Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 14

Emily woke up to sunlight shining through the half turned blinds and her bedsheets a ruffled mess. Sitting up and leaning against the headboard she sighed.

"Aaron was here" The though popped into her mind and made her slightly panic. She glance to the bed beside her but he wasn't there. His clothes were gone from the floor too.

She hopped out of bed and into her slippers set neatly by the bed. Luckily she had put a t shirt on before falling asleep but other than that she wore nothing else so quickly she slipped a pair of plain black sweatpants on. She shuffled out of her room and down the hall while brushing her hair back with her fingers and pulling it into a low ponytail. She made it to the kitchen and flicked on the light. Moving over to the counter something caught her eye. She picked up the neatly torn piece of lined paper and read.

"I'll be in the office all day. Give me a call." It said.

Emily sighed and leaned up against the counter , turning on the coffee maker with one click. She didn't know how to make sense of what had happened yesterday.

"You really had to have a one night stand with your boss?" She scolded herself mentally as she embraced the scent of coffee filling the kitchen.

But it didn't feel like a one night stand. She hoped he didn't see it that way either. She felt stupid for letting it happen, or encouraging it. She didn't worry about career implications as her resignation had been delivered mere hours before. She wanted him to respect her more than this. She didn't want him to think she was using him. She didn't regret it.

Emily poured herself a mug of steaming black coffee and moved back towards her room. After a few long gulps she set it down and began getting ready. When she was satisfied with her appearance she removed her phone from where it charged and turned it on. Her thumb hover over the familiar Aaron Hotchner in her contacts. She had to do this. Clicking quickly she raised the phone to her ear and listened to it ring as she went to the living room, sitting down on the couch.

"Hotchner" He answered.

"Hey, It's me"

"Emily, hey I'm glad you called"

"Really?" Emily didn't know why she asked that.

"Yes really" He said, "Listen, I know you may not want to talk about this but I plan on telling the team about your resignation today. Is there anything you want me to tell them?"

Emily thought about all the happy memories with her team. The job had been taking a toll on her mental health and she didn't feel comfortable returning. She hated to think of them feeling sad or hurt over this.

"I...I don't know" Emily cursed herself for sounding weak and unsure.

"We both know there will be questions. They're a nosey bunch" Hotch spoke.

Emily laughed, hearing Hotch joke felt good.

"Just say whatever you'd like. It's too hard to say goodbye" Emily admitted.

"I know" He said reassuringly, "Will I see you again?"

She was surprised by his question. She didn't know in what way he was referring to but she was glad either way.

"Is that what you want?" Emily asked honestly.

"Of course" He said.

Emily paused and thought about what to say.

"Look the team is gathering, I think they need me"

"Oh you're choosing a serial killer over a conversation with me?" She joked.

Emily could feel his eyes roll.

"The life of a unit chief" He said back.

"Okay okay go command your army" She said.

There was a brief pause before his voice cut in.

"Can I call you soon?"

"You can" She said smiling.

"Great, I'll talk to you later"

"Good luck on the case" She said and hung up the phone.

She couldn't help but feel relieved as she got up from the couch. As she dumped the last bit of her cold coffee, she thought about what she was going to do that day. She felt slightly uncomfortable by her newfound freedom. She decided that she would take some of her clothes to the dry cleaners and pickup a few baking ingredients.

Emily found herself back on the couch after fixing herself an omelette and fruit for breakfast. She had a thin blanket over her and her laptop was sat on her thighs. Kill Bill played on the tv, after flipping through channels annoyed she had decided it was the only good thing to watch. She was engulfed in pages of emails and news articles. She knew she should be relaxing but she felt that it was a good time to catch up.

It was about noon when three sharp knocks on the door rang out in the apartment. Gingerly she set down the laptop and lowered the tv volume. She stood before the door and opened it slowly.

"Dad!?" She exclaimed.

"Emily. I need help."