Mission B.R.E.A.K.U.P.

Chapter 8

The next morning Emma stirred in her sleep still not opening her eyes as she felt a massive throbbing in her head. She knew she shouldn’t have cried. It never was worth the headache she had the next day. She heard the door creak open a little. Who was it this time?

She heard a gasp and that made her open her eyes. She shot up in bed as soon as she did. Her room was unrecognizable. Flowers adorned every wall and rose petals littered her floor. A creeper with purple flowers wound around her walls and the fragrance surrounded her senses. Near the door, Julie stood staring wide eyed at the room. When their eyes met, Julie silently mouthed what Emma had been thinking- “Jake?”

Emma picked up a note on her side table. On it were simply scrawled 2 words in an untidy handwriting- ‘I’m sorry.’ Emma looked up and nodded at Julie.

“Don’t let him off that easy.” Julie said flopping down on the bed beside her, “Not after what he did to you.”

Emma sighed holding her head in her hands. “I thought you guys were an item.” Julie continued uncertainly. “We still are I guess.” Emma shrugged secretly surprised at her ability to lie through the teeth. After all, she had been doing it since she arrived.

“You like him that much, huh?” Julie asked looking incredulous, “You would never let anyone speak to you like that Em.” She added on seeing Emma seemingly deliberate over her question. “I guess.” Emma shrugged unsure of what to say.

She got up and went to the bathroom to change and freshen up. She still felt extremely sick but that was no reason not to dress up. In fact the idea abhorred her. “Let’s go have breakfast.” She said. “What about this?” Julie indicated dramatically at the flowers. “What about it?” Emma shrugged. Julie sighed as she shook her head and followed Emma out.

Everyone was having breakfast downstairs and she didn’t miss the glances she kept getting as she went and took a seat next to Cheryl. She felt her squeeze her hand comfortingly under the table and gave her a quick smile.

Suddenly there was a rap on the door and a while later the housekeeper came in to announce a parcel for Ms. Ralph. Emma looked surprised but stood up and followed the housekeeper to the door where a man stood with a gift wrapped box. She signed on the clipboard he held out and took the bag. Curiously she unwrapped the gift as she walked to the dining room. She sat down on the sofas across the room ignoring the curious looks she received from the people seated at the dining table.

She managed to unwrap it completely and gasped as she opened the box to find the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was a silk pleated strapless gown that would trail behind her as she walked. It was various shades of purple going from a slightly lighter purple to a deeper shade near the bottom. It was breath-taking. Attached to it was a note with the same untidy handwriting reading ‘For the one I ruined yesterday.’

She gasped as she remembered that the purple dress she had worn yesterday had torn in her hurry to get home the previous day. She didn’t think he’d even noticed. She ran her hands on the dress feeling slightly embarrassed that the one she had worn the previous day was not half as beautiful as this one. “Emma it’s gorgeous!” she heard Cheryl squeal. She looked up sheepishly having forgotten where she was in her admiration. Both Cheryl and Julie ran up to her to see it closely while some other women also expressed their admiration for it.

Cheryl pulled out her phone and tried to call Jake but he didn’t pick up. “We should just finish breakfast.” Emma said slightly dazed. She saw Ethan glare at her and turn away. She tried to see Christopher’s reaction but he was speaking to someone else and turned away.

After breakfast she went around looking for Jake but he was nowhere to be found. She tried to call him as well but he didn’t answer.

As lunchtime came around, she got more and more frustrated. She wanted to talk to him but he seemed to be avoiding her like the plague. She had lunch quite half-heartedly but did notice that the other women were no longer looking at her with pity but rather throwing her looks of envy. She couldn’t help the smirk that crept on her face. She loved being the centre of attention.

After lunch, her anger slowly turned into fear as she saw the same on Cheryl’s face. Where was he? Had something terrible happened to him? She paced her room thinking of what to do. Her mind seemed to have gone blank. As the sun set and darkness fell upon the place, she picked up her phone to call the police. Just as she did, she heard a strange sound coming from outside her window. Curious, she went and peeked out, her eyes widening at what she beheld. Jake stood under her window serenading her. He was actually singing. She couldn’t help the sigh of relief and then giggle of amusement that escaped her lips. Jake was by no means a singer. His voice sounded slightly raspy though she had to admit it was by no means unpleasant. She shut her window and ran downstairs. She was going to give him a piece of her mind for all he’d done. As she passed the other bedrooms she noticed almost everyone was curiously peeking out their windows watching Jake sing. The sneaky little devil, she thought. He sure knew how to get everyone’s attention. She ran across the lawn to where he was standing. He turned to look at her with a lopsided grin on his face, still singing.

She wasn’t sure what caused her to do what she did next. Maybe it was anger at how he’d scared her, or relief for seeing him again or maybe somewhere deep down she was slightly grateful for all he’d done for her that day. But she found herself throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug. He froze for a second before gently wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

She was the first to pull away. He threw her a grin “So is that an ‘I forgive you’?” “It’s a ‘you’re an idiot’.” She giggled as she punched his arm playfully.

He put his arm around her shoulder and turned and waved at the people still watching from their windows. They applauded and hooted and he dramatically took a bow, then reattaching their hands. As she tried to walk to the house he steered her instead in another direction. She was surprised but didn’t say anything.

He was the first to speak. “So, what did you think?” he asked quietly. “You did all that for me?” She blurted out immediately regretting how stupid that sounded. He shrugged “Yeah well Christopher was impressed.”

She smiled brightly, “He was, wasn’t he?” He nodded, “And he looked slightly annoyed too.”

She giggled as she hugged herself with glee. He looked at her and chuckled. “So why’d you bring me here?” she asked curiously. He rubbed the nape of his neck sheepishly. “Well we both know everything that happened in there was to put on a show. So I wanted to let you know that I really mean it when I say I’m sorry.” He turned and looked at her, his intense gaze leaving her slightly breathless. She gulped and nodded. “You already apologized yesterday.” She managed to rasp. “Yeah but I want you know I meant it.” He said looking down and refusing to turn back to her. As they walked, he picked a flower and twirled it in his hand absent-mindedly. She took it from him and smiled when he finally looked at her. “I’m sorry too. For being such a jerk to you the first few days.” She said shyly. He grinned as he took the flower from her hand and tucked it behind her ear to her surprise. “You know you’re not all bad Emma Ralph.” He chuckled. “Neither are you Jake Walters.” She grinned at him. “You want to walk back?” he asked smiling.

They walked back in silence and as they reached their bedroom doors, they both turned to give each other a smile before going into their rooms. That night Emma stayed awake for a very long time.