Emma wakes up the next day, knowing that in a few hours soon, Layla and Rowan will arrive to take Ryan out for a playdate.And even though she slept in a weird mood yesterday after the conversation she had with Eric, she wasn’t going to let that distract her today.“Honey?” Her mom calls Emma, who quickly breaks out of her thoughts. She looks to see that the bowl she kept in the sink was overfilled. And the fruits her mom told her to wash were drowning in the sink."Oh my god!” she called out, turning off the tap as quickly as she could. Of course, she was still too deep in her thoughts."Is something on your mind, dear?”“This all feels weird; why do I feel like I’d wake up, and it will be a dream, and Rowan was never here, and this weird feeling I just keep having, I want to go pursue my dreams, you know?"“As I said, I’m with you every step of the way, honey,” she mutters, hugging Emma, who squeezes back tightly.“Thanks, Mom,” she says before she points at the bowl. "I cut up a few
"What do you mean, go to New York alone?” Emma asked her mom, annoyed, as she questioned Julianna. Ryan was already asleep, so she took him to her room and dropped him there before she came back out.“Mom, I don’t understand why.”"Working for such a big company has always been your dream, and baking has always been mine. I found my passion back, and I still want to work here, but I know you don’t belong here. This isn’t your passion."“Mom, why? I thought you wanted us to be together...," but Julianna had crossed the room to hold her daughter, hugging her tightly and pouring all the love she could in it. ."I do, but you're here. Because of me, you did things and accepted a lot of things for my sake; now I want you to live for you; I want you to be happy,” she says to Emma, who begins to cry.“Mum.”"Don't cry, baby; I will come anytime. Anytime you need me to be there, I will be, and for sure, I’ll send you and Ryan your favorite cakes and pastries," her mom promised.She knew that t
The elevator dinged as it reached the top floor; the floor only had two doors, one for her and the other for her neighbor. Layla punched in the code and told Emma she could change it if she wanted to. Emma could hardly keep her mouth closed because of how beautiful the house was. They walked into the entrance gallery, filled with light that resonated through the perfectly white-painted walls.There were three rooms, all decorated beautifully with minimalistic yet stunning designs that mesmerized Emma.Layla gave her a tour of the grand gallery and the small room that was her office in case she still had work to do for him from the company."And that’s the tour; I have been here a lot, so I’d leave you to figure out where you want to choose,” Layla called as they stepped into Ryan’s room.It was painted sky blue with beautiful stickers of whales and stars; his bed was a beautiful beige canopy, and the moment Ryan walked into the room behind his mom, his eyes widened. "And this is your
“What?”Emma was shocked out of her mind by Rowan's announcement. Did he just say he was her neighbor—the neighbor who just moved in with her?“What would you do?""You know my hands are full with the groceries,” he says, showing Emma his hands filled with groceries, and even Ryan joined in as he raised the small bottle of milk."Me too, me too, mom, let’s go in." Ryan whined, and Emma had no choice as she opened the door, letting both father and son in.She was still in disbelief, but she didn’t want to talk to him in front of Ryan. "Ryan, can you go wash your hands, please?” Emma notes this to Ryan, who runs to his room.And the moment he was out of earshot, Emma turned to Rowan, her eyes mad and searching as she confronted him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Rowan? You’re stalking us now.“No… I was staying here first.""That's total bull, Rowan.""I have a lot of houses here, and I just wanted to have a change of location, and coincidentally, you were here too.” Emma wa
She accepted his ride, learning to put her pride aside juts this one time , and she couldn’t ruin Ryan’s bonding time with him anyway; she didn't have the heart to.They got into the car, with Rowan putting Ryan’s seat belt on before he walked into the driver's seat and then turned on the ignition. For a split second, Emma held her breath, taken aback by the moment that Rowan leaned over to her side, making her instinctively close her eyes. She wondered if he was just going to kiss her like this, and her heart skipped a beat. But then she heard a loud click, opened her eyes to see that a belt had been passed over her, and clicked in. He was just putting her in her seat belt, and Emma felt so embarrassed. She felt blood on her cheeks and ears as she turned to the window, clearing her throat as she turned away, embarrassed by what she had just done."Why would you even think he was about to kiss you?" she scolded herself as Rowan smirked before he reversed the wheels, and they were ou
Emma left the elevator and quickly remembered that she was supposed to be at work in less than 20 seconds as she cursed Rowan in her head for distracting her with his damning smile.She reached the department with other recruits already lined up and waiting, and she felt embarrassed that she got in last with everyone looking at her as she joined the small group.She checked herself, making sure her clothes were right and her hair too, as she calmed her breathing the minute someone else walked in."Hello everyone." An older man called, getting all their attention as they all turned from their work desks to the new group at the center."We have our recruits today, and I’d like we can all give them a hand in welcoming them to the planning and strategy department of Kings Consolidated,” the older man says, and the room goes up in applause and smiles."I am Mr. Sanders and the assistant manager of this department. Our manager is a little grumpy this morning, but he’s over there, so be sure
She leaves Jamie’s office after a few minutes of small talk. She then gets the rest of her work done before heading out to get a bit of fresh air.Thankfully, their rooftop was fully vacant and publicly built as a recreational spot to hang out during breaks, and she was glad that there was hardly anyone there right now.She takes in the fresh, crisp air, breaking in and out to cool her head, as so much thought fumbled with her mind and she needed time to think. She wouldn’t like what Jamie said to affect her; she knew that her heart was still away from him. Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She saw Raya and Amy on the line for a video call; thankfully, she wasn’t busy.She quickly picked it up, facing the camera to her face, and the minute she saw her friend, her stress quickly reduced. "Hey guys," Emma called to Amy and Raya; they were at the beach with their sunglasses and swimsuits.She was glad they were still enjoying their honeymoon. “Hey Emma, we wanted
The walk of shame back to the company was jarring. Emma knew Jamie was giving her a mischievous and playful glint as he messed with her.“Oh? Something isn’t going on, really.”“Um, why would you say we are in a relationship ?” Emma tried to explain, but their sly smiles just told her he wouldn’t believe anything, especially after what Rowan did in front of them all.They were in the elevator when Jamie scooted over to where she stood. Emma tried her best not to laugh at him; this was her first day, and all this had begun to happen.She thanked God for the moment the elevator opened, and she walked out fast to her desk and tried to concentrate on her work for the rest of the day. She thought the coast was clear, but not until she saw Rowan waiting by the car in front of the office.She tried to run away and act like she didn’t see him, but everything was futile the moment he called her name. "Emma," Rowan said to her.“You,” she whispered, walking to him fast, "get in, get in!” She ca