Another time, another place

Problems ahoy!

It was Friday. Emily's mother had been in hospital for three days now, and she was still recovering. Emily had been visiting her whenever her busy schedule allowed her. Different members of the cast had gone there too, such as Katie, David, Susana or Paul, but the ones who had spent the most time at hospital with Emily were Colton, Willa and Stephen. Emily's mum was apparently fine, though she had to have a healthy and balanced diet from now on and do some exercise, but even though Emily wanted to be with her as much as possible, and having her friends by her side always made it easier. However, that Friday Emily couldn't stay with her because she and Stephen were going to the movies to see 'How to seduce a muffin'. They went together to the cinema after work. It was a small cinema, the perfect place where they wouldn't be noticed. They bought the tickets and some popcorn, as well as two cokes.

"I can't believe I'm about to watch it!" Emily exclamed really excited as they looked for their seats.
Stephen was happy just seeing how smiley she was.
"Look, here", he says pointing out at two seats in the last row.
The film was an hour and twenty minutes long. Emily absolutely enjoyed it and, to Stephen's surprise, so did he. It was about a little girl who wants to become the best pastry chef in the world and to do so, she claims that she has to seduce her creations. So she talks to them and she takes care of them before people eat them and, once they do it, they all say it is the best muffin ever. Of course, the girl also meets a boy and they kind of fall in love, which helps her figure out how to seduce something or someone.
"Gosh, it was awesome!", Emily said still excited while leaving the cinema.
"Ouh, yes...", Stephen tried to tease her.
She hit his shoulder a little bit. "Come on! Admit you liked it! You almost cried when the boy is dying".
Stephen smiled and finally nodded. "Ok, I liked it. I don't know if I'm gone crazy, but I really liked it".
"I knew it!"
They stopped just in the entrance and stared at each other, not knowing what to say. They had already watched the film, so now what?
"So...", Emily started.
He put his hands on his pockets. "Maybe we could have dinner?", he suggested.
They had had lunch/dinner together many times, as well as going out, but for whatever reason they felt nervous that night.
"I thought you'd never say it! I'm starving, so yes, let's go!", she answered.
They went to a Chinese restaurant Stephen had heard of. They ordered sushi and tofu and red wine.
"By the way, how's your mother? I haven't seen her today".
"She's good. You know, complaining about the hospital food, but this is a good sign, I guess", she said and they both laughed.
"Yeah, I remember when Cassandra was about to give birth, we were in the surgery room, waiting for her contractions to be more serious, and she hardly spoke and then Mavi was born, the doctors took her away to clean her the blood and that stuff and Cassandra told me "for God's sake, go bring her to me", and I knew she was just fine".
Emily got tensed when he mentioned Cassandra. Things were still complicated between them.
"Cassandra is not mad at you anymore, don't worry".
She tried to smile. "Good to know."
He took a sip of wine. "Oh, remember on Monday we have an interview."
Emily frowned. "Do we?"
"Where are you? In the moon? I told you yesterday after talking to Mark".
She puffed. "True, sorry, I'm quite distracted these days with all that happened to my mum".
"I know. So have you read the new script yet?", he asked her, trying to change the topic because he didn't want Emily to feel sad or anything.
Emily grinned. "Wow, how subtle you are changing the topic of conversations", she said making him laugh. "No, I haven't read it yet. Why? Have you?"
He nodded with an iteresting face. "What? Tell me!", she begged him.
"Oliver kills again".
Emily opened her eyes widely. "Really?"
"And guess why he kills...", he murmured.
"Why'"
"To save Felicity", he answered and she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Finally! How beautiful! OGM, but I'm sure Felicity will feel horrible because Oliver has killed again and it's because of her..."
Stephen laughed. They knew so damn well their characters...
"Yes, she apologizes because of that."
Emily remained silent some seconds and then she said: "we have to kill it in that scene, ok? It has to be the best scene ever".
Stephen agreed. "Deal."
"You know, I really think Oliver loves Felicity in some way, but he's being so stupid by keeping some distance with her, and he is sometimes such an inmature boy, that I tend to think they should never be together, like Felicity deserves better", Emily explained thoughtfully.
Stephen looked at her. "Do you think Felicity knows she deserves better?"
Emily nodded. "Sure."
He frowned. "Then why doesn't she try to distance herself from Oliver and move on?"
"Because love makes us do foolish things. We know it's absurd to keep on being after that person, but even though, we do it. Love makes us vulnerable, I guess. We lose our sense of direction. We cease to know what is wrong or right for us."
Stephen stared at her. She may be 21 years old, but she was way too mature for her age, of that he was sure.
"Yeah, love is a mystery", he replied.
"Yes. I believe that when you love someone, you don't really know why. You just do it. And if you know the reasons why you love that person, then you're lost, because that's not real love, that's an incredibly beautiful friendship."
Stephen thought about it. Why did he love Cassandra? Did he know it? Well, yes, because she was very patient, they shared the same principles and values and she had a great heart. But that was just Emily's theory. It was not true.
"But that's just my opinion, of course", she added.
They kept on talking until they finished their dishes and then, Stephen asked for something very specific for dessert: biscuits with mayonnaise. Emily fixed her gaze on Stephen.
"What are you doing?"
He seemed lost. "Eh... eating cookies with mayonnaise? I know it might be a little weird, but I'm used to it."
Emily remembered her conversation with Willa a few days ago:
"The day I find someone who eats cookies with mayonnaise, that will be THE guy for me".
Maybe it was because Emily's guard was low, or maybe because she was shocked, but she felt her heart beating a little bit faster than usual.
"I like it too", she told him.
"Oh, do you want some?"
She nodded, picking up two biscuits.
When they finished, Stephen paid for the dinner, and Emily made him promise next time he would let her pay.
"Do you want me to drive you home?", Stephen offered.
"No, don't worry. Besides, I need to go first to some 24h supermarket. My fridge is at death's door".
They laughed. Emily smiled and looked at him. Then, she hugged him. It took him by surprise: he wasn't expecting this. At least not yet.
"Thank you, Stephen. I really needed to go out, clear my mind and just have fun. Also, you're the only one who wanted to watch that film with me. That's so sweet of you...", she said without breaking the embrace.
Stephen caressed her back with his right hand, feeling her breathing in an harmonious way. "Always, Em."
She laughed because that's what she always told him whenever he asked her a favour or something.
"Yeah... always."
And just like that, they kissed each other's cheek and said goodbye, both of them leaving with a weird feeling.

***

Stephen arrived home late, around 12.30 pm. Cassandra was reading a book, waiting for him.
"Hey, you're still up?" he asked surprised while he leaned over to kiss her.
"Yes, I was worried about you.Your film was at 8 pm, so I thought something could have gone wrong."
He sat next to her. "Oh, sorry, I had dinner with Emily, I forgot to tell you".
Cassandra closed her book. "You had dinner together?"
He nodded. "Yep. She's going through a difficult time, so you know, she needed to get some fresh air."
She looked at him. "And you helped her get the air, of course. Always Stephen the gentleman."
He didn't know how to interpret that. "What do you mean, Cassandra?"
She sighed. "Nothing. Nothing."
She stood up, heading to their room when Mavi started crying. Cassandra stopped and said: "your daughter is calling you", and then she went to sleep.

***

Emily was in a supermarket near her appartment. She had to buy milk, eggs, cereals, chicken fillet and some bananas. She was trying to figure out where her favourite cereals were, when she heard someone saying:
"Excuse me, your the woman from Arrow, aren't you?"
It was a man, but she was so focused on finding the cereals that she didn't look at him.
"Yeah, I am. Do you have any idea where the Kellogg's cereals are?"
Suddenly he gave her a box of cereals. It was what she wanted. It was then when she looked at the man she was talking to and her surprise couldn't be bigger.
"Ian?"
He smiled happily. "Hi, Em. How are you doing?"
She smiled too. "Oh my God, Ian, it's you! It's been ages since the last time I saw you!"
"Yeah, well, that what usually happens when couples break up", he admitted.
Ian was Emily's last ex-boyfriend, the one she was dating five months ago. They broke up in good terms, it was just a matter of incompatible schedules, but still they hadn't talked since then.
"And tell me, how's your family?" he asked her.
"Buf, my mum had a heart attack the other day", she answered and, given his worried look, she immediately added: "but she's fine, she's just recovering".
"You should have called me, I would have come", he confessed.
She put her right hand on her neck, a little bit ashamed. "Well, you are my ex, so I couldn't just call yoy. You know, a sort of exes' code."
Ian smiled. "What if we go to that pub we used to go and we catch up on our lives?"
Emily wasn't sure what to say. Did she want to go out with her ex?
"I can't, tomorrow I'm going to get up early to visit my mother at hospital", she replied.
Ian looked down, kind of upset.
"But we can have lunch, if you want to", she added, making him cheerful again.
"Perfect."
Emily didn't know if she had decided the right thing, but right now, everything in her head or heart felt confusing, so she did the only thing she could: keep on moving. What she didn't know yet was that Ian was going to bring even more problems to her life.