done. After reading the same paragraph for the fifth time, he pushes the paperwork away and gets up.

"I can't believe Carly was right. All this time she kept telling me that Emily was falling in love with me and I assumed it was jealousy. I never imagined in a million years that Carly saw what I couldn't, or didn't want to see. God! How could I have missed this?"

Sonny walks over to the back door and stares towards the guest house.

"What am I supposed to do now? If I let her stay, she might think there's a chance for us. But if I make her go, she might think that I don't care about her at all, and that's not true. She's really been great to me and my kids. I owe a lot to her. To be honest, this place lights up when she's here. I really want her to stay."

Sonny sits down on the couch, deep in thought.

Upstairs, Emily gets dressed. She puts all her clothes and things into her suitcase. Inside her heart is breaking. She doesn't really want to leave, but her confession last night has left her no choice. If she stayed, she'd only feel embarrassed every time she was around Sonny. It's bad enough that when he looks at her, she feels as though she's going to melt into a pool of mush on the carpet.

"Okay Emily, it's time to get while the getting is good. If you leave now, you have an opportunity to let Sonny forget you said a thing. Maybe in a year he won't even remember me being a part of his life or that I confessed my feelings for him. Now go downstairs and tell him you're leaving, but don't give him a chance to say anything or try to change your mind."

Emily takes a deep breath, goes into the hallway, quietly closes the door and heads downstairs to tell Sonny goodbye.

Sonny is brought out of deep thought by the sound of Emily coming down the stairs. He gets up and turns to look at her. She holds a hand up to stop him.

"Please let me say what I have to say and get it over with. Don't interrupt me because I only want to say this once. I can't stay here. I really need to go back home so that I can study to become a doctor without any more interruptions. I have enjoyed spending time with you, Michael and Morgan. If the boys ever need me, please ask them to call me. I don't want you to try and stop me or change my mind. I'm doing what is best for me. I hope that you can understand and respect that."

Having said her piece, Emily walks out of Sonny's home. She gets in her car and drives off, and doesn't look back. Had she looked back, she might have seen Sonny standing in his front door looking after her with a hurt and somewhat confused look on his face.