Something About Emmett (Billionaire Romance) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 27 - Something Sampled

Finals week was approaching. I had only one week to study for two exams, and to write a final research paper. Everything would be due by the end of next week. Already I was stretched thin, stressed out and composed entirely by caffeine. I knew it was entirely my fault. I should have started studying one week earlier than I did, at least. If I stuck to the schedule I had composed, I would be fine nonetheless.

Stick to the schedule was exactly what I was doing. I took Tuesday to myself and spent it studying doing the same on Wednesday. It was on Friday that I was able to take a breather, and I called Emmett on my cellphone the instant I was finished with breakfast.

"Do you think we can see each other tonight?"

"Is Julianne Burke taking some much needed time off of her studies? Crawling out of her cave?" He asked, and I bit my lip as I remembered that I had shut his offer for dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday.  He had been busy yesterday and I had not had to refuse any offers.

"She is. But she's back at it tomorrow or Sunday. My first test is on Tuesday of the coming week, the second test on Thursday, and I have that paper to write as well by that Friday."

"Hang in there, Jules. You'll be done before you know it. And to answer your question, I'm afraid I'm busy today and for the rest of the night. I have two meetings to go to, one in Miami and the other in Key West. I'll be lucky if I make it back by morning."

"Woah, you'll be moving from Miami to Key West in one day, and coming back?"

"Yes."

"Driving? By yourself?"

"Yes, by myself," he said, chuckling at my concern.

"Oh, okay, well, be safe. Don't drive sleepy, or drunk for that matter, although I strongly doubt you'll get drunk while working but whatever."

He kept laughing through the phone. "I'm happy to have you worrying over me."

"I'm not."

"I am. Keep doing it. It's cute. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes," I said, and hung up.

With a sigh I picked up a textbook, and figured that I would get more studying down today so that I could be freer in the majority of the weekend.

***

That night I laid in bed, wondering if I should call and ask if he had made it safely home, or if he had even set out to Miami again. I settled for a simple text to ask if he was okay, and let the phone lie on the bedside table. I could not sleep from a nagging cloud of worry and fear that kept me awake well into the night.

It wasn't about his wellbeing. He had called to tell me everything was fine, and that he was expecting to be back home at around two in the morning after having set out at half past ten. In reality it was a worse fear, one bred entirely of my own heart and mind. I had not seen him since the day I had my hair cut, and I knew rationally that it had only been a few days. Normally I would not even blink an eye, with another man, at having spent a few days apart. But with Emmett I began to be idle, to have moments when I wasn't studying or working and when I became subject to my own thoughts; to my deepest fears when concerned with him.

I began to feel, as the time apart kept stretching out, that he was not actually there. That he would leave soon, sooner than I had anticipated even though I was aware inside that he would leave. Someday. But when? His face was perfect in my mind, the younger one replaced with one two years older, stronger and more refined. More handsome and deeper set in the eyes. Skin tone just now getting more golden as he became acclimated with the southern sun. I knew that he would not be here with me forever, and that more likely than not our time was limited, but I did not think about the that fact as much when he was near me, distracting me with his body and his warmth, making me believe that no, he wouldn't leave so soon with the way that he looked at me or touched me.