Disclaimer: I have no knowledge of running a company or how real estate works so let's just pretend that it's accurate, for the story's stake.
This story is going to be different from the last one. The pace is different and there are going to be a lot of gaps in the story. The reason why is that I want to create space 'in between the lines.' I want to give some chunks so the readers can assume, interpret, and daydream about what happened between the time gaps.
So enjoy!
"Remember Stephen Martin?" Spencer pointed to a mop haired kid in their high school yearbook.
"Who?" Emily asked, trying to remember that person.
"He was the one, in seventh year, that had a crush on you, but he didn't have the nerves to ask you out. Instead he asked Alex to ask you, only to find out Alex asked you out for himself!"
"Oh my god! I remember him now!" Emily smacked her forehead with her hand and laughed. "He was so upset when he found out that he ignored me for weeks. It was so uncomfortable in Mr. Barnes' class. Wow. I had no idea he had a crush on me!"
"We should send him an invite." Spencer said with an amused grin.
"No!" Emily exclaimed, still laughing at the memory.
Hanna chimed in. "I second that!"
"Guys! No!" Emily said, knowing that her friends were only teasing her. "That would be so awkward."
Aria nodded. "I agree! All of your past ex's or anyone during your awkward phrase should be crossed off that list."
Spencer made a face. "How about all the people from Rosewood High gets cross off the list as well? I mean, do you really want some of them to come to your wedding?"
"Come on, there were a few nice ones." Emily said, defending their high school classmates.
"Who?!" Aria asked, making a face. "Name one."
"For example...Lucas."
"Oh please. He was an introvert that why's he seemed nice. He barely said more than two sentences to me and we had three classes together...our entire senior year!" Spencer rolled her eyes.
"He's a social butterfly now." Hanna said, as a matter of fact. "He definitely has changed a lot. You should see him now. He's so outgoing and rich! The nerdy ones are always the millionaires at the high school reunions. I'm telling you."
"You guys have kept in touch?" Spencer asked. She had no idea that Hanna was friends with Lucas.
"Yeah." Hanna shrugged, nonchalantly. "Like what Emily just said, he's one of the few nice ones."
Emily smiled, triumphantly.
Spencer rolled her eyes again. "So yes or no on Stephen here?"
"No." Emily said immediately.
Aria crossed that name off the list and looked to the next person in the yearbook. "Okay so up next...um."
Aria's words fell and Hanna looked over her shoulder to see who's name that made Aria stop mid sentence.
"Paige McCullers." Hanna mumbled, glancing over at Emily to gage the other girl's reaction.
All the girls looked up from whatever they were doing and turned their attention to Emily.
Emily felt her face turning red as the spotlight was on her now.
Paige McCullers.
Emily hasn't thought about that name in a long time. Not because she didn't want to but because it was easier to not think about Paige over the years. If she did, she won't be here today. If she did, the first thing she would have done, when she got back to the states, was to find Paige and she couldn't do that. She knew that she shouldn't because she would be throwing away everything she has worked for. Her mother would be disappointed in her. Her father would be disappointed in her. Emily couldn't do that to them so she kept her head down and studied hard in college. She made sure her focus was on the degree. When she graduated, the looks on her parents' face told her that she made the right decision.
Paige has crossed her mind many times and her face has invaded Emily's dreams on multiple occasions. Every time she wakes up from her dreams, Emily felt in ache in her chest that she couldn't explain and she wanted to cry. When Emily met Kelly, for the first time, that arch slowly went away. As Emily and Kelly grew closer, that ache disappeared and Emily was relieved. It has been two years since the last time she has heard Paige's name and now hearing it again, Emily felt like it was a water gate waiting to burst.
Spencer spoke up first, breaking Emily's train of thoughts. "We'll just go ahead and skip that name. So who's next on the list, Aria?"
"Oh! Um..." The short brunette haired girl quickly looked down at the yearbook to find the spot where she left off.
"Have you spoken to Paige yet, Em?" Hanna asked, looking directly at Emily.
Spencer hissed. "Hanna!"
Emily tried to find her voice. "Um...no. The last time I've seen her was before my trip."
The water was trickling in as Emily tried to keep her composure. Emily sighed as the guilt resurfaced.
Spencer hissed at Hanna again. "Shit, Hanna. She's upset now."
Hanna shrugged. "I'm sorry but I have always wondered about that! I knew how much Paige meant to Emily and since that name came up, I though it was a good time to ask."
"Bad timing." Aria whispered.
"I'm sorry." Hanna said, sincerely.
Emily looked down at her hands and said. "Sometimes I wonder how she's doing."
"You're joking, right?" Aria asked. "You don't know? Hanna, how come you didn't tell her?"
Hanna made a face, signaling Aria to stop.
"I mean, I live in a big city and I never get the chance to come home to ask around..."
"Em." Aria said. "Paige also lives in the city, the same one as you."
"What?" Emily breathed out.
"She got out early and lived in California for a little bit. Her father got ill so she moved back to this side of the country and now she's running the family company in New York City. Don't you read the papers there? She's always in the news."
Emily asked. "How did you know all that?"
Hanna said. "Em. She's the Monopoly Heir."
Emily made a face, not recognizing what Hanna was referring to. "What?"
Hanna looked at her pointedly.
Suddenly it clicked in Emily's head. "The same socialite you're always talking about?"
"There's only one. It's Paige McCullers."
"How come you never said anything?!"
"And how appropriate is that? Especially in front of Waltz?" Hanna explained. "I thought you knew about it. She's always in the paper! She's literally the person everyone, in that city, talks about. She's kind of a big deal, Em."
Emily shook her head; still don't know how to process the information. How come she never knew this? Paige was living in the same city as her the entire time and Emily never knew!
"I can't...believe this." Emily said, shaken. "What?"
Hanna rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Look, it's an easy miss for you Em. You never cared for gossip or celebrity talk. Plus, we live in a huge city, where there are tons of people so what are the chance that you knew that Paige has been there for the last couple of years?"
"I feel like I've been living under a rock." Emily said, shocked.
"You were! It's more like you've been hustling to get by." Hanna corrected. "You'll always so busy and so focused on yourself that its difficult to find time to relax and do other things. I mean, I know we always found time for girl's night, but for a while there, you were a busy bee and it was hard to make plans with you. You know, small town girl in a big city kind of struggles. "
"I need a drink." Emily said as she stood up abruptly, walked over to the fridge to search for what she was looking for. She needed more than a drink. She needed the entire bottle so she can forget everything she just heard.
Fuck. I have really been living under a rock!
The elevator doors opened and Paige was still looking down at her phone, reading through a couple of important emails. Paige woke up extremely early and decided that a run, around town at 4 in the morning, was her best option to help her relax.
When Paige got out of prison, her sleeping habits were really bad. She had a difficult time falling asleep and when she finally drifted off, she would wake up soaked in sweat. Most of the time, her nightmare consists of previous bad experiences she has encountered while doing her time and once she was awake, she would be afraid to close her eyes again. Therefore, the best solution was to go for a run. It would exhaust her to the point where she would just passed out for a couple of hours.
Paige hasn't been resting well since her arrival to Rosewood; she decided that she should go for 15 miles before returning back to her room. Usually her runs are pretty lengthy, but she wanted to make sure that her run, this time, would really wear her out.
Walking out, without looking up, Paige bumped into someone and knocked a bunch of papers out of their hands.
"I'm sorry." Paige apologized. She bent down to help collect the scattered pieces of paper. Paige pulled out her ear buds and giving the papers to the person, but when she finally looked up, Paige froze. She stood still, staring at the red haired lady.
"Ms. Marin."
"Paige?" Ashley Marin looked at her, surprised. "I haven't seen you in ages. I didn't know that you were back in town!"
Paige smiled shyly. Shit, she really didn't want to run into a familiar face this early in her trip. Now she was scrambling to find ways to dig her self out of this one. What lies should she tell Ashley?
"I'm actually just into town and staying for a brief time. I'm only here for business." Paige said.
"Oh. How have you been? Gosh...when was the last time I have seen you?" Ashley continued, making Paige more uncomfortable standing in the lobby. What if other familiar face spots her? Then her cover would be blown and Paige didn't want that.
Paige smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. I need to get this run in because I have somewhere I need to be this evening."
"Oh I'm sorry. I'm holding you up." Ashley smiled. "Well, it was great running into you. If you need anything during your stay, let me know."
Paige looked confusingly at Ashley, making the other female smiled again.
Ashley pointed to her nametag. "I'm the manager here."
Paige looked down at her nametag, reading: Ashley Marin. Right underneath was her title, reading: Hotel Manager. Shit, another thing to add some complexity of Paige's stay. Since Paige was staying at the Radley for her entire trip and Ashley is the manager of this establishment, Paige has nowhere to hide. Someone from her past will surely knows she's in town.
"I didn't know." Was all Paige could come up with as she racked her brain to come up with something else to say. "But yes, I will let you know if I need anything else. Thank you."
"It was great running into you, Paige." Ashley said. "I'll see you around."
Fuck, I hope not.
Paige thought as she smiled politely and walked away.
Before she could fully walk away, Paige turned her heels and called out for Ashley.
"Ms. Marin!"
"Yeah."
"One thing." Paige said. "Can you not tell anyone that I'm here?"
"Oh?" Ashley looked confused.
"I want to lay low. I need some time to fix up some business and I'll be out of here." Paige explained. "The last time I was in this town, I left with an awful impression. I just don't want to cause any trouble while I'm here."
Ashley nodded, completely understanding where Paige was coming from. "Absolutely. I understand."
"Thank you." Paige turned and jogged out of the doors. She needed to get her business done and get out of town. It's a matter of time before she runs into another familiar face and the last person she wanted to run into was Emily Fields.
Emily played with her food as Paige still remained on her mind for the rest of the evening. Pushing her potatoes to one side of her plate, Emily absent-mindedly zoned out regardless the conversation that was going on around her.
"You okay, babe?"
"Huh?" Emily answered, looking up at her fiancée.
Kelly put down her fork and turned her full attention to Emily. "Are you okay? You have been quiet since we have arrived. Are you not feeling well?"
Kelly was Kelly. She was always so gentle and caring with her words. Emily met Kelly one Thursday night during Kelly's academy graduation party. It was a big night, Emily remembered. They have closed off a section of the restaurant for Kelly's party and it happened to include Emily's section. It was a busy night as drink orders came in, one after the other, and Emily was having a tough time keeping up.
Emily has only been bartending for six weeks when she landed the job at the Monarch. She was overwhelmed by the flow of the restaurant and usually, she has another person there to give her a hand. However, that night, Brad called off sick leaving Emily to fend for her self.
Flashback
Emily heard the orders printing as she grabbed a couple more cups with one hand and using her other hand, she threw straws into the line of drinks, waiting on the bar top.
"Fuck my life." Emily muttered.
After successfully, lining up another row of cups, Emily turned to grab the receipts out of the printer. However, someone beat her to it. Standing there in her section stood a brunette girl. She was tall and slender, almost the same build as Emily. Her long dark hair was pulled to one side and she had on an ivory dress that hugged her curves very well.
She looked up at Emily and smiled. "Need a hand?"
Where did this girl come from? Emily gulped, feeling suddenly nervous by this unexpected person in her area. The girl was pretty, Emily told herself as she returned a smile.
The girl smirked and moved next to Emily, looking down at the bar. "Okay, let's crank them out boss."
When the girl smirked, Emily felt her heart dropped into her stomach. She bashfully turned away, astounded by her reaction. Emily was puzzled. This strange girl suddenly showed up behind the bar and now, all Emily wanted to do was run away and hide.
Get it together, Emily!
Emily cleared her throat and found her voice. "Can I see the receipts?"
The girl nodded and hand them out so Emily could read the orders.
"Um...7 J&Cs. 2G&Ts. And one Pinot." Emily smiled, amused. "Interesting order."
"So 7 Jack and Cokes, 2 gin and tonics, and one glass of Pinot?"
Emily looked up, impressed. "Yes."
The other girl winked at Emily. "I'm a quick learner."
Emily felt her face blushed and she looked away, trying to play it off cool. However, she knew she was losing it as she heard the other girl chuckle. Dammit! Even her chuckle is cute! What was happening to her? She has never felt this way in a while, flustered by another girl.
"Okay, here's the order." The girl called out, lining them up on the bar. "Come and get them boys!"
Emily watched in amazement as each male lined up patiently and waited to grab his drinks.
"Thanks Cap!" The last boy said, holding up his drink to the sky in a gesture.
Emily eyed the other girl, watching her reaction.
The other girl smiled and replied. "No worries."
"Cap?" Emily asked as she wiped down the counter top. "Like in Captain?"
The other girl nodded. "Yes."
"So this is your class?" Emily guessed, still not looking at the girl.
"Yes."
"So I'm assuming it's your celebration since the entire class is composed of guys."
"Yes." The other girl smiled, amused with where Emily was going with the conversation.
"Why are you helping me if this is your party?" Emily asked. "You should be celebrating."
"Well, I figured you needed help." The other girl replied.
Emily smiled. "I could've handled it."
"I'm sure you can, but I saw an opportunity." The other girl said.
"Which is?"
"An opportunity to help out a girl I find super attractive and I couldn't stop staring at...all night." The other girl moved towards Emily. "So it was really a golden moment I couldn't pass up."
"I see." Emily turned towards the other girl.
"I'm Kelly, by the way." She extended a hand, waiting for Emily to take it.
Emily looked over at her father and fiancée. It warmed her heart every time, she sees the two of them getting along. It was very important to her that her parents and her significant other got along. In Emily's book, it was a deal breaker if that was not the case.
When Emily first brought Kelly home to have dinner with her parents, she was beyond nervous. What was Wayne going to say? How was Pam going to react? Is everyone going to hit it off? Or is it going to be disastrous?
Her parents were not difficult people but they have intimated away many of Emily's past girlfriends. Emily really wanted her parents to like Kelly because being together with Kelly gave Emily a feeling that she hasn't felt in a long time and she didn't want her parents to scare Kelly off. She knew that her parents wanted the best for her and sometimes they can come off very demanding, but Emily knew that her parents meant well.
When her parents first met Kelly, her father was the first one to be impressed by Kelly, which caught Emily off guard. She was sure that her father was the more difficult one to warm up to. However, he was thoroughly impressed with Kelly's accomplishments in the law enforcement world. Her mother had her doubts, but as time passed, Kelly warmed up to Pam easily after Pam witnessed how happy Emily was.
"Is it the food, honey? You don't like the roast I made." Pam asked, concerned. "I knew not to change the recipe for it."
"Oh...no, mom." Emily quickly said. "Everything is great. The food is really great. I think I'm just exhausted from the packing and the drive. It's settling down on me."
"Oh honey." Pam said. "You should finish up and rest. A couple more hours of sleep will do you good."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Emily agreed and stood up. "Excuse me."
Wayne looked over at Kelly and said. "We'll find a day and plan this hunting trip. Go and tend to Emily."
"Of course sir." Kelly said, smiling back.
Paige typed in 'Ashley Marin' into the system and an indicator appeared on the screen.
Paige looked up and nodded subtly, pretending to pay attention at her own meeting, but she wasn't. She was trying to find more dirt on Ashley Marin. It wasn't really dirt, but it was more information that could help Paige filled in the gaps of what has happened in Rosewood over the last seven years.
The screen showed a link and Paige clicked on it. She scrolled down on the page, skipping over useless information before something caught her eye. It seems like Ashley Marin has shares invested in the Radley, as well as Ezra Fitzgerald. They, both, have invested in the hotel since it got renovated.
Impressive, she thought.
Who would have thought about turning that dump into a luxury hotel? It was an abandon building when Paige came to Rosewood. Now Paige was staying in a suite on the top floor on the building. It was a good investment on Ashley and Ezra's part because it was something that Paige would have done if she had an opportunity of flipping commercial real estate.
Paige then typed in Radley in the search bar, wanting more information on this property. It was converted five years ago and sold two years later, doubling it's value. However, the stocks in the management company seems to be having a difficult time keeping afloat as more and more investors has pulled out of the company. Shame, Paige thought. That was a bad sign that the company could potentially float belly up if they can't find more solid financial backing.
"So what do you think, Paige?"
Paige hummed, looking up puzzled. She totally forgot that she was currently in the middle of a weekly meeting with her advisors. Usually, she could last the entire meeting without ever giving an input, but today, one of her seniors asked her a question.
"Um...about what?"
The older gentleman looked disappointed when he had to repeat his statement. "I think our next move should be focused on smaller properties in the city. I mean, properties are hot in Mid town. We go in, put money into some of the buildings, and put it on the market for 15% more than market value. Simple."
Paige looked at the presentation and back at the senior. "And how much of a profit will this move generate for us?"
"I predict an increase of 5% from last year if we purchase a couple of buildings."
Paige nodded, mowing over the proposal. "And how many times have we done this?"
The gentleman looks confused over Paige's question. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you mean?"
"How many times have we gone in, fixed something that needed a little repair, and flipped it? When are we going to take risks and take on something that requires a full transformation?" Paige asked. "I want to take more risk and go in after larger projects. I don't want to do these small projects anymore. We have done them and I want to take the company in a new direction."
"Okay." The gentleman said. "What do you have in mind?"
"I've been staying at this hotel and I think with a little bit more money invested in it, we can turn this hotel into something spectacular. Rosewood is one of the fastest growing suburban neighborhoods outside of Philadelphia so why not take advantage of the market? " Paige said. "We'll buy it and transform it to a hotel that offers people more than what it can offer now. We'll redesign the entire interior and add more amenities. We'll gut it and rebuilt a five star restaurant. I also want to put in a lounge, maybe up scale bar in the place. There's so much untapped potential, that it would be stupid on my part to not do something."
The gentleman nodded, following Paige's plan. "It's risky."
Paige turned around and smirked. "You won't win big if you keep playing it safe. It's the first rule of business."
The meadow looked more beautiful than the last time Emily laid in it. The soft grass cushioned her body as she sighed with contentment as a wondering pair of lips peppered her neck. Emily moved her hands, intertwining her fingers in the soft hair as she heard a low hum. She loved that sound. She would be able to recognize that sound anywhere. Emily was sure of it.
A hand slid up her arm and tugged it down. The hand slowly closed around her wrist and pinned it on one side of Emily's head. She chuckled as she felt the pressure of the body pressing down on hers. Emily breathed in the intoxicating scent of peaches. The moment was totally bliss.
"Can we just stay here?" Paige smirked down at Emily, keeping their proximity close.
Emily smiled back. She was sure that her facial expression gave away how she felt about Paige's question.
"Is that a yes?" Paige asked, nuzzling her neck again.
Emily snaked her free arm up and wrapped it around Paige's shoulder, pulling the other girl in for a tight squeeze. If only Emily could get her way, she would stay in this meadow with Paige forever.
"Yes...if only you'll be here with me." Emily said, teasingly.
Paige peaked over the other girl and kissed her soundly. "There's no where I would rather be."
"Really?"
"Really. Where ever you go, I'll be there...if you want me there."
"You promise?" Emily always loved hearing that. Especially from some one like Paige, who she knew never show any signs of sweetness to anyone else but her. She was truly the lucky one.
"Cross my heart." Paige smirked, leaning down to kiss Emily on the lips.
Emily smiled and leaned in. "God, I lo..."
Paige stopped, inches away from Emily's face. She knew that Emily stopped in mid sentence and she knew what she has heard, but she wanted to hear it when Emily said it straight to her face. "Go on."
Emily blushed. She knew that she got caught up in the moment and the words just naturally fell out of her mouth. She has tried so hard to hold on to those words for some time now and she was afraid that Paige didn't feel the same way.
"Nothing." Emily lied, looking away. "I didn't say anything."
"You're a liar." Paige chuckled. "Sounds to me you're were going to say those three words."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"You're hearing things."
"Why are you lying right now?" Paige asked, looking down at a frustrated Emily.
Emily swallowed. She knew that Paige wasn't going to let this go.
Paige inched closer, touching her nose with Emily's. She breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with that delicious smell that she loves so much. She moved a hand up the other girl's neck and cupped one side of her face, making sure Emily won't turn her face away when Paige is talking to her. "I know you feel the same way I do."
Emily swallowed again. Her heartbeat was thumping against her chest as she could feel Paige's breath on her face.
"And what's that?" Emily whispered, voice trembling as she tightens her hands around Paige's waist.
"I love you, Emily Fields. So much. And I know you love me too." Paige whispered back tenderly, looking directly into Emily's eyes, searching for a reaction from the girl lying under her.
Emily opened her mouth. "I..."
"Oh shit!"
Emily jolted awake as the combination of the bed bump and a loud voice yanked her back to reality. Emily sat up abruptly, trying to even her breathing as she remembered where she was and realizing that she was only dreaming.
It's only a dream.
"I'm sorry, baby. Did I wake you? I didn't mean to. I just kind of hit my foot on the end of the bed here."
Emily buried her face in her hands. She couldn't believe that she just had a dream about Paige. She has not had one of those dreams in a longer time and it shook her that she just had one where she was going to uttered those words that she has never told Paige before.
"Hey. Hey. I'm sorry that I scared you."
Emily didn't know what to say. She just went along with it so she doesn't have to provide the truth "I'm okay. What time is it?"
Kelly sat down on Emily's side. She could clearly see how distressed Emily was. Kelly reached out and tucked a strand on hair behind Emily's ear. She was relieved when she felt Emily relaxing against her touch.
"It's 4:30, baby." Kelly said gently. "Go back to sleep, okay? I'll see you tonight. We're still meeting up with your parents for dinner?"
Emily raked her eyes over Kelly. There was definitely something about a person in uniform. She never thought she was that type, but she couldn't help feeling more attracted to Kelly, especially when the girl was in uniform.
"Yes." Emily said, biting her bottom lip. Her arm wondered around Kelly's neck. "They absolutely adore you."
"Well, I adore them as well." Kelly chuckled, leaning in for a kiss. "But not as much as I adore you."
"Good." Emily smirked, kissing Kelly back passionately. She pulled back and whispered in Kelly's ear. "You know, I always had a thing for you in uniform."
Kelly laughed, pulling Emily's arm down from her shoulder. "I got to run or I'll be late."
Emily pulled back and smirked. "So be late."
Kelly smiled. "Baby, I'm serious."
"So am I." Emily challenged.
"I really want the promotion at work. It would be great for us if I got it while we're moving. A little extra would go a long way. So be a good girl and don't tempt me."
Kelly sighed and stood up because she knew that if she stayed sitting, Emily would have won the challenge and she would be late for work. She bended down and kiss Emily's forehead. "Bye Em. I'll see you tonight."
Emily huffed watching Kelly walk away. She wasn't sure if she was frustrated that Kelly left her hanging or she woke up feeling frustrated and she needed relief. Regardless, it left her with an uncomfortable feeling that she didn't know how to process. Waking up this morning left her feeling breathless. Suddenly she has a dream about Paige out of nowhere and the wave of nostalgia washed over her.
Emily fell back, engulfing in the large bed. It has been seven years and she has happily moved on. So why did she have a dream about Paige in that way? It wasn't even a normal dream. If it were, Emily wouldn't be so bothered by it. But considering what the dream entailed, Emily didn't know how to decipher it.
Paige McCullers.
She said in her head as she rolled over to her side.
Paige McCullers.
Why are you back in my head, she wondered.