The Pact

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Zach sat across from Nicki in the nearly empty restaurant; it was the pre-Valentine's day lull, where very few couples went out the day before. The candle light flicked and danced making Nicki's eyes shine a pale sky azure instead of their usual turquoise. This was the first time Zach had seen Nicki since he chased Emmy down. She hadn't returned his calls or texts, but this morning she had text him demanding that he met her for dinner that night. They now sat bathed in candle light and awkward silence. Zach had never been at a loss of things to say around Nicki, and from the outside the intense staring must have looked like they were lost in each other's eyes. In reality they were just challenging each other to be the first to mention Emmy.

"So, Rory was the one who punched you, and Emmy was the girl he punched you over," Nicki finally gave in, Zach's eyebrow still had a cut down it from his latest beating.

"Yes," Zach replied it hadn't been a question but he couldn't just sit there quietly anymore, he licked his lip where Rory had split it last time.

"How long did it last and who broke it off?"

"About two weeks and I broke it off with her," Zach replied, that seemed to surprise Nicki; whether it was the brief period of time or the fact he dumped her Zach wasn't sure.

"Why did you dump her?" Nicki asked coolly as she took a sip of her white wine. She always drank white, and Zach pretended to like the taste of it for her, but he had always preferred red. Emmy liked red, Zach's phone went off, interrupting his thoughts before he could slip off into fond memories of him and Emmy getting drunk together on a Friday night while watching whatever rubbish movie was on. Hot Chocolate sang Emma as the phone continued to ring, Zach smiled to himself. They hadn't talked in so long he had forgotten about that ring tone.

"Are you busy?" Emmy's small voice came down the line; he could practically hear the tears rolling down her cheeks, and he knew her nose would be pink by now.

"No I'm not busy," Zach replied taking his napkin off of his lap and throwing it on the table, he pushed his chair back. If he had remembered Nicki was there and that he technically was busy, he'd have looked up at her to see the anger growing behind her eyes.

"I need you...I walked in...Justin...Courtney...vodka...rum...and now your bed and Mr Bearington," Emmy choked out past tears, but he heard all he needed to know. She was at his and she needed him, and no one else would do.

"I have to go," Zach whispered to Nicki, covering the mic so Emmy didn't know he was dropping everything for her. Zach chucked some money on the table to cover his half, and started to leave without another word to Nicki.

"You have to choose, Zach, me or her?!" Nicki shouted after him.

Zach turned around but kept walking, "Don't make me chose because it will always be her, you would never win that battle, why do you think I never mentioned her?"

* * *

I didn't take Zach long to get home, he had told the driver he'd double the fare for making the journey under 10 minutes. Zach walked straight past his apartment and went into Emmy's. He knew once he saw Emmy he wouldn't want to leave her. With most crying girls, he was like most men and ran for the nearest hill, but with Emmy he just wanted to hold her till she was happy again. He also knew she wouldn't want to go into her apartment with all the memories of Justin still in there, and he couldn't have a drunken Emmy in his apartment all night. For the time being he was still with Nicki, through now he had left her at the restaurant to go see Emmy, he knew that relationship was a ticking time bomb. Zach swung open Emmy's apartment door, it had been so long it took him a while to find the hall light switch. Chucking his keys on the table and shrugging off his jacket, he opened her coat closet and looked for a box. Emmy never chucked out all of her moving box just in case she needed to use them again. Unfolding one he took it into the living room to start work, packing up anything that wasn't here the last time he was, just in case. He took a look around and thought about switching the big storage box for a tub-a-ware from the kitchen, there were only a handful of pictures of the two of them, and if her bedroom followed suit, a tub-a-ware was all he'd need.