Chapter 6 – Meeting Lester

Walking casually through the mall to the Bedding store; Simone notices a few couples holding hands. Pausing a moment to contemplate if she should hold Emmett’s; ‘would he mind if I held his hand? We are married after all’ she questions herself.

Deciding to just do it; Simone picks up her pace to catch up to Emmett, grabbing hold of his hand; “I only have short legs” she teases; slowing down his stride.

Emmett looks down at her hand; a small smile caresses his face. “Sorry, I should have been more aware” he answers; not letting go of her any time soon. ‘This is better’ he injects inwardly.

They walk into the Bedding store and promptly purchase the items Simone wanted to buy before heading back out; hand in hand. “Where to now?” Emmett asks her.

“We could always go to the food court to get lunch” Simone suggests, looking at his reaction.

‘Ugh’ he says to himself. Emmett was never fond of food from a food court. But as he was pretending to be a journalist and not a CEO; he agreed to her suggestion. “Sounds like a plan” he voices, before they set off to get a meal.

The pair order their food and move themselves to a nearby table. Just as they are about to sit down, a voice calls out to Emmett from behind them. “Hey Emms; wait up” Lester yells, running over to the pair with a pretty brunette.

Emmett couldn’t hide the disgruntled look on his face when he and Simone turned to face Lester. “What are you doing here?” he snarls, voicing his displeasure. ‘Sticking your nose into my business; no doubt. Thank God the only girlfriends I was introduced to were Eden his assistant and Debra from HR’ he adds to himself.

“Megan wanted to get some new shoes. You messaged to say you and the misses were coming down to the mall; I thought it would be a great time to get them for her” Lester exclaims, ignoring Emmett’s hostility. “And you must be the new wife?”

“Yes, and you are?” Simone answers, raising an eyebrow at him. Curious on who the person who knew their situation was.

“Go get yourself something pretty” Lester says, handing over his credit card to Megan. The trio watch as she disappears into a nearby shoe store.

“This is Lester. We went to university together and he works with me at the magazine” Emmett says through gritted teeth. “Why are you here?” He asks him again.

“I wanted to meet the woman who has stolen Emmett’s heart; enough to marry him” Lester teased; causing Simone’s face to turn pink.

“Bull shit” Emmett spits, standing up to leave; clutching onto Simone’s hand to go with him.

“Emmett; wait” Lester calls out again. “Sonia was saying she was having a hard time getting hold of Leona Simmons. Apparently, she is on a two-month vacation now the autumn collection has come to an end.”

Upon hearing the name ‘Leona Simmons;’ Simone almost choked on the bottle of water she was drinking from. Coughing to regain her composure; the two men eye her. “Sorry” she splutters between coughs.

“Are you ok?” Emmett questions, concern crossing his face at the sight of her choking.

“Yeah; I shouldn’t try to drink and take a breath at the same time” she states, her face turning pink again from embarrassment.

“She was hoping you could have a word with her manager, since you are a pro in getting interviews” Lester requests, turning his focus back to Emmett again.

“Leona Simmons isn’t the only one on vacation. Tell Sonia, if she wants me to call her manager; she will have to wait until I get back in 2 weeks” Emmett tells him, sitting back down to continue eating his food.

‘I never thought I would see the day; Drake Spencer is eating in a food court’ Lester chuckles to himself. “You might want to leave now, before your girlfriend spends all your money and you don’t have anything left for your other 8” Emmett spits as Lester mutters under his breath before running off to retrieve his credit card from Megan.

“If you need to go back to work. I understand” Simone whispers, a frown creeping on her face. ‘Please don’t go back; please don’t go back’ she chants over and over in her mind.

“They can wait until I get back. If they want to get an interview with Ms Simmons before then; they will have to figure out a way to do it without me” Emmett explains; putting his hand on Simone’s.

Relief crossing her face; “Lester seems nice” Simone comments, taking a bite of her cannelloni.

“Nice and nosey” Emmett replies under his breath with a grunt. Simone still heard his comment and burst into a fit of giggles.  ‘It’s good to see her laughing’ he smiles to himself.

“Lester owns Lester Drake Media?” Simone enquires, controlling her giggles contemplating his name.

“Co-owns with a guy called Drake Spencer” Emmett informs her, looking into her hazel eyes to try and figure out her enquiry. “He offered me a job at the magazine since I was coming back to Rocky Valley.”

‘I see’ Simone says to herself. ‘The plot thickens.’ “So naturally you told him about our wedding” she mentions, taking another sip from her bottle of water.

“Yes. He is a good friend of mine. I hope you didn’t mind” Emmett says, taking a sip of water himself.

“No. I don’t mind” Simone states, finishing her meal and placing the napkin on her plate.

Emmett finished his meal not long after and the pair decide to head home. ‘I need to figure out a way I can do the interview; without doing the interview’ Simone contemplates to herself, slowly getting into the car. ‘I might get Tiff to have them email through a copy of the questions they want to ask me and I will answer and send them back.’

“What are you thinking?” Emmett asks, glancing towards Simone.

“Nothing much” she responds, giving him a smile. “I enjoyed spending time with you today.”

“I did too” Emmett replies, taking her hand in his; while he drives home to the bungalow.