Emily Jane looked straight into her fiance's eyes, waiting for an answer to her question. She felt uneasy with the familiarity between Aiden and Vanessa, and she wanted to know why her stomach was twisted into knots. Vanessa regained her composure and picked up the pencil she dropped. She saw Aiden reach for Emily Jane's hand and held on tightly.
"Um..." Vanessa started, not sure how to answer Emily Jane's quesiton.
"Sweetie, Vanessa and I used to date," Aiden said to his girlfriend, his voice even.
"Oh," Emily Jane said. "Well, that's...nice," her voice croaked a little.
"Em J, that was a long time ago. A very long time ago," Vanessa quickly retorted, feeling the same amount of discomfort that was registered on Emily Jane's face.
"So that's why you can relate. I see," Emily Jane tried to smile. "Uh, wow, look at the time. I still have a client meeting in half an hour," she took a quick glance at the watch on her wrist.
"I'll just email you when the sketch is ready, okay?" Vanessa called out to her.
"Sure, that'll be great," Emily Jane's voice sounded peppy, but she felt far from it. "Thanks, Vanessa." She released Aiden's hand and walked up to Vanessa to give her a quick hug. "Bye."
"Bye," Vanessa said slowly. She mouthed an 'I'm sorry' to Aiden, not really sure why she's apologizing, and he just nodded in return.
Aiden followed his fiancee out of the boutique and found her standing next to his car already, busy talking to someone on the phone. He unlocked the door to his car with his clicker and was about to open the door for her, but Emily Jane beat him to the punch and quickly went in. He got in and heard her tell whoever she was talking to she would meet them at the office in a few minutes.
"Sweetie," Aiden said when Emily Jane hung up.
"She's pretty," Emily Jane voiced out, her eyes straight ahead.
"Sweetie, Vanessa and I were over a long time ago. She was my past. You are my present and my future. Why are you making such a big deal about this?"
"You're right. I am making a big deal about this," she countered, feigning nonchalance.
"Sweetie."
"It's just weird, you know. It's such a small world. You shouldn't trivialize how I'm feeling, Aiden. Don't make me feel like a child and that I'm stupid for 'making a big deal' about this," she used her fingers to air quote. "It's not your fault you never mentioned her, we never talked about your ex girlfriends, but now that I've met one of them, one so beautiful, one who told me that if she ever saw her ex again, she may or may not be over him yet...." she faltered, her train of thought all over the place. "Lo and behold, her ex was you."
"Sweetie..."
"Just let me be irrational. Just let me be jealous. You were irrational and jealous with Blake, someone who I have no feelings for, let me be the same with Vanessa, someone you were once in love with."
Emily Jane opened the door and got out before Aiden can even put the car in park. He followed her, running up to get to her before she got into her office building, and grabbed her elbow, spinning her around to face him. He didn't give her time to breathe, just covered her lips with his, coaxing her mouth open, making her feel like she was the only one he cared about. He kissed her until she moaned, although he wasn't sure if that was out of pleasure or because her lungs were on fire just as his were.
"Sweetie, I love you," he said when they pulled apart. "I'm gonna marry you. There was a reason why Vanessa and I didn't work out. We were young back then, ambitious, pulled apart in different directions..."
"Exactly."
"What?" he asked confused.
"You were young, ambitious, pulled apart in different directions...that's why she hasn't moved on. You didn't work out not because you stopped wanting to be together; you didn't work out because of circumstances beyond your control."
"Sweetie, that's not the point I was trying to get across. We didn't work out because we weren't meant to be together. You and I, we're meant to be together. Don't start doubting our love now."
"You're my first love...I don't know how it feels to have loved and lost someone else. I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sorry for being immature about all of this. I just need to process it all, okay? I'll talk to you later, my client is coming in five minutes."
"I love you, Sweetie. I love you."
"I love you, too."
He watched helplessly as she walked into the building. He didn't know how to make her believe that the love he felt for her was different from the love he felt with Vanessa. His love for Emily Jane was complete; he would love her for the rest of his life. He loved bullheaded, rash, sometimes irrational Emily Jane Miller. He smiled to himself; her jealousy only validated how much she loved him. His movie wrapped a few days ago, so he had some free time again. He planned a special evening for Emily Jane; he was going to cook for her, wine and dine her, go for a long walk on the beach, just the two of them. Her brother Jared was out of town again for a gig with his band, so they had the beach house all to themselves. He picked her up after work, but she was already gone by the time he got there. He ran a hand over his hair and dialed her number.
"Hi Sweetie," her voice chirped out.
"Hi. I'm in front of your building. Where are you?"
"With Lizzie and the girls. We decided to go out for dinner and drinks, have a ladies' night out."
"And you couldn't call me?"
"Sorry, Sweets. Lizzie just closed a big account, so she wanted to take us out. A celebrity baby shower! It's great, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he said listlessly. "What time will you be home?"
"A couple hours? Lizzie will take me back to Malibu."
"Okay, I'll see you there."
"Okay, bye!"
***
It was past midnight when Aiden heard the front door open and shut. He stayed in her bed, not bothering to get up. Emily Jane quietly took off her shoes and placed them by the front door. She gasped when she saw the still set table, the food untouched. She felt instant guilt and remorse. She knew Aiden was still in her house, his car was still parked in the driveway. She crept into her room and saw him lying there. She placed her purse on top of her vanity and slid into bed and under the covers with him. She hugged him around the waist.
"Sweetie? Are you asleep?" she cautiously asked.
"No."
"Are you mad? I'm sorry. I didn't know you prepared dinner."
"I wanted it to be a surprise."
"I'm sorry," she whispered against his lips, the smell of alcohol evident on her breath.
"Ems, sweetie? Are you drunk?"
"No. Yes," he heard her giggle. She kissed him hard on the mouth, her kiss sloppy. "Am I pretty, sweetie?"
"Very pretty," he caressed her hair, tucking stray strands behind her ears.
"As pretty as Vanessa?" she looked up at him with puppy dog eyes he can see even in the darkness.
"More beautiful than Vanessa."
"How about in bed? Do I match up?"
"Sweetie, where is this coming from?" he said, refusing the bait, not allowing her insecure questions get the best of her.
"I just want to know. She's a woman of the world! Travelled the globe, lived in Paris, studied in New York...how can I compete?"
"You don't. You are the love of my life."
"Really?"
"Yes, really," he kissed her foreheard and allowed his lips to travel down the bridge of her nose to her lips.
Their kissing escalated quickly, he could taste the remnants of whiskey on her tongue. She sat up even in her drunken state and brought his hands to reach for the zipper on the back of her dress. He unzipped her and unclasped her bra while his hands were behind her. He pulled his shirt over his head and brought his lips back down to hers.
"I love you, Aiden. I love you. Don't leave me."
"I won't even dream of it. I love you."
He went on top of her and all her fears and worries were erased with one pull and one push.
***
Vanessa stepped through the front door of Emily Jane's office. She didn't have an appointment, but she hoped to speak with Emily Jane personally. Being in business with Emily Jane was in the best interest of all parties involved, and she didn't want to lose that just because of her past with Aiden. Lila looked up from what she was typing and greeted the visitor.
"Hello."
"Hi. Vanessa Pablo here to see Emily Jane Miller," Vanessa smiled at the receptionist.
"Did you have an appoinment, Ms. Pablo?" Lila asked brightly.
"No, but I was hoping she had five minutes to spare."
"Let me ask her, hold on one moment," Lila stood up from her chair and walked to Emily Jane's office. "Ems, Vanessa Pablo's here. No appointment. Do you want me to tell her to go?"
"No, just um...give me five minutes," Emily Jane took a deep breath and cleared her desk, trying to make her room more presentable while Lila went to get Vanessa. She checked her reflection on her camera phone and smiled as Vanessa entered.
"Hi, Emily Jane," Vanessa said lightly.
"Hi, Vanessa," Emily Jane replied and gave the other woman a handshake. "Please, sit. Did you want some coffee? Water?"
"No, I'm fine. I brought over some sketches."
"Oh, that was fast. Great!"
"Emily Jane, I don't want things to be awkward between us. I would still love to design your dress for the movie premiere, if you'd let me."
"Vanessa, I'm not gonna lie. Knowing you are Aiden's ex girlfriend shook me to the core. I don't know how to react, honestly."
"That's all in the past! You have nothing to worry about."
"Don't I?"
"No, you don't. We've both moved on."
"You said you might feel differently if you saw the guy again. Now that you've seen him, what now?"
"Nothing happens. I'd like to move forward with being a vendor for your wedding planning business, and I'd like us to be business as usual, keep things professional."
"I'd like that, Vanessa. Thank you for being so mature about this, something I've failed miserably at, unfortunately," Emily Jane said, rather embarrassed.
"Sure. It's not a problem, Em J. We all react to things differently."
"Thanks. Now about those sketches," Emily Jane smiled, this time genuine.
Vanessa happily opened up her sketch book and showed Emily Jane her drawings. She looked at Emily Jane's face as she excitedly leafed through the sketches, making commentaries on things she liked and didn't like. Emily Jane was a nice girl, Vanessa thought to herself. Even if seeing Aiden again made her stomach fill up with fluttering butterflies, there was nothing she could do about it now. He was engaged. And she was not a homewrecker. Vanessa, you have moved on. You have moved on, Vanessa, she chanted silently to herself.