The Perfect Emma

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Emma Mabel

"When I went up to the house....Arthur was...with someone else." Grayson didn't even have to finish the sentence. She was able to figure out the rest of it on her own - though he did finish the sentence. "...Er. Pretty intimately."

"Oh." Emma murmured. She glanced down at her lap and stared at her hand - more specifically, her left hand where her wedding ring was supposed to be. After tearing off Aaron's ring that she was forced to wear for months, Emma wasn't interested in putting another ring on her finger. Sure, she is technically married to Arthur, but she figured that he would at least... understand.

...But not move on.

However, what the hell could she do about it? Emma was married to a completely different man acting as Emily Matthews for over fifteen months. Sure, it was forced, but she was technically with a different man.

The more she sat staring at the hand, the more she thought. She tried to hone in one her feelings but recognised... they weren't dramatic in the slightest. She wasn't mad, angry, or even sad. In fact, a part of Emma felt like she saw this coming. Like she expected it. Sure, she should have higher expectations for her husband and feel that he would wait for her, but... she didn't.

There was obviously a reason she hadn't returned to Arthur after escaping from Aaron's grasp. Sure, his blond hair did trigger her, but she likely could have gotten past that much faster if she tried and worked at it.

But she didn't. The point was she didn't bother.

Grayson remained quiet, watching Emma hesitantly from where he was sitting on the couch. He rested his arm back against the back of the couch and frowned softly. Then, Emma responded. "Okay." She said with a nod to her head. "Thanks for telling me."

Emma leaned back and crossed her arms. She placed her left hand on top and stared down at her finger where the wedding ring was supposed to be, lost in her own thoughts.

...Grayson clearly didn't take her acceptance as well as she had. "...Uh," He cleared his throat and rubbed the couch cushion softly. Emma lifted up her head from her wedding finger and glanced over at him. "That's... it?"

Tossing her hand in the air slightly, Emma gave a shrug. She frowned and stared at the ceiling. "Well," She murmured, "What else am I supposed to say? I've been gone for fifteen months. I had a different husband for fifteen months. I don't even act the same as I did fifteen months before." Emma exhaled. Sure, she was hurt, but... she accepted it. She had been hurt in much worse ways - especially physical.

Grayson frowned and squeezed the couch softly with his fingers. "Aaron is not a husband." Gray said, Aaron's name practically coming off of his tongue like venom. "Regardless of whether you act the same or differently Arthur should still have the decency to look after you or at least finalize a divorce before..." Gray waved his hand in the air in agitation before returning it back to squeeze the couch.

Emma gave a soft smile and closed her eyes. "I'm hurt." She nodded her head and squeezed her wedding finger softly with her hand. "I am. I know I'm not showing it as well as I likely should... but..." Emma shrugged her shoulder slightly and glanced over to look at Grayson. Gray had his eyes locked on her, listening to every word that came out of her mouth. "Living with Aaron just... makes me process things differently now." Emma admitted honestly. She wasn't oblivious to the face that Grayson made when she said the word 'living'. He clearly didn't agree that she had merely been living with him - but he didn't correct her. "I practically look at life differently."

Given a pause in her words, Grayson exhaled. He raised his hand up to his hair and laced his fingers through it, closing his eyes. Gray never took it well when Emma started to talk about her past with Aaron and the things that he might have done with her. By now, especially majority of people that asked her questions about her history for the case, have begun to show less disgust towards Aaron's actions. Grayson, on the other hand, continued to show just as much disgust and horror - almost as if it set with him worse than the others. It made sense, though. Aaron was his partner before, after all.

"I'm not the woman Arthur married." Emma murmured simply with a shrug. "Nor is Arthur the man I want him to be anymore. It doesn't hurt any less, don't get me wrong, I just... I'm accepting it. Acceptance is something that, out of everything Aaron did to me, I've learned. Sometimes you just gotta... accept things."

Gray frowned and watched Emma as she spoke. Emma gave him a soft smile and reached out to squeeze his shoulder softly. "Thanks for telling me," She said with a nod to her head. "Looks like I'll have to figure out going through a divorce with him." Emma murmured with a frown, shaking her head. Emma smiled softly at a thought and leaned her head back against the couch, pressing her cheek against the cushion. "You know, I'm real tired of changing my name."

Grimacing slightly at the comment, Grayson merely nodded his head. "I can understand that," He murmured sympathetically, not entirely sure what to say at that comment more than likely.

"I still respond to Emily more than my own name." Emma murmured while running her hand through her short but blonde hair. Boy was she glad it was blonde again. A thought crossed Emma's mind - one she had wanted to ask Aaron a long time ago and one that had been itching at her before. She shifted her posture on the couch slightly and rubbed her arm that seemed to be healing nicely. "Hey Gray?"

"Hmm," Grayson murmured, growing more and more unhappy by the conversation. He was already displeased while talking about her cheating husband - but talking about Aaron didn't make him any happier. Her question wouldn't either.

Emma scratched her shoulder while watching him. Considering the fact he ran the case on Aaron before she escaped... she had a feeling he would know. "How many... Emilys... were there before me?"

Grayson let out a slow breath. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his hand before speaking. "Five."

Emma shifted her gaze down and nodded her head. "And... they're all..." She trailed off her voice. She didn't exactly want to say the word dead. After all, she was supposed to be one of them more than likely.

Gritting his teeth, Grayson merely nodded his head and leaned back against the couch. He turned his body so that his back was against the couch and crossed his arms slightly, letting out another slow breath. Once again, never taking it well when Emma started to talk about Aaron. But Emma needed to talk. Even her therapist, Doctor Simon, told her it was good to talk when she needed to.

"Sometimes I think about if I didn't find that body that one day, none of this would have happened." Emma murmured quietly. She blinked her eyes, fighting back tears at the thought that had consistently appeared throughout her entire captivity with Aaron. "If I didn't turn down that alley or if I didn't go to dinner, Aaron wouldn't have seen me." Emma closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. She felt tears began to slip - despite her not wanting them to. "If I just didn't-" Emma heard her voice crack and stopped talking.

Grayson glanced over towards her and saw her tears. He frowned softly and reached out his arm to wrap around her shoulder. After living together for a week, he had grown more comfortable with touching her. He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly and squeezed it softly. "It's okay," He murmured. "You're safe. Just keep that in mind."

Emma nodded her head as she ran her thumbs across her cheeks, wiping away the stray tears. She sniffled while giving a shaky breath.

"Why don't we get some sleep." Grayson offered with a concerned frown. He shifted his hand over from her shoulder and rubbed her back. "You sleep in the bed tonight and get some sleep. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning before I go to work and drop you off at your therapist before I work. Okay?"

"Okay." Emma nodded her head, getting the last of her tears out of her eyes before giving Grayson a soft smile. He was a good friend - Emma didn't understand why Aaron would hate him with such a passion. "Goodnight, Gray." She murmured as she stood up onto her feet to head to bed.

"Goodnight, Em."