treacherous | ethma

13

Ethan

Monday morning found Emma and I making a presentation to our employees at Signature, proposing the big move to Nashville.

As my hand rested on the small of her back, she gave me a nervous smile. I pulled her closer to my side.

"The decision isn't final, but we are considering taking this company to Nashville at the end of this year, and we want you all to come with us. We will provide housing in Nashville as an incentive, but we understand if you don't want to move to there with us. We're working on a plan to still have a location here in LA, but downsizing to a smaller building," Emma announced.

"Nobody is fired. We still have a place for each of you here at Signature Records, but it's time that Emma and I leave Los Angeles. We think it's personally best for us to get out of California and start fresh in Nashville. Let us know if you plan to come with us, or stay here. We're excited to immerse ourselves in music, and we're excited to see where this takes our company."

Emma smiled at me, and I felt so damn proud of her. She's taking a good step by getting out of LA.

"Thanks for listening this morning. We love you all, and let's have a productive Monday."

Everyone started getting up, some coming up to us and giving their support to our plan.

Emma leaned her head against my shoulder, so I wrapped my arm around her, kissing her on the forehead.

Olivia was the last besides us to leave the room, immediately coming up to give Emma a hug. "I love you guys," she said. Emma pulled back, smiling at her best friend.

"We love you too, Liv."

"I want to be one of the first to tell you that I'm coming to Nashville with you," Olivia said, smiling at Emma.

Emma gave her another hug.

We had already told Olivia, but she hadn't gave us her official decision on moving.

-

I sat down on the couch in the studio, my guitar resting on my lap as Emma went into the recording room, and Olivia sitting down at the piano.

Emma had been writing songs like crazy lately, and we were finally getting down to recording them.

I couldn't help but smile as I caught Emma's eye while she sang. It was good to see her genuinely happy. This was the same Emma that used to write songs in her basement with me. This was my Emma. The one I've always loved so dearly.

We recorded three songs that day, and then it was time to go home. Emma and I made dinner, and then we settled in the mini-theatre to watch a movie.

Emma snuggled up against my chest, and my arm tightened around her. "I think I found a house for us in Tennessee. And there's one next to it that would be perfect for Olivia. They're a mile apart because of property, but they'd be perfect."

"Are there pictures?" I asked.

Emma pulled her phone out, showing me the website that the house was on.

"Wow," I said. "It's perfect."

Emma smiled.

-

It was a month later when we bought the building for our new studios in Nashville. Emma and I hired a team to set everything up, and it would take a month or two, but we were fine with that.

Things were still running smoothly at Signature LA thanks to Olivia and Amanda, and Emma and I were working on providing houses for the employees that were coming with us to Nashville.

By summer we were all settled down in Tennessee. Our house was finally cozy, Signature was opening up in Nashville, and Emma and I were happier than ever to be out of LA for good. Besides appearances at award shows and talk shows, we wouldn't be back for a while.

Nashville was perfect. A little colder than Southern California, but it was still warmer than Connecticut would be.

The house in California was finally sold, and our new life as Tennesseans began. Emma and I were the happiest we've ever been.

The two of us were immersing ourselves in the country music scene, visiting venues and bars around town and trying to recruit some talent. We found some pretty cool artists to join our clientele, and we were enjoying the music scene in our new city.

Our house in Nashville wasn't a mansion because we honestly felt like our house in LA was too big for us. So, we settled on a nice two story house. It was still a decent size, but it wasn't as big as our old house.

It was cozy, and it was perfect for us.

I was sitting in my office at Signature one day, when Emma came in.

"Hey, babe. NBC's on line two for you."

I smiled at her before picking up the phone. "Thanks, Nina."

Emma smiled before she walked out of my office and across the hall to hers.

"Hello, this is Ethan Dolan speaking," I said.

"Hi, Ethan. This is Matthew Lawrence from The Voice at NBC. I'm calling to offer you a position as a coach for next season here on The Voice. I sent you an email with the details, so just get back to us as soon as possible."

"Wow. Thank you. I will surely get back to you soon."

"Have a good day, Ethan."

"You too, man," I said, hanging up. I went into Emma's office, shutting the door behind me, then sitting down on the couch in her office.

"What's up, babe?"

"They want me as a coach on the next season of The Voice," I said.

Emma's eyes grew wide as she started to smile. "You gotta accept it. It would be so cool!"

"You know that means we have to spend a couple of months in Florida, right?"

Emma smiled. "As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter where we are, honey."

I stood up, walking over to her desk and pecking her on the lips. "I love you, Mrs. me."

She pulled me in for another kiss, slipping her tongue into my mouth as he hand laced into the back of my hair. "I love you too, Mr. me."

I gave her one last peck before I pulled away. "I'll forward the email to you, and we can decide tonight," I said.

"The decision is made, Ethan. You're gonna accept it."

I smiled, chuckling a little. "Okay. I'm going back to my office now. I love you," I said, opening the door.

"I love you," Emma called.

I am the luckiest man in the world to have a wife that I love this much.