Girl That You Love

“This is such a great movie, isn’t it the best?” Robbie exclaimed, his eyes glued to the TV as he watched Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis trade quips as a bunch of Russians, she thought they were Russians anyway (aren’t they usually Russian in these things?), shot at them with large machine guns.

With Patrick finishing up in Australia and about to head to LA for a few days of recording, Emma found herself watching a lot of movies with Robbie the last couple of weeks to keep herself occupied. She begged Christian for some meaty story ideas, but he insisted on giving her fluff pieces until “after the wedding and honeymoon”. Most of the wedding planning was complete, and with the rest of it now in the hands of professionals, all Emma could do was wait. Wait for her soon-to-be husband to return, wait for her wedding day, wait for her new life to begin. She wanted to go out, but with the cold streak running rampant through New York, and Robbie’s insistence that she need to stay close to him in case anyone tries anything. Emma believed that if anyone really wanted to harm her that they would have done so already – it had been almost two months since the incident with the crazy fan – but Patrick, unfortunately agreed with Robbie. And so the only way she could satisfy the waiting was to sit with Robbie in her new house and watch movies.

“I guess so,” she conceded. “I do get a kick out of watching all of these old dudes fighting each other. It’s got a nostalgic factor,” she added. “Hey pass some of that popcorn.”

Robbie grabbed the large plastic bowl on the coffee table next to him and looked down into it. “Um, actually, we’re out.” He looked up at her with guilty eyes.

Emma sighed. “Right, I’ll go make some more.” She got up, and when she did, she felt a rush and nausea overtake her. “Oh… Oh wow,” she breathed, steadying herself on the couch.

Robbie jumped up and grabbed her elbow. “Oh hey, are you all right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I am. Just… I’ve been feeling a bit nauseous the last couple of days. I think I’m coming down with something.”

Robbie frowned. “That’s not good.”

“You’re telling me. I would like to not be throwing up everywhere when I’m wearing a white dress, she joked. She thought she saw a flicker of displeasure cross Robbie’s face. What was odd about it was that it wasn’t disgust from the thought of her vomiting, but it was something else, something Emma couldn’t place.

“Well, if you need me to get you anything, I will.” He squeezed her elbow gently, almost intimately, and stepped a bit closer. “Emma, I’m here for you, remember that.”

An uncomfortable feeling came over her, and she pulled away from him, laughing wearily. “Yeah, of course.” She escaped into the kitchen to put another bag of popcorn in the microwave. Once it started heating up, she leaned against the stove and sighed. She didn’t feel keen on returning to her own living room. There was something strange about Robbie’s presence there suddenly, as if she was cheating on Patrick. It didn’t feel right.

Suddenly, the buzzer from the downstairs intercom system sounded. She raced over to her intercom.
“Hello?” she called out over the system. Robbie entered the hallway and looked at her quizzically. She gave him a shrug. She wasn’t expecting anyone at this time of night.

“Emma? Hey, it’s me Joel.” Joel. She was surprised by his arrival at her condo. She and Joel kept their distance from each other for the last few months ever since he had admitted he still had feelings for her. Beyond the occasional chat at parties and work, she hadn’t had a real conversation with Joel in a long time. She actually kind of missed it, so she was hoping that he was here to tell her he was finally over her and ready to be friends. “So, I need to talk to you about something. Can I come up?”
Emma glanced at Robbie, who was glowering at her. She knew he felt the same way as most of her friends did about him; that they couldn’t trust him. “Yeah, sure, come on up.” She buzzed open the main door of the building.

“Emma, what are you doing?” Robbie said accusingly. “If Patrick found out…”

“So what? Robbie, you’re here, it’s not like I’m going to fuck him. I mean, that’s not going to happen! Joel was my friend first before he decided he was in love with me. I have never felt that way about him.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand you boys. You think I can’t handle myself with him? I promise you, Joel tries to make a move, I’ll make sure he never walks again.”

Robbie smirked. “All right. I still don’t like it though.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Robbie, I’m going to need to you hide out in your room.”

His mouth dropped open. “What!? Em, you’ve got to be…” He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Emma?” Joel called out from the other side.

Emma narrowed her eyes at Robbie and motioned him to go to his room. He shook his head wildly, making Emma scrunch her eyes and lips up in anger and shoot her pointer finger toward the direction of his room.

Robbie huffed and stormed away. Once she heard his door shut, she opened the front door. In front of her stood Joel, looking sheepish and tired.

“Hey Joel, nice of you to stop by at 10:30 in the evening. Usually social calls are between the hourse of 5 and 9.” She gave him a big hug and welcomed him inside.

“Yeah, I’m sorry Emma, if you need me to leave, I will.”

“No, it’s okay, I’m just kidding with you. I was just forcing myself to watch Expendables 2 with my bodyguard.”

“Yikes, cliché action movie about washed up cliché action heroes. Glad I stopped that,” Joel laughed.

“Hey now, it’s not terrible, it’s just…”

“A way for a couple of those guys to pay the bills?”

They both laughed. “Come on, I’ll grab you a drink in the kitchen.”
Emma grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed it to Joel. “All right, So what’s on your mind Joel?”

Joel took a swig of his beer and took a seat at the island. “Right, so, Emma, there’s something I have to tell you.”

His pregnant pause made Emma suddenly nervous. The last time Joel said those words, he was confessing he still had feelings for her and couldn’t be at her and Patrick’s engagement party. She took a seat opposite him and took a sip of her own beer. She figured she would probably need it after this talk.

He looked from his bottle to her. “So, I know that we haven’t really talked lately since, well, you know,” he motioned for her to remember their prior conversation. She nodded to him to indicate that she did.
“Right, of course you do. Well, anyway, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Emma leaned in, intrigued. “Go on…”

“Okay, well, I was just offered a job with CNN in their District of Columbia division, and I accepted.”
Emma’s eyes widened. This was not the news she was expecting. “What!? You’re leaving us?”
Joel smiled. “Yes, Emma, I’m leaving the Stone. After 10 long years of overbearing Christian, I have decided to leave.”

“I can’t believe it. Joel, this is, I mean, it’s great for you. This is what you’ve always wanted right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, it is. I mean managing the political department at the Stone is great, but there I’ll be immersed in it, you know? That’s the epicenter for everything I care about.”

Emma loved seeing his excitement in his eyes as he spoke about his new job. She listened to him recount how they had approached him for an interview and his brief trip to DC over the holidays and all of the negotiations that came next.

“That’s really amazing, Joel. I’m so happy for you. So, I guess the big question is when you’re going to tell Christian,” she remarked.

“Yeah, that I’m going to do tomorrow. I wanted to tell you first before I handed in my resignation to him.”

“Me? Why me?”

Joel smiled sadly. “Emma, even though my feelings for you may have grown into something more than just friendship, you were always one of my best friends first and foremost. We spent a lot of time together, share a lot of work together, and I wouldn’t trade any of that for the world. So, when I got offered the job, I knew I had to tell you first, because, well when people get good news they usually want to share it with the people they love.”

“Joel,” Emma started, clearing her throat.

“I know. Emma, I’m not here to try to change your mind and make you run away from the altar or anything like that. After all you’ve been through the last few months, I don’t want to put you through any more strife.” He took a big breath. “And this is my way of starting over, per se. Maybe I’ll meet another Emma who can make me feel the way you have.” He leaned over the island and put his hand under her chin.

She blushed. “Well, that might be hard, I’m pretty irreplaceable,” she said in jest.

He kissed her forehead lightly. “Yeah, you are, but a guy’s gotta try.” He leaned back away from her.
“So, maybe just for a little bit, we can just talk like friends? I know you must have a ton to tell me about the wedding planning and everything else going on in your life right now.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Joel, I think the last thing you want to hear is about my wedding planning. We may be friends, but I wouldn’t count you among my girlfriends.”

He laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. The thought of coordinating colors and flowers bores me to tears, as it probably would many a typical man, but… I think I’ve put you through enough that I can be tortured to sit here and listen to it.”

She giggled and started giving Joel the details of what has been going on in her life in the past couple of months. They talked late into the evening, and before she knew it, it was already two in the morning.

She yawned and stood up. “Wow, I think I need to go to bed.”

He nodded. “Yeah me too. Big day tomorrow. I’m going to need some energy once Christian gets a hold of that resignation letter.”

“I do not envy you in the slightest,” she replied, leading him toward the door.

As he started out, she grabbed her coat that was hanging in the hallway. “Here, let me walk you out.”
They headed downstairs and stopped at the main entrance to the condo. Joel opened up the front door and a gush of cold wind swept around them. Emma shivered and wrapped the coat tighter around her torso. “So, good luck tomorrow,” she offered, looking up at him. She felt a strange melancholy wash over her in that instant. Although she knew that it wouldn’t be the last time she was going to see Joel, for some reason, she felt that there was a finality in their presence on her front steps.

Joel took a step toward her and stared down at her. She knew that there was so much he was withholding. It felt strange now being in his presence. She had gone from being his friend, to hating him, to this. The feelings quelled in her body were unexplainable. She wondered if she really could have loved Joel if Patrick hadn’t come back into her life. A part of her assumed she could have. They had so much in common, and he wasn’t unattractive. However, that wasn’t the path she chose, and she wasn’t bitter about it in the slightest.

“Good night, Em,” he whispered, pulling her into a tight hug. The way he said it, he could have just been telling her goodbye. She felt a tear rolling down her face, and when he pulled away, she lowered her face to hide it from him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, wiping the tear and looking back up at him. He nodded and then kissed her cheek.

“See you tomorrow.”

She watched him descend the stairs and trek out onto the street. As he walked away, she could feel the weight of their former relationship walking off too. It was good that he stopped by, she thought. It was the last night that they would ever get to spend together as he went off to DC and she walked down the aisle to marry Patrick. She wasn’t sad that their friendship ended there on the front stoop of her condo. She was happy. Happy because they were both about to move in a direction that their life was supposed to go.

Emma walked back upstairs, and when she closed the door and turned around, jumped when she saw Robbie’s hulking figure off into the shadows. “Jesus Robbie, Michael Myers much?”

He came into the light, wearing nothing but his pajama pants. Emma’s eyes glance just for a second at his extremely articulated ab muscles before looked down at her feet.

“So, what happened between you to?” he said accusingly.

She looked up at him surprised. “Fuck, Robbie. Why do you care? You’re not my fiancé.” She brushed past him, annoyed at his tone. He grabbed her arm to stop her. “Ow,” she said, turning and looking down at his hand clutching her wrist. “Let go of me.”

Robbie’s eyes flickered with anger. “I may not be your fiancé, but I work for him. I’m not going to keep hiding your secrets forever Emma.”

“What the hell!? I have no secrets Robbie! Joel was here to tell me about his new position he’s taking at CNN. He’s leaving New York. He just wanted to tell me first, that’s it.”

Robbie’s grip loosened on her wrist. “And are you going to tell Patrick?”

Emma groaned. “Honestly Robbie, that’s none of your business. You are not my relationship counselor or father for that matter. How I handle issues in my relationship with Patrick is my business. You may think you know what’s best, but you don’t. You’ve worked for them for, what, five months now? And most of that you’ve spent with me! So don’t lecture me about Patrick because you don’t know him like I do.” She could feel tears of anger well up in her eyes. “Just forget about this okay? I’m going to bed.”

She rushed up the stairs before Robbie could add to her already pressing guilt.