Hey guys. So I just finished this story and its the much anticipated First Date. This is the longest chapter so far with almost 3500 words and 9 pages. I'm pretty sure this will be the longest chapter in the series. Unless you know I get another long idea lol.
So here's Rachel and Emily's first date.
Prompt: 024- Taxi
ENJOY.
Taxi
"Prentiss," Emily groggily answered her phone.
"Oh, uh, is this Emily?" the person on the other end asked.
"Yes. Who's this?" Emily asked, fully alert and sitting up in the bed.
"Uh, it's...it's, uh, Rachel. We met at Dean's." Rachel said a little unsure of herself. "I'm sorry if I woke you up. I didn't realize it was this early. I've been up for a while now."
"Uh, yeah, hi. I'm in Washington for work."
"Oh god, I just looked at the time. I'm so, so, sorry. It's like 4:30 in the morning there. I'm sorry. I'll let you go back to sleep. Bye." Rachel spoke quickly into the phone.
"No, no, no, wait." Emily urged.
"Yes?"
"I've actually been hoping you would call. I'm surprised you did though," Emily said with a smile.
"I said I would, didn't I?" Rachel said with a sudden newfound confidence.
"Yes, you did." The two fell silent. All that was heard on the other line was the slight sound of breathing. "So...did you want to know something?" Emily helped. "I mean, I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. Uh, why did you call? How can I help you?" Emily slapped her palm to her forehead slightly and shook her head at how stupid she sounded.
"Well, uh, I wanted to know if you were interested in going on a date with me."
"Uh, when?"
"Friday?"
"Yes. If I am home. Is it okay if I call you in a couple of days and let you know for sure?"
"Yeah, that would be great." Rachel smiled on the other end.
"Okay, great."
"Okay." Rachel paused. "Uh, I'll let you get back to sleeping."
"Okay. Bye."
Goodbye, Emily." Rachel disconnected the call. Emily and Rachel both smiled from opposite ends of the US.
Friday
Today was the day. Today was the day Emily had been waiting, and hoping to be available, for all week. She had called Rachel as soon as she left the office and asked her if she was still available tonight. She apologized for the short notice and stated that it was because she didn't know if she was going to be free because of her job. Rachel told her it was fine and that she was free and still wanted to go on their date. Emily suggested that she could meet Rachel at Rachel's place and Rachel could pick where they would go. Emily wanted Rachel totally comfortable for this date. She wanted to go somewhere Rachel would relax. Maybe having Rachel relaxed would relax her.
Emily was definitely nervous. She hadn't gone on a date in so long. She actually hadn't had the desire to, until she met Rachel, that is. Rachel left her absolutely speechless and she hadn't even had a real conversation with her. The goal for tonight was not to ramble, not to talk like a nerd and just survive the night without looking like an idiot in front of this beautiful girl.
She was ready. She was dressed in nice slacks with a deep blue v-neck shirt with a jacket on top. She gave a small smile at herself in her mirror before leaving her bedroom and her apartment. She got into her car and turned the key. Nothing.
"Oh, god, come on, please work, baby." Emily turned the key again. Still nothing. "Aah. come on. Don't do this to me tonight. I really need you to do this for me." She tried the key again. She banged her head against the steering wheel in defeat.
She walked back to her apartment in defeat. She pulled out her yellow pages and looked up a taxi service. Emily called the service and they said a taxi would be there in 20 minutes. She hated that timeframe, but she had no choice but to accept it. The brunette agent waited in her apartment for the taxi to come. After 25 minutes, she was getting restless. The cab was suppose to have been there five minutes ago. She decided she would give him five more minutes before calling the service.
Rachel's Apartment
Rachel paced the length of her living room while Ashley, her brother's girlfriend, sat on the couch and watched her.
"Oh, my god, why isn't she here? She probably decided that she didn't want to go out with me and she just decided not to come."
"Do you really think she would do that, without calling? That's kinda jerky for anyone?"
"I don't know. She seemed really interested in me-at Dean's and when I called her. Why isn't she here?"
"Just relax. Maybe she's just running a little behind. I'm sure she'll be here." Ashley reassured her friend.
Emily
After 35 minutes with no sign of her cab, Emily called the service and after several apologies, was told that the driver just called in and said he was now in front of her building.
She was now 15 minutes late for her date. When she got into the cab, she pulled out her phone to call Rachel. She had been meaning to call Rachel when her cab was late but it completely slipped her mind as she was worried about when the cab would arrive. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.
"Ugh." Emily groaned audibly. The driver looked back at her through his rearview window. "Please, just let me make this call," Emily pleaded as she saw the red bar on her phone. She scrolled down to Rachel's number in her contacts list. Just as she was about to hit the dial button, an incoming call came up on her phone.
"Hey, Prentiss." the voice on the other end greeted.
"Hey, look, Morgan, I really can't talk right now my phone is about to die."
"Okay, girl. Just call-." That was the last thing she heard from Morgan as her phone died.
"No!" Emily yelled. She tried in vain to get the phone to cut back on.
"Are you okay, miss?" the taxi driver asks.
"No. Not at all," Emily answered. "How far are we?"
"About 10, 15 minutes, miss."
"Okay," Emily sighted as she leaned her head against the window. Rachel would never want to go on another date with her ever again.
Rachel's Apartment
"I'm sorry, Rach. I hate to say this, but I think you've been stood up." Ashley said as she wrapped her arms around her friend as they sat on the couch.
"I don't understand. She was interested, I know she was. She said she'd been hoping that I would call her. Maybe something came up," Rachel said hopefully.
"She's almost 30 minutes late. Don't you think she would have called if something came up?"
"Yeah. I guess you're right." Rachel said dejectedly.
"Hey, I know I'm not the girl you wanted to spend the evening with, but we can have our own girls' night. What do you say?" Ashley smiled.
Rachel smiled back. "I guess I'll go change," Rachel said as she stood from the couch and walked toward her bedroom. Before she was at her room, she turned back to her friend. "I really felt something with her." Rachel said before she turned back and headed further toward her room, with her head down.
Ashley smiled sadly at her friend. She really felt bad for her. Ever since Rylan had told her about his sister's encounter with this Emily woman, she had been rooting for them. Rachel wasn't the assertive, 'ask the girl for her number' kind of girl, so for Rachel to actually do that she must have felt a spark or something with this woman. And now that spark and the spark in her eyes was gone.
Emily
As soon as the driver told Emily they were about 10 minutes away from Rachel's place, a few things happened. It started to rain hard, which meant less visibility. Less visibility would mean something if they had actually been moving. A couple minutes after the crazy rain started, blue and red lights and sirens blared from behind them. The driver moved to the side of the road to let the emergency vehicles in. After that, the taxi moved about fifty feet before they were at a standstill. The emergency vehicles were about 300 yards in front of them at the traffic light and blocking the intersection.
Emily actually almost cried when she saw this. This was one of the worst days of her life. She really needed to get to Rachel's place. She was almost an hour late and she was sure that Rachel probably thought she stood her up. Even if Rachel decided that she didn't want to go on the date with Emily, she needed to get to her to explain. This was her only chance. If she called Rachel when she got her phone charged she was sure the woman wouldn't answer the call. She needed to get there. There was only one thing to do.
"Can you tell me exactly how to get there?"
"Excuse me, miss?" the taxi driver said.
"I need to know exactly how to get to this address." Emily said more urgently.
"You go about 10 blocks down this street, turn right on MacEntire, and then about six blocks down that street until you get to Canon, then about 2 blocks down Cannon and you're at the address," the driver explained.
"Okay. Thank you," Emily said as she pulled out her wallet and paid the meter. She opened the door.
"Miss, you cannot go out there. It's raining."
"I can't sit here. Thanks for the ride." Emily said as she got out of the car and closed the door. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the run.
Rachel's Apartment
"Hey," Ashley said from Rachel's bedroom doorway. Rachel was sitting on the window bench watching the rain outside. "The movie and popcorn's ready."
"What?" Rachel said absently.
"Our girls' night. We're going to watch a movie and eat popcorn and you aren't going to dwell on anything." Ashley said as she walked into the room and she tried to pull Rachel up from the bench, but Rachel wasn't moving. "Come on, Rach. It's your favorite movie," Ashley enticed.
Rachel looked up at Ashley questioningly.
"Yeah, that movie. Come on, you know you can't resist."
"Fine." Rachel stood from the bench. "You think you're so good," she said playfully to Ashley.
"Hey, it's not my fault you can't resist watching My Best Friend's Wedding," Ashley said with a laugh. The two friends left the bedroom and headed to the living room to watch the movie.
Emily
Emily came to a stop. She figured she was about halfway there. She tried to shake her jacket sleeve up to look at her watch, but the harsh rain made her clothes cling to her body. She pulled up her jacket sleeve up and wiped her soaking hair away from her eyes to take in the time. She had been running for 20 minutes. It seemed so much longer than that.
Okay, I just need to keep that pace and I should be there in about 20 minutes. God, she's never going to want to see me again. Emily shook the thought from her head and started running again.
Rachel's Apartment
Rachel and Ashley were sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching the movie. They were at the part where Julia Roberts' character arrives at the airport to meet Dermot Mulroney, and also meets Cameron Diaz's character. A knock sounded at the door.
Ashley paused the movie. "I'll get it." When she opened the door, she saw a dark haired woman who was dripping wet. Her hair and clothes clung to her body like a second skin. She woman's face was drained of almost all color. The woman was breathing hard.
"Oh, I-I-I'm sorry. I was looking for R-R-R-Rachel," Emily said through harsh breaths and chattering teeth. Rachel turned around toward the door.
"Oh, my god, Emily. What happened? Were you out in this rain?" Rachel said as she made her way to the door. "Come in." Rachel took Emily's hand and led her into the apartment. Rachel turned to Ashley, "can you get her a towel and start a warm shower?" Ashley nodded before she left for the bathroom.
"I-I-I nee-ed to tell you what hap-happened. Why I w-w-wasn't here." Emily stuttered out.
"We'll talk about it after I get you into a warm shower and dry clothes. I can't have you catching pneumonia on me." Rachel walked Emily's shivering body the bathroom. Ashley had cut on the water and left a towel for Emily, along with a change of clothes. Rachel left Emily in the bathroom and told her to come out whenever she was ready.
A half hour later, Emily walked out of the bathroom wearing grey sweatpants and a Stanford University t-shirt. She smiled nervously at the two women that were sat on the couch.
Ashley was the first to speak. "So, why are you here?" Ashley asked Emily aggressively from her spot on the couch. "Did you have a change of heart about standing up this great and wonderful woman, so you decided to pretend you ran here." Ashley stood from the couch and stood in front of Emily. "Why? Huh? So you could look all romantic? Is that your game, Emily?" Ashley interrogated.
"Ashley, calm down," Rachel said from the couch.
"No, Rach, she stood you up." Ashley said looking directly at Emily.
"I didn't stand you up," Emily said past Ashley and to Rachel.
"What do you mean, you didn't stand her up? You were supposed to be here almost 2 hours ago. You didn't even call."
"I can explain everything. I was going to call, Rachel. I really was," Emily said.
"Okay. So, why didn't you?" Ashely pushed further. Emily looked between Ashely and Rachel nervously.
"Ashley, sit down and let her talk." Rachel requested.
"You're actually going to hear her excuses?" Ashley asked outraged.
"Yes." Rachel said. "Now, sit down and be quiet." Ashley took her seat back on the couch next to Rachel and glared at Emily. Rachel sighed before she turned to look from Ashley to Emily. "Go ahead, Emily, explain."
Emily walked over to the couch and kneeled in front of Rachel. "I didn't stand you up, Rachel, I wouldn't. I really wanted to go out with you. I was all ready to come here and meet you, but when I got in my car the engine wouldn't turn over. So I had to call a cab, and they told me it would be 20 minutes before the cab got to me. By that time, I would have already been late to meet you. But I waited for the cab."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I don't know. It just slipped my mind. I was so busy waiting for the cab that I forgot." Emily said.
"Right." Ashley said under her breath.
Emily and Rachel both looked at Ashley. "Anyway," Emily continued, "the cab was late and I called and they said they cab was outside. The cab got there 35 minutes after I first called and not 20 like they said. So, when I got into the cab I realized that I hadn't called you. I pulled out my phone, it was red in the battery icon, but I was hoping that I would be able to get my call through to you. But then my friend, Morgan, called. Right after I told him I couldn't talk because my phone was dead, my phone died. That's why I didn't call you. I couldn't."
"And how are we suppose to know you're telling the truth?" Ashley asked.
"Well, you could check my phone, I suppose. But the rain probably caused a lot of water damage," Emily answered. "God, I really hope I don't get called in this weekend. That would be a disaster with no cell phone," Emily rambled. Emily took Rachel's hand in both of hers. "I really like you, Rachel. And there was no way I was going to stand you up. I ran about 2 miles in this storm t-,"
"Wait, why were you running in the rain? I thought you said you were in a cab." Rachel said confused.
"There was an accident and traffic was at a standstill. I decided to get out and run because I figured if I went back home and charged my phone to call you, you probably wouldn't answer thinking that I stood you up. And I didn't want you to think that. So I asked the cab driver how to get here and...I ran."
Rachel looked at Emily speechless. She really didn't know what to say to her.
Emily took a deep breath before she started to speak again. "But if you don't want to go out with me, I completely understand." Emily stood up from her place kneeling before Rachel. "So, I guess I will just leave and you can call me if you want. If you don't, like I said, I'll understand. No pressure. The rain's letting up so I'll be okay." Emily said before making her way to the door.
"Emily, wait," Rachel said. Rachel got up and blocked the door from Emily's path. "I can't let you go back out in the rain. Why don't you stay here and we can have a movie date?" Rachel smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I really like you, Emily. I still want to go out with you. So, how about you stay here and we will watch this movie and I will drive you home."
Emily smiled brightly at Rachel. "I would really like that," Emily said. She leaned closer to Rachel and lowered her voice. "Is she going to be okay with that?" Emily joked tilting her head slightly back toward Ashley on the couch.
"I'll kick her out," Rachel said playfully. She brought her head up to look behind Emily at Ashley. "Hey, Ash, will you go in the den and watch a movie?"
Ashley looked between Rachel and Emily. "Sure." Ashley got up and walked away from the other two women with a smile. This Emily woman was going to be interesting to have around. She ran in the rain all the way here just to explain to Rachel that she hadn't stood her up. That was pretty impressive. Ashley was rooting for Rachel and Emily once again.
Once Ashley was out of sight, Rachel took Emily hand and guided her back over to the couch.
"What are we watching?" Emily asked as they sat down on the couch.
"One of my favorite movies. My Best Friend's Wedding."
"Great choice," Emily said.
"I can't believe you actually know this movie. You, Emily, are a girl after my own heart."
The two women sat on the couch and watched the movie while they ate popcorn. Once the movie was over, the two women sat on the couch just talking and getting to know each other while they waited for the rain to die down more. When the rain had cleared more, Rachel drove Emily home. The two sat in the car in silence for a moment after Rachel pulled up to the apartment building.
"I-" Emily and Rachel both start at the same time. The two women laughed together.
"You go first," Emily said.
"I really had a good time tonight, Emily," Rachel said.
"Yeah, me too. You know, despite the disastrous way it began, and, you know, the running in the freezing rain. By the way, I will get your clothes back to you," Emily said gesturing to the shirt and sweatpants she now wore.
"Don't worry about it. But I would really like to do this again sometime, without the disastrous start," Rachel said with a smile.
"I would too. Can I call you and set up a time?" Emily asked now suddenly nervous.
"Of course." The two women once again sat in silence looking at each other. Rachel leaned closer to Emily. "Goodnight, Emily," Rachel said before kissing Emily gently on the cheek.
Emily's eyes grew as big as saucers when Rachel kissed her. Granted it was on the cheek, but it was still a nice kiss. When Rachel pulled back, Emily looked at her with her mouth slightly ajar. After a few seconds, Emily pulled herself together. "Goodnight, Rachel," Emily said before opening her the passenger door and getting out of the car.
Emily stood in front of her building and watched Rachel's car disappear down the street. Rachel drove all the way home with a smile on her face. Emily walked up to her apart and got ready for bed with a smile from ear to ear the whole time. Neither woman could wait for their next encounter.
So here's the end of this chapter. Tell me what you think. I have about 4 more story ideas in the arsenal, so I'm working on those.
Sidenote: Wow this took 2 days for me to write...AWESOME lol.
Anyway, what did you guys think of Ashley? Would you like more of her? I have an idea in the works with Rylan, Ashley, and Emily. Which should be fun. And another one with just Ashley and Rachel. Which is another fun one. All in all I think good stuff are on the horizon lol. (Can I say that if it's my own work...I think so lol)
No ideas for possible next chapter because I have no idea which one I will write next. Sorry.
But anyway...
Thanks for reading.
PLZ REVIEW. I love replying to all of your reviews and hearing your ideas and thoughts about this story.
TVCrazed.
