The Choices We Make (Revenge)

Passion

Grayson Manor, Hamptons

"Emily?" Frightened and with a fluttering beating heart, Daniel ran from room to room, becoming more and more nervous when he couldn't find her. Her bed was tidy, as if she hadn't even slept in it. He ran a trembling hand through his thick hair. Where could she be? And why hadn't he noticed that she ran away? He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. But apparently he had fallen asleep nevertheless, because otherwise he would have heard her. He blamed himself for leaving her alone. After all, everything in this house was extraneous to her. He heard a sound in the hall and ran out. But it was only his sister, whom he had asked to help with the search.

"I've searched the whole beach," Charlotte said, still out of breath. "No trace of her."

He groaned. "It's no use. We must call the police!"

"No police!" Victoria suddenly interrupted, while coming out of her room. "The fact still exists that you shot her. And may I remind you that they still haven't found the shooter." She lifted her eyebrows.

"I don't care, Mom!" He said impatiently. "I just want to find her!"

"Watch your mouth!" She threatened him. "You don't want to be locked up somewhere, now that you'd like to play happy family with her."

"Mom, it's not fair!" Charlotte defended her brother. "You know how much she means to him. And the baby has changed everything anyway."

The baby! Suddenly Daniel felt queasy. What if something had happened to her or the baby? He pulled out his phone. "I'm calling the police now!" He said resolutely.

"You're overreacting, Daniel." Victoria shrugged. "Maybe she just wanted to get some fresh air."

"For multiple hours?" He shook his head, but put the phone back in his pocket. "Besides, if this is what happened, she would have asked me if I wanted to accompany her. She doesn't know anyone around here," he added.

"What about Jack?" Charlotte suggested. "She used to be at the 'Stowaway'."

"She has lost her memory. She will hardly remember him," he objected.

"And what about Nolan?" Charlotte asked.

"We visited him yesterday. I don't know what she wants there again."

"Speaking of Nolan ... He was here and gave me the key to the beach house," Charlotte tossed in.

Daniel nodded. "Yes, he told us." A terrible thought flashed through his mind all of a sudden. "You don't think she went to the beach to go swimming?" He looked worried at his mother and Charlotte. "She wanted to go to the pool yesterday, but then she decided to meet Nolan first."

"We have high tide now," Charlotte said thoughtfully. "If she went into the water a few hours ago, then we still had low tide. Perhaps the flood had pulled her into the open sea ..." She stopped abruptly when she saw her brother's horrified look. "But she can swim," she tried to play down her statement.

"And what if she can't remember how to swim?"

"You don't forget something like that," Victoria interjected.

"I don't care what you're saying!" Daniel blurted out. "I'm going back to the beach and look for her. And when I can't find her, I'll call the police!" When nobody protested he ran downstairs and left the house.

On the beach

No living soul was on the beach when Emily suddenly jerked to a halt. She could feel the magnetic pull that radiated from the ocean. She took off her shoes and slowly went into the water. She saw the waves surging around her legs and wondered why she was not afraid. After all, the ocean had almost been her grave. She inhaled the spicy smell of seaweed and sea algae, and went deeper and deeper into the water until she noticed that the waves were already reaching her thighs. She was about to touch the surface as she heard someone shouting her name, and then, as if by magic, she was lifted up and carried to the shore.

"Are you insane? Did you want to kill yourself?" He set her down and shook her slightly.

"Daniel?" She squinted against the sun. "What ...?" But she couldn't finish the sentence when he suddenly grabbed her and pressed his mouth hard on hers. Finally! She thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck and responded with a passionate kiss. The next wave carried them both off their feet, and they fell into the soft sand as the waves crashed over them.

"I thought I'd lost you again!" He gasped breathless, looking deeply into her eyes.

She gently stroked a damp strand of hair from his face, then pressed her forehead against his. "You will never ever lose me again," she promised, then lowered her lips to his neck as she buried her fingers in his thick hair. "I love you!" She hadn't planned to tell him this way. But it just felt right at this moment. She lifted her arms and waited for him to take off her wet shirt. But when she tried to help him to slip off her pants, she noticed his hesitation.

"Are you sure you really want this?" He asked skeptically.

"There is nothing I want more," she whispered, pulling the belt off of his pants. Everything around her was suddenly forgotten when she huddled her naked body against him and sealed his lips with a passionate kiss. And when their bodies united, they were bathed by the ocean.