Just Like Her

Chapter 12

Tom

Once I checked into my hotel, deposited my things, and freshened up enough to look presentable, I allowed myself to check my phone. There were the messages I had seen earlier in the morning and nearly a half-dozen more waiting to be read. A few were pictures of entertaining things Emma must have encountered; a few more were quips about pretentious literaries; and the last few were questions. My stomach plummeted as I read them.

More silent than usual this morning... everything ok?

I was being ironic with the picture of the latte... joke gone too far?

I'm sorry if I upset you with the coffee thing (or something else I'm not realizing??) Will you just please let me know you're alive? Even a poop emoji would do.

I responded to Emma immediately with an excuse that my phone had died and apologized profusely for worrying her. I then tried to subtly ask her what she was up to and where she was, but she didn't respond. I waited a few minutes, pacing back and forth in my increasingly cramped room, and then called her. When she didn't pick up the first time, I hung up and called again. I meant to leave a casual voicemail, but at the sound of the beep I momentarily panicked and hung up.

Cursing my lack of game (& my blind trust in Charlie's advice), I grabbed my wallet and keys. I figured if I couldn't get through to her by phone, I might as well hit the streets. Hay-on-Wye was a relatively small village, and I certainly had better odds running into her out there than I did sitting in my room.

I turned right out the front door and walked swiftly down the main street. I strode past a few shops and festival stalls when, suddenly, I saw her.

Emma was exiting a restaurant and stopped on the sidewalk to talk to the man who had been walking in front of her. He laughed and said something before cupping her face. He bent his neck and from the gleam of the light on her hair, I could tell she angled her face toward him.

I looked away. When I finally managed to glimpse back, they were embracing. His arms wrapped around her waist, hers around his neck, and her expression set in a contented smile with her eyes closed. When she opened them again, they met mine.

I turned to leave but froze when I heard her voice.

"T-Tom?"

I turned back slowly and grimaced as I awkwardly waved my hand.

She quickly turned back to the man to say something, touching him gently on the arm, before making her way over to me.

I raked my fingers through my hair, trying in vain to find a way out of this disastrous situation. My heart, still aching slightly, pounded against my ribs with a deafening clamor that made it impossible to think straight.

"W-what?" Emma spluttered when she finally got close enough to speak. She shook her head and burst into laughter. "Bloody hell! What are you doing here?"

I merely shrugged, still unsure of what to say or how to even form words again.

"Is this why you didn't respond to any of my messages?" She blushed once she'd said it. 

Nevertheless, she stepped closer to me so that we were chest to chest and went on the balls of her feet as she looped her arms around my neck—like she'd just done with his—and squeezed me tightly.

"I... wanted to surprise you," I finally said as my hands belatedly pressed against her back. "Trisha said—"

"I knew she was up to something!" Emma exclaimed, pulling back.