A/N: For some reason I haven't done as much writing as I thought I would... I'm off to a music festival on Sunday though, so I probably won't be able to update then. I'll try to have chapter eleven up beforehand, but it's not completely done yet, so I'm not promising anything. So, a bit of tension, a bit of fighting in this one and some revelations about Naomi's work. A lot of you are asking me to reveal more about Emily's background and why she ended up at the club - all in good time my lovely readers. Parts will be revealed in chapter twelve/thirteen where the other Fitch twin will make a much needed comeback ;) Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting. You are my favorites! x

Chapter Ten
Promises I Can't Keep

I went to bed thinking I'd give Emily her space and talk to her about whatever was going on with her in the morning instead, but when I woke up the apartment was as quiet as the night before. At first I thought she was simply still asleep, but that was until I saw the note on the kitchen counter.

Gone to practice with Katie. - E

I honestly didn't have anything against her going to practice with her sister, but at 7 o'clock in the morning? Without having so much as mentioned it? She was definitely avoiding me, the question was why?

I got ready for work and tried not to think too much about it. If she wanted space I'd give it to her... For now at least.

"Jane, do I have any messages?" I asked my assistant when I got back from a meeting just after noon.

"No messages since you went to your meeting, Ms. Campbell." She smiled politely.

"So no one called while I was away?" I asked again, just to be sure.

"No, Ms. Campbell, no one called."

To be honest I didn't think she would've called me at work, but seeing as I'd neither gotten any texts from her nor phone calls on my mobile, I'd kind of hoped she would've anyway. I knew I'd said I wanted to give her space, but I was literally going out of my mind and it was only 1 o'clock.

I hated myself for obsessing so much about it. Had I done something wrong? Was she okay? Had Cook said something to her? The questions in my mind were endless and I found myself tuning out at meetings and phone conferences just thinking about it. I'd never been that kind of girl. I just hadn't.

At around 3.30 I couldn't stand it anymore. I'd been checking my phone every 3-5 minutes for the last hour and I was getting fuck done at work, so I decided to text her. At least just to know that she was okay. I must've rewritten the text about a dozen times before I finally settled on this, plain and simple:

Naomi:You left quite early this morning. You alright?

Her response did nothing to calm me down.

Emily: I'm fine, Naomi.

I texted her back asking if she was sure because she wasn't very convincing, but she never answered. Why the fuck was she suddenly acting like this? I mean, I knew I'd basically bought her against her will and all that shit, but I kind of thought we'd sort of moved past that now, hadn't we? Or was that just wishful thinking on my part?

I tried leaving work early so I could maybe have dinner with Emily and talk about whatever was going on. She was going to stay with me for the rest of the month and I really didn't want to spend it ignoring each other.

When I got back home, however, the apartment was as I'd left it - dark and quiet. I went around the apartment to look for her anyway, but when I got to her room and it was as empty as the rest of the place, I had to acknowledge the fact that she simply wasn't there. Surely her practice with Katie didn't take that long, so where the fuck was she?

I was standing in the doorway to her room, surprised she hadn't locked the door. I looked innocently around and couldn't help but chuckle at the mess I saw. She'd only been there for what, four days, and her room already looked like a bomb had gone off in there.

Something caught my eye on her desk. I knew I shouldn't go in there, I knew I shouldn't snoop, but I just couldn't help myself. Everything about that girl intrigued me and it wasn't like she was there to stop me, was it?

I made my way slowly into the room while making sure I didn't accidentally move anything around. When I got to her desk I realised what had caught my attention was in fact dozen of pictures spread across the desk. They were absolutely beautiful. I recognised a few as the street art covering Nelson Street, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Cheddar Gorge, but apart from those, a majority of the pictures were portraits. Portraits of real people out in the real world. Whoever had taken these pictures had caught the powerful feelings of the people involved perfectly. Everything from the loving couple at the bench in the park, to the hungry and defeated homeless man, to the arrogance of the woman in the expensive sports car, was captured perfectly.

I wondered if Emily had taken them. I could somehow imagine it, but she hadn't mentioned having a passion for photography once. A polaroid picture beneath some of the more professional caught my attention then. It must've been around 5 or 6 years old. Emily was holding up the camera towards herself and what I assumed was her family. They all looked so happy… I wondered, not for the first time, what happened to change that.

I put the picture back where I found it, turned around and walked out of her room again. Where was she? I didn't want to think it, but I started to wonder if she'd simply left and wasn't coming back. The thought was causing the uncomfortable feeling in my chest to intensify and in result terrified me as fuck. I could not be that attached to her, that simply wasn't an option.

Around 10:30 I started to get really worried, especially after a few texts and calls had gone unanswered again. What if she hadn't just decided to bolt, but something had actually happened to her? The thought terrified me even more. I'd never forgive myself if that was the case. She was supposed to be there, in my apartment and in my care, safe. I was supposed to keep her safe, that was the whole reason for this entire fucking mess, wasn't it?

I'd been sat on the couch with my phone, ringing Emily once in a while only to reach her voicemail, when the clock struck 2 in the morning. I was literally seconds from grabbing my coat and search the city myself when the door finally opened, revealing a clearly intoxicated Emily making her way rather ungracefully into the apartment. My worrying was suddenly replaced by anger.

"Where the fuck have you been?" I shouted at her as I stood up from the couch.

She jumped in shock as she clearly hadn't noticed me before I'd shouted at her. She quickly composed herself though, "Out." She answered coldly and started making her way to her room.

"And you didn't think that was worth mentioning to me, Emily?" I asked harshly as I walked after her, not being done with the conversation by far.

"Why the fuck should I?" She snapped, "You said it yourself, I'm not your bloody prisoner or your servant."

"Because I've been fucking worried about you for fuck's sake!" I yelled, surprising myself and her it seemed as it made her stop in her tracks.

A few moments of silence passed between us before she turned her head slightly without looking at me and said, "That's just it, Naomi. I don't want you to worry about me, don't you fucking get that?" She walked to her room then and slammed the door shut.

Even though what she'd just said hurt me more than I even wanted to admit to myself, all I could do was turn that hurt in to anger. It was a special skill of mine, "Fine!" I yelled at the shut door, "Do whatever the fuck you want then, see if I fucking care!"

I turned on my heel then, anger and hurt pulsing through my body as I went to my own room and slammed the door shut.

When I woke up on Friday I was in a bad mood to say the least. I nearly hadn't slept at all as thoughts of my fight with Emily had kept me up most of the night. I honestly couldn't understand what had suddenly caused this turn in her. Had it been something I'd done? Had Cook said something to her? I thought back to the way he'd looked at her when he'd interrupted our gaming session the other day, but what could he have said to make her change her mind about me?

I didn't even bother to try and talk to her that morning. I was far too pissed at her still for that, so I simply left without saying goodbye or even leaving a note.

At work, I had to deal with that pain in the arse settlement case again, which was not making my mood any better to say the least, "So, gentlemen, would you please fucking enlighten me as to why we're sitting here again and why you insist on wasting my bloody time?" I snapped annoyed, making the entire table look at me shocked. I couldn't care less.

The other party's lawyer cleared his throat and said, "Ms. Campbell, as I'm sure you're aware there's been a new development in the case as we've been informed of some crucial information we were not aware of to begin with. Something your party seems to have neglected to tell us."

"And what is this crucial information you think we've withheld, if you don't mind?" I asked irritated.

The bloke actually had the nerve to smirk at me, "I don't, Ms. Campbell. It's come to our attention that when your firm decided to advise my client, Mr. Cooper, to invest his money you were already aware that the company was beyond saving, but you decided to invest regardless."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was this bloke a complete fucking idiot or what? I scoffed at him, I couldn't help it with the mood I was in, "Are you having a fucking laugh? Why the hell would we invest in a company we knew was going to crash regardless?" I asked harshly, losing my patience, "Tell me, Mr. Anderson, how would that benefit our firm exactly? I'm curious to know, I really am."

He kept on fucking smirking, "That's what we'd like to know, Ms. Campbell… So, unless you'd like for us to look into the investment documents involving the investment in question, I'd suggest you accept our new demands for the settlement or we'll see you in court."

I didn't know why, but I suddenly got a bad feeling about it all. I mean, I distinctly remembered the investment in question, I signed the documents myself, but he seemed so damn sure of himself. What the fuck did he know that I didn't?

I decided I'd sign the new settlement papers, what was another 10 or 20 thousand if it kept things under wrap until I could figure out if there was any truth to it. There probably wasn't, but we didn't need the bad PR.

I glared at the lawyer in front of me and turned the page of the new settlement agreement, "250.000 pounds?" I asked disbelieving, "You want quarter of a million pounds based on a fucking rumour? Have you gone completely fucking mental, mate, or were you dropped on your thick head as a child?"

The lawyer merely chuckled at my outburst, "Ms. Campbell, I assure you this rumour will cost you a lot more if you decide you'd rather go to court." He simply stated and started to get up from his chair, "We're willing to give you the next week to consider our offer. If we still haven't heard from you by then, we'll take that as an invitation to court."

I didn't say or move as the lawyer and his client started leaving the room. Before they left he turned around at the door, "Ms. Campbell, I like you." He stated, making me roll my eyes, "You've got a fire, a passion, that's rare. I honestly don't get what a woman, a lawyer, like yourself is doing at a place like this, but I'll advise you to look into this new information, you might be surprised by who you're working for."

With that they left, leaving me speechless for the first time in my entire career.

I went back to my office in an even worse mood than I was in that morning… and that fucking said something.

"Jane." I said to my assistant who was sitting at her desk outside of my office, "Bring me everything that exists on the Cooper case and the involving investment… And a fuck load of coffee."

"Everything?" She asked almost shocked.

"Did I stutter or something?" I asked her annoyed, "Yes, Jane. I want every single fucking document, e-mail, powerpoint or bloody memo involving that case on my desk by the end of the day."

"But I..."

"What?" I asked harshly, making her flinch and if I wasn't in such a bad mood, I might've felt sorry for her. As it was, I was out for blood and she was in the line of fire, "Oh, I'm sorry, do you have some prior commitment you need to go to or something?" I asked sarcastically. She simply shook her head, almost frightened, in response, "Didn't think so."

I went into my office and more or less slammed the door shut. I seriously considered starting jogging or maybe trying out boxing to blow off some steam, because soon I wouldn't have any doors left.

I checked my phone… nothing. Not from the person I really wanted to hear from that was. I looked at the time, it was already three. With the amount of work it seemed I now had to deal with regarding the new development in the Cooper case, it didn't look like I'd be home anytime soon, so I decided to text Effy.

Naomi:Can you go by mine later and check up on Emily? Tell her I'm working late.

Effy: Why?

Naomi: Because I'm asking you to.

Naomi: Please, Eff.

Effy: Why can't you do it yourself?

Naomi: Not on speaking terms atm.

Effy: jfc…

Naomi: Just do it, please. I don't have time for this. Swamped at work.

Effy: When are you not… fine, I'll play babysitter.

Naomi: Thanks, Eff.

Effy: Whatever.

I rolled my eyes at her even though I was perfectly aware she couldn't see it. I was grateful to her regardless, I always knew I could count on her, even when she didn't agree with my choices.

Effy: Don't roll your eyes at me.

As creepy and strange as the girl could be, she was my best mate.

By seven o'clock, Jane still hadn't delivered what I asked of her, but at least I'd gotten a fair amount of work done still. I was about to go ask her what was taking so long when three quiet knocks sounded from the door.

"Yes, Jane?" I said before she opened the door and stepped inside with a lot less than I had anticipated, "What's this?"

She put the one box on my desk, anxiously, and opened it to reveal it wasn't even full, "I.. I'm sorry, Ms. Campbell, please don't fire me, but I couldn't access the rest. It's either gone or missing or I don't have access to it."

"What do you mean, Jane? You're my assistant for Christ's sake, you have access to what I give you access to." I stated confused.

"Well… I… I suppose you don't have… er… access then, Ms. Campbell."

I frowned confused… something was definitely going on here and I intended to find out just what that was even if I had to hit Gabriel in the head with a keyboard to gain access to whatever they didn't want me to see. It was a fucking settlement case for fuck's sake.

"So, what is in here then?" I asked my assistant.

"I'm not really sure, Ms. Campbell, anything I could find that didn't require special access."

I nodded thoughtfully and started looking through the documents in the box. Nothing but descriptions or accounts of the investment, nothing of use.

"Thanks, Jane." I sighed, "You can go home, I'll try and figure this out myself."

"Really?" She asked surprised, but then seemed to rethink giving me a chance to change my mind, "I mean… Thank you, Ms. Campbell, I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday, Jane." I said distractedly as I started searching my own computer and the database for information on the case.

ACCESS DENIED

"The fuck?" I asked out loud as I tried accessing the case in our database. I tried again, just to be sure I hadn't entered my password wrong, but still nothing. What the fuck was going on?

After spending about two hours searching for information on the case, I decided to check my phone in case Effy had texted me about Emily. I had two missed calls from her within the last half hour and a text.

Effy: Come home, now.

I was immediately hit by a wave of worry for the redhead. It annoyed the shit out of me that I seemed to care that much for her already, but regardless I abandoned my work without hesitation and called Effy immediately. She didn't answer my first call, or second.

"Fuck's sake, Effy!" I exclaimed out loud as I hung up a third time without getting an answer. I grabbed my coat and didn't think twice about it as I abandoned the Cooper case on my desk and hurried out of the door.

I pressed repeatedly on the button to my penthouse in the elevator as if it'd make it go faster. It didn't. As soon as I heard the ding and the doors started to open I was out and locking myself in to my apartment before the doors had closed again.

"Eff?" I shouted as soon as I got inside.

"Right here." She said evenly from the couch, looking as calm as ever.

"What's going on?" I asked worried, "Is Emily okay?"

"Oh, yeah, she's fine, I suppose." She said coolly.

"You suppose?" I questioned confused, "Then why the fuck did you tell me to come home? And why didn't you pick up when I rang you?"

"Because I knew that'd get you here quicker." Effy said unashamedly, "You need to sort this shit out, she won't come out of her room."

I crossed my arms defensively and looked away from her, "And I should care why exactly?"

Effy saw through me within a breath, "Please, Naomi, don't give me that shit. You bought the girl for a month, it's a little late to pretend you don't care… besides, it's written all over your face."

I sighed defeatedly and took off my coat before walking over to the couch, "What do you want me to do, Eff? She clearly doesn't want to talk to me and frankly she's being a pain in the arse."

Effy laughed at that, "I'm sure she is… Just try, Naomi, but control your bloody temper for once."

I rolled my eyes at her, "Fine." I said before walking to Emily's bedroom door. I knocked twice, "Emily?" I asked in the most neutral voice I could conjure up.

No answer. I sighed and tried again. It dawned on me then that we seemed to spend more time on each side of that door, fighting, than we spent together, "Emily, please open the door..."

"Just go away, Naomi." She answered, "Leave me alone."

I looked exasperated over at Effy and gestured annoyed at the door as if to say see how difficult she's being?

Effy merely raised an eyebrow at me, silently asking me if that was it, and gestured for me to try again.

I groaned irritated, but tried again nevertheless, "Emily, would you please just tell me what the fuck I did wrong so I can try to fix it? I'm not a fucking mind reader, I'm not Effy."

I looked over at Effy again, she didn't seem pleased with my new approach. However, it seemed to work, seeing as the door was flung open a moment later revealing a rather angry Emily wearing… my green shirt?

"What you did wrong?" Emily laughed humorlessly and started walking towards me, making me step backwards in the process, "Why don't we start with the time you bought me for a month without even considering what I might want, huh? Or did you suddenly forget about that?"

When I stopped in my tracks at her words, so did she. We were now standing in the living room, right in front of Effy, but I didn't care, "Is that was this is about? The fucking contract?" I asked harshly, "I thought we'd moved past that!"

"Moved past that?" Emily asked disbelieving, "You think that's just something you just move past, Naomi?"

"Of course not, Emily!" I yelled, losing my temper, "But what the fuck do you want me to do? I apologised several times and even gave you the option of me terminating the contract. What else do you want me to do?"

She didn't answer then, but crossed her arms and looked away from me.

"Have you changed your mind? Is that it?" I asked harshly, "You've changed your mind and now you want me to terminate the contract… well, why didn't you just fucking say so?"

"No." She said, surprising me, "I don't want you to terminate the contract, Naomi. I want you to not care enough to even want to do that for me, that's what I want!"

I was speechless for a moment. I was just standing there, staring confused at her, before it hit me, "So that's what you're trying to do then, is it? To make me hate you?" I asked in a mixture of hurt and anger, "Well, congratulations, it's fucking working!" I said as I turned around, walked to my room and slammed the door shut once again. I really should consider boxing.

I didn't mean a word I'd said. Of course I hadn't. I didn't think I actually had it in me to hate that girl no matter how hard she tried. If only it was that easy…

I heard muffled voices in the living room, possibly Effy trying to do some damage control, but I couldn't even find it in me to care about what they were talking about. I just wanted that day to bloody end already.

I changed into an oversized t-shirt and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. It was only 10 in the evening but I was absolutely exhausted. After removing my make up I stared into the mirror and somehow didn't like the girl staring back at me. I'd felt more alive, more myself, with Emily than I had since I was still in college and even then I couldn't think of anything that could compare. Was I about to throw that away because I was too stubborn to try and sort things out with her?

"Fuck." I said before walking out of the bathroom and to my bedroom door. I just hoped she hadn't actually packed her things and left yet.

I flung the door open and was suddenly face-to-face with a lot more anxious Emily who looked like she was about to knock on my door, "Hi…" She said quietly, anxiously " Can I come in? Please?"

"Um… sure." I said and held the door open for her.

As she walked into my bedroom, I locked eyes with Effy who was just about to leave. "Thank you" I mouthed to her. She winked at me before she left the apartment.

I went to sit on my bed, while Emily kept on standing, arms crossed and looking down on the floor, "I'm sorry." She said quietly, "I'm not trying to make you hate me… At least not in the way you think."

"Then what?" I asked confused, but I was determined to control my temper.

"I'm trying to protect you." She said sadly as she looked up at me, begging me with her eyes to understand, to believe her.

"I've already told you, I don't need -"

"But you do, Naomi." She interrupted as she took a step forward, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself involved with, what I have involved you in."

"Then explain it to me, please?"

"I can't…" She said and looked away from me, "I just… I need you to do something for me."

"What?" I asked apprehensively. The last thing she wanted from me was for me to promise not to fall in love with her…

"I need you to promise me not to get involved, Naomi…" She said and looked into my eyes again. I noticed hers had started to fill with tears, "I need you to just stay away from the club no matter what happens and to not try and fix things that can't be fixed..."

A few moments passed in silence before I spoke quietly, "I'm not sure I can do that..." I told her honestly.

The tears that had been filling in her eyes started falling down her cheeks and her voice took on desperation, "Naomi, please, I… The only other alternative I can think of is to terminate the contract, but I… I don't want to do that, okay? I want to stay… with you."

I hadn't even noticed the tears that had slowly started to fall down my own cheeks. I felt like someone was squeezing my heart tightly together as I looked away from her and spoke the next words quietly, "Fine… I won't get involved."

What other choice did I have?

She turned my head to look at her and asked again, "You promise you won't?"

I looked into her eyes and saw the desperation, the pleading in them and although I seriously doubted my abilities to keep it, all I could say was, "I promise..."

"Thank you." She sighed relieved and kissed me hard on the forehead.

She turned around and started walking towards the door. Personally I somehow couldn't seem to move from the place I was sitting, so I didn't even notice that she hadn't left before she spoke up again.

"Naomi?" She called quietly.

I turned my head towards her, "Yeah?" I asked defeatedly.

She bit down on her lip nervously and shifted her weight a bit, "I just… Do you think maybe I could… um… sleep in here tonight?"

I looked surprised at her. Somehow that had probably been the last thing I'd thought the night would end with.

"I mean… just to, you know, sleep..." She clarified even though I already knew that's what she'd meant.

I chuckled a bit humorlessly and shook my head at the insanity of the situation. Not half an hour ago I'd been completely pissed at this girl for being a pain in the arse, then she makes me promise not to get involved with whatever she's gotten herself mixed up in, which, of course, happened to be the plan from the start, and then she's just standing there, looking adorable as ever and asking if she can sleep in my bed tonight… with me. And all I could do was give in.

"Yeah… sure." I said as I got up and walked around the side of the bed and got under the covers. When she still didn't move, but had started looking slightly anxious, I looked over at her and smirked, "You planning on sleeping on the floor, Ems, or are you gonna get under the covers anytime soon?"

She couldn't help but laugh and shook her head at me as she walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down to remove her jeans. I couldn't help but look as she swung her bare legs up on the bed before crawling under the covers. I turned off the light by my bedside table and lay on my back in the dark, the same as her.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked after a while, suddenly thinking of something.

"You can, but I may not answer." She said, but I could hear the smile in her voice, which made me continue.

"What did you do, before you ended up with White?" I asked as I thought back to the pictures I'd found in her room earlier. Somehow I knew the answer already. I couldn't explain it, but it was like I could imagine her taking the pictures, like I could see her in them despite her being behind the camera.

"What makes you think I did anything before?"

"Call it intuition." I said, echoing her own words from her first day there.

She hesitated a bit before answering, "Photography. I was studying photography."

"I bet you're amazing at it." I said, already knowing that she was.

She laughed sadly, "I don't know if I was, but I really loved it, you know?" She said, almost longingly. It was clear that she missed it, "The camera… it's like it sees the world differently than the human eye... When you photograph a face, the camera has the ability to capture the soul behind it. The emotions, the feelings and even the stories of that person can be captured in a single shot… I wanted to photograph people and to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanity through that one shot… I wanted to make a difference."

I'd been completely mesmerized listening to her tell me about what was clearly her passion. I wish I could've seen her face meanwhile, I was certain it would've been a beautiful sight.

"You still can." I said sincerely, I honestly believed that she could.

She didn't answer right away, but when she did, her voice sounded almost broken, "You sound so sure. "

"That's 'cause I am." I said without hesitation. What I didn't add was that I'd be damned if I was gonna let her rot in that hell of a club, not if I could help it. Promise or not.

A/N: So they sorted things out after all... more or less. Naomi really should stop promising things.. Next chapter will be the first of four Saturdays. How exciting, eh? I'm not sure Naomi feels that way though... Stay tuned xx