Taste the Courage
four.
“Jan, please.. I need this job!” Emma pleaded over the phone as she drove to yet another meeting with her lawyer.
The gym owner sighed, “I'm sorry, but you've canceled four practices in two weeks. These girls need to get into states and having an inconsistent schedule and unreliable coach just isn't going to get them there.”
“You don't understand, I need the money. I-”
“I'm sorry, Emma but we can't have you working here. You can pick up your last pay check on Friday.”
The line went dead. She killed the engine and pulled her sunglasses over her face. Her heels clicked against the pavement furiously. The meeting with her lawyer didn't last long. There was a lot of back and forth on the phone with Max's lawyer and eventually there was a set court date.
“So, I'll be seeing you in two weeks?” Lola asked guiding her client to the front desk.
Emma bit the inside of her lip, “I uh, I don't think so. I think I'm going to just use a free public lawyer for this case..”
Not pressing the subject, Lola gave the distressed girl a hug and wished her the best of luck. Once back outside in the California sun, Emma pulled her sunglasses back over her face. She rushed to her car and began driving down PCH. At a red light, Emma pulled out her phone and sent a text to Matt letting him know she was coming over.
Emma spent the entire drive nervously nibbling the inside of her lip. How was she supposed to drop the news of being fired to Matt? He had done so much for her without asking for anything in return- all his friends had. The entire Avenged family had taken Emma under their wings and provided her with so much.
“Hey Em,” Val greeted stepping aside for her friend to come inside, “Matt's on his way home from the studio with Johnny. They should be here any second.”
Emma smiled and entered the grand home. The girls made their way into the kitchen where Emma dropped her purse on the bar stool beside her. Val pour them a glass of wine and they began chatting casually.
“So, how did the meeting with you lawyer go? Is Abe coming back?”
The brunette took a rather large sip of her drink and placed it back on the bar counter, “I have no idea. They set a court date but uh... there have been a few-” She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, “complications.”
The blonde wrinkled her brow, “What do you mean complications?”
“This is so embarrassing to say...”Emma killed her wine, “I lost my job. Jan called me while I was pulling into the parking lot and she fired me. I can't afford to use Lola for the court appearance.” Knowing what her friend was about to say, Emma continued talking, “I can't borrow anymore money from you or Matt... any of the guys actually. I can use my last pay check to pay Johnny for the rent I've owed him for a while and I'll start looking for some waitressing job or something tomorrow.”
Val sighed, “Please, just let us help you out. We love having you around and we don't want to see you standing in line at the soup kitchen when I go to volunteer.”
“I'll be alright,” Emma looked down at her clothes, “For starters I can sell a bunch of these fancy clothes I have.”
“In th name of Prada, I refuse to let you sell your clothes. If you do that, where am I supposed to go when I have nothing to wear?”
Emma giggled as the front door slammed shut. She and Val exchanged worried looks before making their way back to the front door to see what the issue was. Matt stood by the door, his sunglasses still covering his eyes. Johnny looked exhausted and worn out.
“You okay?” Val mumbled into her husband's cheek, pressing her lips to his skin gently.
The bassist tossed his jacket over the back of the couch and kicked off his shoes, “It was stressful at the studio today. Brian was snapping at everyone. Everyone tried to just stay out of his way.”
“His assistant basically screwed him over- tapped into some of his personal accounts, took shit... the whole nine yards.” Matt continued.
Emma gasped softly, “Oh fuck, what's he going to do?”
Johnny ran a hand through his colored hair, “Well, first he's gotta find a new assistant then-”
“Emma will do it!” Val interjected, “Right?”
Three sets of eyes jumped onto the brunette. She shifted nervously and Matt raised an eyebrow, “What about the gym?”
“I uh... I got fired.” She muttered, “But I was going to just grab a waitressing job. Brian deserves someone much better for this job.”
▲▲▲
“Remind me again why I'm doing this?” Emma asked as she drove over to Brian's.
Val giggled, “Because, he needs someone he can trust. Plus, we all know Bri's got his eye on you.”
Rolling her eyes, Emma parked her rental behind several other cars already sitting outside the beach side house, “Alright, well, I'm here.. I'll call you after.”
She shoved the phone back into her purse, took a deep breath, and opened the door. The brunette whistled softly mumbling something about an impressive production going on. Noticing a line of girls in low cut shirts and super short skirts, Emma wrote down her name after the last one. She nibbled the inside of her lip feeling slightly over dressed.
Her foot bounced in its heel nervously. The line began to slowly dwindle down to three, then two, and finally Emma was the only one left. An exhausted looking Brian exited his home studio and began heading down the hall in the opposite direction. Realizing that Brian wasn't turning around, Emma stood from her seat slowly.
“Uhm... Bri?”
Brian rubbed his tired eyes, “Em, what are you doing here?”
Emma nervously bit her lip, “I uh, I was told you were doing job interviews today- figured I might as well toss my resume in the pile...”
Noticing her weight shifting back and forth, Brian walked over and placed a calming hand on her lower back ushering her into the living room. He grabbed her a beer from the kitchen and asked her to make herself comfortable, “Why would you want this job?”
She took a sip of her beer and placed it on the coffee table in front of her, “I thought the gnome or Matt had told you..”
Brian raised his eyebrow in confusion, “Tell me what? They didn't say anything.”
“I got fired. Val insisted I come apply with you instead of that diner on Sunset.”
Brian smirked knowing exactly what Valary Sanders intentions were when she suggested the job opening. Knowing Val forever, she was always one of the first he went to when it came to girl troubles. Ever since Emma kissed the musician at Matt's barbecue, she had avoided him like the plague. However, once Val heard of Brian needing an assistant, she jumped on the opportunity to help out her long time friend.
The gym owner sighed, “I'm sorry, but you've canceled four practices in two weeks. These girls need to get into states and having an inconsistent schedule and unreliable coach just isn't going to get them there.”
“You don't understand, I need the money. I-”
“I'm sorry, Emma but we can't have you working here. You can pick up your last pay check on Friday.”
The line went dead. She killed the engine and pulled her sunglasses over her face. Her heels clicked against the pavement furiously. The meeting with her lawyer didn't last long. There was a lot of back and forth on the phone with Max's lawyer and eventually there was a set court date.
“So, I'll be seeing you in two weeks?” Lola asked guiding her client to the front desk.
Emma bit the inside of her lip, “I uh, I don't think so. I think I'm going to just use a free public lawyer for this case..”
Not pressing the subject, Lola gave the distressed girl a hug and wished her the best of luck. Once back outside in the California sun, Emma pulled her sunglasses back over her face. She rushed to her car and began driving down PCH. At a red light, Emma pulled out her phone and sent a text to Matt letting him know she was coming over.
Emma spent the entire drive nervously nibbling the inside of her lip. How was she supposed to drop the news of being fired to Matt? He had done so much for her without asking for anything in return- all his friends had. The entire Avenged family had taken Emma under their wings and provided her with so much.
“Hey Em,” Val greeted stepping aside for her friend to come inside, “Matt's on his way home from the studio with Johnny. They should be here any second.”
Emma smiled and entered the grand home. The girls made their way into the kitchen where Emma dropped her purse on the bar stool beside her. Val pour them a glass of wine and they began chatting casually.
“So, how did the meeting with you lawyer go? Is Abe coming back?”
The brunette took a rather large sip of her drink and placed it back on the bar counter, “I have no idea. They set a court date but uh... there have been a few-” She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, “complications.”
The blonde wrinkled her brow, “What do you mean complications?”
“This is so embarrassing to say...”Emma killed her wine, “I lost my job. Jan called me while I was pulling into the parking lot and she fired me. I can't afford to use Lola for the court appearance.” Knowing what her friend was about to say, Emma continued talking, “I can't borrow anymore money from you or Matt... any of the guys actually. I can use my last pay check to pay Johnny for the rent I've owed him for a while and I'll start looking for some waitressing job or something tomorrow.”
Val sighed, “Please, just let us help you out. We love having you around and we don't want to see you standing in line at the soup kitchen when I go to volunteer.”
“I'll be alright,” Emma looked down at her clothes, “For starters I can sell a bunch of these fancy clothes I have.”
“In th name of Prada, I refuse to let you sell your clothes. If you do that, where am I supposed to go when I have nothing to wear?”
Emma giggled as the front door slammed shut. She and Val exchanged worried looks before making their way back to the front door to see what the issue was. Matt stood by the door, his sunglasses still covering his eyes. Johnny looked exhausted and worn out.
“You okay?” Val mumbled into her husband's cheek, pressing her lips to his skin gently.
The bassist tossed his jacket over the back of the couch and kicked off his shoes, “It was stressful at the studio today. Brian was snapping at everyone. Everyone tried to just stay out of his way.”
“His assistant basically screwed him over- tapped into some of his personal accounts, took shit... the whole nine yards.” Matt continued.
Emma gasped softly, “Oh fuck, what's he going to do?”
Johnny ran a hand through his colored hair, “Well, first he's gotta find a new assistant then-”
“Emma will do it!” Val interjected, “Right?”
Three sets of eyes jumped onto the brunette. She shifted nervously and Matt raised an eyebrow, “What about the gym?”
“I uh... I got fired.” She muttered, “But I was going to just grab a waitressing job. Brian deserves someone much better for this job.”
▲▲▲
“Remind me again why I'm doing this?” Emma asked as she drove over to Brian's.
Val giggled, “Because, he needs someone he can trust. Plus, we all know Bri's got his eye on you.”
Rolling her eyes, Emma parked her rental behind several other cars already sitting outside the beach side house, “Alright, well, I'm here.. I'll call you after.”
She shoved the phone back into her purse, took a deep breath, and opened the door. The brunette whistled softly mumbling something about an impressive production going on. Noticing a line of girls in low cut shirts and super short skirts, Emma wrote down her name after the last one. She nibbled the inside of her lip feeling slightly over dressed.
Her foot bounced in its heel nervously. The line began to slowly dwindle down to three, then two, and finally Emma was the only one left. An exhausted looking Brian exited his home studio and began heading down the hall in the opposite direction. Realizing that Brian wasn't turning around, Emma stood from her seat slowly.
“Uhm... Bri?”
Brian rubbed his tired eyes, “Em, what are you doing here?”
Emma nervously bit her lip, “I uh, I was told you were doing job interviews today- figured I might as well toss my resume in the pile...”
Noticing her weight shifting back and forth, Brian walked over and placed a calming hand on her lower back ushering her into the living room. He grabbed her a beer from the kitchen and asked her to make herself comfortable, “Why would you want this job?”
She took a sip of her beer and placed it on the coffee table in front of her, “I thought the gnome or Matt had told you..”
Brian raised his eyebrow in confusion, “Tell me what? They didn't say anything.”
“I got fired. Val insisted I come apply with you instead of that diner on Sunset.”
Brian smirked knowing exactly what Valary Sanders intentions were when she suggested the job opening. Knowing Val forever, she was always one of the first he went to when it came to girl troubles. Ever since Emma kissed the musician at Matt's barbecue, she had avoided him like the plague. However, once Val heard of Brian needing an assistant, she jumped on the opportunity to help out her long time friend.