Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry for the unannounced break!
I came back in peace and offering one of people's favorite: angst
So... angst
I honestly started this one shot back in June and wrote like 3k words for it then left it. Let's hope I remember what my initial idea was.
Enjoy!
Narrator's POV.
"A sex on the beach, please." A voice was heard behind the bartender.
Emma turned around and acknowledged the voice, the owner of that voice instantly making her smile.
"Hi!" She gave her the biggest smile there could ever exist. "What are you doing here?" She asked before leaning over and connecting their lips in a short but passionate kiss.
"Hi." Lizzie responded after the kiss, her lips in her mouth still savoring the loving peck. "I was in the area and decided to come and see you." She blushed.
"That's sweet." Emma smiled. "I finish in a few minutes, we can go home together if you want." She suggested.
"I'll love that." Lizzie nodded, still chewing on her bottom lip.
"Stop that." Emma leaned over and softly took Lizzie's lip out. "Only I can do that." She smirked before quickly kissing Lizzie again.
"How was your day?" Lizzie asked when they pulled apart.
"It was okay, busy with contracts and meetings, and now this shift." Emma explained while rolling her stiff shoulders.
"How is the new location coming together?" Lizzie asks.
"It's coming alright. Slowly but surely." Emma nodded. "How about you? How was your day, moonlight?" Emma asked making Lizzie blush at the nickname.
"It was tiring as well. We are shooting hours upon hours and it feels like we are still not close to finishing it." She let out a sigh while slumping her shoulders. "I love shootings, don't get me wrong. But they can get so exhausting after days of doing the same thing over and over." She rambled.
"I'm sorry, love. How about we take a long relaxing bath when we go home?" Emma suggested.
Both of their stomachs fluttered when Emma said home.
"My place since I have the bigger bathtub." Lizzie was smiling so hard she could barely say what she had to say.
"Perfect, let's go then." Emma took off her apron and shoved it somewhere out of sight.
"Didn't you say that you had a few more minutes to work?" Lizzie asked confused, her eyebrows furrowed together in a cute way.
"Yes. But I'm the boss, nobody would tell me off." Emma shrugged and put her arms around Lizzie's shoulder and walked together toward Emma's car.
"Yeah, but they don't know that." Lizzie pointed out.
"They can complain to my manager all they want. It's a few minutes anyway. It's not like I got off a few hours before I should." She shrugged before opening the door for Lizzie.
The thing is, Emma was the owner of the club they have just gotten out from, that and a few many others. But she doesn't go around saying she's the boss or flawing her money left and right.
She doesn't really tell people about her wealth, and she barely uses the money anyway.
Half of what she is making goes to charities, a part towards her siblings' future, a part goes back into the business, etc. The rest goes into her account, but she keeps it there, barely spending any of it.
She chose to buy a nice and cozy apartment with only 2 rooms besides the living room. She doesn't see the point of big and empty houses. She wants to feel at home there, not at a museum or something like that.
She drives an electric car, nothing flashy. Wears good quality normal clothes. Something that will last her a long time before she needs to replace them.
Again, she doesn't see the point in flashy 'expensive' clothes. A lot of them are of bad quality and break after a few times wearing them. Plus, in most of them, you're only paying for the brand.
And she decided to take shifts as a bartender at one of her clubs to see how her employers work and behave during work hours. Also to know if the club needs changing in some areas or not.
What better way to find the wrongs if not getting to work herself? That's what a good boss is, in her opinion. Someone who doesn't shy away from working themselves and isn't afraid to hear their business being talked about badly by the workers themselves.
That's how she managed to create such a good environment in her clubs. She got rid of everybody who was not doing their job properly or complaining too much or even trying to take advantage of customers.
Her clubs, despite being clubs, were a safe space for everyone and she loved that. Security is always doing its job and making sure people who could be a threat to others are not going inside. The bartenders make sure no one is putting anything in others' drinks and keep an eye out for creeps who can't take a no for an answer.
All of that and no one really knows who the owner is. Emma tried to keep her identity as the boss, secret. Only her managers knew about her name and what she looks like. But she picked the best people to not tell her secret.
Later on, when they were both cuddling in the bathtub, Lizzie turned her head around and looked at Emma.
"My friends want to meet you." She says softly.
"Then, they'll meet me." Emma nodded and kisses Lizzie's head.
"Will you tell them about you?" The blonde turns around completely.
"Yeah, I will give them details about me." Emma nodded.
"About your wealth, I meant." Lizzie clarifies.
"No, I don't think I would." Emma shakes her head. "I've seen how people treat me differently when they hear about my money."
"Okay, I'm here supporting you regardless of what you'll choose." Lizzie leaned and gave her a short kiss.
"Thank you. I really appreciate that." Emma nodded gratefully before leaning in and kissing her again.
"That's what girlfriends are for." Lizzie responded cheekily.
"I love you." Emma captured her lips once again.
"I love you too." Lizzie gasped out before giving the kiss all that she has.
When they first started dating, Emma kept from Lizzie the fact that she was rich and only told her after a few months of them dating. Only when she knew Lizzie was the real deal and would not treat her differently.
Lizzie could not care less about the news. When she first found out, she literally shrugged and said okay before going back to the movie they were watching.
Nothing changed after that, they were already switching with paying for their dates. They were giving each other flowers and other small things either way.
But the bond between them got stronger.
The next day, Emma was back behind the bar making drinks and watching people have a great time. She is supposed to finish earlier so she could go and meet Lizzie's friends.
She was a bit nervous. She wants to make a good impression, but at the same time, she knows their opinion won't change the relationship she and Lizzie are in.
They are endgame.
They have been together for over a year and both know that they want to spend the rest of their lives together. So that kind of calms her racing heart.
No matter how tonight's meeting goes, she will still be with Lizzie.
Sure, it would be nice to have their approval, but at the end of the day, she knows she can't please everybody.
When she was done she quickly got into her car and drove to the restaurant they were meeting at. She didn't have time to change from her black polo shirt and black trousers so she hoped it was good enough attire to meet everyone.
Emma arrived at the location soon enough. She gathered her courage and then left the parking space. She also sent a quick text to Lizzie telling her that she arrived, but her girlfriend must've been too preoccupied with conversations 'cause she didn't respond.
So Emma was left to take a big breath and step into the restaurant. Upon scanning the place once, she saw Lizzie. The blonde was very invested in a discussion she was having with another blonde on her left.
Without giving it much of a thought, Emma started walking in their direction. She smiled when she saw that Lizzie saved her a seat right next to her.
When she was close, Lizzie turned her head and saw her girlfriend. A smile instantly made its way to her face.
"Hey, baby. You made it!" Lizzie bounces on her seat.
"Hi." Emma says in a small voice, suddenly intimidated by all the attention on her. "Hi, everybody!" She waved and sat down quickly, next to Lizzie.
"Everybody, this is my girlfriend, Emma. Emma, those are my friends." Lizzie was quick to introduce them.
The others greeted her.
"You came straight from work, didn't you?" Lizzie asks while looking at her outfit.
"Yeah, I didn't have much time to go and change." Emma nodded and shifted a bit closer to her girlfriend.
"What is your job?" Scarlett asks while analyzing her.
"Oh, I bartended tonight. At one of the Caste's clubs." Emma left it at that.
"I got you some water, babe. But I didn't know what you wanted to eat." Lizzie captured Emma's attention once again.
With her attention somewhere else, she didn't see Lizzie's friend frown at her response. They didn't like that their friend was dating someone who was bartending at some club.
Was she with Lizzie for her money? Was a question that traveled in their heads.
"Oh, thank you. I think I will have some pasta." Emma responded easily before sipping on her water.
Lizzie's friends started asking questions about her and their relationship pretty soon. Most of them were wary of Emma but tried not to let it show.
"No, we are not much of gifters." Lizzie shook her head. "We only give each other flowers." She responded to their question. "Right, babe?"
"Yeah. Plus, I don't really like gifts." That was not interpreted well by Lizzie's friends. "I feel like flowers show affection much better than some random gift. They are more beautiful as well."
"Exactly. I love receiving flowers way better than some meaningless gift. I know that she puts thoughts and love into each flower she gives me." Lizzie turned and gave her girlfriend a sweet smile.
"Of course, they are for you so they have to have meaning." She jokes making Lizzie chuckle.
When the check finally came, Emma patter her pockets and then suddenly face-palmed herself.
"What's the matter?" Lizzie quickly asked worriedly.
"Dumb me forgot my wallet at work. I think I left my whole backpack there." Emma sighed.
"Well, don't worry about it, I was about to pay for you either way." Lizzie comforted her. "It was my turn anyway." She whispered in Emma's ear. "You know, after last time." She let the reply hang in the air before giving Emma's cheek a quick kiss.
When she saw a flustered Emma, she smirked and winked at her girlfriend.
"I'll ask Claire if she can find my things." Emma finally said after she took a big breath.
While she was busy writing a message, she didn't see the glances everyone else was throwing at her.
What happened tonight was a very bad coincidence for her. One that dug deeper into the assumption of Emma being with Lizzie for her money.
"It was nice meeting you, guys!" Emma said before they parted ways.
"I think tonight went well." Lizzie clung to Emma while walking towards Emma's car.
"Do you think they liked me?" Emma asked in a small voice.
"There's no way they didn't. Not when I couldn't shut up about how happy you make me and how much we love each other." Lizzie smiled before giving Emma a proper kiss for the first time tonight.
"Well, I do love you."Emma responded.
"And I love you too. So so so much."
"I love you just as much."
A few days pass without much happening. Emma and Lizzie continued to be their loving selves, going on dates whenever they could and spending every night together.
One afternoon, after Emma was done signing some papers for one of her clubs, she got a few messages from Lizzie. In one of them, she was complaining that she woke up without her girlfriend next to her. Then she said to come back home as soon as she is done with work. And finally, the last one consisted of Lizzie telling Emma how much she misses her, even though they have not been separated for a long time.
So Emma quickly got into her car and drove to her apartment so she could change her clothes, forgetting for a moment that she has some left at Lizzie.
And that has cost her car's battery. She forgot to charge it so now she had no option but to walk to Lizzie's. Good thing they didn't live that far from each other.
She had time to enjoy the warm wheater and listen to some music in her headphones.
When she arrived, she saw a bunch of cars in the driveway so she figured Lizzie's friends were there as well. But she had nothing against it.
She barely had time to unlock the door before Lizzie ran to greet her.
"Hi, baby!" Lizzie said before jumping on Emma and wrapping her legs around Emma's waist.
"Someone has missed me." Emma chuckles before making sure her grip on Lizzie is secured.
"Of course I did, you were gone for a while." The green-eyed pouted.
"Sorry, baby. I needed to take care of a few things." Emma kissed the pout away.
"Everything's good?" Lizzie asked before hopping back on the ground.
"Yes." Emma nodded.
"What took you so long." The blonde asked while taking her girlfriend's hand and dragging her into the living room.
"My car's reservoir was empty. I forgot about it last night, so I walked here." She says sheepishly before looking around. "Hi, guys!" She greeted them.
"Why didn't you tell me, I could've handled it." Lizzie pouted yet again.
"Because I forgot." Emma shrugged. "I'll take care of it, don't worry."
Lizzie continued to drag her towards the couch and forced Emma to sit down, so she could sit sideways on her lap.
Another minus point in everybody's mind. The way Lizzie quickly offered to put fuel in Emma's car even though the prices are very high and it would cost the blonde quite a few dollars.
The conversations quickly started after that.
When the doorbell rang, Lizzie got up to see who was at the door. It seemed the best opportunity for the group to question Emma so as soon as Lizzie was out of earshot, they started asking questions.
"What is your deal?" Evans asked first.
"What are your intentions with our Lizzie?" Asked Scarlett.
"Are you with her for her money?" It was Jeremy's turn to ask.
"Guys, guys." Emma stopped everyone from asking further questions. "I don't have any bad intentions with Lizzie, I just want to love her. That's it." She answered confused.
"Just admit that you want her for her money." Scarlett said soon after.
"Her money? What?! No!" Emma responded a bit hurt by the accusations.
"Just admit it already. You lead her on only because she's wealthy and she could take care of you." Evans was serious now. All of them were.
"Nothing wrong with that though, just don't string our best friend along if you only want her 'cause she is famous and has money." Scarlett further accused her.
"What the fuck?!" Emma was up from the couch in the next second. "That's what you all think of me?" She asked and even though nobody answered verbally to that question, she saw it in their eyes, the confirmation.
In the next moment, Lizzie came into the room.
"It was just a random person, they got confused by the streets." She says before she finally picks the mood in the room. "Hey, what happened here?"
Looking around the room, she sees all of her friends glaring at Emma, and Emma seems to be a few seconds away from storming out of the room.
"Nothing Lizzie, nothing that should concern you." Scarlett gritted through her teeth.
"Oh, no-no. She should hear what I'm being accused of." Emma glared back.
"What's going on?" Lizzie asks again.
"Your Emma here is only with you for your money. But she won't admit it." Evans said stubbornly.
"What?" Lizzie asked confused.
How could anyone think that?
"Yeah. And we all feel like she doesn't actually love you. She's just stringing you along 'cause she can benefit from your hard work." Scarlett explains further. "She's not good for you, Lizzie."
"You know what?" Emma asks nobody before taking her phone from the coffee table, she is way beyond hurt. "I won't stay here and be accused of things that are not true and won't be true in a million years." She spits out. "The audacity of you to just question my love when you barely know me or anything about me." After that, she was out of the room.
"What the actual fuck, guys?!" Lizzie shouts at them.
"It's the truth, Lizzie." Evans defends their action.
"It's not. And it's not your business whatever happens in my life. Let's get one thing straight. My relationship is not something you assume things of. Not when you barely took time to know about it or about Emma. You know nothing." She replies in a strong voice before going after Emma.
She catches up with her in the parking space in front of her house.
"Emma. I'm so sorry for what just happened." The blonde tries to come up with excuses but she gets nothing.
"It's fine." Emma responds and they both know that that's a lie.
"I will talk with them and put them back in their place. That was unacceptable and wrong in so many places." Lizzie rambles.
"I can't believe they think I'm only with you for your money." She lets out a bitter laugh. "They dare question my love for you." She manages to get out. "They are questioning my love for you when you are the one I love most in this world. When I'm so deeply in love with you it hurts any time we are not together." And the tears are out.
In the next second, Lizzie hugs her. "I know. I know, baby." She comforts her. "I never questioned your love for me."
"I think I will go home." Emma muttered after a few minutes of crying on Lizzie's shoulder.
"Let me order you an uber." Lizzie pulled back and made eye contact.
"No, it's fine. I'll walk."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Text me when you get home, please." Lizzie said and received a nod from Emma. "I'll be at your place as soon as they leave." The blonde promises.
"Okay." Emma's voice is barely audible.
They shared a loving kiss before parting ways. Lizzie stormed back inside while Emma walked dejectedly.
She knows she could've easily told them about her being rich, maybe richer than some of them, but that doesn't seem fair. They'll only like her because of her money when she wants them to like her for her. Emma, the one that they believe doesn't have enough money. But that is quickly out of the window. It's clear that they don't like her and probably won't like her any time soon.
Maybe she shouldn't have stormed out of the house and could've explained to them better. Now she's regretting her action. She's second-guessing if she should mention the fact that she's wealthy or not. Maybe it will get them off her back and they'll try to befriend her. Properly this time? Who knows.
She's definitely too hurt to walk back to Lizzie's house.
As promised, Lizzie comes over after a little while. She snapped at her friends and made everyone promise to apologize to Emma and give her a fair chance before jumping to the wrong conclusions. They wouldn't have been together for over a year, so that has to mean something.
"I'm sorry." Lizzie whispers into Emma's neck while they're cuddling.
"It's not your fault." Emma mutters back, her hand drawing small circles on her girlfriend's back, while the other one is combing through Lizzie's blonde hair.
"They promised they will apologize and will try to get to know you better." Lizzie lifted her head and let her chin rest on Emma's chest.
Emma hummed in response, her mind still battling with the idea of telling everyone about her income. Or at least mentioning that she's the owner of the club she was bartending that night when they met. But she doesn't want that to be the deciding factor for them into liking her or not.
Like, money should not make her a more likable person. No, it should be her character, her actions, literally anything but how much she has into her account.
That's so messed up that they live in a society where everyone's judged by how big their salary is.
"I love you." Lizzie tells her knowing it will get her attention.
"I love you too." Emma responds easily, her eyes focusing back on the woman on her chest. "So, so much. I don't know what I'll do if you weren't in my life." She confesses once again.
The day for them to apologize came soon enough. They convinced Lizzie to meet at the club that Emma works for. That way they can enjoy the club and Emma can join them after her shift.
Wanting to see her girlfriend more, Lizzie approved and settled the day. She also checked with Emma to make sure they visit on a day when she finishes earlier. She was so happy that her friends suggested visiting Emma so they could apologize to her face-to-face and then give her the proper chance. They stopped the snarky comments or the glares any time she mentioned her girlfriend.
They were trying and that's what mattered.
So, in an early night, they entered the club and went straight to the VIP booth that Emma reserved for them. After leaving her stuff down, Lizzie went straight to the bar where she saw her girlfriend working hard to serve the customers that kept on multiplying. This meant that Emma didn't see her so she took her chance at sneaking up on her.
"A sex on the beach, please." She said in a different voice.
"Coming right up." Emma responded not looking at her properly.
While her girlfriend was busy doing her order, and a bunch of others, Lizzie took this moment to admire her hardworking girlfriend. That is something that she loves about her. Despite having enough money to not bother about working any time soon, she still takes stressful and hard shifts at the clubs that she owns. She wants to know the work conditions herself to know if they need to be improved or not. To know if they need more workers or not.
She's dedicated and that's something that Lizzie loves in her.
"Here you go." Emma slides her the drink and finally lifts her eyes long enough to see the blonde in front of her. "Lizzie, hi!" Her whole face suddenly lights up.
"I was wondering how long it will take you to notice me." Lizzie teased her. Her nose scrunched while her smile reached her eyes.
"It took a bit." Emma laughed embarrassedly. "It's such a busy night for a reason." She explains while shaking another drink.
"But you don't have long until you finish, right?" Lizzie asks and takes a small sip from her drink.
"In theory no. But the other bartenders don't seem to handle all the orders so I might stay a bit more to help them. I'll see how everything will be in a few more minutes." Emma explains and serves the drink she was making.
She stops and looks around the bar.
"But right now I can take 5 to properly greet you." She turns her head back to see her girlfriend.
"Properly?" Lizzie raises one eyebrow teasing.
"Of course." Emma responds and walks around the bar. Thankful that she was taking orders at the end of the bar which meant she could step around it. "You deserve a proper greeting." She says when they are close.
"And what would that consist of?" Lizzie continues to challenge her.
"This." She says and cups Lizzie's cheek to give her a short but passionate kiss. "Hi." She whispers when they pull apart.
"Greeting accepted." Lizzie giggles. "Hey."
"How was your day?" Emma asks and combs through Lizzie's hair when she saw a small knot.
"Exhausting. But I'm ready to dance, drink and have fun." She bounces and takes another sip of her drink.
"I'll join you as soon as I can, but until then have fun for me too, okay?" Emma gives her a soft smile.
"I'll try." Lizzie nods. "The rest should come pretty soon to apologize, too." She remembers.
"Oh, I even forgot that that's why you're here." Emma giggles and turns her head to see Lizzie's friends looking at their exchange.
Some of them lift their hands to wave at her and she returns the gesture.
"See, they are trying." Lizzie says excitedly.
"Yeah, I can see that." Emma nods as well before taking a step back to return to work. "One more before I go." She purses her lips and Lizzie is quick to kiss her.
After Lizzie joins the rest of the group in the VIP section, slowly some of them come to the bar to order drinks from Emma.
"Hi!" Scar greeted her with a glint in her eyes. "4 beers please." She requests.
"Hey, coming right up." Emma responds and shifts to the fridge to take them.
"How is your shift?" Scar makes small talk.
"It's a bit stressful, there are a lot of people and not enough employees." Emma jokes and puts the beers in front of the blonde.
"When will you be able to join us?" She asks again, not making a move to take the drinks.
"I'll say in an hour by the looks of it." Emma responds after seeing the queue that has formed.
"We'll be waiting for you." Scar replies and takes the alcohol. "Sorry, by the way." She starts. "For, you know, the last time we saw each other."
"Yeah, I got it. Thanks." Emma responds smiling and shakes another cocktail.
While Scar was turning around, Claire, one of her managers, comes to talk to her.
"Come with me, please." Claire tells and by the looks of it, it's something serious.
Emma is quick to pass the drink that she was making to one of the other bartenders and follow her.
"What's up?" She asks and looks around the packed club.
"There's been a conflict outside of the club. The security wants to talk to you about what they should do. If they need to call the cops or not." Claire explains in a rush.
"How bad is it?" Emma asks and pats her pocket for her phone.
"I wouldn't say the cops need to be called, but you see for yourself." Claire offers.
While Emma was dealing with that, Lizzie and her friends were having the best time of their lives. The music was blasting on the speakers and they were dancing like there was no tomorrow.
Luckily for Emma, the situation was handled easily. There was no need to call the cops and maybe worry the people inside.
When she got back inside, she made a few drinks, then took a break to look for her girlfriend. In the sea of people, it was hard to spot her, especially with the lower light in the rest of the club, compared to the bar's lighting.
When she couldn't spot her, she pouted and decided to call it a night and join her.
Just in time to see Scar coming her way.
"It's been over an hour and you've not joined us yet." Scar smirks at her.
"Yeah, sorry. Something came up but now I should be good to come and join you guys." Emma tells her while untying her apron.
"Great." Scar continues to smirk and waits for her.
"How about you, are you having fun? Is everyone enjoying their time here?" Emma asks and follows Scar when the blonde starts walking.
"Yeah, everyone's having so much fun." She nods and continues to maneuver through bodies.
"That's awesome. I'm glad. Where's Lizzie though?" Emma asks while still looking around for her girlfriend.
"She was dancing earlier." Scar replies. "Should be right there." She points to another mess of people.
Emma takes a few steps closer and she can finally see the blonde. Her partner that's dancing without a care in the world.
When a man glues himself to her back, helping her to grind on him, Emma takes a few forceful steps to stop him and maybe call security.
But then Lizzie is turned around by the man and they are suddenly kissing.
And Lizzie doesn't pull back.
That stops Emma from making any other movement. She's too shocked and hurt by everything that's going on in front of her.
Lizzie is facing her but doesn't seem to pay any attention to the fact that she's making out with someone other than her girlfriend, on the dancefloor.
This breaks Emma's heart.
She's quick to turn around and walk away from this sight.
"Emma!" Scar yells after her but Emma doesn't turn around.
The tears start to stain her cheeks and she tries to wipe them off but they won't stop pouring.
She bumps into Claire so hard that the manager almost falls if she didn't use the wall for support.
"Emma?" Claire grabs her arm preventing her from walking away. "What happened."
"I-I can't." Emma sobs out and looks around as if ready to spiral out of control.
Without another word, she leads Emma into the office.
"What happened?" She helps Emma into the chair and the woman can't stop another wave of tears.
"She-she cheated." Emma manages to say while crying harder than she ever had in her life.
"Who? Lizzie?" Claire asked confused.
Emma only nods in response. She brings her knees to her chest and stuffs her face into them.
Claire's heart breaks at the sight, Emma looks so broken and she doesn't know what to do to help her.
"You'll stay here until I can leave, okay? I'll drive you home. I don't want you close to any car in this condition." Claire says softly while moving her hand on Emma's back in an attempt to comfort her.
She doesn't get a response from Emma.
The woman is too far gone in her head to pay attention to Claire's words.
How could Lizzie do this? Why would she choose to cheat where Emma saw her? Was this her plan all along? Was the whole apologizing thing just a lie and they planned a way to embarrass Emma in front of everyone?
Was Lizzie capable of this?
Of breaking her heart so easily?
She lets out another hard cry when the flashbacks of what she just witnessed come to haunt her.
She felt something dying inside her when she saw Lizzie reciprocating the kiss so easily, with a passion that she usually kisses Emma with. She didn't seem disturbed by the other guy's actions.
Was this an occurrence or did it happen for a longer time and she wasn't aware of it?
Claire left her soon enough when another call came through and she needed to go take care of some things. She kept a watchful eye on the office door in case Emma decides that she wants to leave.
But Emma hasn't moved from her position. Everything hurt but she couldn't stop herself from crying.
Why would Lizzie do this? She can't blame it on being drunk because as far as Emma knows, Lizzie only had one cocktail. And usually, Lizzie isn't someone who drinks a lot, one or two drinks and she is done for the night.
Plus, Emma saw drunk Lizzie dancing, and that wasn't even similar to Lizzie tonight.
She spent the next few hours just crying in the small office of her club. Claire kept her promise and when she was able to leave the club, she took Emma with her and drove the heartbroken woman home.
"Take care, okay?" Claire tells her after she parked the car in front of Emma's building apartment.
Emma nodded once.
"If you need anything don't hesitate to call me, alright?" Claire made sure Emma was listening to her. "I'm excusing you from work for the next week, please take care of yourself, and don't do something stupid."
"Okay." Emma responded, her voice barely audible.
Claire left with a promise of checking up on her as much as she can, but Emma didn't really pay attention to that. She walked into her apartment and let her body fall onto the couch.
She doesn't know how she did it, but she fell asleep at some point during the night. She cried so much that she exhausted her body and mind.
By the morning, she woke up and reality hit her in the face once again. Lizzie did cheat on her and it wasn't just a horrible nightmare.
That was enough to make her cry some more. The images of last night coming in full force again. She's driving herself crazy analyzing everything. From the way Lizzie was behaving the whole night to how she was so responsive to another person's kiss.
At some point, she got up from the couch and went to take a shower. Which actually meant crying under the stream of water. Everything in her apartment reminded her of Lizzie and what they used to have.
She hates it. She hates it so much. Her clothes smell like Lizzie, her kitchen reminds her of heartfelt moments with Lizzie while they were cooking together or having a quick snack which quickly transformed into a dancing session or a food fight. Her couch reminds her of the moments spent cuddling while watching some movies or random series on their streaming apps.
She doesn't want to even look at her bed because she spent so many nights there with Lizzie showing each other how much they love one another.
Everything's making her want to puke.
Later in the day, her doorbell rings, and while normally she would ignore it, Emma knows that Claire, her friend besides being manager, would knock it down if she doesn't respond. So she drags her feet to open the door and to tell her friend to leave her alone.
But imagine her surprise when she saw the blonde curls that belong to her girlfriend. It instantly makes her walls build up and she hopes her cheeks are not stained with tear marks.
"Hi." Lizzie is the first to greet and moves to hug Emma, but Emma takes a quick step backward while also blocking the blonde from entering her apartment. "What happened? You haven't responded to my texts the whole morning." Lizzie says confused but then she notices Emma's whole appearance. "Why have you been crying? What's going on?" She moves to cup one of Emma's cheeks but Emma moves her face out of the way.
"You don't remember?" Emma scoffs at her and for a moment her stomach drops thinking that Lizzie was so convinced she fouled Emma.
"I don't remember anything from last night apart from our conversation at the bar." Lizzie says with her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes showed nothing but worry. "What happened last night?" She asked concerned while doing her best to stop her hands from reaching out to comfort Emma.
"You kissed someone else last night." Emma managed to mutter before biting her lip to prevent it from moving while feeling her eyes starting to sting with tears.
"No. That can't be possible." Lizzie shook her head in disbelief but the sight in front of her was slowly breaking her heart.
"It is possible. You had a full make-out on the dance floor with some guy." Emma mutters and turns her head to the side so she won't look at Lizzie anymore.
"No." The actress rasped out before her hands came to her face, her own tears starting to sting her eyes.
"Yeah... At first, you were just grinding on him but then turned around and let him kiss you. Right in front of me." Emma remembered, her hold on the doorknob tightening the longer the moment plays in her mind.
"I have... I have no recollection of this. I don't know what happened last night. One moment I was dancing then I woke up this morning and you weren't by my side or responding to the messages I sent you. I'm so sorry." Lizzie rambles urgently.
"How many drinks did you have?" Emma is still not looking at her and that hurts Lizzie some more.
"I remember the cocktail that you served me, and then a beer that Scar offered. I don't remember drinking anything else." Lizzie explains and hopes it's enough of an explanation. But she knows that what she did was wrong.
"And yet, it was enough to make you kiss some other guy." Emma let out a bitter laugh.
"I am so sorry Emma, I swear to you that I didn't do it consciously. It didn't mean anything. I can't even remember it." Lizzie rushes out and takes a small step forward.
"But I can." Emma turns her head around to look at Lizzie. "The images haunt me whenever I close my eyes. I see him all over you, and you allowing it." Emma sobs out. "I can't look at you without remembering how you kissed someone other than me, with the same passion that you used to kiss me with." Emma shakes her head. "I think it's better if you'd leave."
"Can I do anything to change your mind? Can you give me another chance? I promise I will spend my whole life making up to you." Lizzie cries out and before she realizes it, one of her hands grips Emma's shirt so tight it might rip it if she wasn't careful.
"I don't know." Emma mutters and allows the hand to keep on holding her close. "I don't know." she shakes her head.
"I never meant to hurt you, I swear to you. I hate myself for what I did last night. I really do. I can't believe I let myself be that blanked out that I kissed someone that wasn't you." Lizzie rambles desperately. "I promise you that it meant nothing."
"I want to be alone now." Emma lets out before moving her hand to move Lizzie's hand from her shirt.
"Please. Please. I'm begging you for a chance for me to prove to you that I love you and only you. What happened last night was a mistake that I'll regret for the rest of my life. Please." Lizzie begs desperately when she feels Emma slipping from her grasp.
"Be careful on your way home." That's all that Emma responds with and they both know it's final.
Lizzie lets out a sob at the realization, one of her hands coming to her mouth so the sound will be muffled.
Emma doesn't look her in the eye when she's closing the front door. She doesn't know what to do anymore.
She can't look at Lizzie without those images coming to mind, and that means she can't forgive her any time soon.
She needs time, that's for sure.
The next few days are horrible for the ex-couple. Both of them are miserable by Lizzie's mistake.
The actress had a really hard time concentrating on her job. She would start bursting into tears while in the middle of the scene, which would get her a bunch of sad looks. She can't remember her lines properly, and any time some producer offers her a few days off to get her mind together, she denies it knowing it will get worse while she's at home.
Seeing everything that reminds her of Emma would break her even more if that was even possible.
Nothing would comfort her, her friends will try to hug her but she refuses the gesture. She often does when she's emotional, Emma being the only one that managed to comfort her during hard times. But that would be impossible right now.
She knows everyone is concerned about her well-being but she can't bring herself to care for something else other than Emma and how she broke her heart.
They asked her what happened but she only managed to say that Emma and her are no longer together due to her actions. Also how heartbroken Emma was when they talked, and how she hates herself for doing that.
When asked she'll often say that she's not okay because she lost one of the best things that ever happened to her.
Emma wasn't doing much better either. She hasn't left her house since the day they both spoke. She barely moved from the couch, only eating when Claire would show up and force her to.
One week after the incident, Scarlett visited the club in hopes of talking with Emma, but when she couldn't see her, she asked around the other employees. She found out that Emma hasn't shown up to work for a week and no one knew why or when she'll come back.
When she spotted the manager, she was set on getting some answers.
"Hi, do you have a moment?" Scarlett asks the woman.
"Hi, how can I help you?" The manager turns around and asks her.
"Do you have any idea where Emma is? I need to talk with her." Scar tells her, getting straight to the subject.
"And who are you?" The woman asks quirking an eyebrow at her.
"Scarlett, one of Lizzie's friends. I really need to talk with Emma." The blonde was getting impatient.
"Emma's whereabouts are none of your business." Claire crosses her arms suddenly getting mad for her friend.
"When will she come to work?" Scar doesn't let that intimidate her.
"I can't disclose that information to strangers." Claire doesn't back out either.
"Okay, then tell me where she lives. I really need to talk with her." The blonde tries again.
"I don't know." Claire lies and they both know it.
When Emma does indeed come back to work, is the next weekend and it's clear to everyone that she's not her usual self.
She's not smiling anymore, not engaging in small talk with people, or asking her co-workers about their lives. She's silent and barely responds to people that talk with her.
Scarlett almost lets out a victorious smile when she sees Emma behind the bar working. She's been coming here daily for the past week in hopes of catching her and talking with her.
"Hey!" She says when she's in front of Emma.
The woman nods in response and continues to do her job.
"How have you been?" She tries to make small talk but Emma was not having it.
"What do you want?" Emma asks her while pouring a drink into a glass.
"What do you mean?" Scar asks confused.
"We both know that you don't like me, so what do you want?" Emma calls her out on it.
"I wanted to talk to you about Lizzie." The blonde replies honestly.
"Not my problem anymore." Emma mutters and quickly makes another drink.
"We both know that that's a lie." Scar points out.
"Weren't you saying a while ago about how I don't deserve her and stuff like that? You must be thriving knowing I'm not in her life anymore. She'll be way better without me, right?" Emma asks her sarcastically.
"Quite the opposite actually." Scar starts. "She's miserable, and I can't see you're not much different either."
It did pain Emma knowing Lizzie was also hurting, but this was the actress' mistake.
"And?" Emma says instead.
"I need to talk to you about something serious, but not here." The blonde says and hopes that Emma will agree with her.
But Emma doesn't have time to respond because Claire is quick by her side and says she needs to talk with her.
"A guy with some drugs was stopped outside, they called the cops and you need to be there." Claire whispers into her ears.
"I'll be there in a sec." Emma responds and moves her hands to untie her apron.
"What, you're hooking up with her now?" Scar lets out a half-joke after watching the exchange.
Emma's head quickly whips in her direction and the glare she sends makes the blonde want to crawl out into a hole.
"Get out." Emma tells her in a calm but dangerous tone. "I said to get out." She repeats when she sees that Scar's not moving.
"It was just a joke." Scar tries to back out.
"We both know it wasn't." Emma crosses her arms on her chest.
"Maybe. I still don't like you for Lizzie but she's miserable without you." Scar doesn't back out and mimics her movement.
"What? All because I don't have money, right?" Emma challenges her.
"That's the main reason, yeah." Scar nods her glare not faltering.
"You know what? I'm fed up with this." Emma gets her wallet out and throws a paper card for her to read. "Maybe this will stop you from judging others in the future." She scoffs at her before following Claire outside.
In Scar's hands was a paper that showed Emma was the owner of the Caste's club chain. Right under the owner's name and signature, were Emma's details.
Just then she realizes what a horrible mistake she and her friends did.
She went to exit the club in hopes of talking with Emma and apologizing. But when she saw the woman in question talking with cops and signing papers, she knew she should let her be for tonight.
The next day, Emma is back to her weekly walk around the city where she offers homeless people food that she bought for them. She apologizes for missing the last couple of weeks and promises she would make it up to them. But no one really minded, they were grateful nonetheless.
"I knew I'd find you here." A voice was heard behind her after she gave the last meal.
"You know my schedule, big congrats." Emma responds in a monotone voice and starts walking back to her car.
"Can we talk please?" Lizzie quickly follows her.
"Aren't we talking right now?" Emma asks her, not looking in her direction at all.
"Properly." Lizzie says.
"Why? Sending one of your goons wasn't good enough?" Emma scoffs.
"What?" Lizzie asks confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Scarlett visited me last night at work to try and talk with me." Emma responded.
"What did she say?" Lizzie asks concerned. "Did she say something? I swear I told them to stop bothering you or talking about you when they don't know you that well."
"She said a bunch of things that I knew already. But then she accused me of something so I snapped and showed her that I'm the owner of the club. So expect your friends to know that by now." Emma shrugs nonchalantly and continues her walk.
"What did she accuse you of?" Lizzie continues her interrogation.
"It doesn't matter anymore." Emma shakes her head.
"What about us?" Lizzie tries. "I really want to fight for us so please tell me that there's something left for me to fight for."
"I need time." Emma responds and for the first time since they started talking, she looks at Lizzie properly.
They both can see the unslept hours on each other's faces. The hurt in their eyes, everything. It was there and they could see it.
"You're my everything, the only one I see in my future. Please let me show it to you." Lizzie pleaded.
"Not right now, it still hurts." Emma replies instead and that's enough hope for Lizzie to grasp and not feel like everything's disappearing.
"When you'll be ready, will you let me know?" She asks hopefully.
Emma shrugs in response, not sure if she wants to let Lizzie in after the woman cheated.
"I still love you." Lizzie says even though she knows Emma won't respond.
"Take care of yourself." That's what Emma responds with instead and it's small enough but it lets Lizzie know that Emma still cares for her.
"You too." And with that, they part ways again.
But not for long it seemed.
Later in the week, Emma received a text message from Scarlett, and against her better judgment, she followed with her indications. Scarlett told her to come to her address because they have something important to talk about.
So she drives there. She knows it's mostly a mistake, but what can she lose at this point?
When she parked the car she noticed a few other cars there and she almost turned around to leave, if it wasn't for the front door opening and Scarlett walking in her direction.
"Hi, I'm glad you came." Scarlett said.
"Why am I here?' Emma asked instead.
"Come on, we'll talk inside." The blonde took a hold of her arm and dragged her into the house.
When she was shoved into the living room she stopped abruptly when she saw Lizzie on the couch. She seemed to be crying but stopped when she saw Emma. She sat up straighter and it looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
"Sit down." Scarlett pushed her from the back.
Emma broke the eye contact with Lizzie and went to sit on the other side of the couch, leaving a big gap between them. She refused to look at Lizzie even though she knew her ex was looking at her rather desperately.
"Why am I here?" Emma asked annoyed while looking at everyone in this room, besides Lizzie.
"We wanted to be honest with you, both of you." Evans started rather sheepishly.
"None of you like me, yeah, we already knew that. What else?" Emma stated impatiently.
She can't take Lizzie looking so dejected and upset anymore. All of her work in convincing her that she did a good thing by breaking up went crumbling down when she saw tears in Lizzie's eyes, a few weeks after the incident.
"I'm not going to drag this longer than it should. But Lizzie didn't cheat because she wanted to." Scarlet admitted.
"What?!" Lizzie was the one to respond this time.
"We drugged you and hired a man to kiss you at our signal." Evans rushed out.
"You did what?" Lizzie asks baffled.
"That night, we sneaked some drugs into your beer. That's why you can't remember anything." Renner explained.
"Why would you do that?" Lizzie asked, her voice so broken that it hurt every heart in the room.
"We thought Emma was bad for you." Scar muttered out loud, too scared to admit that they were in the wrong.
"I can't believe this." Lizzie stood up from the couch. "Time and time again I told you that I'm happy in this relationship, that I'm loved and it's it for me, you decided to not listen to any word I say and instead make this scheme of breaking us up by drugging me? Some friends you are." Lizzie goes to walk out but Scarlet grabs her arm. "Let go of me this second or so help me god I will break yours." Scarlett lets her go.
"We're sorry." Evans apologizes.
"Yeah, you should be." Lizzie spats and gets out of the house.
They turn to look at Emma who has her head in her palms and is silently crying.
"What did I ever do to you?" Emma asks them but doesnt lift her head.
"We're very sorry." Scar admits.
Emma scoffs in return and lifts her head. "You never bothered asking me about my money since that was such a big deal in your opinion. No, instead you made assumptions and decided to not listen to the important part which was me and her loving each other. What if I actually was in need of money and she would happily help me? Why would that be such a bad thing? There are people who are not as fortunate and you judged me on that. I suggest you really evaluate your life because what you did is really messed up." Emma wipes her tears and gets up from the couch.
Nobody says anything.
"You know, I never said I only bartender or that that's my main source of income. You could've bothered to find out more about me before doing all of this. What you did scar us for life probably." She takes a deep breath to try and stop the tears. "You really thought I would be with her for over a year if I didn't want a future with her?"
"We're really sorry." Evans repeated, feeling very bad about the situation that was created.
"I don't forgive you, nor will I do for a long time." Emma tells them before storming out of the house as well.
Part of her wants to go to Lizzie's house and talk with her now that they have this essential piece of information. But decides against it at the last moment. They both need to process this before talking.
Plus, Emma has to rethink her decisions and see if she's willing to give Lizzie another try.
But as soon as the next day comes, she jumps into her car and drives toward Lizzie's.
She's not surprised when the blonde opens up the door with a tear-stained face and a dejected look in her eyes.
"We need to talk." Emma tells her and Lizzie nods in reply.
The actress steps back and lets Emma into her house.
"How are you? First of all." Emma starts as soon as she sits on the couch.
"I don't know. How would you feel after you find out your friends sabotaged the best relationship you had by drugging you and hiring someone to kiss you in your high state?" Lizzie replies tiredly.
"Good point." Emma nods.
"I'm glad I didn't cheat consciously, though. That's a big burden that was lifted from my shoulders." Lizzie admits.
"I'm glad too." Emma mutters out, barely audible. "And while that makes things easier, it's not by a whole lot." She starts.
"I'll take anything just to be together with you again." Lizzie tells her, no shame present in her voice.
"I'm still hurt and it will take a while before I'll stop associating you with that night." Emma warns her.
"I know." Lizzie nods her head.
"But I'll work on it because I also don't want to lose you." Emma lets out a small smile, the only one since that day.
"Can I hug you?" The blonde asks hopefully.
Emma hesitates and they both see it. Lizzie tries to not let it affect her too much. She knows it's not easy for Emma either, but she's giving it a try and that's all that Lizzie can ask for.
"You can hold my hand." Emma replies instead and Lizzie is quick to initiate the contact.
"I know it's not my fault, but I'll do everything to show you how much I love you and how much I want you for the rest of my life." Lizzie squeezes her hand.
"I know." Emma gives her a small smile.
They will be alright eventually.
This was a long one, damn. I hope you liked it and was angsty enough. I have no idea so please let me know.
I hope this new year is great for everyone. I'm manifesting a good year and will try to not let my anxiety get the best of me like it did in the past year. How's everyone though?
I'm going to go for now, I do have some uni projects that I'm going to ignore and probably play Minecraft or Stardew Valley with a friend.
Take care of yourselves and be safe. I'll see you in the next one!
Cheers to a better year!
-M.