CHAPTER 49
Emma's Point-of-View
A week had passed and I was back in my routine of things. I concentrated a lot on my schoolwork and started applying to public relations internships in Los Angeles for the summer. I had an interview for St. Jude's Entertainment in three days, which was my first choice because it concentrated on event planning.
Amanda was gradually getting better. It helped that I was home to talk to her when she needed someone to vent to, which I discovered was quite often. But it didn't bother me; if I were in her shoes she'd do the same for me. That's what best friends were for.
I still talked with Ethan. I didn't see any harm in doing so. I was friends with him before he met Amanda and it's not like he did anything to hurt her. It was a little uncomfortable at first, I hadn't hung out with him alone in a long time. He was doing a lot better than Amanda, or at least that's how he was coming off. He told me that he just needed to be out of a relationship right now because he wanted to be able to experience the last year of college fully and didn't need someone to hold him back. That was a little harsher than Amanda's explanation for their breakup, so I'm guessing he didn't tell her that. Maybe some run down version of it.
Tonight was Saturday night and I had made plans with Amanda and three other of our girlfriends to go out to dinner and clubbing afterwards. Amanda needed a night out to let loose and so did I.
"What are you wearing tonight?" I asked Amanda who was straightening her hair in the bathroom. She had naturally curly hair and she only straightened it on special occasions. I guess you could consider this her coming out party as a newly single girl.
She poked her head out from the bathroom. "Check the bag on my desk," she smiled.
I walked over to her desk and pulled out a black sequined dress. "Wow, this is adorable!" I told her, quite jealous of her brand new dress. "You are going to look so hott tonight."
"So are you! You're makeup looks amazing. I'm loving the smoky look. You should totally wear that gold and navy blue dress that you just got!" she exclaimed.
I pulled it out of my closet and held it against my body. "Exactly what I was thinking!"
Andrea, Kourtney, and Brooke met at our apartment around seven. Once we were all ready we took my car to the Geisha House in Hollywood.
"So how are you doing?" Kourtney asked Amanda once we all sat down at our booth.
"I'm doing great, actually. It's so nice to hang out with the girls again. I feel like I haven't seen you guys in years."
"Well it's been almost six months since we've done something like this," Brooke noted. "But, we're glad you're back. We've missed you!"
I smiled at Amanda. I'm glad she was happy again.
As soon as we were done ordering our food, my phone started vibrating in my clutch. I pulled it out. It was Robert. "Hold on guys, I have to take this," I beamed.
"Ooo. It's Robert isn't it?" Andrea laughed. The other girls mimicked her laughter as I excused myself from the table.
"Hi." I answered the phone, pressing one ear closed to block the sound of the restaurant.
"Hi Em. Where are you? I can barely hear anything," he stated.
"One second. I'm almost outside," I told him. I pushed open the door and walked out into the parking lot. "Ok. Can you hear me better now?"
"Much. Where are you at?" he inquired again.
"At the Geisha House with some of the girls. Amanda needed a night out," I explained.
"Oh. I'm sorry Emma. I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to say goodnight and I love you."
"It's ok. I have been looking forward to your call all day," I smiled. "What are your plans for today?"
"Well I am still lying in bed, but once I get up I am going to take a nice [i]long[/i] shower and then I'm going to go shoot a short scene. And later tonight I think I'm going to go to a club with everyone. They are having an open mic night so I thought I'd drop in and do a few songs."
"I wish I could be there," I said. "I miss waking up to you playing the guitar. It's probably my favorite noise besides the sound of your voice."
Robert chuckled.
"Sorry. I went all cheeseball. The distance does that to me," I reasoned.
"It's ok, I think it's cute. Besides, your voice is my favorite thing to wake up to too." I could tell by his tone that he was smiling on the other side of the phone. "All right, well I won't keep you. Go have some fun!"
"Ok I'll try," I told him.
"Wait," he started again. "What are you wearing?"
I could just picture him lying in bed, grinning to himself. "Well I don't want to make you envious or anything, but I am wearing a new dress."
"Ooo a new dress. What's it like?" he questioned.
"It's a gold and navy blue striped t-shirt dress. Comes right below my butt, framing it very nicely, if I do say so myself. And the off-white heels make my legs look extra slim and long."
"Mmm. Ok that's enough teasing for one day," he said. "I'm sure you look gorgeous. You always do."
"Thanks babe. Have fun today, I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
"Bye Em. Love you."
"Love you too. Bye!" I hung up the phone as I entered the restaurant again. Our food was just arriving when I got back. Perfect timing.
"So how's Robert?" Andrea asked curiously.
"He's good. Just waking up," I smiled to the group of girls that were all staring at me intently. I think they were still in shock that I was dating Rob. I hadn't even mentioned it to them until recently because I didn't want them to flip out. "The food looks delicious," I changed the subject.
After we finished with dinner, we all walked a few blocks down Sunset to the club I took Robert that one night. I hadn't been there since. It wasn't very busy for a Saturday night; the dance floor was not nearly as packed as last time I was here.
Andrea and Brooke were both twenty-one so they bought drinks for Kourtney and Amanda. I, on the other hand, was the designated driver so I just sipped on coke the whole night.
Once the girls got a good buzz going, they pulled me out onto the dance floor with them. It was fun dancing with a group of girls until one by one they get picked up by random guys, leaving me all alone. [i]Did I have a nametag that told every attractive male in this place that I was unavailable?[/i]
I continued to dance a while longer, hoping Amanda would ditch the goofball she was dancing with, but no such luck. She must have been more drunk than I thought she was. That, or extremely desperate.
I started to head towards the bathroom to freshen up when a guy stopped me. "Want to dance?" he asked in a disguised British accent.
"Um, I don't know," I replied. "I'm trying to find my friends," I lied.
"Well at least let me buy you a drink," he offered.
"I'm not drinking tonight, but thank you."
"Well you're not any fun," he teased. "I thought American girls were supposed to be free-spirited and crazy."
"Sorry to disappoint," I apologized. The man was really attractive; different from any guy I have ever found good looking. He had brown longer hair and a beard to match.
"I'm Tom," he held out his hand for me to shake.
"Emma," I replied.
"Emma?" he repeated. "Shit."
"What?" I asked confused.
"Nothing. Just coincidence I suppose," he laughed.
"All right…" I said, not knowing how to respond.
"You don't happen to have a boyfriend, do you?" he asked.
"I do," I answered and then it finally all clicked. "Wait, are you Tom? Like Robert's Tom?"
"Guilty," he said, surrendering his hands.
"Did Rob send you to check on me or something?" I asked, now somewhat annoyed at the possibility.
"No, of course not. I'm just staying at his apartment for a few weeks. I'm planning his birthday party here in LA for when he gets back since [i]someone[/i] has whipped him into staying in LA instead of going home to London," he explained.
"Well I think [i]someone[/i] is just jealous that Rob chose me over him," I retaliated.
"Ouch," he laughed. "We'll see who he likes better after he sees how bloody insane his party is going to be."
"You're little party may be [i]bloody insane[/i], but nothing beats the after party," I smirked.
