Could It Be You? |✓

(8) Decisions, decisions

"Finally, Em. Finally, you are going on a date." Alice amusedly comments as she stands at the doorway.

Emma spins around in front of the mirror, studying the dress. She smooths the crinkles and checks herself out from top to bottom. Nope, this is not it. She quickly changes out and discards it ruthlessly, into the pile of rejects already strewn all over Alice's bed. She knew it. She knew it wouldn't work. She and Alice are miles apart in their dress sense. What made her think that she could find something at her house?

"Hey!" Liam, Alice's husband, greets as he peeks in.

"She's going on a date later, Liam, and she wouldn't tell me with who."

Liam merely laughs, and smoothly excuses himself from the women's conversation.

"You don't know him!" Emma says. 

"Why not! Is it James? The blind date dude?"

"No!"

"Fine, be that way." Exasperated on Emma's behalf, Alice struts in and begins to dump more clothes onto her.

"I can't wear all these!" Emma protests as she picks one dress up like she is picking trash from a bin. "They're all too showy!"

"Don't be so choosy if you're asking me for help." Alice retorts.

Emma scrutinises the pile of clothes and contemplates her decision.

"How's this?" Alice holds up a mini dress that looks long enough for a child. Emma shakes her head fervently. She will literally freeze.

"Oh my gosh girl why look for me if you just intend to reject all my dresses?" Alice plops down beside Emma on the bed, on the verge of giving up.

As Alice settles back down beside her, Emma leans back too, deep in thought. There is actually something else on her mind apart from dress-borrowing. It has occupied her thoughts for a while now.

"Alice?"

"Yes?"

Emma takes a deep breath, knowing how silly and superstitious she will sound once she lets the words escape.

"I ... met a fortune teller, and he said that I would marry someone I have already met. Do you think that's even plausible?"

Alice blinks, and Emma immediately regrets breaking the question. She knew it, she knew it. She has always been the logical one and Alice the flighty one, so why is she even suggesting this?

"Do you believe that person?"

"Well. He sounded convincing."

"I dunno. There are cosmic forces that we don't know about. And if that happens, I place my bets on Ethan." She says, then climbs down from bed lazily and starts to hang the clothes back into her wardrobe.

"There we go again," Emma says, knowing how Alice has always been a staunch supporter of the two of them. But Emma knows that if something should have happened between them, it would already have. And this just proves her point that they are in each other's permanent friend zone and it really isn't as bad as it sounds.

"You just have no idea what you mean to him." She says softly.

"What?" Emma shouts back, but Alice keeps quiet.

* * * 

Emma manoeuvres hastily among the rush-hour crowd at the subway station. She hurries onto the train just as the beeping starts, packing into it like one little sardine in a can. The air cooler can hardly be felt and the carriage is stuffy and warm as heck. It does not help that the passengers smell like all sorts of things.

She fishes her phone out and is stunned to discover five missed calls from Ethan, knowing intuitively that something about that is queer for sure. Without further thought, she dials back. 

"Hello?" A familiar, yet strangely weary voice says.

"Ethan! What's up?" she asks.

"Can I meet you now? Are you free?"

"Sorry Ethan, I'm off to somewhere..." Emma trails off, remembering her date with Matt. But her conscience gnaws at her; she could hear that something was amiss. And therefore, she ought to be there for him, like he had all the times for her. Worry forms as she speculates about what could have happened, coming to the conclusion of only one plausible reason.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll catch up another time then?"

He hangs up on her, and Emma stares at her phone in confusion, and the speaker announces the arrival at the station she was supposed to alight at. Emma glances up as the train pulls to a stop and the doors open. A hoard of passengers swarms in, aggressively pushing her to the back. Emma does not know where her heart wants her to go, nor where her head wants her. She knows she needs to make the decision quick. Yet, time ticks away, and she is at loss of what to do.

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Let's do a poll! Where do you want her to go? <: