-Owen-
I walked into the animal clinic where Emmett was working part time as part of his studies to get hands on experience from the field.
He loved every minute of it even though the jobs they gave him weren’t always what he’d imagine he would do.
When he was lucky though, they let him actually care for the animals, give them vaccines, trim cats claws and other easier tasks.
There were even a few occasions when he had to stay all night to look after overnight patients. I would keep him company just like today.
“Hey babe.” I said and put a big paper bag of take out on his desk. “How is it going tonight? Are you hungry?”
“Yeah. Starving actually, I didn’t eat all day.”
“Poor thing, let’s eat then. I got you your favorite sushi.”
“You’re the best.” He kept looking at the monitor. “I’m just going over the meds schedule for tonight, one second.”
I had to bring in a chair from the waiting room. Emmett took out the food and we could finally have dinner.
“How’s Em today?” He asked and looked down on his phone, setting up alarms so he doesn’t forget to give the animals their medicine.
“She’s fine. I think it’s really good for her living here in Summerset. She mentioned she’s looking for a job in interior design.”
“I’m so relieved.”
“She will be fine.” I ensured him and took a big sip of my Pepsi. My weakness.
Emmett’s sister has been living with us for a few weeks now and things were starting to look better for her. She wasn’t drinking and if she finds a job she likes she’ll be occupied and won’t have time to think about all the horrible things that happened last year.
-Emmalee-
I was sitting on my new bed with a laptop, looking for a job. Now that I’m in a new city, it’s time to move on and start my life again. I’ve been hiding for too long.
I was reading through the job offers with unrealistic requirements. It took me a long time until I found an offer I felt comfortable applying for.
Junior interior designer
Qualifications
•The ideal candidate will be highly self-motivated, ambitious, intelligent, skilled and interested in learning the business of interior design
•They should be just finishing or have completed interior/architecture education; have knowledge of the Summerset market
•Project management skills and construction document knowledge required
•AutoCAD, Microsoft Office (especially Excel), Sketchup & Adobe Suites proficiency is mandatory
I went over the resume I finished last night one more time to make sure there are no typos and hit send. Right after that, my phone rang.
Elliot, I read on my cell phone screen.
Why is he calling me? I thought as I was staring at the display.
Every time he calls me it’s to give me an update on Caleb’s murder case but there have been no news for at least nine months now.
“Hello?”
“Hi Em, it’s Elliot.” He started.
“I know, what’s going on?”
“Sorry it’s so late but there’s been a development in the case. We made an arrest.”
My heart was pounding. I stood up and paced around the room nervously.
“Um, ok? That’s…good.” I didn’t know how to react to this. I lost hope that the guy would ever be caught.
“That’s great, Em. There is one thing though..we need you to confirm it’s him in a police lineup.”
I was quiet. The thought of seeing that man again was absolutely terrifying.
“Em?”
“I’m here.” I replied. “I don’t think I can do it Elliot. I just moved out of Hillside, I’m finally restarting my life and-“
“I get it, I do.” Elliot interrupted me. “But without you, he will walk…Caleb will never get the justice he deserves.”
“Ok.” I finally agreed and hung up as soon as we worked out the details.
I knew I had to do it for Caleb.
I asked Caroline to join me as a support and we got to the Hillside police station the next day in the afternoon.
“I’m so nervous.” I admitted as we were waiting in the room with a big window looking into an empty room with a height chart on the wall.
“You’re gonna do great, Em. This is the last time you will have to deal with this. That’s a good thing.”
“You’re right.” I took a deep breath and looked around. “Where are they? I really want to get this over with.”
Just as I was finishing the sentence, Elliot with an older man in a suit walked into the room.
Elliot gave me a slight nod and an encouraging smile.
“Hello, my name is Carl Smith, I’m the prosecutor.” The man introduced himself. “Shall we begin?”
I nodded slowly and watched random men walk into the room behind the glass one after another, each of them holding a number.
“Don’t worry, they can’t see us.” Mr. Smith ensured me with a calming voice and continued watching with me.
As the fourth man walked in, I recognized him right away. I will never forget the evil eyes.
Once all five men were standing in a line, Elliot asked if any of them looks familiar.
“It’s number four.” I replied with certainty as I was staring at the face of the man that ruined my life.
“Thank you, Emmalle. You were a great help today. You may go now.” The prosecutor released me from my duty and shook my hand.
“Is number four the person who you arrested?” I stopped him.
“I shouldn’t be saying that but yes, you confirmed our suspect, so great job miss Morrison.”
I was so relieved. He will finally go to jail. I looked back as I was walking towards the exit and if I didn’t know better I would swear he looked straight at me. The dark eyes that were haunting me for the past year.
I drove back to Summerset after having coffee with Caroline and stopping by for dinner at my parents’ house. Mom begged me to spend the night, but I didn’t feel like it. I’m sick of this town.
When I parked my car, suddenly the thought of being alone in my room with my thoughts sounded terrible.
I need a drink.
I searched for the nearest bar and called a taxi to take me there.
Ten minutes later, I was standing in front of a tall building. I wondered for a moment if I might be underdressed for a bar like this. It looked like it would require a rather dressy attire. I thought about finding a different place for a second but then I decided to check the place out. I took an elevator to the top floor and looked at what other people are wearing.
Just as I expected. Men in suits and shirts, women mostly in short dresses. I didn’t exactly fit in with my dress pants but I didn’t care. I found a seat at the bar and mindlessly took my engagement ring off, putting it in my jacket that I hung on the hook under the bar.
“Rough day?” The bartender surprised me with his question.
“You could say that.” I replied, uninterested in a conversation.
“Sorry to hear. Want to talk about it?”
“Aren’t you busy? You know…working?”
“I can multi-task.” He shrugged his shoulders and showed me his big smile.
“I’m ok. I will take a drink though. Vodka.” I ordered.
“Coming right up, miss.” The man started pouring the clear liquor into a shot glass with ice cubes.
I drank one shot after another. All I wanted was to forget about the evil man and the horrible scene with Caleb getting shot to death that kept flashing in front of my eyes.
Few hours later I finally achieved that. I didn’t see the man, the convenience store or anything else. Everything around me was just a big smudgy picture and all I could focuse on was the loud music surrounding me.
“Another.” I ordered from the bartender.
“You’ve had enough, miss. I’m afraid I won’t be able to serve you another drink, would you like me to call you a taxi?”
I didn’t have the energy to argue. I shuffled on my seat in an attempt to get down but as soon as I did that, my head spun and I was falling straight on my face. Luckily someone sitting next to me caught me before I hit the floor.
“Geez.” He exclaimed. “Are you ok?”
“Fine, fine.” I didn’t even look at him and stumbled towards the elevator on my high heels, reaching for the walls for support…
A/N: As you can see, Emmalee is going through rough times. Let me know your thoughts in the comments 🙂 Thank you for reading!
Life goes on... 