A New York Secret

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Tony waited until pretty much everyone had left, then he walked over to join Emily with the catering team. "I'll take the bill." He told them, not giving Emily the chance to argue.

Emily looked over at Tony before handing him the slip without a word. "That's nice of you." She turned and continued to pack leftovers into a bakery box.

Tony signed the slip for the catering to bill and handed it back to the woman. "Come on, Emily. Let's go have a beer." He invited.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to get this stuff upstairs and put away and I still have to gather the gifts to take upstairs too."

"I will help you carry it up after." Tony offered. "Just a drink as friends, I promise I'm not going to try to come on to you or anything."

"Tony, if you have something you want to tell me, you can tell me right here," Emily said gently. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to chat and catch up. It's been quite some time, but I understand if you still don't trust me." Tony sighed. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you were wrong before." He said before turning to walk away.

Emily reached out and took Tony's hand in hers, stopping him from walking away. "What do you mean you're glad that I was wrong? Tony, you can talk to me. Help me clean up, I'll get us a couple of beers, and we can talk."

Tony nodded. "I can do that." He said and began helping her clean up. "You know, it's alright to hire people to clean up." He joked.

"I don't mind a little manual labor," Emily replied as she continued to pick up things to throw away. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"I am, but I thought you wanted to clean up before talking?" Tony asked, throwing a stack of disposable plates away.

"I can talk and clean," she laughed as she stacked some cups and threw them away. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you remember the holiday parties last year?" Tony asked curiously.

Emily nodded as she began folding one of the tablecloths. "Yeah. What about them?"

"You made the comment that you couldn't live without that asshole. I'm just glad you were wrong." Tony shrugged.

She turned and gave Tony an angry look. "Seriously Tony? That's what you're glad I was wrong about? That I loved someone, and they left me?"

Tony looked shocked at Emily's reaction, clearly not expecting the conversation to go so badly. "Hey, that's not what I meant at all. I'm glad that it didn't damage your ability to be a kind and loving person."

Emily huffed, taking a moment to calm herself. "I'm sorry... it's still a very sore subject. Even after so many months."

"It is good to hear you say loved, in the past tense." Tony admitted. "I didn't realize it was still such a sore subject."

"Yes," Emily stated. "It still hurts to think about. Luckily James has been helping me," she replied, tying off a full garbage bag.

"Kind of funny though, how similar they are isn't it?" Tony asked with a chuckle. He cleaned the last of the trash from the tables, then began pulling off the tablecloths.

"How who is similar?" Emily questioned as she pulled off a tablecloth to fold it, tempted to launch it at his head.

"Barnes, of course. Superhuman strength, dark past, longer lifespan. Sound familiar?" Tony asked.

Emily sighed as she turned and sat in one of the chairs. "What's your point, Tony?"

"My point is that going for the same sort of guys is going to lead to the same result. That dumbass showed you how easily they get bored and take off. I don't want to see you hurt again." Tony told Emily.