Chapter 13: Recital
Clay was standing inside his cage, wearing only a pair of pants. He was thinking about everything that had happened in the past year. He had been blown up, had to do rehab, almost couldn't go back to operating, Swanny died, and he went back to Bravo, Jason's surgery, the Ambassador dying, him meeting a new woman, who he had a date with that night. He was deep in thought when he heard the cage room door open. He turned to see Emma Hayes standing there is a short pair of jeans, wedged heels, and a see through teal top.
"Hey Captain America!" Emma said with a chipper tone and a bright smile as she moved into the cage room.
"Captain America? Really?" Clay asked with one eyebrow raised.
"What don't like it? You could always be Thor." She said as she moved closer to his cage.
"I think I'll stick with Captain America." Clay retorted and Emma laughed.
"Have you seen my dad today?" She asked as she looked around the room.
"Yeah, he, Ray and Sonny went on a training mission. They should be back in the next day or two." He explained and good see the smile on her face fade.
"Oh…"
"What?" He asked, worried that something was wrong.
"It's just… dad was supposed to drive to New York with me for my recital tonight. A phone call or a text saying he couldn't make it would have been nice." She said, holding up her phone. She gave him a sad smile and he returned it. "But, this has happened my entire life… so it's not a big deal. I'll be seeing you." Emma said as she moved towards the door.
Clay could tell the sadness in her voice. He knew that she wanted someone with her at the recital. He knew that since her mom died, she didn't always have someone there with her on special occasions because of the job. All she wanted was for someone to watch her on her big day… It reminded him of his childhood with Ash. Of course, Jason was nothing like his father. Jason was loving. "Wait!"
Emma stopped at the door. She was trying to hold in her tears until she got to her car. "Yeah." She said, not turning around.
"I want to go to your recital." Clay told her as he moved behind her.
She sniffed and whispered, "really?"
"Yeah, Jason and the rest of the team always talk about how amazing your voice is. I'd really like to hear it." He told her and she swung around to wrap her arms around his shoulders. She just held him for a few moments and he felt tears against his skin. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
"Thank you." She finally said as she moved away from him. He didn't say anything about the tears, he just moved back to his cage, got dressed, grabbed his overnight bag and walked out of the cage room with Emma. They walked to Emma's SUV, climbed in and began their trip to NYC.
At 1850, Clay was seated in the first row in front of a large stage. He had dropped Emma off about an hour before and went to a flower shop to get Emma some flowers. He settled on blue and white callalilies. He sat down in the seat that was meant for Jason and waited patiently for the program to start. He looked at the program and saw that Emma was not only opening the recital, but also closing it with a group of other women doing a tribute to the Women of Country Music.
At 1900, the lights deemed and Emma walked out onto the stage in a sparkling grey dress that reached the top of her thigh and 6 inch black high heels. Clay almost couldn't breath, she looked so beautiful on that stage. He shook his head, he could not be thinking of her like that. He pulled out his phone and hit record. She began singing "How Great Thou Art" and he almost fell from his chair. It was like the angels were singing to him. She was beautiful and she commanded the stage. As the end of the song neared, she hit notes that he didn't even know existed and was amazed at the breath control she had. Everyone was standing by the time she reached the end of the song and when she finished they cheered as if she had scored the winning basket for the NBA Finals. She smiled out into the audience and then over at Clay, who was still recording. She moved off the stage and into the back to wait until the end of the recital.
At 2000, she walked back onto the stage, wearing a sparkling black dress that reached the top of her thigh and 6 inch sparkling black high heels. She began the medley with Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". She was joined on stage by five women who sang Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight". All six of the women sang Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter", Dolly Parton's "9 to 5", the five other women sang "Rockin' With the Rhythm of the Rain". Emma then led them in the chorus of Trisha Yearwood's "She's in Love With the Boy". Clay's jaw almost dropped when she looked at him through the song and then he was mesmerized when she led the other five women into Martina's McBrides "Independence Day". The other five women sang Faith Hill's "Wild One", then Emma led them to the end with Reba McEntires's "Why Haven't I Heard From You" and Shania Twain's "Man I Feel Like a Woman". The crowd once again got to their feet and Clay was so happy that he had decided to record this as well. The team will be so upset they missed it.
The recital was concluded and Clay moved backstage to find Emma. He turned the corner and saw Emma and the five other women from the stage standing near the mirrors. The five women were giggling and Emma was packing her stuff.
"Did you see the hunk in the first row?" One of the women, a brunette, asked and the other four giggled.
"Yes! I've never seen him before but I would love to see him again." One of the other women, a blonde, said and they all began laughing.
The brunette turned to Emma and asked, "So, Emma. No family here again?"
Emma looked at her and said, "actually the hunk you were talking about was here to see me." She said.
"Really? Your brother? Why haven't we seen him before?"
"No, not by brother." Emma said.
"Boyfriend?" The blonde asked, intrigued that a quiet girl like Emma would have a hot boyfriend like that.
"Well, actually…"
"Why haven't we seen him before?" The brunette asked with her hands on her hips.
"He's in the military and he's gone a lot and he isn't…" Emma tried but she was cut off.
"I didn't know you had it in you, Hayes." Another girl, a redhead, said to Emma.
"Had what in me?" Emma asked, confused.
"Oh come on… he's obviously older than you so sex has the be the only reason he's with you. I mean, you're cute and everything but average." The redhead retorted and before Emma could say anything, Clay moved over to her.
"Hey, baby. You were amazing!" Clay said to Emma as he pulled her to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. She was shocked for a moment and then snapped out of it.
"Thanks, Clay." She said and he handed her the flowers.
"These are for you, my love."
"Thanks." Emma said, blushing as he kissed her cheek.
Clay turned to address the five women in front of him. "If you will excuse us, I'd like to take my girl home now." He grabbed her bag and then her hand and moved towards the exit. They moved towards her vehicle and she drove them to the apartment that Jason had rented her. They move into the elevator and into the apartment. It was small but nice, with one bedroom and one bathroom. They sat down on the couch and Emma looked at Clay.
"Thank you for coming today. I'm sure it's not what you really wanted to do today." She said, looking at him with big, blue eyes.
"Are you kidding? Emma that was amazing!"
"Thanks. I hope you didn't miss anything important."
"Nothing's more important than family." Clay told her as he grabbed her chin so she would look at him.
Emma had tears in her eyes, "it's been a long time since I've had someone in the audience watching me."
Clay nodded, Jason was gone most of the time on deployments or missions and with her mom dead, there wasn't anyone to come and be proud of her. Sure, he knew that Naima would go to her high school recitals but with her being in New York, she was usually alone.
"I'm glad I could be here for you." Emma moved so that her head was laying on Clay's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they laid together for a few moments before Emma moved away from him.
"I hope you enjoyed it. I know that stuff like this is boring to guys like you and dad." Emma said and Clay scoffed.
"Like I said earlier, you were amazing! And the way you held that note at the end of your solo performance… wow. You could be a SEAL just for that."
Emma laughed and said, "yeah, daddy taught me how to control my breathing enough to sustain a note for a long period of time."
"I even videoed it so I can show the boys when they get back."
"Thanks for that too." Emma said and leaned back against the couch.
"So… I heard what those women said to you after the recital. Want to tell me about them?"
Emma rolled her eyes, "they are just your typically mean girls. They like to party and sleep around, which does not appeal to me at all."
"Well, I have to say I think I'd prefer to hang around with you than any of them."
"Really? Because they thought you were hot. And you know you didn't have to pretend to be my boyfriend, right?"
"I know but I enjoyed the looks on their faces." Clay told her and Emma laughed, remembering the shocked and awe stares.
"Yes, I'm going to get a million questions next week about you, you know." Emma told him.
"Okay, tell them about me, I don't care."
"But you're not my boyfriend."
"They don't have to know that."
Emma nodded and they stared into each other's eyes. "Why do you act the way you do?" Emma suddenly asked, which took Clay by surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"Dad talks about how great of an operator you are but that you don't play well with others and you question his authority and you're arrogant and cocky… but you've never been that way with me. It's like you have a mask you wear with certain people and then it falls away with others."
"That's because I do. I act that way because even though I've been a member of Bravo for a couple years now, I still feel as if I have to prove myself to Jason and Ray and the others. I feel like sometimes they still see me as just Ash Spenser's kid."
"But they don't. They see you as their brother. They see you as someone they trust. Why can't you be open with them about who you really are like you are open with me?" Emma couldn't understand why he was so raw with her, someone that he only had a handful of conversations with yet be completely different with her dad and Uncles, people his life depended on.
"Because you're easier to talk to I guess." He said to her and saw that she was blushing. He noticed that they were close enough together that if he moved a couple inches, he would be able to kiss her. They stared at each other again before glancing at each other's lips. Their faces began inching closer to each other and finally their lips connected.
They kissed each other hesitantly for a few moments before growing more passionate. They broke apart and Emma moved from the couch, she turned to grab his hand and then proceeded into her bedroom.
"Are you sure?" Clay whispered to her, not wanting to break the spell but also not wanting to take advantage of her.
"Yes, I want you." Emma whispered back before kissing him once again. They moved together to remove their clothes and once they were both naked, they laid on the bed with Clay on top of Emma. He began kissing down her body, first at her neck then he moved towards her chest and stomach. He moved to kiss each of her hips then he bypassed where she wanted him most to kiss her knees. He moved back up and kissed the inside of both her thighs before reaching the stop that sent Emma into an orgasm. She closed her eyes and groaned, "Clay" as he manipulated her body. Once he had tasted her, he could not get enough. She tasted like nothing he had ever had the pleasure of tasting.
"Clay, please, I need you." She said as she tried to pull him back up her body. He relented and began kissing back up her stomach until he reached her lips. They shared a kiss before Clay leaned over to grab his pants. He pulled out his wallet and took out a condom. He looked at Emma once again to make sure that she was certain. Emma nodded and Clay began to tear the condom wrapper. He rolled the condom on before positioning himself at her opening. He fused their mouths together as he began entering her. Emma tensed for a moment and Clay paused.
"Are you okay?" He asked and Emma nodded. When he was sure, he continued to push inside her. After he was completed inside, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and laid her head on his chest.
"Please, Clay." Emma said after a few minutes of him not thrusting to allow her to adjust to him. He began moving and after 15 minutes, they came together.
He rolled off Emma and pulled her to him. "That was amazing." He told her as she looked at him.
"Yeah, it was." She said and they kissed. "What does this mean?"
"It means that we want each other and we go from there." Clay told her and she nodded. "I'll be right back, I have to take care of the condom." He told her before kissing her again and then getting up from the bed.
Emma laid back on the pillows and thought about what had happened between them. She smiled once again. She never thought that someone like Clay would ever want to be with someone like her. They were so different, yet so similar. His phone began to ding in his pants pocket.
"Clay, you have a text." Emma called out to him and he replied, "see who it is."
Emma rolled over and grabbed his pants. She pulled his phone out and noticed that it was a text message from a woman named Rebecca. 'Sorry we couldn't make dinner tonight. How about some other time?' Emma's heart almost stopped beating. He has a girlfriend. How could he do this?
Clay walked out of the bathroom to see Emma looking at his phone with a somber expression. "Who was it?"
Emma looked at him and said, "your girlfriend."
Clay looked confused, "Em, I don't have a girlfriend."
"Really because you got a text for Rebecca that said she was sorry about your missed dinner date and that she wanted to see you some other time." Emma began covering herself with the sheet.
"Emma, that's not…"
"Not what I think, right! I thought you were different." Emma said as she started looking for her clothes.
"Let me explain…" Clay said as he moved towards the bed.
"I'd love to hear the explanation."
"Tonight was supposed to be our first date. I met her at a funeral that I went to and she said she wanted to get together. Yes, we did have a date for tonight but I cancelled to come with you. I wanted to be with you today more than I wanted to go out to dinner with her." Clay said as he knelt down in front of her. He took her hands in his and made her look at him, "I want to be with you. I know this happened fast, but we would be so good together. I want you, I only want you."
Emma had tears in her eyes but she could see that he was sincere. "So, your single?" Emma wanted to make sure that she wasn't the 'other woman'.
"I am unless you want to date me." Clay said, looking at her with a shy smile.
"I do." She said to him and they kissed before Clay climbed back in bed.
AUTHORS NOTE: watch?v=dnvg0OtupuI (this is the link to Carrie Underwood How Great Thou Art, I feel like in a fanfiction Emma would sing like her.)
AUTHORS NOTE 2: watch?v=F38Ogs7vapQ (this is how I see the medley going.)