The Boss & The Assistant - Rewritten Edition of "The Boss"

Chapter 29 - Emerson

For the first week after Thanksgiving, Jeremy and I texted everyday. He came down to the city the following Saturday, the first Saturday of December. I was excited that I was seeing someone during the holiday season. It was a romantic time of year. I celebrated Christmas because Dad grew up celebrating (all we did was give gifts to each other), but I was excited to buy someone a Christmas gift. Jeremy and I, way back when, dated from March to November. I was still living in Ossining when I started dating him, but then I moved to the city in September. We tried to make it work, but he broke up with me when I came home for Thanksgiving. He said he didn't like doing the distance, but I think he just didn't want to be committed.

When Owen and I had dated, we did officially date for more than a year. However, we had started dating in October. At that point, he had already planned a family getaway around Christmas and New Year's, so I never actually got to do cute Christmas dates with him. I also never had a New Year's kiss, because we broke up the following November. November was just a bad month for me and relationships.

I went home the weekend after Jeremy came to the city. I was going to celebrate Hanukkah with the family just one day, say I had to go back to the city, and then actually spend time with Jeremy. I was definitely not ready to tell my family I was seeing my ex-boyfriend, especially because last time they knew of him he was kind of a jerk. It had only been two weeks anyway. I was having fun and didn't want to ruin it.

After the weekend, we agreed that he would come back up to the city the next weekend. I liked the idea of doing an every other weekend type of thing. I was going to go home for Christmas in two weeks anyway, so it worked out that this was his weekend to come down. I was excited because I had a lot planned for us. He was going to come down Friday night and then we were going to spend all day Saturday together before he'd go back up on Sunday.

Sometimes, when I was sitting at my desk, I would hear Lafayette in his office on the other side of the door. My heart would thump in my chest. Jeremy was a great distraction from my feelings for Lafayette, but then Lafayette would walk out of his office and softly smile at me. Nothing existed except for him. Then, he would just give me a nod and carry on, and I would remember Jeremy. Jeremy was kind and cute. He was a new guy than the last one I knew, but there was still so much to learn. One thing Jeremy was that Lafayette was not was available. I couldn't be hung up about Lafayette.

On Friday night, after Jeremy arrived, we immediately had sex. Then we ordered pizza and watched a movie. It was a relaxing evening because we knew Saturday would be a fun, adventurous day. We were going to go to the Statue of Liberty because he had actually never been before. I had been before, and while it was a little underwhelming, we thought it would be romantic to do.

Unfortunately, the snowfall was a little more than I had anticipated. It was still very pretty, but the roads were not the best. Luckily, we were going to take the subway anyway. It was mostly the wind that was annoying, especially because I forgot my hat so my ears were cold and my hair was blowing around. Jeremy stopped at a bodega and bought me an orange beanie to help, which I thought was sweet.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a cafe, but we ate it on the go because the cafe was crowded. I was hoping that the weekend would be less crowded with the snowy weather, but it almost felt like it had an opposite affect. Even the subway seemed extra cramped. I knew Jeremy was not the biggest fan of crowded spaces. He got frustrated when people had no spacial awareness. At least, he did when we first dated. On the subway, it was apparent this was still a pet peeve of his. I squeezed his hand to try and make him relax. He gave a slight smile, trying his best. When we made it off the subway, we went to Battery Park because it looked pretty with the snow and there was a Christmas market.

"Piper has been very into her gymnastics," Jeremy was saying as we walked through the park. "I mean, she's pretty good for four. She's always wanting to show us how she can do the splits. Here, look." He showed me a video of his daughter attempting the splits.