Chapter 4
Clay got to the bar and headed in. He looked around and noticed that the guys weren't there yet, so Clay went to grab a table. Their usual waitress comes over, "hey Clay just you tonight?," asked Ms. Sue. Clay said, "no, Ma'am, the rest of the guys are meeting me here. Can we get our regular, please?" Sue nodded her head and headed off towards the bar. Just as Clay was going to text Emma to see how studying was going, a lady walked over and covered Clay's eyes. "Guess who?" Clay smile when he heard that voice and said, "is it, my other girlfriend?" Stella started to laugh, "Don't let Emma hear that she will kick your ass, and I will help her." Clay laughs at her. "Yeah she would, how are you doing Stella. It's been a while?" Stella nodded, "I'm good just got back from a 2 weeks conference. It was fun but I'm glad to be back home." Stella smiled. "How about you? How have things been going for you? Have any crazy missions?". Clay said, "It's going good, Emma and I are going strong. no crazy missions, but someone filed a complaint on me so I'm on the sideline right now. That sucks but hopefully it will all be fixed soon." Stella listened while he talked when he was done, she said, "I'm glad your relationship is going good, and that nothing crazy happens to you or the rest of the guys, and I hope the complaint goes away soon." Just then Sue comes back with the beers for him and the guys. "Thanks, Ms. Sue" Stella said she would be right back and headed to the bar.
Clay thought about how the friendship between Stella and Emma started. He went on one date with Stella and they had a great time but there were no sparks between the two of them. They decided to stay friends. Then Clay met Emma at a team BBQ, and he was a goner. It was love at first sight for both of them. Jason saw what was happening and he fought it at first then Alana knocks some sense into him. So he gave in, figuring that it would only last a week or two. But Jason was wrong, they have been together for a year. Then one day when Emma was in town shopping, her friends end up leaving Emma to go to a party. So she was walking around and looking into different boutique's when she ran into Stella. They started talking, and now they are best friends. Clay still laughs at the memory of him coming home from a spin up and walk into his apartment to see the two of them talking and laughing. He knew he was in big trouble then. But it turns out to be one of the best things to happen. Because a year later Alana sadly died, the guys got spun up, and Jason stayed with the kids. Emma had told him that Stella was there for her while they had been gone. Emma didn't hold it against them for having to leave, she knew it was their job. That spin up was when they lost Adam. Clay also had a close call that mission because he was shoot and stop breathing for a while. He felt responsible for Adam's death and slowing the team down. It took a while for him to see it wasn't his fault, with Emma's help and reassurance of course. Clay shook his head, now was not the time to think about that. Stella returned to the table and the guys began trickling in one after the other. They all greeting Stella. Even though Stella wasn't dating anyone in the group, she becomes almost like family. She has the wit to go one-on-one with any of the guys. Her favorite moments were when she and Emma teamed up against them. They sat together, enjoying the small moments when the shit wasn't hitting the fan. The guys decided not to bring up what they were going to do tonight.
It was 2:00 am and the guys were still at the bar. Stella had left about 11:00 because she had to meet her parents tomorrow. But, since it was the weekend and the guys weren't spinning up again soon, they decided to cut loose and have some fun. Frank, the owner of the bar, called the girls to come to pick up Bravo because, with the amount of alcohol consumed, there was no way they would be able to walk much less drive. Frank couldn't remember the last time Bravo was the last to be at the bar. He laughed because the older guys would certainly feel it in the morning. The doors swung open and in walked the women of Bravo and they did not look happy. The guy's heads turned when the door opens. They saw their wives and girlfriends standing there. All the guys stop smiling because they knew they were in trouble. Clay, in his drunken state, decides to be a smart ass and said, "oh look all those angry ladies. I would hate to be you guys." Sonny quickly retorted, "hey one of those Angry ladies is your girlfriend." Clay's face dropped and soon Sonny was practically on the floor, laughing.
The girls got the guys to pay their tab and headed out for the night. Lisa took charge of Sonny since he doesn't have a "girlfriend" (no one knew that Lisa and Sonny were dating). At least that's what they thought. Clay and Emma had seen them out together. Clay knew that they could get into trouble if any of the brass found out. So Emma and Clay decide not to tell anyone. Clay figure if that both of them deserved happiness. Clay did tell Emma, "You know how hard it is not to tease him about it." Emma just shook her head and laughed. Once all the guys were safely placed into their significant other's vehicles, the girls had a quick conversation before leaving the bar parking lot. Mandy said, "they are going to be a fun bunch." The other girls all nodded their heads in agreement. Betty said, "I swear Eric did this so I would not work on his honey to-do list." They said their goodbyes and headed home for the night.
Emma looked over at Clay as she pulled into the apartment complex. Halfway home, he began to sing off-key to the radio before passing out, much to Emma's relief. When she came to a stop in her parking spot, she woke him up. "Clay come on wake up we are home." It took a little while before she got him to wake enough to get him up into the apartment. Once there, she took his shoes off and let him sleep in his clothes for the night. She was not going to try to get him to change. Emma walked into the bathroom, changed into her nightclothes, and fell asleep beside him on the bed. Tomorrow would not be fun with a hungover Clay. Emma shook her head and went to sleep, knowing that she needed all the sleep she could get.