Another time, another place

Unexpected problems!

****
"Because of the life that I lead, I just think that it's better to not be with someone that I could really care about."
Felicity looked down and, after a few seconds, she stood up and passed by Oliver, who closed his eyes fully aware he had screwed everything. However, she stopped right before leaving, the sound of her shoes disappearing, causing Oliver to look at her.
"Well, I think you deserve better than her".
"and CUT!"
Emily breathed. That film had been quite difficult to shoot. It was so intense and emotional...
"Seriously, Oliver?", she asked Stephen.
He laughed. "You really hate him, don't you?"
She grinned. "Actually I don't, but he desperate me sometimes. Like this one. Poor Felicity!"
"I know. I'll talk to him and I'll tell him my dear friend Em wants him to be with Felicity once and for all".
She smiled. "You should definitely do that".
They were going to the cafeteria, saying hi to anyone they ran into.
"By the way, I've finally planned my romantic dinner with Cassandra tomorrow night. Can you do it?"
Emily thought of the new disco, Moondance, and of how mad Colton will be, but she said "Yeah, sure. Count on me".
"Great! Thank you so much, Emily!"
"Always, you know".
He nodded. "Yes, I know", he said with a tender smile.

***
It wasn't until the next day that Emily told Colton she couldn't go to the disco. She made up an excuse: Stephen wanted to keep it secret so that no rumour got to Cassandra's ears. She would tell Colton later on. Colton got a little bit upset, he would have wanted to have a blast with her, but there would be more opportunities. That day, when they had finished filming the show, Emily went with Stephen to his house to pick up Mavi, who was with Stephen's neighbour: an old woman who got on really well with him and Cassandra. His wife was doing a photoshoot, so there was no rush. It wasn't the first time Emily was in his house: he had invited the cast many times there, so she knew it very well. It was a big appartment with no sumptuous decoration and with little touches that made it clear it was Stephen's house. For instance, there was a huge poster of Superman and Batman in one of the rooms, the one Stephen used as his office.
Once there, Stephen thanked his neighnour for taking care of Mavi and Emily and he had a glass of wine, while Mavi was in the crib.
"This must be Paradise", Emily joked.
"Yes, I won't argue about that".
Emily put her glass on the table. "So, you have everything prepared for tonight?"
"I do, I just hope she likes it".
Emily smiled. "I'm sure she will. I mean, you're hot, a great actor, the perfect father, support good causes, an amazing person and, even, you took the effort to prepare a romantic dinner. God, if she doesn't like it, she'd be an alien."
Stephen was the one joking this time. "It sounds like you want to marry me".
"Yeah, I would. Don't you ever propose to me or I will have to say 'yes', man".
They laughed. It was cool being there, just relaxed after a hard day, just two friends who happened to be really comfortable with each other.
"We should do this more often", Stephen said.
Emily nodded. "Definitely. I can't say 'no' to a good red wine".
Stephen looked offended. "Hey, the important thing here is me, not the wine!"
"OMG, you got me, I only come here for the wine..."
He grinned. "Liar..."
Emily smiled too. "You know I would always visit you even if you lived under a bridge with no food or wine."
Stephen cracked up. "Well, I hope you would help me in that situation".
"Sure, you could share a bed with my dog."
They laughed again. 'How easy was everything when it came to Emily', he thought.
"Ups, it's late and I don't want to ruin your surprise dinner, so Mavi and I should be probably going".
They stood up and went to the kitchen, where he gave her a big bag with everything she might need that night regarding Mavi: diapers, baby bottles, special kind of milk, toys...
He took Mavi out of the crib and Emily carried her. She kissed her forehead.
"Hi my little princess, how are you doing?"
Mavi made a weird sound. "I guess that means she's super excited to come with me".
Stephen smiled at Emily's comment. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Emily frowned. "Stephen, if you're having second thoughts and you eventually don't want me to look after her, I understand, really."
Stephen shook his head. "You're one of the people I trust the most, Emily. I wouldn't have asked you this if I didn't trust you. It's just that you're very young, and I'm sure there must be a thousand things you'd prefer to do at night rather than looking after Mavi".
Emily hit his arm. "You are my friend. I would do anything for you. So stop, ok? I'm really happy taking care of her".
"You're one in a million, Em."
"I'm aware of that".
And they laughed again.
"Well, Mavi, say goodbye to Daddy", she said moving Mavi's hand as if she were saying goodbye.
Stephen kissed his daughter's cheek and he did the same with Emily.
"If you need something, just call me", he added.
"Sure. Don't worry and enjoy your night."
He accompanied them to the door and saw them go away.

***
Emily had spent the last hour trying to sleep Mavi, but it had been impossible. So now she gave up and she was playing with her in the living room.
"Oh my God, this child's energy is endless..."
Suddenly, her phone at home rang. She letf Mavi on the sofa, protected by the cushion, and went to the kitchen to pick up the phone.
"Hello?"
It was her brother.
"Emily, I've been calling you the whole day."
Right, he had called her, but she had turned off her phone due to the bet.
"I'm sorry, I turned off my phone and-
"Mum's at hospital."
She got interrupted. "What? What happened?"
"Please, come here as soon as possible. She's had a heart attack."
Then, she heard a noise in the licing room and she remembered Mavi. She ran there and found her on the floor, crying. She must have fell down somehow. Emily checked her. Her lip was bleeding. Emily was having a mini heart attack herself. Her mother was at hospital and now this. She called Stephen.
"Emily? Something's wrong?"
"I'm coming to hospital. I got distracted and Mavi fell down the sofa and her lip is bleeding, I don't know what to do, so please, come to hospital".
"Ok, I'm coming."
Emily drove like crazy. She was having a panic attack. How could everything be going so wrong?