Million Dollar 5
Emily stared out the window at the wonderland of the clouds. She was nervous about this trip. She had only told one friend she was going at all. Everyone else had been told she was going to Edinburgh to meet up with an old school friend. The friend she had told her real plans to had tried to talk her out of going but she had insisted. Even if it turned out that the reunion with Ross was a failure, she still had something to tell him. It was important that he knew.
The air hostess asked her if she wanted something to drink. Emily declined and stared back out the window. So many changes in so short a time. She didn't care about giving up wine but she really wanted some brie on a cracker and she couldn't have that either. She had had no idea there were so many things she couldn't eat but it would all be worth it in the long run. She shifted in her seat and rubbed her belly gently, closing her eyes.
How would Ross take the news? Emily couldn't be certain. It was all so unexpected. She herself had been shocked when she found out two days ago. Then of course she had to tell Ross at once, no matter how things were between them. It was weird that he had called her at the same time that she had called him. She had never expected him to call her. She wondered about that. You shouldn't give people ultimatums unless you were going to follow through. He'd done that, and she'd taken him seriously, everyone had taken him seriously, and even though it had only been a few days she was already emotionally on the way to separation. Then he'd called and she'd had her news... She decided to wait until seeing him before telling him, seeing that he wanted her to come anyway. How was it going to change things between them? She found herself feeling unsettled. She really didn't know what she thought of it all herself. Is it good news or bad news?
It was after she had returned from a dash for the toilets, mercifully free that she found someone on the plane with her.
'Hey, it's Emily isn't it?' The good looking American sat beside her in the empty seat. She stared back at him. She'd seen him before but she couldn't remember his name... 'Joshua,' he said kindly.
'Rachel's boyfriend.' Ex, she remembered. Why hadn't Rachel been satisfied with him? He was really good looking. Then she remembered that Joshua had dumped Rachel and that had left her free to come sniffing around after Ross. Looking at Joshua's innocent face she couldn't bring herself to tax him with this. How was anyone to know the consequences of their actions further down the line? It was Ross who had behaved badly, not Joshua. And maybe he had good reasons for getting rid of Rachel. If Rachel still had a thing for Ross, that would have been a good reason. Why should Joshua have taken the risk with his heart on Rachel.
'We first met at your going away party.' Oh that. And in a flash she saw it all. Emily had been too full of the sadness of leaving Ross for good, or so she had thought then, to wonder why the party had been organised. Rachel had organised it - but why would Rachel organise that for her? She hadn't, she'd done it for Joshua. That was why she'd dressed like a trollop, so as to get him to notice her. The only person who had noticed her was that creepy coffee shop owner Gerhardt or Gunter or something. 'Except you didn't, at least not for good,' Joshua smiled. 'So when are you getting married?' Emily wasn't wearing her ring, the ring she'd stopped thinking of as hers. She wouldn't put it back on unless she resolved things with Ross.
'We haven't set a date yet,' she improvised. That was probably the best compromise she could make under the circumstances.
'Well you don't want to rush into things,' Joshua said, 'It's a big mistake.' He could say that again. She remembered now that she had heard that he had been married before although apparently Rachel wasn't involved in the trouble there.
'No, we won't rush.'
'Ross is a lucky guy, I thought so at the party.'
'You did?' Emily blurted out, surprised. She couldn't remember him taking any particular notice of her then - but maybe she wasn't in any condition to notice another man. As for him, wasn't he supposed to be getting the eyeful of Rachel that she'd been so keen to give him? Joshua laughed,
'Oh I am I being a bit forward? It's safe though isn't it with you being spoken for, as it were?' he said. Her head reeled. 'But you're nice.' Emily decided that he had taken up the air hostess's offer of a drink.
'Well,' said Emily wanting to satisfy her curiosity. 'What went wrong with you and Rachel? If that's not too forward?'
'She was too full on,' Joshua said, 'I liked her but it turned out she was a bit of a psychobunny. She asked me to marry her and we'd only been seeing each other a few days.' He gave a shudder. 'Can you believe that?'
'Marry you?' Emily asked in surprise. A few weeks was one thing, a few days was something else.
'I have a feeling it wasn't me, it was the ring she was after.' Emily wondered about the timing of that proposal. Joshua continued, 'It's a big step for you, coming to marry someone in a foreign country. I think you're very brave.'
'Well it's not that foreign.' But something told Emily that it was. Its foreignness was something she noticed at every turn.
'Common language but so many differences. I've moved over to London for the next few years,' Joshua said, 'And it's going to take some getting used to.'
'You've relocated?'
'Yeah. Business reasons. I don't know if you know but I used to be married. I got my divorce around the time that I was seeing Rachel - not that she was the cause of it or anything, it was over before I started seeing her,' he added. Well at least that was one marriage Rachel didn't wreck, Emily thought. 'When the divorce came through I just wanted to get out of New York. I thought I could do with a change.'
'How do you like the change?'
'So far so good,' he said and they talked about London, places to live and places to visit. She discovered that he hadn't been to any of the Art Galleries.
'You really should go to the Tate,' Emily said.
'Maybe you can show me when you get back. It's more fun looking at painting with someone else.'
'All right,' Emily said. She didn't know if she would be going back but she wrote his number down anyway and gave him hers, for what that was worth. 'Why are you coming to New York?' she asked. 'Is it family?'
'No. My parents are actually on a holiday in Sweden. I have to go to New York to sign a contract. As soon as I'm done, I'm going back.'
'As soon as you're done?'
'I'm only going to be in New York for a few hours. I'm not getting out of the airport.'
'Oh, that's awful.'
'I know, but I've got to be back in London for another contract.' Joshua shook his head. 'At least you get to stay a while.' Emily shrugged. She might be back on the next plane. It all depended on how Ross took the news. In her purse she had enough for her airfare back. Her disapproving friend had insisted that she have the money and keep it only for her return flight. Her disapproving friend didn't know the news. Emily knew exactly what she would have said if she had known.
'No?' Joshua asked.'I don't know,' Emily confessed. She didn't want to say any more.
'I'm sorry to hear that,' Joshua said. 'Ross must be a very stupid man, if things are like that.' Tactfully he changed the subject but as he returned to his seat he said,
'Give me a call when you get back to London. I'd like to see a friendly face.' She nodded, her thoughts already on the impending meeting with Ross.