I Know Places ~ Emily Prentiss

Chapter 6

Emily wandered around her apartment, thoughts clouding her mind. Dragging her hand across a stack of cardboard boxes, she flipped open the top one. She pulled out her framed degree, its glass covered with a thick layer of dust. She could've done so much with this and somehow she ended up here. Rearranging the other memories in the box she made room for the frame at the very bottom, burying it beneath everything.

Her phone rang on the coffee table and she practically leapt across the room to grab it, hoping it was you. She tried to hide her sinking disappointment when she recognized Clara's voice on the other line. " Hey babes, do you want to grab a coffee tomorrow? I feel like we haven't talked in a while. I want all the life updates." Emily could picture her in her apartment, probably painting her nails with a glass of wine in hand. She had always been envious of the effortless grace and carelessly cool reputation of her best friend.

" Sure! Does tomorrow morning work?" Emily bit down on her nails until she watched chips of nail polish flutter to the ground, a metallic taste lingering in her mouth. She cringed reaching for a glass of water to rinse out her mouth.

" Perfect, sorry I've got to go, date night. I'll talk to you tomorrow!" Clara hung up leaving Emily with her jaw hanging open before she sighed, tossing down her phone.

Dropping onto the couch she pulled a blanket up to her chin. She felt exhausted, it was already... 10 pm. She could've sworn she'd been running around for hours. Checking her phone one last time for any attempt at contact from you, she silenced it turning on the t.v.

She hadn't meant to close her eyes but the next time she opened them it was 6 am. Scrambling up she groaned when she realized sleeping crunched up on the couch was a terrible idea. Getting ready for work, she tossed everything together so she could go straight from coffee with Clara to the office.

The two reunited, the same place they had sat gossiping when Emily saw you for the first time. Clara was already sitting in the corner with a latte across from her which was reserved for Emily.

Clara gave her a bright smile as she sat down swiping the coffee off the table. Her gaze quickly shifted to a squint as she studied the dark circles shadowing Emily's eyes. " What was been going on with you?"

Emily sighed with a shrug. Clara was with no doubt in her mind the best person to talk about this with but that didn't mean she liked opening up to anyone at all. " I screwed up," she admitted making more eye contact with her drink than her friend.

Clara didn't say anything. She simply tapped her nails against the table waiting for Emily to continue. " That situationship I had going on?" Clara's eyes lit up as Emily began to talk. " Well, we made it to a first date-"

A soft gasp of excitement from Clara cut Emily off briefly. She clasped her hands together under her chin. " Babes, I'm not seeing how this is a bad thing."

Emily winced, " Well then less than 24 hours later I sorta threw her into breakfast with my mother-"
Clara groaned, dropping her head down onto the table. " So it's that bad?" Emily asked tentatively. Clara simply raised her eyebrow and Emily's shoulders sunk. " I have to get to the office please help me fix this later."

" That means you actually have to be vulnerable Emily, which seems to have always been a challenge for you," she called out, slight sarcasm seeping into her voice.

Emily just shot a look as she waved on her way out of the building. Her heels clicked against the sidewalk as she crossed the two blocks to the office. The hallways were dark and she flicked on each light switch along the way to her office.