The Perfect Emma

Chapter Thirteen

Emma Mabel

Emma had just pulled out teriyaki chicken from the oven and placed it on the kitchen table. She debated about making something with peanuts and chicken, since she knew Aaron enjoyed it, however Emma was severely allergic to peanuts. She didn't even want to risk it. When the door at the top of the stairs opened, Emma didn't even bother glancing over her shoulder. "Welcome home," Emma called as she turned around to grab the bread from the oven as well. She placed the loaf of bread on a plate on the table at the same time that Aaron grabbed her throat.

Starting to choke, Emma raised her hands up to her throat and stumbled backwards towards a wall - the direction that Aaron was pushing her. Aaron was pissed. "What the hell did you do Emily?" He shouted, loosening his grip on her neck.

Gasping for air, Emma held her hands over her throat and coughed, staring with wide eyes towards Aaron. She had a feeling it revolved around the 911 call... but playing dumb seemed like the safest route at the moment. "W-What?" Emma asked, coughing.

Aaron punched the wall next to Emma's hand with his fist and stared down at her in anger. It was moments like this, where Aaron towered over her and she merely stood at five feet where she hated being short. She was helpless enough in the situation she was in - this wasn't helping. "You know what you fucking did. The 911 call?"

Emma furrowed her eyebrows together. She slowly lowered her hands from her throat and stared up at him, her lip quivering. "I don't know what you're talking about, honey." Emma added on the honey for good measure.

"I can't even fucking..." Aaron turned away with frustration and kicked the chair in with his foot. He was pissed - if it wasn't evident enough. Aaron turned his head over his shoulder and glared towards Emma. "This is your last fucking warning, Emily." Aaron spat out, furious. A part of Emma questioned why he wasn't killing her - considering the fact he was extremely pissed.

Aaron stepped over to the table and began to push the chicken and bread onto a single plate. He then picked up the hot tray the chicken was on with a pair of hot pads. Aaron turned around to face Emma, and Emma swallowed. Fuck. "A-Aaron..." Emma said, raising her hands up, She took a step back - into the wall.

Emma whipped her head to the side, about to step away when she felt the hot tray getting pressed against her arm. Emma screamed and thrashed her head around, trying to pull away. Aaron, on the other hand, held her there until he was happy with the amount of pain he gave her.

Eventually, Aaron pulled back and Emma ran away from him, cradling her now severely burned arm. She cradled her arm and sobbed, stepping over to the sink. She ran her arm under the sink water and whimpered, continuing to sob.

Aaron merely dropped the tray back down onto the table and crossed his arms. "No food for a day." He stated simply, a scowl on his lips. "Thanks to you, Grayson is now questioning every officer's loyalty in the station and I have to make sure he still trusts me." Aaron let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously ignoring the fact that Emma was sobbing and cradling her burning arm under a faucet of water.

After a minute of silence and sobbing, Aaron shook his head. "This is how it's going to work," He stated with a sneer of annoyance, watching Emma. "Since I now need to make sure Grayson still trusts me, I'm going to be inviting him over to have your dinner." Aaron nodded his head towards the pan that had just been used to burn her arm. "We're going to have some bonding time." Aaron shrugged slightly.

Emma winced as the water moved against her burn and slowly pulled it out. She reached her hand towards the freezer and reached in to grab an ice cube, beginning to rub that against her arm slowly. The cold was painful but soothing at the same time. Tears began to dry on her cheeks as Aaron spoke. "I don't want to hear a peep from the basement. At all." Aaron stated simply. "You don't want to know what'll happen if I hear anything." He stated with a frown.

At that, Aaron turned himself around. He made his way down to the kitchen table and began to move the chicken and bread back onto the pan that had just burned her. He picked up the pan using hot pads and began to make his way up the stairs. Near the top, Aaron repeated himself. "Not a word."

Emma listened as the door at the top of the stairs opened and closed. She held in her sobs as she stared down at her burn, red arm. Continuing to rub ice against it, Emma took slow, deep breaths. Not having to deal with severe burns like this before, Emma wasn't quite certain if there was a home remedy that she could use to help the pain - nothing aside from cool water and ice.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, Emma could hear Aaron talking faintly on the phone. Holding an ice cube against her burn, Emma merely rocked from side to side as she listened to Aaron speaking to Gray and inviting him over.

Emma let out a slow sigh and casted her eyes towards the ground. Calling 911 was a mistake. She should have never done it. Every time she did something to try to escape for herself she always ended up hurt. It was safer just listening to Aaron than fighting against him.

Slowly, Emma walked over in her skirt and sat herself down at the kitchen table that was stripped of food. Despite being hungry, Emma didn't even cast a glance towards the fridge. That would just be stupid after what had just happened. She rubbed the ice cube against her burn and hissed softly to herself, leaning over slightly. She rested her cheek on the table and closed her eyes, waiting. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for - if it was the pain in her arm to leave, Gray to arrive, or even to be rescued. Nonetheless, she still sat here waiting.

Eventually, Emma heard the doorbell ring. Curiosity got the best of her as she stepped over to the sink. She quietly placed her icecube in the sink before grabbing a ziploc bag. She placed a new ice cube in the bag and snuck her way over to the stairs. Quietly, Emma stepped up the stairs and sat herself on the top step. She leaned over slightly and pressed her ear against the door.

"Nice place," Emma heard a male's voice that she hadn't heard for a long time. She hasn't heard many voices besides Aaron's after being here for over a year. "Hard to believe I've been working with you for so long and I haven't seen your place before."

"Guess we just see so much of each other during the day we don't think about after work," Aaron said in a joking tone. He seemed much kinder around Grayson than he typically was around Emma. "Come on in. I left the food in the oven to keep it warm."

Emma listened to the footsteps walk around on the floor. She closed her eyes and left her ear against the door, listening as the footsteps began to walk closer. Then, they gradually began to walk farther and farther away into the kitchen and living room.

Holding back tears, Emma casted her eyes down to her lap. Though Aaron seemed to understand quite clearly what her 911 message meant, Grayson apparently did not. She wiped a stray tear from her cheek as she continued to press the ice against her wound.

"That smells great," Grayson commented most likely from within the kitchen. "I didn't know you could cook."

"Surprise," Aaron said. Emma could only picture him smiling smugly, taking the credit for the dinner that she had cooked. Of course, the dinner that she had cooked had also ended up burning her arm.

"Still, it looks fantastic."

"Thanks," Emma mouthed quietly to Gray, though she knew that he couldn't hear her. She merely clutched the baggie with ice against her burn and closed her eyes, keeping her ear against the door.

As the pair talked, Emma began to zone out. She stared at the dark wall in the stairway and rested her temple against the door. She let out a quiet sigh and closed her eyes, slowly raising her fingers up to the door. She pressed her fingers against the door that wouldn't open. 'I'm right here,' Emma thought silently to herself, not risking speaking again.