Emma's POV
Her residence.
In wee hours of the morning, Jake and I were curled up in each other's arms. We had been talking for hours.
"So, you are saying that Erica's accident may have something to do with your father's death?"
"Yes," he whispered.
"I am so sorry, Jake, I can only imagine how hard all this must be for you."
I was now snuggling into the crook of his neck, while my arms were wrapped around his muscular torso. I attempted to comfort him with the warmth of my embrace; I knew he was worried.
"Just know this always, I am here for you, no matter how tough the situation be." I stuttered meekly, as his addictive scent filled my nostrils.
Jake gave me a soft kiss on my forehead, and after a lingering pause, he suddenly held back as I could feel his posture stiffened. He was now silent, and he had that look on his face.
"What are you thinking? I know this look."
"Really? What look?"
"I know this is your guilt face; you had the same expression the night I got attacked at the club. Are you regretting something?"
He took a deep breath. He tried to dodge my questions and looked a bit shaken by my ability to see right through him.
"Come on, Jake, talk to me."
"It's nothing, Emma. I just feel bad that you are now part of my crazy world. You are too precious for me, and you don't deserve any of this." He sighed. He finally spat out the truth that was weighing him down, regret was evident on his face.
"Hold on. Please. Don't.do.this. You cannot ruin this. We are equals Jake, and since you have always looked out for me, I own every right to stand by you in such pressing times. I am here for you."
His brows furrowed, and an intense, debilitating sensation of anxiety and fear overwhelmed his otherwise composed self.
I cupped his face forcing him to look into my eyes.
"I care for you, Jake. My heart couldn't be at peace the whole day, thinking you are in some emergency that I had no idea about."
"I am so sorry, Emma. I know I put you through a lot today."
"Hey, don't apologise, I understand. But just don't regret anything either. I am stronger than you think.
Trust me. But don't you dare push me away, I am tired of the back and forth between us."
"You know if they could target Erica, then they can harm you too? It's only a matter of time, they will know about you too. I just cannot risk it."
"It doesn't matter; nothing matters when I am with you. I know you won't let anyone hurt me. I trust you with my life." I emphasised on every word, as I meant it from the oceans of my heart.
He was still shaking his head in disagreement. Doubt and guilt still donned his face.
Determined to reason with him, I continued,
"Look. Chances are, I will still be able to survive these threats Jake, but I won't be able to accept it if you distance yourself from me. Again." I inched closer, if that was even possible, "it might seem like an easier option to you, but I would rather be threatened on my life than stay away from you."
I felt drained, I had tears welling up in my eyes, and no matter how hard I tried, they were now rolling down my cheeks.
Jake immediately closed the gap between us; he held me in his arms again and kissed away every drop on my face. His kisses now made their way to my jawline, as his soft hands caressed the length of my hair.
"You have no idea how hard it is for me to stay away from you, Emm." Jake whispered while still giving me soft kisses; it felt like tiny fireworks were teasing every inch of my body. His mere touch held me captive and ignited such intense desire, a sensation I seldom felt before.
"You know it was a beautiful drizzling night, the first time I saw you in that coffee house, months before we met at my office." Jake murmured in his husky voice, his soft breath fell on my skin, and I felt every nerve of my body pulsing under his sensual touch.
As he referred to our first meeting in a coffee house, I suddenly got out of my reverie, apprehending what day and time he was talking about, as I didn't remember seeing him before our meeting at his office.
"I was so tempted to take your soaked body in my arms, to kiss your glossy lips, to touch you, to hold you." He said as he sniffed my hair, while his lips lightly brushed against my collar bone.
I listened silently. I had no strength to say anything; I was too lost in his embrace.
Slowly he moved up to face me now. His icy blue eyes reflected heart-wrenching passion. He put a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, leaning his forehead against mine, before he said, "But I controlled myself. I did not want to risk putting you in danger."
He was confusing me, every hair on my flesh stood up as fright dominated me, guessing what he might say next. I just shut my eyes, waiting to get over with it. He was going to push me away; this thought alone gave me a stabbing pain in the chest.
"Yet when I saw you again in that conference room, I knew it in my guts that I won't be able to keep away from you anymore. I tried. I failed."
I let out a long sigh of relief.
"I can never push you away, Emma. You are like a drug to me; I am addicted to your existence, and in all honesty, I won't be able to survive a second, knowing you are not a part of my life anymore."
I was relieved listening to his words, I held him tightly, "Then don't. And also, don't ever regret being with me. We will get through this, together. I promise."
This time, I took the initiative, and kissed his lips hungrily, as if my life depended on it. I wanted to conquer his heart, kiss away all his worries and assure him that we can work it out.
This kiss had so many different meanings, layers of soulful and stirring emotions. It meant so much more, to me at least.
It was, a promise that I would never give up on us,
a determination that I would beat all the odds to stay in his life, and a realisation that I was madly, irreversibly and unconditionally in love with him.
It was the longest we had kissed thus far, our lips parted, gasping for air. I was absorbing every second of this moment. This was the first time I truly realised how I felt about him. He was caressing my cheeks with the back of his hand; I don't know if it was my heart that made me imagine things, but right now, in his deep blue eyes, I saw love; naive, honest and pure love.
We hugged and stayed like that for some time. Both of us were quiet, just drawing peace and comfort from each other. Our hearts did the talking; they were beating in sync, entrusting each other to never let go.
After some time, Jake broke the silence, "I will be going out of town for a couple of days. I have full-day meetings today, and I am flying to meet my mom tomorrow."
"Okay. I remember you told me your mom shifted to LA briefly after your father died."
"Yes, it was so hard for her. She couldn't keep up with his memories here. So, she decided to move to our house in LA for some time."
"When will you be back?"
"Not before Sunday evening, after visiting mom, I have to go to Norway for some important business."
"Oh, okay. That means I don't get to see you until Monday. That's like six long days." I pouted.
Back of my head, I was very anxious knowing he would be away for so long, but I didn't want to show him that.
"I will try to be back as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Brett would be here. He will always be here looking out for you. He will be guarding you to ensure your safety from a distance."
"Hey! We talked about this already. I don't need a babysitter." I protested.
"It's not negotiable Emma. We have to work through this. Your safety is everything to me. Never forget that." Jake cut me out in a solemn tone.
I dared not argue further. He does get a little intimidating at times, especially when it comes to protecting me.
"Ok. You only got a couple of hours left, come get some sleep. You have a long day ahead." I put his arm under my head and turned to hug him as my head rest on his chest.
Within minutes, we both drifted to sleep.
*****
It's been two days since Jake left town, and I have been keeping myself occupied with office work. We chatted a couple of times in the past two days, but majorly he was busy.
I missed him so much.
Brett had been around. I found him outside my apartment when I left for work, and he was always escorting me through commute or wherever I went. He even guarded me on my office floor, not letting me be out of his sight even for a minute.
To be honest, I felt pressured to have someone follow me like a shadow. It was suffocating, but, right now, I could not risk to bring it up with Jake. He was so stressed already; I did not wish to add to his worries.
This is a passing phase, Emma, It will all get better. I consoled myself to handle it patiently.
I was engulfed in work when I heard a soft knock at my cabin door. "Hey, Emma. Free for five minutes?" Mark asked as he stood at the door.
"Sure. Come In. What's up?"
"We have a last-minute meeting scheduled with the Internal Audit team, will you be comfortable taking the lead on it?"
"Oh, sure. What time is it?"
"Four pm."
"Ok. Yes. I will take it up." I nodded, looking at my calendar, which was free for meetings until the end of the day.
"Thank You. You are the best. I will forward you the details." He smiled warmly.
"No worries at all."
"It's almost one pm, do you want to break for lunch? My treat today." Mark asked; his eyes were shining in excitement.
"Alright. Can't say no to a treat, right? What's the occasion?"
"No occasion, I am just trying to get my beautiful colleague, to spare some time, and have lunch with me." He smiled warmly.
I felt a bit awkward at his sudden tone and complement, but giving the situation the benefit of doubt, I let it pass.
We both headed to the Italian restaurant two blocks away from our office. We gave our respective orders, and Mark was as always joking about random things, making me laugh at his silly comments.
Our food was served, and I saw Mark giving me a strange look from time to time.
"What's up, Mark? Are you feeling ok?"
"Yes, I am fine."
"Okay, great." I gave him a reluctant nod, really unsure of his strange behaviour today.
"Emma, so I was thinking, what are you doing this weekend? We can probably catch up. I would very much like to spend time with...".
Before he could complete, I had an immediate hunch on where this was heading, and to avoid making things awkward between us, I quickly replied, almost cutting him out, "This weekend? Well, Friday is date night, and then over the weekend, I have plans with my friends."
"Oh, I see. Ok, no problem." He was a bit taken aback by my sudden response.
"I am sorry; it looks like a busy weekend". I said in a friendly tone, trying to diffuse the situation.
"It's fine, I understand. So, umm.. you are seeing someone?" He asked in a reluctant tone.
"Yes. Been a while. It's going very well.
But we can definitely hang out next weekend. I will like us to spend time as well; after all, you are my only friend here at Richmond's." I gave him a soft smile.
"Yes. Of course. Next weekend it is then." He said nervously, trying hard to cover up.
We both finished our food in silence after that. Mark was put off post our awkward conversation. He got unusually silent.
I gave him his space too. I did not want to make him more uncomfortable. I felt terrible for him, but I could not mislead him at all. Even if he meant to know me better as a friend, I wanted to come clean with him.
Mark was a good guy, in fact amongst the most genuine person I had come across in my life. I admired him a lot, and just hoped we could get past this and continue to remain cordial as friends.