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Chapter Four
Emily downed her fourth glass of water since they had cut for break. As soon as the cameras stopped flming she jumped out of her chair and ran into the greenroom backstage. The stare she gave everyone silently told them not to follow her.
She needed time to think this through, and she needed to do it by herself. Morgan had just said he loved her. On TV. In front of the whole team. And millions of people. And she still had no idea how she felt.
She knew she had hurt Morgan by avoiding him but she needed space. They could talk about it later, although later was bound to come sooner than both of them would have wanted. This should be a private talk about the two of them and their relationship, but instead they were going to talk about it on national television. Great.
An announcement came on saying that they would be back on stage in two minutes. Anther wave of nerves hit Emily as she heard that, so she had another glass of water. It was calming her. She finished her glass, took a deep breath, and walked back on outside.
She saw Morgan at the edge of the stage, and they locked eyes for a few seconds before Emily looked down at her feet. She wasn't ready yet. He was about to walk over and say something to her but they were suddenly called back onstage. They all took the seats they were sitting on previously and the cameras started filming again.
Morgan glanced over to Emily but she was still avoiding eye contact. Damn, he had messed it up. But he couldn't help it, that bastard Bennett made him do it. HE was the one who had potentially wrecked their relationship. Well, any chance of them ever being in a relationship again.
Bennett walked back onstage to thunderous applause and addressed the crowd. ''Hey! So before the break Derek had just confessed his love to Agent Sexy over there. So how doe SHE feel about that?''
Emily rolled her eyes at the statement. She thought to herself about the chance of him being convicted for this...probably slim. Still, it mightn't hurt to suddenly stand up and handcuff him. But she had forgotten her handcuffs...she'd have to borrow Morgan's. But then she'd have to talk to Morgan, and she wasn't ready yet...she'd just have to deal with him. Yay.
''So...,'' Bennett began, turning to Emily. ''Do you Sweetcheeks feel the same way about Derek? Because if you don't, I'm here for you baby. Big guy strikes me as the type of guy who's all brawn and no brains, if you know what I mean,'' Bennett winked, and Emily felt a shiver go down her spine at the thought.
''Mr Bennett, I'm not interested in you. And if you continue pursuing me I will have to arrest you,'' Emily answered, deliberately avoiding his question.
''Oh you're just playing hard to get,'' Bennett grinned.
''Wanna bet?'' Emily asked, malice lacing her voice.
''Not really...so back to the question on hand, do you love Derek? Just like he loves you? With all his heart?''
Bennett was trying to make her uncomfortable on purpose. She had seen him do this with other guests, it was his MO in terms of getting people to open up. God, she was even profiling this guy.
Emily paused for a minute as she looked down at her hands. They were getting sweaty so she wiped her palms off her pants.
''Sweetcheeks? You there?'' Bennett asked.
Emily had been silent for longer than she thought. She moved her head up to look at Benett and opened her mouth to speak. Why was her throat suddenly dry? She had drank five glasses of water, it shouldn't be dry.
''Any day now...,'' Bennett said, getting impatient. He knew she was going to be hard to crack, but not this hard.
Over in his seat, Morgan was panicking. Emily was speechless, that was never a good thing. Especially when it concerned Emily, who had an answer for everything. He cursed himself again for messing it up and he braced himself for her answer.
Emily cleared her throat and suddenly found her voice again. ''In answer to your question Mr Bennett-''
''Please, call me Harry,'' he smiled sleazily.
''In answer to your question Mr Bennett,'' Emily began, pausing slightly to consider her words. She saw Bennett frown when she refused to call him by his first name. The amusement she got out of that spurred her on. ''I do love Derek, I think, BUT, he's going to have to do more than that to win back my trust,'' Emily answered, speaking more to Morgan than to Bennett.
Garcia and JJ couldn't help the smiles that crept over their faces as Emily said that. Even Morgan smiled a lot but the smile disappeared when he saw the serious look on Emily's face.
Bennett looked slightly disappointed but he still carried on. ''So he has to win back your trust...why?''
''Why should I tell you?'' Emily asked defensively.
''Because it's in the contract your boss signed.''
''You except me to believe that?''
''You don't have to believe it. Here, read it for yourself,'' Bennett smirked, as he pulled a contract out of his suit jacket. As Emily read it her face fell. She scrunched it up and handed it back to Bennett.
''I guess we really do have to tell you...''
''Yes, you do. So, what did he do?''
''Well...it's a long story...''
''I've all the time in the world.''
''Well...basically, he didn't respect me. He treated me like his maid.''
''Is that so? I would never do that to you Sweetcheeks, I respect women,'' Bennett smiled.
''Bite me,'' Emily said, causing Morgan to smirk. Wow, he really did love that woman.
''Oh Sweetcheeks, you kill me,'' Bennett laughed nervously. He'd never had a woman act like that before. It felt so strange, yet was kind of a turn on...
''I will in a minute if you keep this up,'' Emily grumbled, shooting Bennett a glare.
''Moving on...so he treated you like a maid...I'm guessing you didn't like this...''
''What made you think that?''
''I love a sarcastic woman. So name some things he made you do. Go into all the kinky detail.''
''Not like that, basically he was living at my apartment for free. He used my shower, my electricity, my water, and didn't pay a bit. He stayed over at my apartment most nights, he had most of his clothes there, and he didn't pay a bit of rent. I'm not made of money, and with two people living there we use more power, water, electricity, etc, plus my landlord is coming down on me for having you there, plus you expect me to clean up after you and do your laundry, and cook your meals, and I just had enough!'' Emily confessed. Even she was a little shocked at her passionate outburst.
''Ooh...what you got to say to that Derek?'' Bennett asked, spinning on his heels and turning towards Morgan.
''First of all, get that damn microphone out of my face,'' Morgan growled menacingly. Bennett backed a few steps away. Morgan was starting to scare him. ''Second, stop hitting on my girl man.''
''Whoa, from what I gather she isn't your girl anymore man,'' Bennett laughed. ''So I'm free to do what I want with her.''
''No you're not!'' Emily protested.
''Oh Sweetcheeks, I know you love it when I pay attention to you, but I have to talk to Loverboy here first. But after that I promise you have my undivided attention,'' he winked. Emily shuddered.
''Leave her alone man. She's not interested,'' Morgan hissed. He was gripping on to the arms of the chair to stop himself from hitting Bennett. His knuckles were turning white from it.
''Geez, calm down man. No big deal. Anyway, what do you make of that fine woman's claims?''
''I didn't treat her like a maid. I always treated her with respect.''
''Huh, right,'' Emily scoffed.
''It's true Emily! I always respected you.''
''Then why did you leave your clothes around the place? Why was my floor littered with your used underwear?''
''Oh, I did not need that mental image,'' JJ muttered to Garcia.
''You could have picked them up!'' Morgan exclaimed.
''They were your underwear! Your responsability!''
''Your floor! Your responsability!''
''It's not my problem! You should have looked after it!''
''See, this is why I got tired of her! She always went off in these crazy mood swings! She'd fight me over everything!''
''Maybe I was PMS-ing, that seems to be your answer for everytime I'm in a mood,'' Emily said sarcastically.
''You know they only call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was taken!''
''Ooohhh,'' the audience leered.
''Oh he did not just go there!'' Garcia whispered to JJ.
''I think he did,'' JJ whispered back. She hated seeing her friends fighting but she couldn't tear her eyes away either.
''Oh how's that for respect Derek? That's just being so respectful. And they say chivalry is dead.''
''You provoked me! That's what you do! You get under my skin and nag until I slip up!''
''That's what you think I do! Really it's just you being an ass!''
''Or you being a nagging, domineering bitch!''
''Or maybe it's just you making up things! Haven't you done enough damage Derek? First you ruined what we had, then you drag JJ and Hotch into it, putting their relationship at risk, and now you've also started picking on Reid too! You just have to prove you're top dog, don't you?''
''Wait, there's MORE drama? Oh this is excellent,'' Bennett grinned. ''So which two of you are JJ and Hotch? It's your turn next. We'll give the two sparring lovebirds a rest,'' Bennett said, pointing to Prentiss and Morgan who were glaring at each other.
Nobody said anything. They all remained completely silent, until Rossi spoke up. ''Those two are JJ and Hotch,'' he said, pointing to the two mentioned agents.
''Thank you, and you are?'' Bennett asked.
''SSA David Rossi.''
''Nice to meet you David. Who are you fighting with?''
''Oh, no-one.''
''Then why are you here?''
''For the free bar and entertainment.''