1963
"Is this where you take all the ladies?" Emily teased, leaning over to Richard's ear so he would be sure to hear her over the swing band on the stage in front of them. Her hand rested on his shoulder as she did this and the other rested on the table top. As if to answer her question he gave her a soft chuckle and took her hand from the table and entwined it with his own. That was a no, Emily knew him well enough by now to understand that type of response. She watched his attention gaze back up to that stage. The band stood with their instruments in hand and played tunes that were so very appealing to the minds eye that Richard seemed to be in a trance. He sat watching their every movement, not making a single one of his own. The way the mans fingers moved along the trumpet at a mesmerizing pace, the way each member gently tapped a foot to the rhythm of their own instrument, and how in sync they were with one another. Seeing Richard this way added on to the long list of reasons as to why she was in love with him. She felt immensely grateful to him for allowing her to see this side of him, a side so few ever had the chance to see. A small smile played at her lips as a thought crossed her mind, a thought she was not completely sure of why she hadn't thought of it sooner. She slid her free hand down his arm and replaced the hand he held with it, entwining their fingers, she leaned over once more and whispered in his ear.
"Dance with me?" she asked, a smile playing at her lips. He flicked his eyes over to hers and looked confused for a moment, he hadn't been paying much attention to anything but the music and wasn't quite sure if he had heard her correctly or not. Seeing his confusion made her chuckle and so she repeated herself gently, "Dance with me, Richard?"
The smile tugging at the corner of his Emily's lips, and the way her eyes twinkled from the stage lights, and the love shown on her face drove his heart crazy. These moments reminded him of how much he loved this woman and how he wanted nothing more than to always be at her side. She was his angel sent down from heaven especially for him. He knew that she was his future and that one day soon he would ask her to be his wife. He prayed that when that day came she would say yes.
"I would love to, Emmy," he replied looking into her brown eyes and he leaned forward to kiss her lips, her sweet perfume clouding his mind. She was a vision and thank God she was his vision, she was all he ever wanted to see. Each morning he wanted to wake up with her, each day he wanted to be by her side making her happy, and to go to bed with her each night.
As they danced to the soft jazz that filled the room, their bodies pressed against each others, the only thought that crossed each of their minds was that they never wanted this moment to end. The way she felt in his arms, the way he could feel her heart beat, and how her head rested against his chest. These were the little things that made his heart fill with joy. Something in him had changed the moment he laid eyes on her, and he was glad that he was at that party all those nights ago. As the song progressed the tempo sped up slightly and Richard led Emily across the dance floor elegantly, but in a way to keep up with the beat. Emily was a dancer herself, and he often had to keep up with her, but tonight she was seemingly letting her lead him with no objections, which was a rarity for her. The song came to a close sooner than the pair would have liked, but that didn't stop Richard from spinning his girl around the floor and giving her an elegant dip to finish off their dance. He became lost in her eyes as he held her close and slowly lifted her back up.
"Richard?" a small, but familiar, voice appeared as the song came to an end.
"Pennilyn," Richard's carefree and spontaneous demeanor seemed to vanish in a single moment as he took his eyes from Emily to his bride-to-be.
Emily furrowed her brow as she saw Richard's face pale by the lady's appearance, a lady she had never seen or heard about before. Her giggles subsided and she pushed the locks of hair from her face, turning to see who this woman was that disrupted their dance. "Pennilyn?" she questioned looking to Richard and then the woman who stood before them.
The ride home had been silent. Richard hadn't even dared turn on the radio for some light distraction. He knew he had messed up big time, but he didn't regret it for the most part. Of course, he was filled with regret for hurting his beloved Emily and he hadn't wanted to harm Pennilyn either, but he didn't regret falling in love. Pennilyn had been assigned to him by his parents. From the moment they were introduced he was obligated to court her, woo her, and shower her with gifts that would please her and their families. Reservations were made each weekend by his parents to take her to the nicest restaurants in the city. After a proper amount of time a wedding had been set, invitations mailed out and venues had been rented, everything was in order, everything but their love for each other. He and Pennilyn had discussed their feelings of this arranged marriage over a dinner one night and neither one of them loved each other in the way a husband and wife should. Despite their feelings towards their unfortunate situation, neither of them were in a position to call off the wedding. Richard, up until he had met Emily, had not found anyone that he had any interest in spending more than a night with. Pennilyn was still under her family's roof and going against her parents will was never an easy task for her, especially with nowhere else to go if things went awry.
Despite everything, Richard in this moment only cared that he had harmed his Emily. The one woman in the world with whom he had felt any true intimate feelings towards was the one woman he had hurt most in this world. He should have told her when they first met. He should have broken it off with Pennilyn that night after the party when he had gone home and Emily was the only thing on his mind. He should have done everything differently, but he hadn't and now he was faced with the consequences.
He hadn't even come to a complete stop when he pulled onto her family's guest house driveway before Emily was getting out of the car as quickly as she could manage. He turned the car off as soon as he parked it and immediately got out to follow her. Hearing him behind her she quickened her pace and showed no sign of slowing down.
"Emily, please stop," he begged her as he jogged a bit to catch up to her. "Emily, just let me explain," he pleaded and nearly tripped over his own feet when she came to a sharp halt and turned on him.
"Whatever you think we had is over, Richard Gilmore," she snapped at him, she was seething, he actually had her seething. "Don't you dare try to contact me in anyway! No phone calls or letters, no sending your friends to talk to me, and don't even try going through mine!" she shouted at him trying with all of her might to hold in her tears. "I want nothing to do with you! Do you hear me? Nothing!" she snapped at him. He had broken her heart, her spirit, and had played with her mind. How could he? The only man she had ever opened herself up to and of course he had hurt her. How could he not have? She had given him every opportunity, left herself open. Of course he would have taken advantage, and it was just a shame for him that woman had ruined his big plans before he had been able to get his way and take advantage of her.
"Emily, you don't understand," Richard protested and walked to her. He would not loose her like this, not without doing everything in his power to win her over.
"Don't take another step," she hissed and looked away. "I never want to see you again," and with that she was gone, out of Richard's life with no chances of a reconciliation. That was it, everything they had together was out the window and Richard couldn't have felt more empty than he did in this moment.
