Emma’s POV“Happy birthday, my sweet girl,” my mum said to me over the phone. “Happy birthday, Emma bear,” my dad chirped up from beside her. “My little girl is twenty-five. Wow. You’ve grown up so fast, my love. Happy birthday. I wish you all the best in life,” he said with a huge grin on his face. Greece is about ten hours in time difference ahead of California, so my parents monitored the time and FaceTimed me once it clocked midnight over here in Mykonos. “Right? My baby girl is all grown up,” my mum said with teary eyes. “I remember when you used to run around in your diapers, avoiding wearing clothes, and now look at you. You’re done with your masters, gotten a great job, and made a good living for yourself. I’m super proud of you, sweetheart. Now and always”. “Thanks, mum,” I said, sniffling. “Thanks, dad. I love you guys”.“We love you too,” they said at the same time. “So what’s the plan for the day” my dad asked. “Anything exciting?”“Honestly, I have no idea. Sammy’s h
Emma’s POV“Happy birthday, tiny,” Ryan said to me as he hugged me. “Twenty-five years old. Wow. The young really shall grow,” he laughed. “Oh, please,” I rolled my eyes playfully as I hugged him back. “Thanks, Ryan”. “You’re welcome,” he said, placing a kiss on my head and letting me go. “This is for you. It’s custom-made,” he said, stretching out a big bag towards me. “Oh wow. I thought this trip was my gift, Ryan. You really shouldn’t have,” I said as I took the bag from him. Damn, it was heavy. “Oh, please,” he scoffed. You really thought this was going to be it? Wow. You really don’t know me, Emma,” he shook his head, feigning a disappointed look. “Go ahead open it,” he smiled, jerking his head toward the bag. “Okay, okay,” I said excitedly, then went on to unbox the contents of the bag. After taking out the decorative paper that was inside, I came face to face with a Hermes box and a Louis Vuitton box. Inside the Hermes box was this beautiful gold bracelet that had the wor
Emma’s POV“Spa date!” Sammy shrieked in a sing-song as she came up to meet me where I was sitting in the hotel lobby. “Hi, girly”. “Hey,” I laughed while looking at her weirdly. “How’s it that you’re way more excited about this birthday than I am. I mean with the way you’ve been so jolly all morning, one would actually think today’s your birthday and not mine”. “First of all, I’d like to think that as your best friend in the whole world, today is actually both our birthdays. Aside from that, you’re the one who’s choosing to act all grumpy because Liam hasn’t wished you a happy birthday yet, so that’s really on you,” she said. “You really didn’t have to bring up his name, you know. Like was that even necessary?” I asked her, rolling my eyes. “Besides, I actually don’t care that he hasn’t spoken to me yet. It’s his business, not mine,” I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest. “Mhm right. So if I told you I knew why he hasn't left his room all morning you wouldn’t want to know?”
Emma’s POVAbout an hour and thirty minutes into the spa session, Sammy and I had gotten mud baths, gotten waxed, had hot coal treatments, did some weird seaweed wrap, and done our manicures. Right now, we are getting our toes done while sipping on champagne. “Are you enjoying your day so far?” Sammy asked me as she took a sip of her drink. “Yeah, it’s alright,” I shrugged my shoulders. “Just alright? Seriously?” she put her drink down. “Well that’s disappointing,” she said with a sad face. “I thought starting the day with a spa date would get you in the groove. I guess I thought wrong”. “Oh no no no. That’s not at all how I meant it to come out, Sammy,” I said, sitting up. “I appreciate your planning and everything, it’s just that I’ve not been so amped up about today since last night. I mean you know how I usually get around my birthday period, don’t you? Throughout the year, I’m usually pumped up for it, then at the last few weeks leading up to the actual day, I’m not as inter
Emma’s POV“I’m really glad you’re here, Tony. Thanks for coming,” I smiled as I looked at him. “Thanks again for the gift”. “You’re welcome,” he smiled back. Tony got me a light brown Birkin bag. A freaking Birkin! What I really wanted to know was how he was able to get by a Birkin so quickly, but who am I to question a gift?“So what’s your plan for the year?” Tony asked. “What do you mean?” I asked him with furrowed brows. “Like in this year of you being twenty-five, what do you want to do or achieve? What do you want to do that you haven’t done up until now?” he asked, clarifying his question. Hm. That’s a good question. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. It’s just, that question is something my mum has made a habit of asking my siblings and me whenever we celebrate a birthday. She asks what we hope to achieve in the new year of our lives and tries to see if there’s anything she or my dad or both of them can do to help make it happen. It’s somethin
Emma’s POVAfter a while of eating, drinking, dancing, and talking, it was finally time to get off the yacht. We had just gotten back to the dock when Ryan announced the restaurant we were going to be eating at for dinner. Since Tony had his own car, I decided to head to the restaurant with him while Ryan and Sammy went together in Ryan’s car. The restaurant wasn’t far from where we were. It was about a fifteen-minute drive or so. At least that’s what I thought. To me, it felt like the car flew most of the way there because, not gonna lie, I was a tad bit more than tipsy. From the champagne I had used to kick off my drinking for the day which I had at the spa, to the countless number of glasses of wine I had on the yacht, I think it’s safe to say I’ve had a good day so far. Once we got to the restaurant, Ryan got us in based on the reservation he’d made and within a few minutes, we were sitting with our menus in hand. “This place is pretty,” I told Sammy, looking around and soaking
Emma’s POVThe comment Tony made about Liam while on our way back to the hotel made me feel quite awkward, so I didn’t have much to say to him again. When we got to my hotel, Tony apologized again for the comment he made, then kissed me goodnight and left. As I walked into the lobby, one of the staff at the front desk called my attention to collect my gift that Tony’s driver had helped drop off for me after we had been dropped off at the bar. I thanked the staff and took the gift bag from him, then went up to my room. To get to my room, I have to pass by Liam’s room, and the things Tony said about Liam got me clouding my mind with thoughts of him again. To be fair, I kind of had every right to think about him at that moment because the day was almost over, and he still hadn’t wished me a happy birthday or given me a gift. Nothing. As I walked toward my room, I found myself standing in front of Liam’s door. I looked down at my phone and saw that the time was 11:23 p.m., meaning that
Liam’s POV“Liam,” she said my mama softly as she brushed her finger over the picture. “Here,” I took it out of the box and placed it in her hands. “I don’t even know what to say,” she said just above a whisper, her eyes still focused on the picture in the locket that was now in her hands. “It’s beautiful. It’s perfect”. She finally looked up at me and I saw a test roll down her cheek. She wiped it away, but another escaped right after. She wiped that one away as well, then handed the necklace back to me. I was confused for a second until she turned her back to me. She moved her hair out of the way then turned her neck to the side to talk to me. “Can you please help me put it on?” she asked. “Of course,” I answered, then placed the jewelry box down on the table that was by the door. “Could you lift your hair a little higher please?”She obliged and moved her hair higher, giving me a better sight of her neck. I put the necklace on her but stayed behind her for a few more seconds.
Liam’s POVIt had been a week since Emma had made her choice to be with me and for this last week, I’ve probably been the happiest man on this earth. Now, our first anniversary was in three days, and I had no idea what to do. Before we got married, I remember while I was having one of the pre-wedding discussions with my mother, she said she would love for Emma and me to throw a party or a ball or something in that regard to commemorate the milestone, while also making sure we appear as a happily married couple in the public light. However, with how things are going in the family right now, with my dad’s sickness and the rift between Emma and my parents, that party that my mother would have wanted us to have just doesn’t seem probable. And to be honest, I haven’t even had a talk with Emma about this anniversary of ours, so God knows if she actually remembers that it’s even coming up or not. “Liam! Where are you!?” Ryan yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts as he stepped into the apa
Emma’s POV“Hey,” I finally breathed out after minutes of us staring at each other while I stood out there in the doorway. “Hi,” he responded, then shook his head as if he had just been overcome with a sense of realization. “Come in,” he gestured for me to come into the house. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realize I had kept you standing there”. “It’s fine,” I dismissed it with a small smile. “I was lost in thought too, anyway”. “Right,” he replied, his lips drawn up into a tight smile. “Here,” he gestured to my bag that was still slung over my shoulder. “Let me get that for you”. “Oh. Thank you,” I said as I handed the bag to him. “No problem,” he replied, walking over to place the bag down on the couch while I took a seat on one of the stools surrounding the kitchen island. “So,” he started as he came back into the kitchen and took a seat on the opposite side of me. “How’d it go over there at Maywood?” he continued, his eyes focused on mine as he eagerly awaited what I had to s
Emma’s POVIt was now Sunday, so it was time for me to head back home. As I packed up the last of my toiletries, my mind wandered back to the events of the past few days. The emotional rollercoaster I'd been on since my trip to the cabin with Liam, followed by the heart-wrenching conversation with Tony, left me feeling both drained and oddly liberated.I zipped up my bag and took one last look around the hotel room that had been my sanctuary for the night. After leaving Tony's apartment yesterday evening, I couldn't bear the thought of going back to the home I shared with Liam. Although Liam and I were in a good place, it just felt unfair to me to immediately run back into his arms after what had just gone down with Tony. So, I needed time to process everything, and to gather my thoughts before facing him.As I wheeled my suitcase towards the door, my phone buzzed with a text from Sammy - ‘Hey, girl. What’s going on over there? Call me when you can’I smiled, grateful for her constant
Emma’s POVHis words hit me hard, even though I knew he was probably right. “Tony, I—”He held up a hand, cutting me off gently. “It's okay, Emma. I'm not angry with you. Hurt, yes, but not angry. You can't help how you feel”.I felt a fresh wave of tears spill over. “You're too good, Tony. You deserve someone who can love you wholly, without any doubt or confusion”. A sad smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Maybe. But I fell for you, Emma. All of you, complications and all”. We sat in silence for a while, the weight of unspoken words hanging between us. Finally, Tony spoke again. “So, what are you going to do about Liam? You want to be with him, right?”I hesitated for a moment, thinking about my answer, until I eventually nodded my head. “Yes I do,” I sighed. “You know, this is honestly the first time since that day that I’m actually saying it out loud that I want to be with Liam, and it’s so crazy because even after running to Sammy’s house the moment we got back home, I s
Emma’s POV“Oh,” he said, suddenly sounding dejected. “We need to talk,” he repeated after me. “That can never be a good thing,” he chuckled bitterly as he loosened his grip on my waist until he eventually let me go completely.“Can we sit?” I asked, still looking up at him.“Of course,” he smiled slightly. “After you,” he said, pointing to a couch behind us for us to sit on.“Thank you,” I said as I sat down, my eyes still trained on him, watching his every move.“Mhm,” he nodded as he walked over to the couch, sitting down on the spot not too far away from me.“So,” he clasped his hands together after heaving out a deep breath. “What's going on, Emma?”I was silent. Not because I didn’t know what I wanted to say, but I was trying to figure out the best way to say it such that I would seem like a person and not a completely horrible one.I sighed, letting out a deep breath as my shoulders fell further than they already had.“Okay,” Tony chuckled, bitterly too, if I might add. “What’s
Emma's POVSaturday had finally come, meaning that it was time for me to go to Maywood to see Tony. Luckily for me, Maywood from Los Angeles wasn’t far at all, so I didn’t have to leave home early or anything. As I packed my overnight bag, stuffing my charger into it, it dawned on me properly that I hadn’t actually been to Maywood to see Tony before. Since he and I started talking, the only times we’d seen each other here in L.A. was when he’d come over here for business. Obviously, it worked for us, and so we’d meet up, but that has happened just two or three times now. So, thinking about all of this, it was quite sad that the reason I was going to Maywood to see him now was to let him know of my situation with Liam. Stepping out of my room, I bumped into Liam who was on his way back into his room. “Oh. Hey. Good morning,” I greeted him, a bit startled by his presence. “Morning. How was your night?” he responded, sounding rather chipper. “It was good, thank you. And yours?” I ask
Emma's POV“Hey,” I greeted Liam as I walked into the apartment. “Oh, hey. I didn’t hear you come in,” he said, standing up from his spot on the couch, as he walked over to me. “Yeah, I’m not surprised. The volume of the TV is quite loud,” I chuckled softly. “Right. Sorry,” he snapped his fingers and rushed back to the living room to turn the TV off. “Alright,” he clasped his hands as he walked back over to me. “Hey,” he hugged me. “You good?” he asked as he released me from his embrace. “Yeah,” I nodded, then sighed. “Just tired”. “Sorry,” he said with a pitiful look on his face. “So, did you get to see what it was that caused the traffic?”“Yeah actually. It was an accident. Nothing too serious though. I mean, I wouldn’t actually know, but from what I saw, it didn’t seem like there were any casualties or anything”. “Okay. Well, that’s good,” he nodded. “Mhm,” I said, making my way into the living room, as I dropped my keys on the dining table. “What was it that you stopped
Emma’s POVFollowing my whole issue with Liam last night and our awkward encounter with each other at breakfast this morning, I think it was safe to say that I’ve been rather uncomfortable throughout my time at work so far today. With the way the air is between us right now, I just feel weird and uneasy. Sadly, this is how I feel anytime he and I have a disagreement or a fight or whatever. The man just has too much of a hold over me and it’s very annoying sometimes – like now. Trying to get work in this moment is mad difficult because I simply cannot get him off my mind. During my lunch break, I contemplated giving him a call so we could work things out, but I decided against doing that for two main reasons. The first and most important reason was that if I did that, even though he would deny it, I would most certainly come off as desperate and probably even clingy. The second reason was that, at the end of the day, he and I would still meet each other at home, and it would be far be
Emma’s POV“Well?” Liam chuckled as he looked at me expectantly. “Are you going to tell me what it is or what?” he asked. I let out a deep breath because I knew the next words that were going to come out of my mouth weren’t going to be pleasing for him to hear. “I’ll be going to Maywood this weekend,” I gulped. “Maywood?” he asked with furrowed brows. “What’s in Maywood?”“Tony,” I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. “What? I didn’t get that?” he asked with a look of clear confusion on his face. I sighed. “Tony,” I said, my voice still low but audible enough for him to hear me this time. “Oh,” he responded, his jaw tightening. “And why exactly are you going over there?”Uhm, okay. I definitely did not expect that kind of attitude. “Uh first of all, could you please fix your attitude?” I asked. I mean, I didn’t expect him to be jolly when I mentioned this, but I didn’t exactly expect him to give me a dirty-ass attitude either. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Why are you going to se