A long way to go

Chapter 18

Emily's words kept ringing in Derek's mind.
Do whatever you want. Never lie to me.
Guilt was eating up his peace of mind as he drove to his place.

He got in and checked the surveillance footage to make sure Daniel hadn't tried to sneak in his home limits. As he reached his bedroom,a strange feeling of emptiness and loneliness engulfed him.

Although Emily had spent less than a day in his home but he felt as if everything seemed foreign to him in his own home where he had been living for the past many months. He missed her. He felt incomplete and he wanted his Emily back. But he couldn't be selfish to want Emily back with him and endanger her life.

He was so worried about Emily. He didn't want her upset or panicked or afraid,looking over her shoulder every time. It was a torture which nobody deserved to go through. Especially not his Emily. He was protective of her. He wanted any harm to meet him first if it was directed to Emily.

Just as he was putting her things in her suitcase, his mobile phone rang.

"Derek here." He said in a business tone.
"Sir, we've cornered him. Can you meet me at my warehouse at 7:00 p.m.? "Willy asked.
"Sure, I'll be there. Keep an eye on him and don't touch him.I'll deal with him myself." He said as he hung up the call.

Now he had to cancel his trip out of town tonight. He called his assistant Rosaline.
Rrrring Rrrring Rrrrring ......
"Come on Rosaline, pick up the phone, girl! " Derek muttered to himself as he paced around waiting for Rosaline to receive his call. He was getting very impatient by the time she picked up.
"Umm hello?" She asked confused.

"Hello, Ms. Rosaline! I've been calling you for the past I don't know how many minutes and you don't care to pick up the call!" He nearly shouted on her.

"Sir, I apologize I'm not feeling well. I took an early leave from the office today. I tried calling you but your phone was off." She said.

"Yeah, I was busy. How are you feeling now? I called you to cancel my flight for Italy tonight. I'll tell you when to reschedule. You take care." He said as he quickly hung up the phone. He was actually feeling sorry because he yelled on her without knowing her reason. He should keep his temper in check. He said to himself.

Derek took Emily's things in his car and sped off to his mother's place once again. He just wanted to see Emily once before he went to see Daniel.

Emily was sitting with Alice in her room. He brought the luggage with him. Emily's face instantly brightened as she saw Derek walking towards her. She had missed him.

"Hey Alice, Emily." He greeted them.
"Hi Derek," Emily replied.
"Hello, brother." Alice greeted as she got back to her task of changing Emily's bandage.

"Are you enjoying your stay with Alice?" Asked Derek as he propped Emily's foot in his lap and told Alice to leave.

"Here, give me this. I'll do it." He said as he sat in front of Emily. Alice winked at Emily and left the room handing Derek the first aid kit.

"I'll see to the dinner." She said as she left the two love birds alone. Her heart swelled with happiness as she saw his brother smiling once again. She couldn't forget the trouble Derek had to get through when their father died. She wished his brother would be happy one day and he was very happy today.

"Emily, I want to tell you something," Derek said as he wrapped the bandage around her foot.
"Hmm, I'm listening." She hummed in response.
"We found Daniel." He blurted out.
"Oh," she sighed.
"Where is he now?" She asked him.
"My friend has him secured in a warehouse. He can't escape from there and I'm going to talk to him tonight. " He answered back. "Derek, he needs help. And he's dangerous. Please. I don't want you to get hurt." She said as he laid her hand on his.

"Don't worry Emily. I won't get hurt as long as you're with me." He said as he patted hand affectionately. 

"You said you were going out of town on a trip tonight. It's 6:00 p.m. already. How can you go to meet Daniel? " She said glancing at the big clock on the wall.

"My trip has been canceled. Now I'll just be a few hours away from you." He said as he helped her stand.

"I don't know if I should be happy or scared because on one hand you're walking to the danger and on the other hand you'll still stay here." She said as she looped her arm through his as they walked towards the dining room.

"Alice is such a good person. I'm glad I got to meet her. You know what? She wants to take me shopping tomorrow. She says I wear grandma style colors and cuts. And I need to reshape my wardrobe." She told Derek. 

"Oh.. Emily. You're in a lot of trouble now. Alice doesn't settle for anything less than perfect.  She never cares about the price of the things unless she's satisfied with it." He said as they took the stairs.

"You know Alice was 15 when my father died. She was the only person who could make me smile. We weren't the kids who were given unlimited amounts of bank balance to spend. We had to work for every penny that we wanted to spend other than our pocket money." He said as he helped her sit in her chair and sat beside her.

"Derek, Emily! Wow! You two look great! "Maria said as she entered the dining room.

"Thank you so much, mother. " Derek said as he stood up in her respect.

"Come let's sit and talk. Food won't be too long now. Everything's almost ready." She said as she sat at the head of the table and talked about Derek's childhood. Some funny stories, some cute incidents and some embarrassing moments.

Emily saw Derek's face turn red with embarrassment when Maria told her how Derek once ran in on Alice in the bathroom because he needed to pee.

The evening passed smoothly as they ate dinner while Derek was impatient with every passing minute. He wanted to talk to Daniel and ask him what did he want from Emily but he couldn't put his life in danger either.