I sat on the couch, staring at the blank television screen and nervously fiddled with the edge of a cushion. The shrill ring of the telephone almost made me jump out of my skin. I looked at it, not sure if I wanted to pick it up. Taking a deep breath, I finally did,
“Hello?”
“Emily, it’s Jane.” I couldn’t decipher from her tone what she was going to say.
“Hi…”
“Well, I’ve been talking to Nick, and to say I’m not disappointed, in you both, would be lying, but there doesn’t seem to be any reason as to why you shouldn’t continue with the job. Nick has assured me that nothing happened once you took the job… and you’re brilliant with the kids. Especially Leslie – and she’s a good judge of character. Emily, all I want from now on is honesty, okay?”
“Okay,” I breathed, feeling complete relief.
“You’ll be picking up Aaron, Angel and Les tomorrow then?”
“Yes… and Jane, I am really sorry.”
“It’s okay Emily.” I could tell that she was smiling slightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, thanks.” I hung up the phone, sat back and breathed out a long sigh of relief.
“Hey guys,” I smiled warily as the three youngest Carters climbed into the car.
“Hi Emily! We missed you yesterday,” Leslie smiled, leaning over and giving me a hug, which, to say the least, surprised me.
“I missed you too,” I smiled. Angel was particularly quiet, but offered a small smile. Aaron appeared pretty much normal, except he seemed to look at me slightly differently. Aaron and Angel scrambled out of the car as soon as I pulled up outside, but Leslie hung back.
“Emily, I don’t blame you. I know what boys can be like… I hate Nick right now.”
“Le-”
“No. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I’ll make sure Nick stays away from you…”
“Yes, but - ” Leslie smiled and climbed out of the car, not letting me get a word in edge ways.
Nick sat down on BJ’s bed as she applied her make-up. She turned to look at him, smiling slightly.
“What’s wrong?” she asked when he didn’t speak.
“Well, where should I start? Mom thinks I sleep around, Aaron looks at me funny, Angel’s real quiet, Leslie hates me… and I have no idea what to do about Emily.” BJ looked at her brother sympathetically.
“Well,” she began, pausing to apply some lipstick, “Aaron’s either jealous or completely confused, Angel’s shocked, I reckon Leslie’s a little disappointed in you – I mean, she adores Emily… and… well, how do you feel about Emily?”
“I… I really like her. I have since she first left my house… I messed up everything, and now look at me! I’ve stuffed up big time.” Nick threw his hands up in defeat.
“Nick, if you really like Emily, then tell her… everything’s out in the open… you’ve got nothing to lose.” Nick sighed,
“I guess.” He stood up and kissed his sisters forehead. “Thanks Beej!” She smiled and turned back to the mirror.
I sat down on the edge of the Carters pool, my feet skimming the surface. I was almost in a trance when Nick sat down next to me, and I forced my attention to him.
“Hey,” I smiled, speaking softly as if no one else should hear. He smiled back.
“Hi… so, how are you?” I swept my feet through the water, leaving a ripple in it’s path.
“I’m okay, glad to still have a job, that’s for sure.”
“I can imagine… and I am really sorry about all that.” Until this point he had been watching the water, but now he looked up.
“Forget about it Nick. It’s all over now.”
“Yeah,” Nick hesitated, before fully turning towards me. “Look Emily, I wanted to tell y-”
“Nick! Emily! Dinner!” Bob called from the house. I smiled and stood up,
“Tell me later?” I asked.
“Sure,” he replied reluctantly. I reached out my hand. He took it and I helped him up, his body suddenly so close that I could smell him. For a moment we just stood there. I wanted to reach up and touch the soft skin on his face, but sense kicked in.
“We better go in.” My arm brushed past his as I went back into the house.
Carla had been watching me closely ever since I had arrived home.
“What?” I asked, feeling paranoid. She shrugged.
“I saw this guy today… walking around the mall with his little brother. The kid called out my name.” She looked at me expectantly.
“And?”
“It was Aaron. One of the Carter kids. And, to say the least, I was shocked to find that his big brother was Nick Carter – the same guy I brought back here, then ran a mile once he’d seen you. What’s going on Em?” I stood up, placing the empty bowl in the sink.
“What do you mean, what’s going on?” I replied, hoping I wouldn’t have to explain.
“Emily, you know what I mean!” Carla said, following me into my room. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew him?” I shrugged,
“I didn’t think it was important.” I tried to sound nonchalant. I heard her scoff,
“You’re hiding something…” she waited for an answer, which I wasn’t going to give. She sighed and finally left. I laid back on my bed, gazing up at the ceiling, unconsciously smiling as I thought of Nick. I quickly cleared my mind. Things would become too complicated… way too complicated.
Leslie threw a carton of orange juice into the cart. I picked up a packet of biscuits.
“Emily?” I turned round to face the person who had called me. I must have looked confused. “You are Emily Leigh?”
“Yeah?” I nodded. I had absolutely no idea who he was – but he was cute.
“Will. Will Temp.” My face broke into a smile,
“Oh my God!” I threw my arms around his neck, attracting some attention from other shoppers. Will Temp had been my boyfriend for one and half years during high school. Man, did he get cuter! “How are you?”
“Good,” he smiled, “How about you? You look great!” I blushed,
“Thanks, I’m fine.” Leslie cleared her throat loudly. I turned towards her and smiled. “Will, I’d like you to meet Leslie Carter. Les. This is Will Temp – an old boyfriend.” She smiled and shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you Leslie,” Will said. She didn’t say anything, becoming very shy. “So Em, do you reckon we could go out and catch up?” I nodded, beginning to push the cart as the three of us headed towards the checkout.
“Here.” I wrote down my number on a piece of the shopping list, tore it off and gave it to Will. “Give me a call and we’ll arrange something.” He leant down and kissed my cheek, which surprised me, then walked away. “Hmm, he’s cute huh?” I said, more to myself than to Leslie.
“Yeah,” she answered, beginning to put our items on to the checkout. I smiled,
“Right. We’ll pay for this, then we better get you home. I told your mom we’d be back by five.”
I finished putting my purchases away, then flopped down on the couch. I had left the Carters at 5.30, and Carla was still out. My mind shifted to Will. He had changed a lot, but still seemed like the sweet guy I had known in high school. But I didn’t get that tingly feeling when I saw him… not like I did when I was with Nick. Why does everything come back to him? I sighed and flicked on the T.V. I have to forget my feelings for him, or at least, push them aside. I don’t want to jeopardise my job…
Nick put the cushion behind his head as he lazed in front of the television. He look up as Leslie entered and sat on the couch – furthest away from him.
“Hey Les,” he said, hopefully. She sent him an evil look before turning her attention to the programme that was on. Nick sighed and closed his eyes, trying to lessen the throbbing in his head.
“I went shopping with Emily today,” Leslie said after a moment.
“Yeah?” Nick responded, opening his eyes and looking at his sister. She nodded,
“And we ran into one of her ex-boyfriends. They seemed pretty friendly… and she gave him her number.” If she had meant to spark a feeling of jealousy, then she had succeeded. Nick was silent for a moment, trying to control the panicky feeling of anger and loss that had risen in him.
“That’s nice,” he finally responded. Why didn’t I tell her before? he thought to himself. And what the hell am I gonna do about this other guy!?
I apologised as I, once again, banged into another shopper with my bags. The mall was packed and I still wanted to look in the record store.
“Emily!” I turned to find Brian walking through the crowd towards me. “Hey.”
“Hi Brian, how are you?” He smiled, taking my arm and leading me to a vacant table in a nearby café.
“Good. Completely shattered, but good. How about you? The Carter kids keeping you busy?”
“Pretty much…” I played with the menu. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“I was wondering,” Brian said, his blue eyes looking inquisitive. “Have you noticed Nick acting strangely recently?” I shrugged.
“I’m hardly the person to ask. I hardly ever see him, and, well, I don’t know him that well.”
“Yeah, but you must’ve n-”
“Brian! There you are!” Nick stopped when he noticed me. “Oh, hey Emily.” I smiled.
“Nick, I told you I’d meet you by Sears at 4pm.” Brian said, seeming a little frustrated.
“It’s 4.30!!” Nick replied in annoyance.
“Oh…” Brian was embarrassed. “Sorry. I just got talking to Emily…” Nick sat down in the empty seat,
“Okay… I guess I’ll forgive you.” Nick smiled.
“I should really go. I wanted to go to the record store, and I needed to be home for 5pm,” I said, standing up and collecting my bags.
“Are you going out?” Brian asked, standing up also. I nodded,
“Just for a drink with a friend from high school.” Nick’s face looked strained,
“Oh… would this be the guy you met in the grocery store?” I must have looked surprised, as he quickly added, “Leslie mentioned something.”
“Oh right. Yeah…” I wanted to know if he cared. I know I shouldn’t want him to, but I do. Just because I don’t think I should like him, doesn’t mean I don’t! “Anyway, I’ll see you later.” I left quickly, wishing that Nick didn’t have such a lasting affect on me!
Part Four
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