Chapter 14
Later that night, Neal and Emma walk down the beach near sunset. Emma is still not sure what he has planned for their date but this is a nice way to start it. Emma is clad white sundress with a light pink shawl around her shoulders. Her hair is pulled back in a loose bun. Neal is wearing white pants, a light blue linen shirt, and light gray sport coat.
"I hope my mother wasn't too hard on you the other day." Neal says to her.
"I' don't scare too easily. Does she interrogate all of your dates?" She asks him.
"Yeah. My mom's not really a hand's off kind of person. Well, at least she got rid of her lie detector." He tells her as he puts out his hand. Emma takes it and lets him lead her to the picnic basket and blanket he has set up on the beach. "Kidding. She'll never get rid of that thing."
She laughs at his comment. "I hope you're not planning on becoming a comedian."
"Maybe in my next life." He responds with a laugh. "My future is pretty well mapped out this time around."
Emma sits down on an old stump of a tree that is near the picnic blanket. Neal sits on the one next to it.
"One more year at Harvard Business then it's straight to the boardroom. I wouldn't be surprised if my dad already had an office picked out for me." He tells her.
"Mmm. That sounds…" She starts.
"I know how it sounds." He says interrupting her. He shakes his head at her. "What about your parents?" He asks her.
"Mom. Um… caring, smart, and my dad just very… special. Lovely people." She tells him softly knowing that this question would arise sooner or later.
"So I shouldn't expect an interrogation?" He asks with a smile.
"They passed away when I was a kid. Car crash." She informs him.
His face softens. "I am so sorry. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" he asks her.
She shakes her head and shrugs, "Just me."
"Well, you and that beautiful beach house." He remarks trying to make her smile.
His feat is a success. She smiles and chuckles at his remark.
"Maybe you can set down some roots of your own now." He tells her.
"Yeah, maybe." She responds. "Wanna come by for the tour?"
"I'm ready when you are." He replies.
Emma and Neal walk down the beach until they are back at her beach house. It is a short ten minute walk. The picnic Neal planned for them was on the beach just on the other side of Mills Manor. She leads him up the stairs to the porch of the beach house.
"So how does it feel to know you'll be spending the night in your own home?" He asks her.
"It's kind of hard to describe, actually." She says as she pauses outside of the glass door on her porch. She sighs as she looks him in the eyes. "I had a really good time tonight."
"Me, too." He says to her maintain eye contact as he steps forward and begins to lean towards her. She begins to lean forward when the sound of dog whining causes her to turn around. She sees Sammy whining as he comes to view on the porch. She hears Killian calling after to him but he is not in her view yet.
Killian is still calling to Sammy when he and August step into view. Killian looks up to see Neal and Emma standing on the porch close to each other.
"Sorry." He mutters when he realizes he's interrupting something.
"Are we early or are we late?" August asks with a smile.
Emma just looks at them confused and Killian returns her confused look. From behind her, she hears the doors open as Tamara steps out and a crowd of people yell surprise. She turns around to see a large gathering of people in her house and a banner welcoming her to the Hamptons.
"Welcome to the Hamptons, Emma" Tamara says with a large smile. "We're here to celebrate with you."
Emma looks around at all the people nervously. She is not happy that all these people are in her house. They could have seen everything. They could have discovered her secret. She makes a mental note to change the locks on the doors and move the box from her father to a more secure place in the house. She forces herself to smile and act happy in front of Tamara and Neal. Socialite Emma loves the idea of a party in her home; revenge seeking Emma on the other hand does not but she would have to deal with that later.
Later that night, Tamara finally pulls Emma aside to talk. Emma had been moving from person to person all night replies to congratulations and making nice with the locals.
"I am so sorry, Ems. 'How to ruin a first date' by Tamara Davenport." She apologizes to Emma.
"No, no, this is great." She reassures her friend. "I am just not big on surprises."
"Lesson learned. Whatever you do, don't take it out on Neal. I practically had to force him into doing this." Tamara tells her.
Emma chuckles and catches Neal's eye across the room.
"Speaking of surprises, I am pretty sure that dog was not on the guest list." Tamara comments as she furrows her brow and crosses her arms across her chest.
Emma watches as Sammy jumps onto his hind legs and begins to eat off of a plate of food resting on her kitchen table. Killian turns around and maneuvers Sammy out of the food.
"And neither is the hottie that he came with." Tamara remarks.
Emma walks away as Tamara walks forward to investigate the dog and the "hottie".
"Surprise." August says as he turns around to face her.
"What do you think you're doing bringing Killian here?" She asks him through a forced smile and gritted teeth.
"Killian and I are friends." August tells her.
"You don't have friends." She replies. "Neither one of us can afford them. You know that."
"Speak for yourself. You betrayed me. I thought we had an understanding" He tells her.
Emma spots Neal from across the room and he waves and smiles at her. She waves and smiles back at him.
"So did I." She tells him through gritted teeth.
"I know it was you who went to the press. I just can't understand why you'd leak the wrong info when you had access to the AUCORP memos. You knew I was going with Unitech." He tells her.
She laughs. "Yes, but Owen Flynn didn't. He bet big on Allcom, two billion of his funds' assets down the drain." She tells him before showing him a press conference video from earlier that day on her cell phone.
"After a financially fatal move in the market today, Flynn Investments founder Owen Flynn was swarmed by a mob of angry investors outside his office…" A male voice says in the video.
She looks over August's shoulder and finds Neal staring at her. She mouths that she is going outside to him and hope he gets the hint to follow her. He gestures to the person in front of him and mouths that he is sorry.
"We expect the imminent collapse of Flynn Investments and major personal losses for…" The male voice continues before she takes the phone of August's hand.
"He's ruined." She says with a smile before walking away.
A/N. Shout out to Andy Pandy for their kind words.
Also, some slightly bad news Revenge is leaving Netflix on Monday so that may put a bump in the road as I continue to write this fic.
P.S. Does anyone know if Tamara has a last name? I couldn't find it when I searched the internet, so I gave her the last name of her matching character on Revenge.
