Pieces of Your Love

14-The Old Man's Birthday

"Em!" An all too familiar voice was heard by Emily. She was washing the clothes when she heard the woman calling her. Slowly, she got up and saw her friend standing just beside the door. She almost wanted to squeak when her friend embraced her like there is no tomorrow.

"My god you're still alive! Do you know I was searching for you high and low?! I was so worried that you were burnt in the house!" Clarrise chattered away until Emily had to put her to a stop. "I know Clare, I am really sorry for not telling you about my whereabout. But then, how did you know I was here? In Darren's mansion?" She asked with her head tilted to the left.

Then her friend stopped talking abruptly and looked at her right in the eyes. "Is my ears deceiving me? Did you just call the marquess' name?" Clarrise gave her a sneaky grin. "I believed I just heard that! Tell me sweetheart are you having some sort of relationship with him that I didn't come to know of?" Her face changed completely from a worried woman to a mischevious one. Emily rolled her eyes when she knew her friend was up to no good. She warned herself to be wary of what she said next time.

"No, it's not what you think it is." The moment Emily said that, her friend look at her with a pout. "Why? He let you call him by his name ! It means something Em! A man like him never forget about the title he holds and would prefer people to call him that ! Even I didn't have the privilege to call him by his first name except Jacob. But Jacob is a different story altogether. He is his friend." She emphasized, hoping to give a hint that this man they were talking about seemed to look at Emily in a different way.

Emily gave out a tired sigh. There is no way that man loves her if that is what her friend assumed. "Clare, he is a rake." Emily reminded her friend. "There is no way he loves me. I am not those pretty ladies who will swooned over him. I have no time for that. The moment I feel I can stand up on my own two feet again, I'll leave him and probably I won't even see him again. I'll buy a house and live on my own to start a living." She stated to reassure her friend that the world is not as easy as what it seems. She was pretty sure once he set eyes on another lady, a better one, he'll surely forget her. She isn't keen in falling in love with him.

"Em, I know who and what he is. But it doesn't mean he'll forever be like that. You might never knew he would change for the better. For you." Clare said with a dreamy look.

Not wanting to continue, Emily change the topic to divert her friend's attention. "So, you haven't answered my question. How did you know I was here?" Now it was Clare's turn to rolled her eyes.

"I told you Em, I was looking for you everywhere, I even ask Jacob to help me in the search and coincidentally, he actually he met Mary in the little town of yours while she was busy buying things. She was the one who told us where you are. If we didn't ask her, when were you ever going to tell us?" She questioned. "I even asked other villagers but they weren't very helpful. I can't blame them. After all, Mr. Blackburn is not a very... kind man." There was a pause before Clarrise continued. All of them knew Darren has a very bad temper and would lash out to anyone who gets in the way. No one dare to oppose him. Most of them knew that Emily was with him, but they remained quiet about it.

"Anyway, I came here too for another reason besides seeing you." Clarrise chuckled. "I heard you are attending another ball. But don't worry I'll be there too."

Emily let out a frustrated sigh. "I think you know that I'll not be at ease if you're there." She said." You'll never be done matchmaking me with some other strangers just because they're oggling at me. Tell me Clare, do you think that every guy that look at me it means they like me?" Emily questioned with her arms folded.

Clarisse mimicked Emily's actions and nodded." Yes. But you always turned a blind eye at them. You should see the look in there face. Do you know the expression they wore when they see you in my ball? They tell a million things with just one look."