Good night, guys! :) I'm back again. As you may have realized, I'm trying to update the story once a week. I know you'd love to have more material to read, but this is all I can give you for now. Don't be so greedy. :D This chapter is all about changes, so prepare emotionally before you dig into it.
Herhers: I know Jason is really cute, but I guess you prefer Emily over Jason, right? Be patient, I don't want them to be together yet. There has to be some drama before, don't you think? :D
EP: You were wondering about what was gonna happen at the bar. So here we go… I hope you like it. ;)
Guest 1: LOL You're way too impatient. :D
Guest 2: You made me think about ending this chapter with a cliffhanger, so blame on you. :D I also made reality your second request. xD
MJ: Thank you! I try not to make a lot of mistakes and it takes a lot of time to finish writing a chapter, but it has its perks, 'cause it's satisfying. Anyway, you were saying something about cliffhangers… LOL Your last sentence made me laugh. :)
Enjoy the chapter, guys!
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE
: Chapter 15 – A Whole New World:
I still can't believe this is happening. Two days ago I was devastated because I decided to be honest about my feelings to Paige and I also found out about her relationship with Jason. On top of that, Maya showed up and she's been bothering me. She's being calling non-stop, but I just ignore her. However, the few times I've seen her face to face it's been even more hurtful, 'cause I have to deal with her and I still have a soft spot for her and I hate that, because she's evil and I deserve better. The worst part of this Maya thing is that even if New York is a huge city, she knows where I live, where I work and where I like to get my coffee, so she doesn't need to make a huge effort to keep an eye on me. That's why I'm trying to avoid the diner where Hanna works these days. And I hate that because I love that place.
But today I only have good feelings about the night that I have ahead of me. Paige offered to go with me to a gay pub. According to her, I need to meet other girls in order to forget her. But she doesn't know there's no other girl in the world that's going to make me forget about her. I only accepted because I enjoy every second that I'm with her. If I decided to invite Hanna over so we don't have to go the two of us alone, 'cause that could be a little bit violent to her. The best part of this plan is that Paige invited his brother Caleb to come too with the intention of setting him up with Hanna. This is going to be a good night, I can feel it.
Hanna is supposed to meet me at our place. I've been ready for an hour at least. I tried to pay attention on some shitty TV show so I didn't get more nervous than I already am, but I miserably failed. I can't stop thinking about seeing Paige outside the office and at a club on Saturday night, 'cause it's the first time that's going to happen. I was so eager and nervous about it that I got into shower three hours before I told Hanna to come here so we could go together to the club where we're meeting the McCullers siblings. I nervously look at my watch, I can't stand the wait anymore. When I hear a knock on the door I jump out of the couch and literally run towards the entrance door.
"Wow… just wow!" Hanna exclaims, looking me from head to toe. "You look stunning. You're making me have doubts about my sexuality, Em," she adds, making me flush. I push her jokingly and she laughs.
"You're not so bad yourself," I tease her. She's looking really pretty, she doesn't need to make an effort to look like that though. "I bet Caleb will have a hard time not to look at you. Well done, Han," I say.
"Her sister is going to finally open her eyes when she sees you, Em." I shake my head at my blonde friend. I already gave up on making her understand Paige is not interested in me. I know she doesn't say things like that to bother me. "You look stunning. Good choice with those leather pants and that white blouse." She high fives me and I laugh at her reaction. She always finds a way to make me laugh and I love her for that. I take a last look on the mirror and Hanna does the same. I grab my phone and keep it inside my purse.
"Shall we?" I ask her, pointing at the door. She nods at me and we both leave the apartment. We take the subway and only 15 minutes later we're inside the club. I look around to see if they already got here, but I don't see Paige. I check my phone and I see a message. "Five minutes. :)" I smile at her brief but kind explanation.
"I guess she texted you, right? I mean… that smile…" Hanna adds.
"They're getting here. I'm having a beer, what about you?"
"Another one, please. I don't want to be tipsy in front of him. You know how Hanna is when she drinks rum," she jokes. I nod at her with a smile on my face. I order two beers and we sit on the stools at the end of the bar.
"There is not a single boy," she says, surprise covering her face.
I laugh loudly. "What did you expect? Didn't the 'Ladies night' banner on the door make you understand what kind of people were going to come here?" I tease her.
I see a worry gesture on my friend's face. "Does that mean Caleb may have problems to get inside?"
"He's not going to be banned from entering the club? Trust me," I say, trying to calm her. "Are you nervous?" I see that she's been tapping her fingers on the barcounter since we sat.
"Just a little bit," she says. A nervous smile escapes her lips. She's always been the confident one between the four of us if we don't take Spencer's confidence into account.
"He's going to love you." I hold her hand in support.
"Just breathe and don't let him go," she says as she looks at the front door. I frown at her, I don't understand what she's referring to. I turn my head to look to the spot she's looking at and I see them walk into the club. I wave at Paige and her brother to announce them we're already here. Paige raises her hand, waving back at me as her smile grows wider. I feel weakness in my legs. She looks stunning. It's funny how she always looks so hot without making an effort. I mean, she's wearing tight black pants, high black boots, a tight red v-neck and a waisted blazer. I can't keep my eyes off her as they head towards us. My heart starts beating even faster when she hugs me and her sweet smell drives me crazy.
"Hi," she whispers in my ear with her husky voice while the hug is still happening. This is going to be tough.
When we pull over, I realize that Caleb and Hanna are staring at each other, but don't say a word. Suddenly Caleb breaks the silence.
"Paige… why didn't you tell me you were planning on bringing me to a place where I was going to be surrounded by lesbians?"
"Not gay! I'm not gaaaaay! I'm not gaaaaay!" Hanna yells, making the people around us look at us. We start laughing loudly.
"I said you were going to be surrounded by girls. I didn't lie," she adds, giving him a teasingly nudge. He smiles at Paige, but I can see fear inside his eyes when she looks around him. I understand his feeling, he must think he doesn't fit in here.
"I guess you already realized Hanna is not gay. I'm the only lesbian in here," I say, my eyes fixed on Paige in case she reacts at my statement. Sadly, she just ignores me, like she didn't realize what I just said. "This is Hanna, a friend of mine. And I'm Emily."
"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," Caleb politely adds, smiling at Hanna. I realize how Caleb looks at my friend. Tonight looks good for Hanna and I'm so happy for her.
"What are you going to drink?"
"Beer," the siblings answer in unison, making them laugh at the same time. They're adorable.
Once we all have our drinks, we start talking to each other, but I realize Caleb and Hanna are having another conversation, so I have only Paige to talk, not that I'm complaining.
"Did you see someone interesting?" Paige asks, a little bit loud, due to the loud music.
"There's one person in particular, but I don't think she's interested," I tease her. It's dark inside, but I can see she's blushing. "I was joking, Paige." She smiles at me. I think we've never been so close to each other. There's barely distance between us when we talk, the loud music makes us speak really close to each other. God bless loud music, even if this is going to make me deaf. "How are you feeling?" I ask.
"I'm good. Why?" she responds. She places her hand on my shoulder to support her when talking into my ear. I don't want this night to end.
"I mean, being at a gay bar and everything…" She stares at me with those big brown eyes.
"Do you think being around lesbians is going to make me feel awkward?" She smiles at me and continues speaking. "I don't care about that. I'm happy because I'm with you. You needed support and that is why friends are for, right?" My heart wrenches when I hear the word 'friend'. I don't know if she saw the hurt inside my eyes, but she suddenly changes the subject. "Every girl in the club is looking at you, in case you didn't notice." She smirks at me. "In fact, I know that they will all come to talk to you the moment I leave your side." Her smile grows wider. I don't want her to leave my side, though. "So, I'm going to sit at that table in the corner with my brother and Hanna and you will sit on that stool, okay?" She winks at me.
"I think that plan is great," Hanna exclaims. I frown at her. I thought she wasn't paying attention to our conversation because she was focused on Caleb. I would actually prefer if she continued flirting with him and didn't have to intervene and make things worse. By the time I realize, I'm sitting alone next to the barcounter and they are looking at me and encouraging me from the table. I ignore then and think about why I accepted this. I gulp the whole beer and ask another one. I will need a little bit of alcohol to deal with this. I look at them again and they're obviously having a good time, because they already forgot about me and the three of them are laughing at something Paige is showing Hanna. Caleb seems embarrassed, so I guess it must be a picture of him.
"Hi, may I…?" I turn my head to look in the opposite direction and I see a gorgeous blonde pointing at the free stool. I nod at her, a word not coming out of my mouth. "I'm Emma, by the way." Her smile is really cute and I can't keep my eyes off of her perfect wavy hair.
"Em… Em… Emily," I mumble. She must think I'm an idiot. "I think we have an audience. There are one guy and two girls staring at us," she jokes.
"Ignore them. They're my friends." She laughs at my comment.
We keep speaking for at least thirty minutes and she seems really nice. We drink two beers more and I can feel the effect of the alcohol because I feel more relaxed.
"Hi, Em." A voice I know very well startles me. I look at the woman that interrupted us and I sigh heavily. I don't get why she always knows where I am. It's like she has FBI or something like that, 'cause she follows me everywhere.
"I'm not in the mood, Maya. Just leave, please."
Emma stares at me and I guess she detects the tension between us.
"You have my phone in case you..." She shyly adds. "I think you two need to talk."
"Smart girl," Maya adds with a grin on her face.
"I'm only giving you five minutes. I have other things to do, you know," I harshly add.
I suddenly see a tear running down her cheek. It's like she's a different person from the woman that made Emma leave. "I'm really sorry, Em. I just…" She can't stop the sobbing. I don't know what to do. "I need you in my life. I know I made a mistake. I love you," she exclaims, leaving me speechless. I don't know if I should hug her or not, but she seems sincere.
"Maya… just… stop crying, please."
Her puffy red eyes looking at me are making this way more difficult.
"Will you please forgive me?" she begs me. She know I can't stand seeing people cry in front of me, and I think she's taking advantage of this.
"I'm not going to lie. I don't know if I can forgive you all the pain you caused me."
A lot of tears are running down her cheeks, too many tears for me to handle.
"It will take time. You have to show me you've really changed though." I see a smile on her face. I don't know if she's faking it, but if she really is, then she should consider changing her career and becoming an actress. "Anyway, this doesn't mean there's going to be anything between us. I want to make that clear in case you're thinking about being a couple or something," I add. Her reaction to my words amazes me. She embraces me tightly.
"Thank you," she whispers, while still hugging me. I won't lie, her perfume makes me feel something that I thought I had forgotten, but it's still there. We were together a few years and it seems like my body didn't forget about her and that scares me like hell. "Are you seeing someone?" she adds just before pulling from the hug. I know she's nosy and she would be asking personal questions like that. I raise my eyebrows and she grins at me. "I'm not marking my territory, it's just that I'm curious."
"I don't think that matters." I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't want to talk about that kind of stuff with her.
"That's cool. How is work?" It's kinda weird that we're having this conversation after everything that happened.
"Actually…" I remember about Paige and I turn around to look at the spot they were sitting at. I only see Hanna and Caleb speaking to each other and grinning like teenagers. "Excuse me one moment," I say before standing and approaching them.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but where is your sister?" I ask Caleb.
"She just left." Hanna is the one that answers my question. She points at the door and I realize she's trying to tell me that I should go after her. I run towards the entrance door and get out. I look at every direction and I see her shape, so I run to catch her.
"Paige! Paige!" She turns around and stops. I grab her arm so she looks at me. "What's up?"
"My presence was not required, so I decided to leave."
I frown at her. She doesn't seem mad, but she's acting weird. "I don't get it, Paige."
"Come on, Emily. You're a smart woman, think."
"This was your idea."
"I know, and it looks like it wasn't a good idea."
"Why?" I raise my voice.
"Em…" She sighs. "Are you going to make me say her name?"
"You said that I needed to be with another woman so I could forget you. I was actually doing that, so I don't get this." She huffs. Her calm but a little bit harsh attitude is really bothering me.
"And do you think Maya is a good choice?" She raises her voice a little bit. Now she seems pissed off.
"We were just talking. Is that a problem?" She avoids my gaze.
"What about that hug? Was she just being friendly? Come on, Em, you're not fifteen anymore."
The thought that's been tormenting me escapes my lips. "Are you jealous?"
She takes a deep breath before answering my question. "Do you really think that's really the problem here?" She didn't answer the question. I don't know if that's a good sign or not. "She's going to hurt just like she did before. Don't say I didn't warn you. I just care about you and I want only the best for you."
"You're the best that could happen to me," I state.
I see a brightness in her eyes. "The feeling is mutual." She hugs me tightly and I feel a connection between us. She gives me a kiss on my cheek and my body temperature immediately raises. "You're adorable."
To be continued…
Stay tuned! ;)
