The mass of people ran pushing and scratching Emmie as they stampeded out. Kicking off her heels, she gripped Deidara's arm harder but the wave of people pried her fingers off, sweeping her away. Another explosion rocked the yacht, a woman careened into her and with a shriek, Emmie fell overboard. Surfacing, Emmie turned around wildly, trying to locate the shore. Gasping, another woman popped up beside her and started climbing Emmie like a ladder. "Get off!" Emmie yelled, dangerously close to drowning. After she was pushed under once again, she jabbed the woman in the kidneys, the woman convulsed and let go. The woman tried once again to grab at her but with a splash and kick to the face, Emmie swam away. Unfortunately, the woman held onto Emmie's dress. Emmie yanked her dress and with a wet tearing sound, the flimsy silk tore and Emmie was free to swim away.
It felt like an eternity but Emmie reached a point where she could stand and wade back to shore. By a red glow of a cigarette and the glow of golden hair from the street light, she spotted Deidara. Emiliana didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed that he was there. Emmie jumped feeling something swishing around her legs, thinking it was as shark, and realized that it was the remnants of her poor ruined dress. To her horror, she remembered that since the dress bared her side, she didn't wear anything underneath, now she was naked from the top up. Well Deidara was far, maybe he didn't see anything.
Stumbling up to him, she knew he saw something judging from the smug little smile on his face. Oh well, Emmie sat down heavily on the sand holding herself in the cold evening. Deidara gave her his jacket and Emmie put it on gratefully. She wrung out her hair and Deidara sat down beside her. "Hey you ok?" he asked. She nodded shaking. Deidara waited until she caught her breath and stood up.
"Hey, you need to carry me," Emmie's teeth chattered. "No way," Deidara said. Emmie looked at him. "I don't have any shoes there's tons of rocks and broken glass! I'm gonna get tetanus!" Deidara sighed gustily and without warning swept her up over his shoulder. Emmie rolled her eyes, deep down she thought he would carry her in a bridal carry all romantic and all but nope, this thug didn't have a romantic bone in his body, Emmie thought as he unceremoniously stuffed her in the cab.
Back in Deidara's apartment and after a deliciously hot shower, Emmie was in a cozy pair Olivia van Halle horse printed pajamas drinking hot tea while waiting for Deidara to finish his shower. Emmie took a sip of tea wondering if he was alright; he seemed to be close to Sasori and after seeing his friend being used like a lab rat must have upset him. Not like she cared about his well-being, of course not! She was just worried that his emotional instability might set back her mission to save her brother.
Finally she heard the door open and Deidara emerged from a cloud of steam. Emmie turned to address him but noticing that he was wearing only a towel around his slim hips, she smiled catlike, "Oh my, seems like I was wrong. I do like what I see." He flicked her off and put bandages over his cuts. Trapping his figure between her lashes, she examined him blatantly. He might be a completely annoying pain in her neck but he was awfully pretty to look at. Deidara's long blond hair was tousled and tumbling down making him look wild and untamed. His diet was pathetic, judging from the empty takeout containers in his apartment, but his physique was phenomenal. He was lean and muscular and his extensive tattoos gave him an air of artistry.
Deidara quickly put on a plain shirt hiding his musculature, "Turn around, I don't want you seeing me change! I feel like I'm about to start stripping." Emmie snorted and turned around, turning her gaze outside instead.
A waxing gibbous moon hung low in the night sky. Hauntingly gorgeous, it took her breath away. Whether in the slums of New York or in her luxurious apartment, the moon was still heartbreakingly beautiful. Entranced, Emiliana didn't notice Deidara staring hard at her profile. If she paid more attention, she would have seen the way he committed her face to memory and the breath catching in his throat.
Deidara cleared his throat and Emmie started in surprise. He motioned at her legs and she swung them down. "There was a really familiar voice in that room. If I see his face, I'll know who it is! I just couldn't put his face to his name," Emmie bounced excitedly closer to Deidara who put his arm on the back of his sofa and held his phone in one hand. Watching the screen carefully, she scanned the small crowd. She noticed Deidara's jaw clenching when Dr. Zetsu injected Sasori with Lithium.
"Let's take a break," Emmie said quietly. Putting the phone down Deidara stared at the moon. Emmie shifted until she was blocking his view, "Tell me what were the most annoying quirks Sasori had." Deidara stared at her, "Well, I hated his hair. It's fake, he's not really a redhead. And he had a weird obsession with puppets." Emmie listened to Deidara list his grievances until out of breath, he reclined back blinking hard.
"Hey, you're a great listener. You probably don't care but thanks."
"It's no problem, it's my job. I'm pretty good at it, let's see the rest of the video." Emmie leaned back in to continue watching. There, in the corner there was a familiar face but he was shadowed. Frustrated, Emmie asked, "Can this stupid thing zoom?" Pushing her away Deidara replied, "Get off, no you can't zoom."
Gasping with surprise, Emmie scrambled into Deidara's lap to get his phone. "Oh, that's him, that's him!" Deidara put his arms loosely around her but didn't push her away, "You could've just asked for the phone you know. Who is that then?" Emmie paused the video during the part where Deidara dove. In the arc of motion, frozen in the screen was a slightly blurry but recognizable man. "That's Bheka Mnqobi, my brother's right hand man, the VP of the entire gaming enterprise."
Emmie thought about Mnqobi, she didn't know him that well even though he had been working for her brother over 5 years ago. He did rise through the ranks fairly quickly for a man without connections or did he have connections?
"What are you thinking about? You got real quiet," Emmie jolted out of her inner monologue when she felt Deidara's breath on her neck. "Stop breathing down my neck!" Emmie pushed him away, covering her sudden flush, "I don't know too much about this guy but we need to meet him. I know it's him, he's the one framing my brother!"
Deidara jerked his head in agreement, "So where can we meet this guy?" Emmie tensed, turning to look at him, "There's no us, only me. This guy doesn't know you, he's not going to open up with you." Frowning, Deidara gripped her by the shoulders, "Look princess, we're doing this together, you're going nowhere. If I need to, I will cuff us together again."
Blanching. Emmie acceded, "Fine, you can be my boyfriend but you need to dress up a little, he's never going to believe that I'm dating anyone from the ghetto. We'll meet him on Monday."