A/N: So sorry for the delay in the update. I kept altering the chapter because I was unhappy with it.
Chapter 9 - Life Imitates Art (II)
"So, did they end up solving the Holbrook Homicides?", Martha Wolfe asked, a bored curiosity edging her voice.
"The what?", Arianna spat out, finally paying attention to a conversation that had been boring her out of her mind.
She didn't know why she'd agreed to cover this little event in Philly. There was so much that she could've been doing right now. Instead, she was stuck in a room full of blasphemous objects posing as art, and she felt claustrophobic. On top of everything, Emily had disappeared somewhere, which made her feel nervous. Arianna had been keeping her distance from her girlfriend because of the tremendous guilt that was crushing her. The guilt that made her want to blurt out the truth. But she was afraid that it would ruin everything. So she kept quiet. And she kept her distance.
"That's what the papers are calling it. Just because you work for one doesn't mean you should stop reading the others", Martha tutted, a gloating smile lining her thin lips.
Ugh, Arianna wanted to kill that caricature of a woman in front of her.
"I don't read awful newspapers like the Holbrook Headlines", Arianna stated simply, her eyes wandering off again. The murders and thefts had interested her for a while. They had led her to that fateful interview with that gentleman that must not be named. They had forced her footsteps to Danielle's door. (But she knew she was just blaming destiny for her own mistakes.)
Martha smiled like a gargoyle, apparently finding the situation very funny. "Of course you're saying that. They're your competition. I love the little celeb tidbits they have! And Sudoku!", she trilled.
"I'm paid to say that, so", Arianna shrugged, finally spotting her girlfriend making her way towards them. Thank God.
Emily looked a little distracted, her eyes unfocused, as if she was looking at something very far away. Arianna wanted to climb inside her mind and learn all her secrets, but she knew that would be hypocritical. She had her own to guard, after all. As soon as the swimmer reached her, Arianna bent her head close to Emily, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Huh. You finally decided to save me. If you'd been a minute late, I would've been giving the psycho murderer in town a run for his money", Arianna whispered, slipping her arm around Emily's waist like it belonged there. She wanted to show everyone around that this gorgeous girl belonged only to her. And no one else. (Certainly not that shifty Hastings who had come to lunch the other day, and whom she spotted out of the corner of her eye.)
"Oh. If I'd known it was that bad, I would've stopped to admire the paintings on my way here", Emily joked, smiling tauntingly at her girlfriend. Her tone was jovial, but there was something steely underneath it. Like she almost meant that she wanted to see Arianna suffer.
Arianna batted at her hand, pretending to look indignant. "No, you wouldn't. I'm the cruel one. You're the Florence Nightingale", she grinned, interlacing their fingers while Martha blabbered on and on about something insignificant. Ugh. Mortals.
"So, Ari, why didn't you bring Emily to Thursday's brunch? I could've introduced her to the girls. At least she'd know someone who's not Sofia Rivebel." Martha rolled her eyes, looking slightly scandalized, as if she'd just taken the devil's name in a church.
"I had practice", Emily pitched in before Arianna could open her mouth (or even think of an appropriate excuse).
"But Rob told me that school was off for Thursday? He didn't have any hockey training", Martha said, her over-plucked eyebrows arching and threatening to disappear in her disgusting bangs.
"I made the swim team have an extra practice. The girls like it when it's quiet", Emily quietly explained, looking composed. But Arianna could feel the tremors in her hands, the nervous fidgeting that was almost invisible to anyone who wasn't looking. She was getting good at reading Emily. Well, at least she had a hang of the alphabet. She was just beginning to string together basic words now.
"Oh, I see", Martha replied, apparently satisfied for the moment. She quickly moved on to another boring topic, and Arianna took that opportunity to sweep her gaze around the gallery. Smartly dressed people milled around, masks of polite curiosity carefully affixed to their bland faces. Everyone looked like they were clones of each other. Suddenly, she felt the need to get away. She didn't belong here at all. What was she but a scruffy journalist?
Just then, her eyes fell on something that made her feel as if she'd jumped out of bed and found that the ground no longer existed.
A very familiar pair of brown eyes were staring right back at her.
Emily really wished she was anywhere but here, but she couldn't think of a good enough excuse to stage her escape from there. Plus, Arianna was acting really weird. Her eyes had been looking glazed for the past half an hour of their conversation, and all she managed were curt little 'hmm' sounds that only made Martha talk more and more and honestly, she was getting a headache right now.
She looked at her girlfriend and noticed Arianna staring off into the distance. She followed her gaze, and her eyes met with a surprising figure.
"Oh my god, it's my college roommate!", Emily exclaimed, clutching at this excuse like a drowning man grasped at straws. "I'm so sorry Martha, but I really really have to go say hi. I haven't seen her since college ended. Yes, of course we'll keep in touch. Do you mind if I borrow Ari too? Thanks." Grabbing onto her girlfriend's arm, she steered them across the gallery to the familiar form standing next to a curious looking installation. Or at least, she tried to.
"Uhm, babe? Can we escape before it's too late?", she whispered to Arianna, who seemed to have grown roots and frozen on the spot. "I'm just taking you there to introduce you to her and you're acting like you're about to be guillotined."
"Something like that", Arianna muttered under her breath, becoming limp and letting Emily drag her to her doom.
"Hey Emily. Long time no see", the figure greeted them, looking pleasantly surprised. (Damn, she was a good actor.)
"Dani! You promised you'd keep in touch!", Emily playfully chided her friend as they reached her, punching her lightly in the arm. "You totally dropped off the radar."
Danielle Cruz stood in front of them, looking slightly amused as she swung her doe-like eyes from Emily to Arianna, as if taking stock of the situation. "I could say the same about you, you know! Big-shot swimmer. I want your autograph, by the way. Big fan", she aired herself, pretending to hyperventilate. Emily chuckled at her antics, turning to her girlfriend. Her expression clearly insinuated that Arianna should make something of an introduction. (Which certainly amused at least two people present.)
"Er..hi. I'm Arianna. Eh..I'm Emily's girlfriend", Arianna offered, smiling weakly at Danielle. "Eh..Emily never mentioned you", she blurted out, earning a reproachful look from her girlfriend.
"I'm Dani. Emily and I studied Psychology together. I daresay she was better at it than me, though. It's a pleasure meeting you." Danielle's eyes flashed, and the look didn't go unnoticed by Emily. She wondered if her girlfriend was currently being hit on. (She didn't want to wonder why she didn't feel jealous.)
"So, Dani...are you still dating Mr. Hot Doctor?", Emily asked, steering the conversation away from that awkward introduction. She'd really been hoping her old roommate and her girlfriend could get along, but apparently Arianna didn't take well to any of her old friends. (Yes, she was thinking of Spencer.)
"Eh..yeah. Sort of." Danielle didn't really elaborate, and Emily didn't push it.
"Arianna's a journalist. She's covering this event, actually", Emily explained, suddenly brimming with pride. Just like a good girlfriend should. (Anything to keep that certain somebody off her mind.) "We live in Holbrook, and you should definitely come over one day. Are you still living in Newburgh?"
"Nope, I've shifted bases to NYC. And I'll certainly visit. That is...if Arianna doesn't mind", Danielle replied pleasantly, pausing before the last part, looking with what could only be defined as a smirk towards the journalist.
"Oh, um. Of course I do." Realizing her gaffe, Arianna hastened to correct herself. "Of course I do want you to come over, Dani. Emily could do with some old faces in a new place." Ugh, double meanings.
"It's settled then. You are so coming over. Next week, maybe? And you'll have to tell me all about what you're doing. We'll have so much fun", Emily grinned.
She felt happy to see an old friend. Seemed like the night was full of pleasant surprised (barring that unfortunate encounter with Martha). Dani had been a really good friend of hers in college, and she was probably one of the nicest people Emily had ever met. She had found a kindred spirit in Dani back when she'd felt out of sorts in such a new environment, and she really wanted to reconnect with someone (else) from her past. (Someone who wasn't that someone.)
Maybe something good was going to come out of this evening after all. She could associate this night to a fortunate meeting with her old friend. (And stop thinking of it as a collage of those brief touches, those witty rejoinders, that laugh.) At least she'd found something else to do at this boring place instead of look and look and look, hoping to get an entirely accidental glimpse of Spencer.
Spencer found Toby standing in a corner next to a wooden structure that looked like an elephant trying to swallow itself. She suppressed a laugh at that hideous installation and tried to look apologetic for abandoning her fiance. She could nail it. She'd been in enough plays and drama clubs in her life to know how to do a perfect rendition of 'I'm-sorry-I-forgot-about-your-existence' look.
"Hey. You came back for me!" Toby's face lit up like a child's in a candy shop, and Spencer felt like she'd already been forgiven before she could say her sorry's.
"I am so so sorry. This client cornered me and forced me to talk to him and comment on several art pieces that looked more like mangled remains of a roadkill than real art." Did that sound like a sound excuse? Spencer could only hope that he wouldn't comment on it.
"I saw you with Emily..", Toby whispered, looking at Spencer without any emotion on his face.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I didn't go over because I didn't want to..", Toby paused, gesticulating with his hands to express whatever he couldn't put into words, "..to interrupt anything." He was looking intently at Spencer, as if trying to peek into the dimly lit confines of her well-guarded soul.
"I..eh...yeah." Spencer's heart beat frantically as she tried to back her way out of the situation. What could she say? She had no idea. "Yes. I was talking...to her."
"Talking or arguing?" There was a mild accusatory tone to Toby's voice, but it was also exceedingly gentle.
"Not arguing. Just...talking. I didn't know she was going to be here." Another lie. So many lies, all piled on top of each other, all vying for space, all of them presenting a false facade to someone who was supposed to know her inside her.
"Spencer.." Toby's voice lowered, and his eyes looked around. He put a comforting hand on her arm, and pulled her closer to the wall, creating an invisible bubble around them. "You have to forgive her. You know that what you did wasn't...right."
Spencer's anger flashed, silent but deadly. How could he pretend like he understood the situation? (How could he open up old wounds when everything was going so well?) "It's none of your business."
Toby looked wounded, and his face closed off, his eagerness being wiped off by Spencer's ire. "I'm sorry. It's just...I care about her too, you know. And I know her. I'm sure she wants your friendship back." He cupped her chin, forcing her to face him. He looked her squarely in the eye, his expression very serious. "I think she needs you, Spence. She's in a new place...a new town. We should be helping her. Not shutting her out."
"I'm not! Stop trying to make me feel guilty. I have to go.." Spencer didn't wait for a reply and turned around, furiously striding away, letting the crowd swallow her before she opened her mouth and confessed everything. About how what Toby wanted was already the reality. How she'd been sneaking away at nights just to be with Emily. (In a completely platonic way.) How all those business lunches and dinners she'd been going to lately were really camouflage for something much more exciting.
She was asking him to stop making her feel guilty, but not for the reasons he imagined. Not at all.
Emily knocked on the bathroom door, shifting her weight from one foot to another. She rapped her knuckles against the wood again, impatience beginning to rise in her. "Ari? You're really taking a long time."
Silence answered her and she sighed, beginning to turn away to trudge down the corridor to the other bathroom. Before she could move, however, she heard faint sniffles on the other side of the door, followed by what sounded like a choked sob.
"Ari..?", Emily called out gently, twisting the door knob and walking into the bathroom.
She found the crouched figure of her girlfriend near the bowl-like wash basin, almost curled up in a fetal position, rocking back and forth. Now and then, a sniffle would echo through the tiled blue confines of the bathroom, but Arianna seemed oblivious to it. She looked up when Emily walked in, her red-rimmed eyes watery and surprised. She looked like a cornered animal.
"Emily. There's something I have to tell you."
The rain lashed at the window, an accomplice to the threatening howls of the wind. Spencer was perched at the edge of her window seat, watching the frosted glass cry slightly acidic tears. Toby and her had driven home in silence. She hadn't had a glimpse of Emily since they'd said their goodbyes. Emily hadn't been answering her texts and discreet calls. She had tried to read something (like her beloved dog-eared copy of The Three Investigators - The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot ) but Emily's inexplicably attractive presence in her mind had tugged at her thoughts like a lodestone until she had had to admit defeat.
So she had decided to gaze out of her window in the general direction of Emily's current residence (whose shape was very obscure through the sheets of icy rain) like a lovelorn heroine in a black and white film. The camera would be zooming into her face now, which was thrown half in shadow and half lit by the diffused moonlight. She sighed. If life were a movie, her door bell would be ringing now, and Emily would be on the other side, kidnapping her instead of being kidnapped for a change.
The doorbell's monotonic chime decided to interrupt her thoughts right then. Spencer woke up from her trance with a start, wondering if she'd imagined it.
"Spencer! Can you get the door, please? I'm kinda working on something", came Toby's muffled yell from somewhere in the house.
So she hadn't just conjured up the persistent ringing of the door with her overactive imagination. It was real. She went downstairs, hurrying towards the door. Whoever was outside would be facing the wrath of the unusual downpour currently besieging Holbrook.. And could it be—?
The door swung open, and Spencer found Emily standing on her porch, soaked to the skin. Her lips were pressed in a thin line (probably to stop her teeth from chattering), and unmistakable cold-induced tremors shook her body. Her eyes were puffed, as if she'd recently been crying, and her face looked stained with more than just rain. The sight made Spencer's heart shatter in what felt like a million hurting pieces.
She rushed to Emily's side, wrapping her arms around the raven-haired girl, rubbing her back to preserve whatever warmth that remained there.
"Em, what's wrong? Emily?", she whispered soothingly, pressing her forehead against the side of Emily's face.
"Please take me away, Spence. I need you." Emily's voice was a raw groan, as if each word was fighting its way out and hurting her in the process.
Spencer didn't wait for an explanation. She ushered Emily inside to provide a necessary respite from the freezing rain, grabbed her car keys from the bowl near the door, and pulled out a long coat from the hallway closet, putting it around the shivering girl.
"Wait here. Toby's inside so he won't notice you. I'll get the car out of the garage, and then you can join me."
Emily nodded mutely, her eyes glazed with pain.
Spencer almost ran outside, getting the garage open and barreling into the driver's seat. She gunned the engine, turned on the heater on full blast, and with squealing tires, pulled out onto the road. She watched the blurry image of Emily's form rush towards the car and get inside without a word.
"You closed the door behind you, right?"
Emily nodded again, her eyes unfocused, as she began to rock back and forth.
Spencer felt something terrible twist her chest, and anguish seep into her very being. She hated seeing Emily like this. She had never seen Emily like this. It was making her feel like her very insides were being burnt with acid. She tried to assume an understanding expression (what would Emily do in such a situation?) and leaned forward to secure the seat belt around her friend (what an inadequate word).
Without asking for any specific directions—in fact, without having any specific directions in her own mind—she stepped down on the accelerator and let the car move down the asphalt like a rudderless boat.
A/N : So, short-ish chapter that was. Hope you guys liked it!
spinoza-off: That's actually one of my favourite songs too. And I thought it fit the situation perfectly (Poor Toby). And I feel like Spencer and Emily, especially their contrast in characters, is what makes their 'banter' so amusing and flirty, yes. xD
LaughLoveLiveXx: Your French is really good! It does indeed mean that, although I know it more as a figure of speech than actual French. I'm more of a Spanish person. I try to keep true to the characters and I'm glad you could picture it! That means it wasn't too far-fetched. xD Emily is more of herself around Spencer, and I think they really do allow each other glimpses of each other that they would never show anyone else.
And thank you so much! :)
ILuvFadam: Haha, thanks! I sure will. Spencer can possibly make anyone's bed rock. ;)
Guest : Thank you so much! I hope you liked the drama that unfolded in the latter part of the night.
gaby2angel: Thank you! I'll keep that in mind as a plot twist!
LittleLiarLovesEmily: Sorry sorry sorry! I'm sure you'll see something in the next chapter. You'll just have to wait and watch. ;) I just love drawing out the sexual tension between them.
x-sugarfree-x : They are being very secretive and even they can't explain it to themselves!
Shay's always on my dash. And I don't think anyone minds. That girl is pure gorgeousness.
Leah: Thank you so much! I try to keep it very close to the whole Type-A personality she has, plus all her quirks. Your English isn't bad at all. xD My Spanish sucks (although I took it as a subject for three years.) But I totally got what you wrote without using Google Translate! Yay me. xD
tharuka : Wow, what a compliment. xD I shall try to keep up with your expectations!