Innocent Jeopardy

Chapter 10- A friend indeed

Chapter 10- A friend indeed

Nate’s POV

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I watched from my dad’s office as they left. Why was Emma with him? I mean, Emma with a guy like Zack? And why was he being so overprotective of her? Were they a couple or something?

Questions over questions were piling up in my head as I saw them leave. I could not make head or tails of what had just happened. And even though I wasn’t the kind of guy who would stay calm once he had just been punched, I had backed off for Emma’s sake. Didn’t that show her something? That I could be caring and keep my cool?

I sighed in frustration and just as an impulse, slammed my fist against the wall- hard- but I hardly felt the pain because all I could think about was Emma and why she was with Zack.

Emma’s POV

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“So,” said Zack, between a mouthful of his last bite of lunch. “Did you enjoy the lunch?”

“Hmm,” I replied.

Lunch had been good, mainly because of the fact that Zack had not once mentioned about the incidence with Nate, or drilled me with questions. I guess he just wanted me to enjoy lunch. Zack had always been kind and thoughtful and I was grateful to him. Instead, he told me all about what he did while he was away- studies and stuff. He asked me how mine were going and how everyone else was.

I hadn’t yet gotten to the part about my granny lying in the hospital bed, and I was feeling quite guilty not to have told him. He deserved to know that at least. After all, we had been very close friends since childhood.

“Zack, I have to tell you something. It’s about my Granny. I don’t think you know this but she has been in the hospital for the past few days. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this before.”

“What?” Zack spluttered, while drinking his coke. “Oh god, Emma. Oh god. I don’t even know what to say. What happened to her? Is she okay?”

“She has breast cancer and the doctors are trying to get the lump out of her left breast. But until then, she has to rest and be under constant medical care.”

Zack reached out and held my hand. “Im so sorry, Emma. This must’ve been very hard on you. I feel terrible about this. Is this why you took the job?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I figured that to keep gran alive, I had to earn money to pay the hospital fees, so I asked Kylie if her dad knew of a job and this was the best pone she could get me in such short notice. But the pay is pretty good.”

I then launched into how he had agreed to pay me more and how I was trying to balance my schedule between studies and the job. I told him everything. How the owner was Nate’s dad and what a pervert he was. How someone had broken into my house. How Nate was my manager and wouldn’t get off my back. How I always tried to ignore him. Everything.

But I just couldn’t get the part where Nate and I had had a moment. Nothing had happened between us, really- we hadn’t even kissed, so it wasn’t like I was lying to Zack about anything, right?

Zack listened to me carefully the whole time while I related to him about what had happened while I was gone. He had always been a good listener and was the kind of guy you could share all your troubles with.

He had still been holding my hand and after I finished, he squeezed it gently in a reassuring manner.

“Thanks for listening. I’m sorry if I bored you or something,” I said softly.

“No Emma, I’m glad you opened up to me.”

I really didn’t want him to worry about me. “But Zack, it’s nothing really,” I said, trying to sound a bit more lively. “Just a few girly problems, you’ve never seen drama in a girl’s life before?”

For a moment he looked taken back, but then he smiled realizing that I was just trying to lighten the tension. “Oh, Emma having guy trouble?” He joked back, trying to make his voice squeaky and high-pitched. “After all, you have been Queen Bee, right? What with all the guys you have dated.”

I laughed at his sarcasm and threw my used napkin at him. He flicked it off expertly and covered his mouth making his voice come out hollow. “Oh, you missed!” He said in a sing-song way. “No one can ever hit me with anything. I’m the ultimate champion of missing things that are flung at me. You might as well call me the King of Swiftness.”

This was exactly how I had remembered Zack. Always joking around. I giggled at him. “No, no, Zack, I mean Zazzy bear. Now, surrender the gummy bears you promised to get me.”

He raised his hands in protest then dug into his jeans pocket to pull out a packet full of gummy bears. “Anything to get you to stop calling me that.”

I made a lunge toward the packet and pulled them right out of his hand.

“Hey!” he screamed in protest, still laughing. “Won’t you at least thank me?”

I had already popped a gummy bear in my mouth so I just stuck my tongue out at him. God, I had missed Zack.

Zack paid the bill and we left the restaurant, forgetting all our worries for the moment. But I knew this was soon going to end when I had to head back to Misty’s for my work shift, but nothing was going to stop me from having fun with Zack while I could.

Zack’s POV

I watched Emma’s face as she laughed and couldn’t help but notice the pain in her eyes.  She had gone through a lot while I was gone and I wished I had been there to support her. To provide her a shoulder to lean on. But at least she told me everything, because I had gotten worried for her after the incident with the Nate guy. She wasn’t very clear about her acquaintance with him, but one thing was for sure. I had to keep Emma as far away as possible from him and his father.

“Emma,” I begun slowly. “Why don’t you quit that job? If money is the reason for keeping that job, then we can solve that. I can pay for your gran’s expenses and you can pay me back whenever.”

“Nahh Zack.” She replies back, waving her hand dismissively. “I can’t let you do that. Plus, I don’t know whether I’ll even be able to pay you back.”

“Then don’t. As a friend, let me help you out.”

She shook her head in response. “Sorry Zack, but I think you’ve helped me out enough in the past. I need to work this out on my own. I’m perfectly happy with my job and the pay is pretty damn good. I think I’ll manage.”

I sighed. “Are you sure? Because I’m totally fine with helping you. We’re friends and isn’t helping each other out in times of difficulty what friends do?”

Emma just shook her head again. More firmly this time. She was as stubborn as I could remember. “No, I’m not going to take a single penny from your heavy pocket. I’m doing fine with this job.”

“Yeah, but-“

She cut me short. “Just quit it, Zack. Im not accepting your offer and that’s that.”

It was impossible to convince Emma to let me pay for her. She was going to stick to her word. I finally gave up trying to persuade her and we soon reached her workplace.

I bade her good-bye, reminding her to let me know immediately if anyone stepped out of line.

She nodded. “Bye Zack. Don’t worry, no one is going to do anything. And I know Nate well enough to know he isn’t going to pull any dirty tricks on me.”

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I know it's been long but I really hope you like it.

Tell me what you think of Zack? ;)

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~Bee <3