The Music to His Lyrics

Emma beamed as she and Jared strode down the sidewalk, glancing at the store windows they passed by.

“So, now that we’ve gone to breakfast we’re going to get coffee?” she asked, an eyebrow raised.

“I wanted to make the most of the time we’d be spending together.” Jared explained, taking Emma’s hand in his own.

Emma blushed.

Suddenly, the cell phone in her purse began to vibrate, setting off a sound indicating she had received a text message. She had purposely been ignoring all of Joanna’s calls and texts since she left the house. There was no doubt she’d pay for doing so later, but she wasn’t going to let Joanna ruin this day for her.

“Telemarketers? Bill collectors? Stalkers?“ Jared guessed.

The last guess made Emma laugh. “No, worse. My stepmother.“

Jared smiled, and said, “You could always tell her your phone ran out of battery.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders, and replied, “True.”

She began to slow her pace as they walked by a store window where a mannequin was clothed in a beautiful royal blue knee-length dress with a V-neck cut that tied at the neck. She paused, and admired the lovely dress.

Jared raised an eyebrow, “You want to try it on?”

“I don’t know,” Emma murmured, glancing at the store name. There was no way she would be able to afford something from Annette’s Design. She had never even stepped inside the store because simply glancing upon the glamorous pieces they offered was pure torture. That’s how expensive everything inside the store was.

Jared encouraged her, “It wouldn’t hurt.”

“Guess not,” Emma said hesitantly as Jared held the door open to the store for her and she walked into the store, brushing past him.

Emma regretted her decision the moment she stepped foot inside of the store. In the midst of professionally dressed clerks, she, dressed in an old pair of faded blue jeans and a simple purple V-neck shirt, certainly stood out. She immediately felt intimidated as one of the women clerks, with her nose held high, approached her and looked her over.

The woman’s face looked worn and wrinkled, her thin figure stood prim and proper in a black jacket and skirt piece, and her nose appeared to have been through too many plastic surgeries to count. Her cheek bones jutted out as her cold, blue-gray eyes shot Emma such an icy look, it made her feel as though she didn’t belong. It was as if she was being looked down upon by a total stranger.

“On second thought,” Emma murmured, loud enough for Jared to hear, “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

Jared squeezed one of her hands the moment she turned to head back towards the door and whispered, “Come on, Parker. We’ll only be a minute or two.”

The lady turned to face Jared, completely ignoring Emma, and greeted him, saying, “Welcome to Annette’s Design. Is there anything I can assist you with today?”

“Yes,” Jared replied, glancing towards Emma. “This lovely lady would like to try on the blue dress on the window mannequin in her size, please?”

“So sorry, we seem to be out of size large. The sizes run very small here,” the lady replied, shooting Emma a look as if arrows were being shot out of her eyes.

“I’m actually a size medium. And regardless of whether the sizes run small in this store or not, that is what I would like to try on. If you please,” Emma snapped, her voice bitter.

The woman nodded, and replied with a stoic expression on her face, “Yes, miss.”

She walked away, and Jared shot Emma a wink, and whispered, “You really told her.”

Emma whispered in reply, “Of course I did. As an employee, my size is of no concern to her. The service people provide in stores today is ridiculous. If they‘re so bitter then why don’t they go find a job where they don‘t have to deal with other people?”

The woman returned with the dress, which she handed to Emma. She then guided the two towards the area in the back of the store where the dressing rooms and lounge were located. Calm music was playing in the lounge, and Jared took a seat on the couch next to a small table on which a bucket of ice with champagne and two tall glasses were placed. Emma placed her purse beside him, and closed the dressing room door behind her. Jared poured himself a glass as he waited. While Emma was changing, her purse began to vibrate, and did so about four times until Emma emerged from her dressing room, wearing the beautiful royal blue gown. It was a perfect fit.

Jared placed his champagne glass aside, stood up from his seat, placed his hands in his pockets, and let out a long wolf whistle.

“Damn, Parker,” he laughed.

Emma scoffed, and raised an eyebrow as he walked up to her. He ran the back of his hand along the side of her cheek, and placed it underneath her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his own. Emma was breathless at this point. Jared glanced towards the tall three-way mirror that stood before them, and whispered in Emma’s ear, “Look at yourself.“

Emma looked upon her reflection as well. She looked like an actress in a dazzling blue dress holding hands with Jared Arrington, one of the lead singers in Downhill Mystery. She didn’t look like Emma Parker. She smiled as she took note of the way the dress looked on her. Not too tight, but fitting, in a manner that complemented her hourglass figure. Wearing that dress made her feel better about herself. In that royal blue dress she didn’t feel like a waitress, or a kitchen girl at Rick’s Smoothie. She felt confident, and important.

When she turned to face Jared, her heart skipped a beat the moment their eyes met again.

“You’re really something else. You know that?“ Jared murmured.

The silence to follow was broken the moment Emma’s phone began to ring. She let out a groan in frustration.

“I’m sorry,“ she apologized to Jared, “Although I highly doubt it, she might be trying to reach me about something important.“

She strode over to the couch where she had left her purse, and yanked her phone out, jabbing at a few buttons only to scroll down and see about three missed calls and seven text messages from Joanna:

New text message (1 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]: Emma, I need you to be home early enough to prepare a halfway decent dinner tonight. We’ll be having company over, a Dr. Phillips, and a client of mine. I want nothing less than perfection. For dinner, I want you to make grilled salmon fillets with fresh vegetables and Caesar salad. It must be ready before 9pm tonight.

New text message (2 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]:
Oh, and on your way home, I need you to pick up more of my wrinkle cream and the dresses the girls sent to be hemmed at the tailor’s.

New text message (3 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]:
Since the dog groomer’s place is on the way, pick up Lulu. I have our chauffer driving me to the spa and he is currently unavailable to pick her up himself.

New text message (4 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]:
I want to see the house spotless when I arrive home. That means the furniture, the kitchen counter, the desks, the tables, and the windows need to be dusted. Make sure the dishes are clean and do some rounds of laundry while you’re at it.

“Jeez,” Emma thought to herself. “Perfect punctuation in text messages? This woman was so anal!”

New text message (5 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]:
Make sure to pick up incense and five tall thin candles for the candelabra and a bouquet of white roses to set as the centerpiece of the table. Use only the fine china and woven placemats when you set the table. I’ll be calling you to check up on you. Absolutely everything has to be finished the moment I step foot in the house. If I’m not happy with what I see, you and I will be on bad terms.

New text message (6 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]: Pick up your phone. NOW! I’ve called twice and it’s gone to voicemail.

New text message (7 of 7): [Joanna Owens-Felucci-Sinclair]:
You and I are going to have some SERIOUS problems if you don’t answer your phone, you selfish brat!

Emma scoffed, and said under her breath, “We’re already on bad terms, lady.”

“Everything okay?” Jared asked.

Emma turned to him, her phone still in hand, and began deleting the messages in her text message inbox. She’d get around to being Joanna’s slave later.

“Not really,” Emma sighed, “But that’s normal for me.”

Jared took a step towards her, closing Emma’s flip phone in her palm and closing his hand over her own. He was so close to her that his breath felt cool upon her cheek as he spoke. It smelled of a mixture of the mint and a slight hint of the champagne he had been sipping on while waiting for Emma to return from the dressing room wearing the royal blue dress.

“I can help you out with that,” he whispered into her ear, giving Emma a light kiss on the cheek.

He then swept her away, pressing his lips against her own, capturing her attention in a single gesture. Emma was lost in the moment while his lips brushed against hers. She placed her hands upon his broad shoulders, and he wound his hands around her waist, pulling her nearer to his muscular chest.

Jared seemed deeply caught in the moment, and the kiss grew more passionate. His lips grew hungry for more, and his movements became swift. Emma was lost in the moment as well, but not so much so that she had grown ignorant of the situation she was in.

The moment she felt Jared’s hands sliding down her waist, she quickly pulled away from the kiss, and broke away from his embrace, quite out of breath.

Jared laughed. “Too soon?”

Emma bit her lip, and slowly nodded her head.

“Maybe we could head over to pick up that coffee now,” Emma suggested.

“I could tell you were into it, though.” he said with a wink.

“You’re certainly one to assume,” Emma said, placing her hands on her hips after she tossed her phone beside her purse on the couch.

“You wouldn’t have kissed me back like that if you weren’t,” Jared mentioned, taking a step towards her and leaning his forehead against hers.

Emma sighed. “Take it slow, okay? I’m not that kind of girl,”

Jared shrugged his shoulders, “Fine by me, babe.”

He kissed her forehead, and walked over to the couch where she had left her purse. He plopped down upon the soft cushions, and placed his hands behind his head, leaning comfortably against the back of the couch.

As Emma was about to walk into the dressing room and close the door behind her, Jared spoke up.

She glanced over her shoulder in time to hear Jared say, “You’ve gotta cut me some slack, Parker. You’re pretty hard to resist.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile as she closed the dressing room door behind her. Once she had changed back into her clothes and hung the dress up on a hangar, she stared at its gorgeous royal blue silken material. She ran her hand over it, and took a glance at her reflection in the small dressing room mirror. Goodbye image of an actress, and hello Emma Parker.