Everlasting Love (Now & Forever) (8 page)

“He’s graduating from Syracuse this May. Do you follow football at all?”

Alex laughed. “I actually do. I love the game, shocking I know, an art guy with a love of football.”

Emily chuckled. “Well, do you know who the starting quarterback of Syracuse was this year and who is expected to go first in the draft?”

Alex thought for a moment
.
“Are you telling me that Emma’s father is Eric Mason?”

Emily nodded and whispered, “And my fiancée.”

Alex just stared at her
. S
he couldn’t read his expression but she saw his eyes move to her empty fingers and she suddenly felt embarrassed.

“No ring?” He asked in a way that made it as much of a statement as it was a question.

“It’s upstairs. I jumped out of the shower quickly and left it behind.”

Alex
nodded. “
Well, you guys are about to have a wonderful life together.”

“I hope so, we have suffered through four long years of college to get to this point and I just realized that you probably d
on’t want to hear this stuff,” s
he laughed nervously.

“I will listen to whatever you want to tell me, Emily.”

Emily blushed again as she stood up
.
“Did you want to head upstairs and I will show you my art room?”

Alex nodded as he followed behind her, she felt him staring at her even though she couldn’t see him. She didn’t know what was happening inside of her but she couldn’t stop feeling guilty about it. In the little time they had spent together she realized she definitely liked Alex. Now, she just needed to figure out a way to control it. He was older than her and she was engaged to the father of her baby. This was all wrong, this couldn’t happen.

She opened the door to her room and welcomed Alex inside. “Here it is
. Feel free to look around.
I tried to organize it somewhat for your visit.”

Alex smiled as he walked around the room
. H
e examined each drawing or painting without saying a word. She crossed the room as he approached the painting of her that she did a month ago when she was in a really bad place. Alex didn’t move
. H
e just stared at it. She approached the painting, causing her shoulder to brush against his arm
. S
he held her breath as she felt the electricity from the touch.

Her eyes drifted shut fo
r a moment, trying to pull herself
together as she heard Alex finally speak. “Emily, I’m not going to ask if this is you because I can clearly tell that it is but I want to know the meaning behind it.”

“I was pretty depressed about a month or so ago. I was feeling lost when I came in here and I honestly didn’t realize what I was painting until it was finished. I was frightened by what was staring back at me. It was a wakeup call really. I didn’t want to become her so I had to take my life back.”

She felt Alex turn away from the painting and look at her. “And did you?”

Still very much aware of how close they were, Emily nodded. “I think so. I confronted my issues and things are going better, smoother now.” She looked up to find his face very close to her own and realized she couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

“I’m moved by this painting, it’s beautiful. Can I borrow it? I would like to show it to some colleagues of mine but I know something like this would be very difficult to show strangers, so don’t feel pressured by my request.”

Emily shook her head slowly. “No, that’s fine. What is the point of painting if you aren’t willing to share it with the world, right?”

She smiled up at him, and then froze as she saw his hand slowly move up and softly trace her cheek. His touch forced her to hold her breath again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be doing this,” Alex said as he removed his hand from her face and took a step back.

Emily didn’t know what to say, her body was deceiving her as she missed his touch already.

“I will contact you later on so I can return this to you, but I think you have a promising future, Emily.”

“Thank you, Alex. You have no idea what that means to me, I have always wanted to share my work with the world.”

“And you will, I promise you that.”

Emily walked him to the front door so he could say his good night’s to her family. Before he was even in his car, she found herself thinking that Alex was different than the guys she knew
. H
e was older sure, but it was more than that. He was sophisticated, debonair even. He sure knew how to handle himself and Emily knew she needed to see him again.
 

CHAPTER SEVEN

The draft was finally here. It was late April and Eric was a complete mess. All of the media outlets agreed – he was sure to go first and the pressure was really getting to him. Emily tried to stay focused so she could graduate on time which meant that Emma was spending
a lot of time with her Grandma
. She hadn’t heard from Alex in over two weeks.  She was worried that his colleagues weren’t interested in her work and she was beginning to write the whole thing off. Maybe she wasn’t going to get her big break after all.

Eric and his father flew out to New York City on Wednesday to meet his agent and talk draft strategy. Eric wanted Emily there as well so, she decided to skip the remaining classes for the week and join him.

She was packing the last of her clothes when Eric called. “Hey Gorgeous, are you getting ready?”

“Yes, I’m just finishing up and then I’m heading to the airport. Will you be able to pick me up?”

“Yes, I have a limo ready to drive out there.”

“Limo, huh?”

“You better get used to it, Baby. This is how our life is going to be for us from now on, I promise you.”

“Eric, you know that all I need is you and Emma. I could care less about all the extra stuff.”

He laughed. “I know, but life is going to better with it. Just you wait.”

“I’m sure it is and I’m so excited for you, Eric. But this is all just so unbelievable to me that sometimes, I don’t even know what to think,” Emily said and then realized this probably wasn’t a conversation they should have over the phone right now, so she added, “I just can’t wait to get there!”

“I can’t wait to see you."

“Well, if you want me to get to my flight on time, I need to leave now. I will see you soon, ok? Love you.”

Emily finished packing and carried her suitcase downstairs. Emma was in the living room watching cartoons.

“Emma,
Mommy
is going on a trip to see
Daddy
. So, Grandma is going to watch you. I want you on your best behavior, ok?”

“I wanna go see
Daddy
too!”

“I know you do and he will be home soon, I promise you! We just need to take care of some business first. You know how I taught you to pray?”

Emma nodded quickly and folded her hands.

“That’s right
.
I want you to
keep saying a prayer for Daddy
that he has a great weekend, ok?”

“Ok,
Mommy
.”

“I love you, Sweetie and I will see you on Sunday, ok?” She hugged Emma and grabbed her stuff. As she got in the car, her phone rang again, but didn’t look to see who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Emily? It’s Alex.”

Emily gasped. “Hi, how are you,” she managed but barely recognized the sound of her own voice as it came out.

“I’m great! I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to you. We just closed up our last exhibit and things were crazy last week. Can you talk?”

“I’m in the car right now, heading to New York City for the weekend.”

“Of course you are! Eric is being drafted this weekend. I’m sorry I didn’t think of that.”

“It’s ok. You can keep me company until I get to the airport.”

She heard Alex laugh softly and realized she like the sound of it. “Sure. Well, I have some great news. Your painting was a huge success with my colleagues. They loved your story and they would really like to meet you and discuss starting your own exhibit.”

Emily was speechless, she always dreamt of having her work displayed.

“Emily?”

“I’m here, just in shock, I think. Really? They want to display my work?”

“Yes, they do. Do you think we could meet when you get back from New York?”

“Yes, of course. I can call you on Monday and we can set up a time. I will have to work around my classes because I’m already missing the rest of this week.”

“Of course, whatever you need.”

“Great, we will talk on Monday,” Emily said smiling ear to ear. “Alex?”

“Yes, Emily?”

“Thank you.”

“Believe me, it’s been my pleasure, Emily. You are an incredible woman.”

Emily blushed and didn’t say anything. She couldn’t think of any words that wouldn’t make her sound young and naïve.

“I look forward to seeing you again, Emily.”

“Me too Alex
. W
e will talk next week.”  There was something about the way he kept using her name in conversation that was very deliberate and personal, and it made her flush with excitement, but she didn’t want to think about that right now.

As she hung up and pulled into a parking space at the airport, she was grinning from ear to ear. She was really going to have her own exhibit and she was going to see Alex again. As she checked her bags and made her way to the departure gate, it felt like she was headed towards her new life and a new beginning.

When she arrived in New York City, Eric ran up to her as she passed through the security gates. After they fell into each other’s arms, she heard the cameras and saw flashes.

Eric whispered in her ear, “Welcome to our new life.”

Emily smirked.
“Fun.” Her excitement from earlier had vanished and her uncertainty about what Eric’s fame would mean for them had returned.

Eric grabbed her hand as they ran down to the limo while the waiting driver handled her luggage. They climbed into the backseat and Eric’s lips quickly found hers. She moaned softly feeling his hand move into hair and pressed her lips tightly against his. “God I’ve missed you, Baby.”

“I’ve missed you too. I have some great news!”

“Me too, we have dinner reservations tonight at some fancy high end restaurant, people tell me it’s a big deal and then we have show tickets for afterwards. You finally get to meet my agent, Alan when we get back to the hotel. My dad and Alan were in discussions all morning long. It’s so exciting, right?”

“Yes it is, Eric. I’m so happy for you.” Emily decided to keep her news to herself until after the draft.

Not seeming to notice the hesitation in her voice, Eric continued, “We are staying at a really great place too! Our hotel room is huge, I’m sure you will love it.”

Emily turned away and looked out the limo window watching Manhattan pass by. It was an amazing city and she started to appreciate some of Eric’s excitement.

“Here we are Baby!”

“It’s incredible.” Emily looked around them and started to get caught up in the media hype herself.

As the driver opened the door, the cameras started to flash and follow them as they walked into the hotel. “Wow, that’s going to take some time to get used to.”

“Alan says it’s just for the draft
. H
e says all of that will calm down once this is behind us.”

As they entered the room, Emily tried to take it all in. She noticed his father was in the corner talking with a man that she assumed was Eric’s agent. There was a huge living room in front of her with a kitchen was off to the side, so she had to guess that the bedroom was behind the massive oak double doors.

She felt Eric grab her hand and pull her over to the other people in the room
.
“Emily, this is my agent, Alan and Alan this is my Emily.”

“Emily, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. Eric talks about you all the time and I can’t wait to talk with you more but I need to steal him away just for a little bit to discuss some issues.”

Emily
nodded. “
Of course, go do your thing. We have tonight.”

Eric smiled as the three gentlemen left her standing alone in the big living room. She felt her cell phone buzz, realizing she hadn’t checked in at home yet. She had one missed call from home and new text message. She quickly called home
.
“Hi Mom. Sorry for not calling sooner. Yes, I’m here safe and sound. How’s Emma?”

“She’s great, watching cartoons. I think Mrs. Mason is coming over in a little bit to take her shopping. This girl is spoiled.”

“I know she is and you both need to stop.” Emily laughed.

“Oh stop, she’s the only grandchild, so of course we are spoiling her.”