Unforgettable Nights, Unforgivable Mistakes
Chapter 4: Moving On
LONDON
Emily was walking through the streets of London with Clyde. Today had been her first day at Interpol, and she wasn't sure how she really felt. She was in charge now...she had more responsibilities, but she had always wanted this, being in charge of a team had been one of her biggest dreams; yet, she was having a difficult time adjusting to the change, although she had been in London for a few days now, and she was working on settling down. Her furniture had arrived, and she was almost finished unpacking. She had acquired a really nice two floor flat...it was probably larger than she needed, but it was the only thing she had been able to get on such short notice. Clyde had been great by helping her unpack and arranging her new place; he had literally spent the last three days with her making sure everything was where it needed to be so she was all ready to go. He had also spent her first day at Interpol with her showing her around her new office, introducing her to colleagues and briefing her on what her new duties would be, and Emily felt very grateful to him. Clyde had been one of her best friends for most of her life, even before she moved to America and after. In fact, truth to tell, Clyde was her one and only true best friend...he knew her better than anyone in this world, and he had always been there for her when she needed him the most. Emily was really grateful to have him in her life, and he had really made her first days in London a lot easier. As they walked through the streets of London trying to pick a place to eat, Clyde kept looking at her, really analyzing her...he knew all of her expressions, and he knew something, or someone, was on her mind.
"So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you?" Clyde asked, as he held her hand to cross the street.
"With me? Um...nothing. I'm just hungry." Emily said, as she avoided his gaze.
"Come on, Em, I know you better than you know yourself, spit it out." Clyde had known there was something going on with her since she had arrived...she had been acting strangely, something had happened in America, but he wasn't having any luck getting it out of her.
"I really don't know what you're talking about." Emily stated, smiling while looking at her new phone. It was only just past four in the afternoon, and she felt exhausted, the change of hours and weather was definitely messing with her system.
"What's his name?" Clyde asked, gathering his courage and staring at her quizzically.
That took Emily by surprise, and she almost dropped her phone on the floor.
"What's whose name?" Emily asked, pretending to look surprised.
"Whomever has you in this quandary?" Clyde smiled warmly, as he opened the door to the restaurant where they had finally decided to have dinner.
The hostess arrived and led them to a table, and Emily took this opportunity to avoid his question and pretend she had not heard it as they sat down at the table, and Emily took the menu ignoring her best friend's gaze, which was ridiculous because she knew he would not leave the subject alone. Clyde just kept staring at Emily, something had definitely happened, he could sense it, and he just wished she would open up and trust him, but he also knew that she would tell him whenever she was ready.
"Do you want an appetizer? Emily asked, smiling at her best friend. Clyde just smiled widely, playing her game right along with her...she really looked cute when she was trying to avoid a situation. After they ordered an appetizer, their dinner and some wine, they began talking about Interpol and how the team worked so Emily was more aware of what she had to deal with at the beginning of her settling in.
"So, are you going to tell me what has been on your mind since you arrived in merry ole England...I thought you trusted me." Clyde stated, teasing her knowing that would get her attention.
"I do trust you with my entire life." Emily said, looking at him very intensely...she knew she couldn't avoid him much longer.
"I'm fine, Clyde...I'm just...this change is pretty big...I'm trying to adapt...its not easy, but I'll get there." She was trying to sound as convincing as she possibly could.
"And that's all?" Clyde asked, not believing a word she was saying.
"Yes, that and I'm pretty upset about losing my locket, you know what that locket meant to me." Emily said honestly, that loss did hurt her deeply.
"I know, and I wish we could do something to find it." Clyde offered sadly.
She just nodded sadly, fighting back her tears. She felt so guilty about the locket because it was the only memory she had of her father and now it was gone.
They kept talking while they had lunch; Emily did feel very sad, but it helped to have Clyde by her side, and she knew she had to be strong and move on with her life. Emily finally relaxed, and she was enjoying her food with her best friend when a very handsome gentleman approached her.
"This is not possible...Emily...Emily Prentiss?" The gentleman said with a big smile.
"Oh my God, Max!" Emily said, in astonishment, almost choking on her food. She immediately stood up from the table as the older gentleman pulled her in for a hug and kissed her check. Then he turned his attention to Clyde Easter.
"Clyde, nice to see you again." He said, shaking Clyde's hand.
"Always a pleasure." Clyde replied, smiling at the gentleman.
"What a pleasant surprise, are you here visiting?" Max questioned Emily with a huge grin on his face. Then he turned his attention back to Clyde Easter.
"Actually, I just moved back." Emily replied, laughing delightfully.
"You did? Wow, that is great news...and you look absolutely stunning as always!" He said, admiring the beautiful brunette.
"Do you think you would allow me to take you to coffee sometime?" Max asked, a little shyly.
"Absolutely." Emily said, laughing nervously and scribbling her number on a piece of paper.
"Okay, then, I'll call you, it's really great to see you again, Emily." Max said, pulling her to him for another hug and kissing her on the cheek.
"It's good to see you too, Max." Emily said, still in shock. She couldn't believe that she had run into Max on her first few days in London. Max said goodbye to her and Clyde, then left, leaving the brunette stunned. Emily sat back down smiling shyly, but Clyde noticed how flushed her cheeks were and laughed at her teasingly.
"I think that is destiny, do you think this means something?" He pointed Max's unexpected meeting out, making her blush even more.
"Oh, come on, Clyde, we just ran into each other, things like that happens all the time." Emily said, but she still smiled like this was something special for her.
"Not like this, it doesn't." Clyde pointed out.
"Like what?" Emily questioned, a little uncomfortable at the look her friend was giving her.
"Emily, you were engaged to him, if I remember correctly, you were madly in love with him." Max had been Emily's very serious boyfriend and fiancé before she moved to America. They had been together for several years and they were very close to getting married. But then Emily got the job offer from the BAU, the whole deal with Ian Doyle happened, then they ended up splitting up. But, it wasn't because they didn't love each other, things had just gotten in their way, but from what Clyde knew, they had been very much in love with each other and had even talked about kids and a future together, and they had been engaged.
"Yes, I was, but that doesn't mean anything in the present time." Emily said, trying to look normal.
"Your face changed completely, your eyes lit up when you saw Max again." Clyde said, looking at the spark still in her eyes.
Emily blushed even more.
"What...NO? Okay, now you are just seeing things!" She exclaimed, looking down and avoiding his gaze.
"You are totally affected...it could work again, you know...you and him." Clyde said, smirking at how uncomfortable she was.
"No, it couldn't, too much has happened." Emily stated firmly, then her facial expressions changed the minute she remembered the night she had spent with her boss.
"Like what?" Emily, however, didn't respond and pretended like she hadn't heard him.
"So, there is a 'him', I knew it!" Clyde knew her very well; he knew what that look meant.
Emily just rolled her eyes annoyed at the fact that Clyde knew her so well and could read her better than anyone she knew.
"What's Prince Charming's name?" He queried, teasing her.
"Does it matter?" She asked, a little more rudely than she intended, surprising Clyde, but she couldn't help it...thinking about Hotch really hurt. Clyde watched her for a second; she was hurting, and he knew it, he finally understood what was wrong with her.
"He broke your heart, didn't he?" Clyde asked angrily, ready to kill whomever it was that had her in this mood.
"No." Emily answered, irritated.
"What happened then?" Clyde questioned, tenderly taking her hand.
"Nothing, I don't want to talk about this anymore, please." She replied, pleading with him to stop questioning her. Clyde didn't respond, he just kept staring at her intensely.
"It's nothing, really, he meant nothing, and I just want to move on, okay?" She stated, smiling sadly at him.
Clyde knew that he there was no point to push the subject more, she wasn't going to tell him anything; whatever had happened had obviously hurt her deeply and as much as he wished he could kill the asshole that had hurt her so badly, he also knew she was a very private person and if she didn't want to talk about something it was for a reason even with him, her best friend.
Washington D.C
The team was gathering in the conference room...they had just returned from a very long case, and it looked like they were heading into another hard one. Everyone was truly exhausted since this last case had been very difficult, not only because it was a case relating to children and those were usually the most difficult ones, but also because Emily was no longer a part of the team, which meant it had been more difficult for the team to catch the unsub without her incredible abilities. Emily was one of the best profilers they had, and everyone missed her dearly, but the rhythm of the team was also out of sync and they were having trouble concentrating without her presence. They had been used to a certain routine and that routine included Emily, so adapting to the change and her not being around any longer was hard on everyone.
On the top of everything else, Hotch was more stressed and irritated than before; in fact, he had been in the worst mood they had ever seen him in since Emily left. Rossi believed it was the result of several unfortunate events; the fact that his divorce was finalized, he and Haley had been separated for a very long time now and they no longer lived together, but their divorce had been a very painful process. But, the judge had finally authorized the divorce...the bad news was that Haley got to keep Jack the majority of the time; in fact, the judge had only authorized Hotch to have his child a few times a month. Which was, of course, very painful for Hotch, and he truly wished he could have Jack more often, but the reality was that with the kind of job he had, committing to more days was impossible and a promise he wouldn't be able to keep. Another of the reasons why Hotch was in such a bad mood was the Bureau had been on his ass ever since Emily had left. They had tried to keep her on the team since she was one of the best assets they had, and they had even offered her a higher salary, but she had left anyway. Strauss especially blamed Hotch for her resignation, then again Strauss blamed Hotch for everything that happened around the BAU. On top of all of this, Strauss was pressuring him to find a replacement for Emily; of course, they would never find anyone who could replace her, but they did have to find someone who could join the team since it was incomplete now. The problem was it was going to be very, very difficult to find someone that met Hotch's specifications and would also be a great fit for the team, along with the line of duty they had, profiling was simply for just anyone...finding a new asset for the team was always a great challenge for the BAU and especially for the Unit Chief. So, as the team started gathering in the conference room to brief about their new case, Morgan sat down to JJ and Garcia, trying to break the ice and engage in some pleasant conversation before they had to stare at the horrible images the case was about to present.
"Has anyone talked to Emily?" Morgan asked the girls, knowing they were very close to Emily and they would have an update as to what was going on with their friend. Hotch, who was at the same table, raised his eyes from the files he was reading at the mention of the brunette's name.
"I spoke to her last night, she's all settled in and started her job yesterday, she seems happy." JJ said, smiling sadly.
"I still can't believe she left, things will never be the same." Garcia sadly said.
"I know, I miss her so much already, and she's only been gone a few days." Morgan said with sadness in his eyes.
"Do you know who's going to replace her, Hotch?" Morgan asked, getting the Unit Chief's attention.
"We haven't made a decision yet." Hotch said dismissively.
"They'll never find someone like her." Reid spoke quietly, it still hurt him so much to think about her.
"That's true, our sweet girl was unique." Garcia retorted.
"Hey, did I tell you she ran into Max yesterday?" JJ asked, looking at Garcia with a huge grin.
"No way, really? What happened, did she say anything else? Oh my God, this is so good." Garcia squealed, trying to push for more gossip.
"Not really, she just said they ran into each other, and that's all." JJ said, looking at the technical analyst.
"Who's Max?" Reid asked curiously.
"Oh my God, Reid, Max was the one and only man that almost took our brunette beauty to the altar." Garcia said, offended that Reid was asking such a stupid question. That got the Unit Chief's attention, and he felt a knot in his stomach, although he didn't know why he had gotten so uncomfortable.
"Wait, do you think they will get back together? Emily did love him very much, didn't she?" JJ asked the technical analyst curiously.
"Maybe, who knows, maybe that's why she left." Garcia pointed out, but before anyone could say anything else, Hotch snapped, surprising himself and everyone else around him.
"Can we please stop talking about her, she's no longer a part of this team!" He firmly said, raising his voice and slamming the files down on the table.
"There are things that are more important that we should be discussing than the gossip that goes around about the life of someone who's no longer relevant to this team." Hotch retorted angrily; the entire team looked at him in shock, and no one knew what to say. He had been in the worst possible mood for the last couple of days, but he had never lost his cool and snapped at anyone on his team this way. He stood up, turned the screen on, and started discussing the case while the team exchanged looks...what the hell was wrong with him, and why had he gotten so upset. Rossi just kept staring at him...he knew he was stressed, but he had definitely gone too far. He also knew he disliked Emily and had never accepted her as a part of the team, but he didn't really think he hated her so much that he couldn't even tolerate it when her name was brought up?
London
A week later, Emily had finally accepted Max's proposition to have coffee, which had actually turned out to be a date. He had picked her up at her flat early that afternoon and they had gotten coffee at one of Emily's favorite coffee shops, and they had spent hours talking. They had so much to catch up on, and it truly felt like an eternity since they had last seen each other. The truth was Max Brickman had been a very important part of her life, they had been dating for several years and had lived together, as well as being engaged. Emily's job and her own insecurities got in the way, and they had ended up separating, but Emily did miss him for a very long time when she first moved to the States. Max had always been amazing to her, treating her like a queen, and she had never felt so loved and respected by anyone, and they were truly happy. That was one of the reasons why she accepted his offer for coffee…she wanted to catch up with him because he had been someone really important in her life.
The coffee date, however, turned into dinner, and before Emily knew it, they had spent almost all day together. She had a great time and had also had an opportunity to explain why she had ended things with him: the entire fiasco with Doyle being after her and the fact that Doyle might have gotten after him if they were together, and that was true, Max and Emily had started dating after Doyle, and she had never truly been completely honest with Max about how she had apprehended him; yes, it was her job, now a part of her always felt dirty and unworthy of love and respect. When she met Max, however, she felt happy and truly loved…she never told him about Doyle because she didn't want him to see her as a prostitute that slept with a terrorist to make a case. She hide that part of her life deep inside her and never shared that with anyone, so when Max asked her to marry him things truly changed; she felt that at some point she needed to be honest with him. At the same time, she began receiving anonymous letters from Ian Doyle. She knew he was in prison, so he couldn't harm her, but she was afraid he would tear her fairy tale apart and tell Max everything. So, she ended things with Max and moved to America hoping she could recover away from all her past and start a new life away from her own mistakes and away from Doyle. A year later, Ian Doyle got transferred to a maximum security prison in Russia, and she knew he would never get out, but by then she had already settled in at the BAU and Virginia, and there was no point to look back to that direction of her life. But, now she could be honest with Max and tell him the truth, tell him why she had run away ending things with him, and that she should have known better than to run away. She knew that Max would never have judged her and changed his feelings for her, so that day over coffee with Max, after she told him her truths, he told her he still found her the most amazing and wonderful woman in the world regardless of what she had done to put Doyle behind bars, and regardless of how she had ended things with him.
They spent the entire day talking, laughing and reconnecting; she had a great time, and for the first time since she had arrived in London, she was able to get Aaron Hotchner out of her head. She felt secure again and happy…the same feelings she had felt all those years ago when she was happy and in a great relationship with Max. She knew that even if she kept thinking about Aaron Hotchner, she would never have been good enough in his eyes, he had never accepted her as part of the team, he had always criticized her job abilities and her actions both in and outside the field, and he had always made her feel less, unappreciated, and she would never be good enough for him. She knew he would never see her as anything other than a subpar agent and person, so, even if she had fallen in love with him, it would have never worked. With Max, however, things were different…he had always made her feel like the most important person in the world. He always complimented her and made her feel loved and special. Max would be willing to give his life to make her happy and to make sure she always had the best of everything in the world he could provide.
As he took her back to her flat, he was holding her hand while they walked through the streets of London; it was dark outside but the breeze felt good. It was a beautiful night outside, and they both had had an amazing time together.
"Thank you so much for spending the day with me." Max said, smiling at her warmly.
"No, thank you, Max, for everything, the company, the talk, for understanding, everything." Emily told him, looking into his eyes.
"It was my pleasure." Max replied.
They walked a couple more blocks and finally they stopped in front of her flat.
"Do you believe in fate? The fact that things are destined to be something?" Max asked, taking her hands in his.
"Like what?" Emily asked innocently.
"Us...the fact that destiny put us in the same place again." Max stated, with a spark in his eyes.
"I don't know." Emily said honestly.
"I have never stopped loving you, Emily." He said, looking at her deeply into her eyes, and before Emily could respond, he gently pulled her to him, kissing her lips sweetly; Emily got caught off guard at first, but then she let him really kiss her.
Maybe Max was right and things happened for a reason, maybe her destiny was to be with him, and to forget about Aaron Hotchner once and for all…maybe it was time to forget that he ever existed and especially that night they shared. Very slowly, she wrapped her arms around Max's neck and began responding to the kiss.
