Chapter Three

A/N: Thank you to theloneshadoww for being my first reviewer.

Emily clamped her eyelids tight together, trying to block out the sunlight that was streaming through the open curtains. For a moment, she wondered why she hadn't shut her blinds in her bedroom, but she quickly realised the reason for this. She wasn't at home; she was lying on a sofa in the Artemis suite.

Immediately, memories of the party and the film flooded back to her. The staff had gathered together under the pretence of celebrating the anniversary of her becoming a true part of the team, but she had known all along that they were simply trying to take her mind off of Sam. They had known that she knew, of course they had, but they still persisted to try and help her. 'Looks like I really am a part of the team.' she thought. 'They'd have to care a lot to do that for me.'

However, as much as she wished to say their idea had worked, it had not diminished the pain of loss to the extent they would have wished it to have done. The ache still remained in her chest, not as weighty as it had been before, but present nonetheless.

'I can't believe I'm being this stupid, crying over Sam.' she thought, shaking her head in annoyance at her behaviour. 'I hardly knew him. He was just a guy that I worked with. I've worked with hundreds of guys over the years, it doesn't mean I should be so shaken when they left. I wasn't like this when Charlie left for his new job.'

But Sam was different, and Emily knew it. He was different to the hundreds of men she had seen in the industry over the years. He was kind, he was down to earth, he was charming, handsome, funny... he was just Sam.

"I have to move on." she sighed to herself, her voice weaker than she would have wanted it to be, particularly when she was trying so hard to convince herself that she should do so. "Sam has Juliet now. It's time I found myself someone new."

And so the woman prepared herself for the day, dressing in a blue and silver dress that she guessed had been left for her by Ben or Tanya, before making her way down to the staff office for the morning meeting.

When she reached the door of the office, Emily paused, listening to the conversations going on within the room. The wood muffled the words a little, but a few of them reached her ears as she pressed the side of her head to the door.

"Emily... upset... Sam and Juliet... love..."

At the sound of the last word, she could not take it any longer, and pushed open the door, trying to act as if she had not heard anything they had just said. Immediately, the room fell silent, and several of the staff looked down at the table, trying to avoid eye contact with the Head of PR.

"Morning, everyone." she greeted, plastering a smile onto her face, not caring particularly whether or not it was believable. She received a few murmured greetings in response, but still no one met her eye. "Now, I know that we've lost contact with our owner, and we've lost our General Manager, but that doesn't mean we can just stop. We still have guests coming through our doors, which means we still have a job to do. This week alone, we have five celebrities staying, and after our success with the royal wedding, people are starting to book to have their receptions right here in the hotel. We all have plenty to be doing, and there's no excuse to stop just because we've lost two members of our staff."

It was only when Emily finished her speech that she realised just how much she had sounded like Juliet used to do, when she had given the address in the mornings. It was strange to not have her telling them all what to do, trying to motivate them after problematic guests, invasive reporters and sleepless nights. 'But someone will have to do it.' she thought, knowing how difficult it would have been for them to cope without that reassurance. 'We can't cope without a General Manager; Babylon will fall apart.'

She quickly realised that her eyes had glazed with the intensity of her thoughts, and she focused them again, to see her colleagues staring at her. The look in their eyes gave her the idea that they had been thinking the same as she had. 'Oh no.' she thought, suddenly recognising the purpose behind the glint in Tony's eyes.

"We need a new GM." Tony pointed out, and Emily began to shake her head subtly, knowing exactly what he was about to ask her. His eyes moved to her, and he noticed her movement, however subtle she may have tried to make it. "Emily, you know the most about the hotel, you know almost everything there is to know. You don't have to keep the job; we just need someone to keep the hotel going while we look for a new Manager."

"I don't know, Tony." she sighed, still not convinced. Her father's words rang in her ears. It's time you moved up in the world. Though she had now made her peace with the man, she still did not want for him to think he had been right to advise her about her career.

"Em, please." Ben asked her, and there was a tone of pleading in his voice that finally forced Emily to accept his point. It would not be long, after all, until they found a replacement, and then she would be free to carry on her job as she wanted to do.

"Alright." she told him, and her colleagues shared another glance, this time one of victory, before they made their way off to their posts. They dispersed until only Ben remained. His eyes searched hers, looking for a trace of the sadness he had found there the previous evening. But Emily had always been a decent actress; she managed to hide her emotions well enough, and Ben made his way out to his desk, leaving his friend all alone.

"I don't need Sam anymore." she whispered to herself, a smile coming to her face as she felt for the first time that it might be true. "He has his new life, back with Juliet, and I have mine, with my friends, here at Babylon."

A/N: Please review, so I knew if you're still reading!