BULLETS | JEMILY

awkward encounter

~~~

As soon as I leave you,

I gotta see you,

And I don't know

Do you feel the same way?

~~~

When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are to become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part...

Louis de Bernières - Captain Corelli's Mandolin

~~~

"Hi." She says, in a soft, sweet voice that sings. "Hey." I answer, with a smile. Why am I smiling? I hate my smile. I show too much teeth, and my face looks funny. I quickly straighten my face and brush my bangs over my forehead. "Uh, do you live around here? I haven't seen you before." She asks. I feel so stupid all of a sudden. Why can't I just have a normal conversation. "Yeah, I just moved in, I mean not here, not in the bar, but yeah I live, uh, I moved into my apartment earlier. Well, it's not my apartment, uh, I'm renting, and, oh god I sound awful... What about you?" I reply, shaking my head. "It's alright." She laughs. Her laugh is so pretty, and infectious. I can't stop myself from laughing too. I know I should stop before this goes too far. I should just walk away, out the bar, and go home. Never see her again. But something stops me from leaving. She does. I can't just leave her alone. "I live in the area, I moved from Pittsburgh many years ago." "Oh, Pennsylvania? Did you grow up there?" "Well, actually I grew up in a small town not too far from Pittsburgh, but I got a scholarship there and moved out here after graduation." "Nice. I grew up all over the place, but I studied at Yale and also Chesapeake Bay." "Oh, you know the area then?" "Just a bit, but I haven't been back for years." I say, but I hold back. I don't want to spill everything to her, we've just met, even though I feel this strange spark between us, like we're meant to, I don't know, be together? She checks her watch and a sudden look of fear flashes on her face before she finishes her wine and stands up. "Uh, I have to head home, but, hey, here's my number. Give me a call if you need a tour guide." She grins and waves as she leaves. I get the feeling she's pretty drunk, but she still walks straight and doesn't seem completely out of it. I contemplate offering her a ride, but I don't know where she lives and she doesn't seem keen to hang around. And what was that look? A look of fear, but fear of what? Surely not me, we only just met. 

Those questions float around in my head as I drive back home and get ready for bed. I set my alarm for five thirty, and climb under the covers. Maybe this won't be so bad this time, I can settle down, maybe even try again at this whole boyfriend thing.... who am I kidding? Mother was right, I'm never going to be a normal woman who can be with a man and get married and have children. I can still hear her cold voice go round and round in my head. 

~~~

"Mom, this is Laura." A fifteen year old brunette said to her mother as she walked through the front door. 

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, you are twenty minutes past curfew. Where have you been?" Her mother scolded. 

The girl looked worried and looked at the floor. "I-I was out with, um, with Laura." 

Laura, a shy girl with wavy blonde hair, gave a quick wave, and muttered an excuse before leaving. Emily knew that her mother was absolutely furious with her. 

"Emily, how many times have I told you not to bring your friends over, and not to be late? Huh, how many times?" 

"I'm sorry...I forgot."

"You're hopeless, you know that. You'll never have a normal relationship if you keep this up. I know what you do with these friends of yours. Laura, Gale, Hazel, they're all the same. Why can't you be with someone like John, or Matthew? They're good Christians, and they come from good families. Why do you have to screw up everything that's good in your life?" 

"I-I don't know, Mom. I'm sorry, I'll do better." 

~~~

"I'll do better..." I mutter under my breath. Well, that didn't happen. We never spoke about it after that. Mom pretty much swept it under the rug and refuses to talk about it ever. I guess she didn't want to deal with the shame of having a homosexual daughter who doesn't pray and who had an abortion at fifteen years old. We haven't spoken about that either... God this is going to be fun... NOT. I make a note to try and avoid going into DC as much as possible, I don't think Mom and I will ever get our relationship back. I fall asleep thinking about that girl from the bar.

Anderson picks me up at 7 on the dot, and on the ride to work, I stare out of the window at the waking city. We make polite chit-chat, but I'm more nervous about meeting Agent Hotchner. I hope the transfer was sorted out, I mean, I didn't even know about it, so he can't say anything to me. "Good luck, Agent." He says as we part ways at the elevator. I thank him and head up to level six, the BAU. I take a deep breath before entering the double glass doors to the bullpen. When I walk in, everyone looks up, and for a second I think that I've got the wrong room and they're going to ask me to leave, but then they all look back at their work and I relax. Maybe this is going to be alright after all. I walk up to a dark, muscular man and I can tell he's a ladies man, a player or heart-breaker, someone who's used to the one night stand game and leaving in the morning. "Hey." I say with a charming grin. "Can I help you?" He asks me, looking straight into my eyes. I look him up and down and shrug. "Maybe. What are you offering?" I joke. He gives me a look before laughing. "Nice one. What can I do for you?" "I'm looking for Agent Aaron Hotchner's office?" I ask, looking around. "I'm assuming he doesn't work here." "Nah, his office is up there, take the stairs to the balcony over there. If he's not there, then he could be in the briefing room." "Thanks. I'll see you." I say, walking away. "You bet I will." He jokes. Man will he be devastated. 

Aaron Hotchner is in his office. I knock on the door and enter, smiling politely. He looks up from his desk and smiles. "Agent Prentiss, right?" "Yeah, yeah, please, Emily's fine." "You're Ambassador Prentiss's daughter, aren't you? I worked with your mother years ago." I nod. "Yes, it's been a very long time." I laugh. "You were off to Brown, right?" "Uh, actually it was Yale. But I'm back now, and ready to get to work, sir." I say, getting back on track. "Work? Oh, right, the transfer. You see, we weren't expecting a new agent, so we had to go back and check our records to find out what happened." "Yeah, I wasn't expecting a transfer, but, well, here I am." Then comes an awkward silence as he works out what to say. The silence is broken by a knock at the door, and I have a second to feel relieved before the door opens and in walks none other than the beautiful blonde from the bar last night. Oh dear god, could it get any worse?