Emma... left. Tom was standing with his back against his hotel door for several minutes not believing that she left.
"Please don't forget me Tom."
The last words she uttered before she slipped out the door. He thought he saw tears well up in her eyes. Why would she be crying? He felt emptiness inside of him, the kiss with Emma was nothing he experienced before. It was like all his senses were on overload, the softness of her skin, and the sweet taste of vanilla on her lips, the faint smell of coconut in her hair. He wanted her more, and then she pulled herself away.
He didn't want her for just pleasure, he want her. He wanted to connect with her on a different level, letting them explore each other.
His phone started to ring, probably Bill checking up to see how their date was going. Bill always needed to know what was going on, but he would have to wait until tomorrow. He wouldn't let Bill see that he was hurt though; he would cover it up behind a wall of jokes and sarcasm.
"Hello?"
"Are you in town Tom? I could use some company." the seductive voice on the other line answered.
It was Bridgett. The copper haired brunette that he met last year while on tour, the sex was good, but nothing special.
"Yeah, I'm at the Waterway Hotel, go to the front desk, tell them who you are and they will let you up to see me."
"See you then Tom."
He put the phone back down on the kitchen counter and sighed. He felt lonely… empty. He didn't want Bridgett, it was Emma he wanted, but he needed to fill the void somehow. Bridgett would be a good distraction for the moment, and hopefully take his mind off of her.
Emilene reached up and hit the emergency elevator button, it stirred underneath her and sat still. The doors in front of her opened, revealing a wide-eyed Bill.
Bill rushed to her side pulling her into him. "Why are you crying Emma?"
She rubbed her eyes to try to hide the fact she was crying; she looked up from Bill's chest to see his sincere eyes staring back at her. His features were similar to Tom's but more delicate.
"It's nothing, just something silly."
Bill sighed and pulled her up from the elevator floor. "You are coming back with me, I was going to get something to eat, but I can order food in."
Emilene let Bill drag her to his room. It was laid out like Tom's but with black furniture. She sat down on the corner of the couch and pulled her legs into her chest. She listened to Bill softly speak on the phone, when he was done he made his way next to her.
She felt at ease with Bill, after an hour of telling what transpired with Tom, she felt better. Bill didn't leave when she cried, he didn't laugh when she told him her feelings, despite saying that she felt it was just unusual to feel something for someone so soon. Bill listened, that is what Emilene needed, someone to just listen. Then when room service came and they both ate their ice cream sundaes – Bill said that sugar healed a sad soul, -- when Emilene told all about her family.
Bill sat there absorbing everything she was telling him. Even though he really didn't know her well, he felt easy around her; he could tell that she was a very kind person. Usually when he saw a girl cry over Tom it was because he kicked her out of his room after sex. But this was different, she was crying over her feelings for him, for wanting something more but being afraid to go after it.
He listened as she told him more about her life as a child, how her mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer. How months were spent at her mother's bedside because her parents could not afford to take her mother to get treated. Every night she would sit next to her mother's bed like it was her last day, every day she would go through the motions of school and come home back to her post. It was two weeks after her seventh birthday when she came home to find the bed empty and her father crying. Emma didn't have to say more, Bill knew by the look on her face that her mother passed while she was at school. He put her arms around her and she continued about her father, how he fell into a depression and began drinking heavily, and that one-day he disappeared. Emma was only seven and her father was gone, later to find out that he drove his car off Orange Mountain in New Jersey. Her aunt and uncle took her in, only to drop her off at her friend Michelle's house when she was eight and never came back. Emma's tears stopped at this point in her history, Bill could see anger in her eyes. He wanted to take the pain from her, but she told him how Michelle's mom was like her own mother. They would bake, do crafts, and go to movies and shopping.
Bill pulled her into a tight hug, hushing her as loud sobs escaped her lips. He felt that had to protect her anyway he could.
In between her sobs Emilene pulled away from Bill's hug.
"Thank you for listening, I… I never told anyone about that. Thank you."
She looked into Bill's eyes; she saw such kindness in them, unlike the loneliness in Tom's.
"Please don't tell Tom, I will tell him when I am ready too."
Bill nodded, but also felt sad for her as they were leaving for several months to start touring. He got up from the couch and grabbed a pen and a pad of paper from the desk in his bedroom. He sat back down next to Emilene.
"Emma, if you ever need to talk or just have someone listen, please call me." Bill wrote down his cell phone number and his e-mail address.
Emilene took the piece of paper from Bill's hand and put it in her pocket. She smiled as she thanked Bill.
She excused herself and made her way to the door, Bill followed her and gave her a reassuring hug. "Emma, don't worry, I see the way Tom looks at you."
She smiled and made her way back to the elevator, through the hotel lobby and out into the street. The cool rain that started felt good against her skin as it washed away all her worries. After a few moments of standing out in the rain, she made her way back into the hotel, got the elevator key from Elliot and back up to the his hotel room.