AN: So this is a little change of pace, something that randomly came to my mind. I felt like Emily needed a little break from the drama, but fear not because it will come back immediatelyafter this chapter. Thanks to everyone who is still with me, I really appreciateit.
Emily ended up finishing her file quicker than she expected and actually got to leave the office by three. When she got into her car she felt this sudden urge that she didn't get often but knew exactly what it was.
She took her phone out of her purse and dialed a familiar number. She pushed talk and put her phone up to her ear.
The phone rang and rang in her ear but it wasn't nearly as loud as her heart beating in her chest.
"Hello, Emily?" The voice of her mother startled her, even though she had been expecting her to pick up.
"Hi mother." Emily replied, trying to calm herself down.
She didn't know exactly what it was about her mother that made her so jumpy and nervous. Maybe it was the fact that her mother hadn't been there as much as she would have liked and the fact that she could never impress her. Maybe it was because she didn't trust her mother. Or maybe it was because Emily had so many secrets from her teenage years that she felt like she was constantly waling around on eggshells. Who knew the exact reason?
"Is everything alright?" Her mother asked in a professional voice that Emily had learned to live with.
"Uh, yeah." Emily said after a moment. "I just feel claustrophobic all of the sudden. I need to get out of this town, can I come visit you?" She asked biting her lip.
Emily could hear her flipping through some kind of day planner and she could almost hear the gears in her head turning.
"If you get on a plane in two hours you should get here just as I finish up my meetings for the weekend and then we can talk about what's bothering you."
Emily's mouth fell open a little. "How could you know something is wrong? I didn't even know until I called you."
"I may be busy but I'm still you're mother."
Emily tried to smile, but even though she was alone in her car, it was forced.
"Anyway, I'll have a plane ready for you when you get to the airport and I'll have someone pick you up when you get here." Her mother said instead of waiting for a reply from her only daughter.
"Ok I'll see you soon." Emily said before saying goodbye and hanging up. She started her car and drove to her apartment.
She didn't know what had possessed her to call her mother but she was sure she would overthink it on the flight.
When she got to her apartment she put a few clothes in a bag and gathered up some makeup and left.
As promised her mother had a plane waiting for her when she got to the airport. She boarded the plane and sat down by the window. She couldn't understand why her mother couldn't just buy her a plane ticket. Why she felt the need to always get Emily her own plane was beyond her. In truth Emily would be fine a crowded plane but her mother would never have it.
She settled into her seat and waited for the flight to be over. She was alone with her thoughts and there was no way to escape them.
She hadn't told Will or Jason that she was leaving for the weekend, she just needed to get away from them. She thought she had wanted to get away from the city but in truth she wanted to get away from the two men in her life.
She didn't know what way to go, or who to go with. She really liked Jason but there was something special between her and Will. She just needed a break, even if it was only for a day or two.
Emily didn't bother to keep track of the time and eventually the pilot announced that they would be landing in a few minutes. She gathered some of her things and brushed out her hair before the plane touched ground.
She didn't expect her mother to be in the limo when she got in and she wasn't. Some things never change. She knew the drive from the airport to her old house like she had never left.
When the limo turned into the big driveway Emily's heart started beating fast once again. She opened the door, once the limo stopped and before anyone could do it for her.
Her mother opened one of the oversized doors that led into the house where Emily had spent the worst years of her life. "Emily." She greeted as Emily walked up the few stairs to meet her mother.
"Hello mother." She said without trying to reach for a hug or a handshake.
"Oh Emily, always so formal." Her mother said, gesturing for her daughter to come into the house.
"Well I learned from the best." Emily replied. She was already starting to regret coming.
Her mother just sighed as she closed the door behind Emily. "Is this what the weekend is going to be like?" Emily didn't answer. "Are we just going to take jabs at each other or are we going to figure out the real reason you came here?"
Emily thought for a second. Neither of the alternatives sounded very enjoyable, how could she choose between two terrible things.
"Let's just open a bottle of wine and see where it takes us." Emily offered.
Her mother nodded and gave her daughter a smile as the two made there way through the big house.
"Geez mother, you could have changed a thing or two around here." She joked looking around the room while her mother got a bottle of overpriced happiness.
"Well you know you're father, he's not a big fan of change."
"Do I ever." Emily said. As soon as her mother finished pouring wine into her glass she picked it up and took a healthy swallow of it. She already had enough to deal with already she really didn't need things about her father to resurface, not now anyway.
She could tell her mother didn't like her not waiting to clink their glasses but at this point she didn't care, she needed that drink and maybe ten more.
They sat in silence at the kitchen table for a while, her mother watching her the entire time.
"So." Elizabeth started, spinning her wine glass on the table. "What's new?"
Emily raised an eyebrow over the rim of her glass before she put it down on the table. "Well, the team solved a case without anyone getting hurt last week, Henry turned one, Garcia broke up with Kevin, I've been sleeping with my friends husband for the past five months, we had another stupid office party, I'm thinking about moving and I had a date." Emily listed before finishing her glass of wine and as her mother watched her and kept her poker face on.
"You're thinking of moving? I'm happy for you, I always thought you should live in a house not some apartment." Her mother said as if that was the only thing she heard.
Emily reached for the wine bottle and began filling her glass again. "Really? That's all you heard out of all that. What about the fact that I've been sleeping with my friends husband for five months?"
Her mother sighed. "I didn't think we had enough wine to talk about it, I apologize Emily."
"It's fine, you're probably right." Emily replied looking down at the hand that was spinning her glass slowly on the table.
It was the first time her mother really looked at her. She could see that her daughter was tired and she knew it wasn't from the flight. They had travelled a lot when she was a teenager and Emily never looked that tired. She wished her daughter made better decisions. She had hoped Emily would've grown out of it by know but it was clear she hadn't.
"What's his name?" She asked Emily gently.
"Will." Emily replied simply.
The wheels turned in her mother's head. "That's JJ's husband." Emily nodded, even though it wasn't' a question. "Looks like we're going to need another bottle." She said before finishing her first glass and getting up to get another bottle.
After talking it out for a while and nearly finishing off the second bottle of wine Elizabeth wanted to show Emily where she would be staying, her old bedroom.
They climbed the stairs and walked down the hall together. Emily stopped in front of a picture that was hanging on the wall. She looked at it for a second before moving it slightly to reveal a dent in the wall the size of her fist. She smiled to herself, it wasn't the first wall she had punched and it defiantly wasn't the last one.
"You're father didn't want to fix that either." Elizabeth said as she looked at the dent, knowing immediately where there were three more just like it.
Emily moved the picture back, making sure it was straight before continuing down the hall to her old bedroom.
When they walked in nothing was different, well nothing that she could remember. The black bedspread, the chandelier above her bed and an oversized vanity by the walk in closet were all where she had left them. "Gosh, I was a spoiled brat." Emily said as she walked around her room.
"I think I'll take the blame for that one." Her mother said from the doorframe. "I wanted you to be happy so I bought you everything you wanted. For some crazy reason I thought that stuff would make you happy."
Emily sighed, finishing her fourth or fifth glass of wine. "Well it was a good effort, I ran out of stuff to ask for at one point."
Emily walked over to the window and looked out. She laughed to herself remembering how many times she had climbed out that window in the middle of the night.
"I was such a bad kid, I'm sorry."
"Well I was a bad mother, so I think we're even." She replied while walking to sit on the bed.
Emily didn't completely agree with her. Emily thought, no knew that she was a way worse than her mother. But if her mother wanted to take some of the blame, why stop her?
Emily joined her. "Thank you for letting me stay here, I promise I'll be gone by Sunday morning."
"Don't worry about it Emily, stay as long as you want I'm sure you're boss won't mind too much."
"Thank you mom." Emily said.
Her mother just smiled and took Emily's empty glass away from her. "I think that's enough wine for tonight. Good night Emily." She said as she walked out of the room.
Emily got up and closed the door after her mother had left. She picked out her pajamas from her bag and went into her bathroom to get ready for bed. She knew she was going to have a headache tomorrow so she chugged some water before finally getting into bed.
Being in her old room was a strange feeling. When she had left this room when she was a teenager she had vowed never to come back, but now she was here willingly. Strange how much things change.
She got comfortable in her bed and tried not to think about just how many guys she had snuck in there late at night. Eventually her body won over her mind and she eventually fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, Saturday, she was momentarily confused as to where she was. When she remembered she got up got a quick shower. Once she got out of the shower she got dressed, put her hair in a ponytail and went down to kitchen to get some breakfast.
Her mother was sitting at the island, drinking coffee and reading the paper. "Good morning Emily."
"Morning mom." Emily replied as she got herself a cup of coffee.
"Do you have a headache, I brought out some Advil in case you did." Her mother said pointing to the two pills near Emily.
"Thank you but that's not necessary, I am a Prentiss after all and we know how to hold our wine quite well." She said as she sat down to the island, across from her mother.
Elizabeth folded her paper. "Well at least I taught you something."
Emily just nodded, not wanting to get into a bad childhood conversation so early in the morning.
"So what are you doing today?" Emily asked, changing the subject effectively.
"Well, I have to make a few calls and write a few letters and then I should be free to do anything."
"Ok, well I guess I'll just lounge around here for the day. We don't have any family here and I'm sure the few friends that I had here are long gone." Emily said before taking a sip of coffee. "They were terrible friends anyway, I wouldn't want to see them again."
"Yeah they were some of the worst." Her mother agreed. "But I don't think anyone will top the worst friend list other than Kevin. He was the devil's confidant."
Kevin. Well Kev to Emily. She had completely forgotten about him, probably because she tried really hard to forget him. The two met when her family was stationed in Italy. He was sweet and amazing and the two quickly fell into, well not love more like lust. Yeah, the two quickly fell in lust together.
Kevin used Emily for sex but she put up with it because at the time that's all she thought she was worth. Elizabeth, although she didn't know all the details, knew that Kevin did not treat her daughter right and she made it very clear that she didn't like him.
But of course that only made Emily want him around more. Emily stopped tiptoeing around and didn't bother pretending that they were studying in her room late at night. Her relationship with Kevin really strained their already strained mother daughter relationship.
Yeah, Emily really didn't need a reminder of him.
"Well, I guess I should leave you to you're work." Emily said after refilling her cup and leaving before her mother had a chance to say anything.
Kevin. That's all she could think about. He had treated her bad but not as bad as some other guys. Like Michael or Johnny. When they had to leave Italy Emily remembered she tried to sneak him on the plane but unfortunately her mother found him at the last minute.
She was absolutely heartbroken and was a hundred percent convinced that her mother wanted her to be miserable. She smiled at the memory now but at the time she thought it was the end of the world. How foolish.
Emily walked around the house and looked at all the things, careful to be respectful though since she didn't live there anymore. Her mini tour ended in her bedroom once again.
She walked around the big room and finally into the walk in closet. Emily was shocked when she saw it, everything was the same as she left it and there was no color, except black of course. She looked through the racks and laughed at some of the clothing pieces that she had worn.
Emily was so focused on her old clothes that she didn't hear her mother enter to room and walk to the closet as well. "Can't figure out what to wear?" She asked in an amused voice.
Emily laughed lightly. "I wouldn't wear any of these clothes now, I can't even believe you let me get some of this stuff."
Her mother laughed despite herself. "I didn't let you get any of these clothes, but I didn't have much control over you so you got it anyway."
Emily nodded. "Now I remember. I used to take the clothes out of one bag and put them into another so you would think I bought them from a store you liked." She pulled out a shirt from the row. "And I think this was purple and I dyed it black when you were in a meeting."
"You could write a book." Elizabeth said shaking her head.
"So could you." Emily agreed. What entertaining books they would be.
"Dinner is ready." Her mother said before turning to leave.
"Mom?" Emily asked, causing Elizabeth to turn around. "Can we eat up here? I want to keep looking at my old clothes and I don't want a hundred servants ready to pounce on me when I drop food into my lap."
"Sure, I'll tell them to bring it up." Elizabeth said before leaving her daughter briefly.
They ate their supper on the floor in Emily's closet. They laughed and made fun of most of Emily's clothing choices and the outrageous shoes she had worn. Once they were finished eating they watched a terrible movie and made fun of the main characters.
For the first time ever Emily was actually enjoying spending time with her mother. She didn't want it to end but sadly she knew it had to, she couldn't miss work. The day ended with a little talk on Emily's bed and some parental advice that Emily was grateful for.
Her weekend had been amazing but in the back of her mind she wondered how Jason was doing, or Will for that matter. What had they done without her?
AN: So the next chapter will be Will's weekend withoutEmily and Emily returning from her mother's. Hope you guys enjoyed.