Girl That You Love

“So mom wants to know if you are coming home for Thanksgiving.”

Emma hesitated as she took off her running shoes. It was the middle of November now, and if she and Patrick weren’t busy packing up her apartment for the move into the new house, she was helping Christian prepare for the annual Rolling Stone holiday party. So when her sister called her up about Thanksgiving, she wasn’t wholly prepared to answer her.

“Um, hello to you too Lizzie,” She replied.

“Oh fine. Hi, how are you sister of mine? How’s your perfect life and your perfect fiancé and your perfect,”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Emma paused and sighed. “Um, Thanksgiving. Well, Patrick and I hadn’t talked much about it. We will be in town because the guys are doing a Grammy foundation concert the day after, but I wasn’t sure if mom and dad wanted us to come by, or if his mom wanted us at her house…”

“I think mom wants you to invite Patrick’s family to our house for Thanksgiving.”

Emma was surprised by that. “Um, really? How do you know?”

She could hear the surety in Lizzie’s voice. “I could just tell when we were talking about it. She kept hinting that it would be nice to see Patricia again and saying stuff like, ‘I heard Kevin had a new baby.’”

“So why doesn’t she just call me herself?”

“You know our parents. They don’t want to “seem” to be telling us to do something. Especially you after how you apparently blew up at mom a few months ago.”

“I did not blow up at her. I was just defending Patrick,” Emma retorted as she grabbed a bottle of water out of her fridge. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about. They LOVE to tell us what to do.”

“Whatever. Will you at least call her? I mean, if you and Patrick didn’t make any other plans, it could be cool. You’d be saving me from the limitless questions about why I haven’t landed myself a cute cardiologist yet.”

“Yes, I will call her. But wait, why haven’t you landed yourself a cardiologist yet?” Emma said sarcastically.

“Because I’m waiting for my Harry Styles.”

Emma laughed. “You’re too old for him Liz, give it a break!”

“Never!” Lizzie exclaimed loudly. “Oops, I think I just woke this patient.”

“Wait, are you using your cell phone at work, in a HOSPITAL?”

“So sorry about that Mr. Gandari… Em, gotta go.” Lizzie’s line went silent then and Emma hung up, sighing at her sister’s strangeness.

She took a sip of her water and decided to call Patrick. He was back in LA at the moment, packing up his house there and meeting with Pete to work on some songs for their next album.

“Emma, guten morgen!” Pete’s voice rang out through the speaker.

“Um, did I hit the wrong P?” she said, glancing at her phone.

“Oh no, Patrick is wrestling with the packing tape right now, so I answered the phone for him. Hey, did you know that he lacks some serious hand-eye coordination? You may want to consider not putting your kids in any sports programs…”

“Pete, give me the phone!” she heard Patrick shout in the background. Emma chuckled.

“Oops, hit a nerve there. Here’s your loverboy.”

“Oh o,”

“Emma, hey!” Patrick said breathlessly into the phone, cutting her off. “Sorry about that. Pete is not being any help right now in this whole packing thing. Bronx has actually packed more boxes than he has.”

“Bronx is helping you pack?” she asked him, amused by the image of the little boy filling up moving boxes with anything he saw on the floor.

“Yeah, he is. So, what’s up?”

“Oh um, well, I got a call from my sister and she basically hinted that my parents want us… and your family too… to come over for Thanksgiving.” She waited for his response.

“That’s fine, babe, whatever you want to do. I mean, you know how awkward my family’s Thanksgiving is with my dad bringing his younger girlfriend over, so we can up the awkward and add your parents and Lizzie into the mix,” he replied nonchalantly.

“You’re really okay with it?” she asked him.

“They’ll be my in-laws soon. I should probably make a better effort in convincing them that I’m a decent guy.”

“It is not hard to convince anyone of that. You are more than a decent guy.”

“Yeah I must be to put up with this fucker over here,” he replied, obviously referring to Pete.

“Oh you love me!” Pete shouted in the background.

Emma giggled. “I’m starting to wonder who the real soon-to-be married couple is,” she teased.

“Me too,” Patrick sighed.

Then she heard a small dog barking furiously and Bronx say to Patrick, “Uncle Patrick I don’t think Penny likes being packed away.”

“What?! Bronx, where is Penny?” he said, referring to his small Pomeranian dog that Emma had made him buy just a few months before the guys did their last tour before the hiatus.

“In that box I just taped up for you,” Bronx replied in a small voice.

“Pete!” Patrick shouted.

“Um, I think I should probably let you go. It seems like World War three over there,” Emma said regretfully.

“I’m sorry, Em, this packing stuff is crazier than I thought. I should have taken Pete’s advice and hired someone for the job.”

“Not too late buddy!” Pete shouted.

“Okay, I’ll go now,” Emma said. “I love you, babe.”

“Love you too, I’ll see you in a few days.”

Emma hung up the phone, wishing that she could be in LA with Patrick helping him move. She felt terrible for not being there because he had been there for her over the last few months and she was feeling guilty.

“Oh Emma, stop worrying about it. Patrick doesn’t care. Plus, you’re the one who gets left alone while he’s touring, so think of all the things he does for you as a way to make up for leaving you alone like 9 months out of the year,” Marie told her as they were both getting ready for the magazine’s holiday party.

“I know,” Emma said, slipping into her black cocktail dress. “I still can’t help feeling guilty.”

“Well, you’ll start giving yourself ulcers if you keep worrying about it. And you’re too young to get ulcers,” Marie replied.

“I know… Hey, thanks for coming with me by the way. I hate going to these things alone. The artists tend to get a bit gropey when their drunk, and Christian does too.”

“No problem. Joe was happy to get to hang out at home by himself with his video games for the night. I don’t think they have really had a chance to really unwind since all the craziness.” She hesitated and then said, “So, will your unrequited lover be there?”

Emma looked at her oddly. “My unrequited… Oh, you mean Joel? Yeah, of course, it is a party our magazine is hosting. Why?”

“Well, you told me about what he said to you at your engagement party, have you seen him since then?”

“Oh, well, no not really. He’s been trying to avoid me, I think. That or else Christian’s been giving him a lot of assignments that require him to travel out of the office.”

“Did you ever tell Patrick about what he said?”

Emma grimaced. “Um, no.”

“Emma!”

“What?” She avoided Marie’s judging stare. “I don’t need a reason for Patrick to get upset unnecessarily. It’s not like I’m planning on leaving him for Joel or anything. Joel has always been a good friend to me, EXCEPT for a couple of months ago. But he acted very grown up at the party.”

“Yes, very grown up, trying to seduce you at your own engagement party,” Marie retorted.

“I was not seduced,” Emma shot back, her face heating up.

“Oh come on, you said so yourself, it was a little bit of a turn on.”

“Marie, I tell you these things, so that they DON’T have to be brought up ever again for judgment,” Emma sighed.

“Sorry. I’m not judging you Emma,”

“Yes you are,”

“Okay, maybe a little. But that’s only because you were making such a big deal about it. It’s okay to be turned on by another man. I mean, I see guys all the time and get a little hot and bothered.”

“Oh Jesus, Marie. But they don’t actually have feelings for you.”

“You don’t know that!” Marie exclaimed. Emma rolled her eyes.

“Okay, fine I don’t. But I still feel weird about it.”

“Emma the saint. This is why you two are perfect for each other,” Marie sighed. “I think I’m going to need some vodka to get over this conversation. Are we ready?”

Emma nodded and they gathered up their purses and headed out of the apartment where Robbie was waiting for them.

“Looking good ladies,” Robbie commented.

Marie winked at him. “Thanks Robbie, but you may not want to compliment Emma here, she might get turned on.”

“MARIE!” Emma cried out, embarrassed. Robbie raised an eyebrow at her. “Forget what she said, I think Marie’s gone crazy.”

Robbie just shrugged. “Whatever. I’m just here to make sure you two make it safely to the party.”

They all headed down to the SUV and were soon on their way to the Belmont Lounge near Union Square where the magazine was hosting their holiday party.

The bar was already filling up with Rolling Stone staffers and their celebrity guests. The sidewalk leading to the venue was transformed into a mini red carpet, with security guards lined up along the red velvet rope and press and paparazzi hanging all over their muscular arms, trying to catch interviews and candid shots of the stars that filed in. Robbie pulled up to the valet and one of them opened the side door for Emma and Marie, who stepped out and were blinded by the cameras that suddenly turned in their direction.

“Emma! Emma!” the eager shouts came from all around her and she gave a small wave and ducked her head, grabbing Marie’s arm and following the two security guards that came up to them as Robbie was handling business matters with the valet.

“Geez, I forgot how much fun this stuff was,” Marie said sarcastically as they made their way into the building.

After they dropped their coats off at the coat check, the entered into the main bar area which was buzzing with gossip and chatter as a OneRepublic song played loudly in the background. Emma searched the party for someone that she knew, but didn’t realize she was being sought out.

“There you are, finally!” She turned and saw Christian gallivanting toward her, a tall waif-thin girl with dark eyes and a pixie cut on his arm. “Marie, nice to see you again. I’m glad Emma could bring you.”

“Yeah, me too. It looks like a great party so far,” Marie commented, glancing around.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure 2Chainz might be smoking some pot in one of the VIP booths, so if you want to join him, feel free,” Christian replied. He leaned in and kissed Emma’s cheek. “I’m so glad you are here though. Have you met Claudia?”

The girl on his arm gave Emma and Marie a small smile thinly veiled with annoyance. “Um, hi, nice to meet you,” Emma replied.

“Claudia models for Betsy,” Christian explained.

“Betsy as in Betsy Johnson?” Marie asked her. The girl only rolled her eyes.

“Yes, one in the same,” Christian replied. “So, where are your drinks? This is certainly unacceptable, you should both have at least two drinks in your hands right now.” He snapped his fingers and shouted at one of the waitresses that was walking around. “Get these two ladies whatever they want.”

“Um, I’ll just take a Yuengling,” Emma said.

“Vodka cranberry for me,” Marie said.

The waitress nodded and headed straight for the bar.

“Isn’t this place spectacular? Emma helped get this whole thing ready,” Christian marveled. Claudia looked uninterested but nodded in response. “Emma, Dan Reynolds, I want to you talk to him.”

“The lead singer of Imagine Dragons?” Emma asked him.

“Yes, that Dan Reynolds. Who else would I be talking about?”

Emma shrugged and rolled her eyes. “What do you want me to talk to him about?”

“I hear they are already working on a new album, and I want an exclusive interview with them on the whole process.”

“And you think he will give me that?”

“Yes, because he respects you. I’d sic James on it, but I think he offended Dan the last time he did an interview with them.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, James offends everyone he comes in contact with and doesn’t discriminate,” Emma muttered. “Okay, I’ll make my way to him and see what I can do.”

“Thanks, you’re the best.” He looked at Claudia. “She really is. If she wasn’t in the most adorable relationship with such a respectable guy, I’d screw her.”

“Oh you’re so charming, Christian,” Emma replied ruefully.

The waitress returned with their drinks and Christian made his way to mingle with some of his other guests.

“Do you want to go dance for a little?” Emma asked Marie.

“Oh I don’t know lighting up with 2Chainz sounded really promising,” Marie said lightly. Emma gave her a look and she laughed. “I’m kidding. Let’s go dance.”

They spent the next hour moving to the music, getting interrupted by several people who wanted to chat with them. Emma eventually left Marie with some publicists that she knew from some of her event coordination and went in search of Dan from Imagine Dragons to convince him to give the Stone the inside scoop on their new album. As she made her way through the crowd, she bumped into Robbie who was standing against one of the support beams.

“Robbie! Hey!” Emma exclaimed. The several beers she had downed were starting to take their effect, leaving her mind in a serene, yet loopy state.

“Emma,” he said surprised. “Where’s Marie?”

Emma stood on her tiptoes and pointed to the corner of the room where Marie was chatting with her publicist friends. “Hanging out with the suits of the business,” she replied.

Robbie smiled. “Glad to see she found a niche here.” He looked down at Emma. “You look a little drunk.”

“Nope, not drunk, tipsy. And about to try to convince someone to give me a story.”

“Wow, you’re working on a night when you’re not supposed to be? Why does that not surprise me?” Robbie said sarcastically.

She pushed him playfully. “Whatever, it wasn’t on the docket, but Christian asked, so here I am responding to the call.”

He grinned. “That’s why everyone thinks you’re so amazing.”

“Oh please, they just say that so I’ll keep doing things for them.”

“You know it’s true though, deep down. Heck, I’ve only known you for maybe three months and even I know that you are pretty good at what you do.”

“Aw, thanks Robbie!” she exclaimed, resting her hand on his chest. “Oh wow, what’s under there, rocks?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Robbie said, winking at her.

“Emma?” she turned around and saw Joel approaching her slowly. Oh God, she thought.

“Joel!” She said brightly, trying not to show her uneasiness with him in front of Robbie. “Robbie, this is Joel. Joel, this is my, uh, bodyguard, kind of, Robbie.”

“Kind of?” Robbie said skeptically. “I’ll have to ask Marcus if that is my actual job title. Kind of a Bodyguard.”

Emma blushed, “Sorry. I mean, he is my body guard. But he’s also like a friend.” She grabbed Joel’s arm and, after giving Robbie a farewell smile, steered him away from Robbie. She was afraid that he might say something that Robbie shouldn’t hear. Once Robbie was out of earshot, she whispered harshly, “I thought you were going to keep your distance for awhile?”

Joel glanced around the room. “I know, I just wanted to say hello, that’s all.”

“Oh, well hello, I guess. I’m on a mission right now though.”

“Christian put you on a mission during the holiday party?” Joel looked surprised. “What a douche.”

Emma shrugged. “It’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“So what does he want you to do?”

“Find Dan from Imagine Dragons and convince him to give us the exclusive on their new album.”

“They’re not working on a new album,” Joel scoffed. Emma raised an eyebrow at him. “You really think they are?” he asked her.

“If Christian thinks so, I think so,” Emma replied.

“Man, I can’t wait for that to come out,” Joe said in awe.

Emma laughed. “Yeah, me either.”

“Well, have fun with that. I’m going to go find Bono. He and I seem to see eye to eye a lot on world issues, so I don’t have a hard time talking to him.”

“Wow, big friends you have there,” Emma commented with a grin.

“Yeah, I’m sure my contact list isn’t as high profile as yours,” he joked.

“Hey, the only reason they all like me so much is because I am not out to get them. I just want the story, not some crazy tabloid conspiracy.”

“Having a celebrity boyfriend doesn’t hurt either,” he said leaning against her shoulder. She looked up at him, smiling and blushed. “Okay, Emma, I’ll see you around.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze and headed off.

Emma stared after him, glad that he didn’t bring up his feelings this time. She took a deep breath and then went to find Dan, her mind quickly forgetting all about Joel.

She floated through the party, eventually finding the target of her mission. He was sitting at one of the VIP booths with some of his band mates. “Bingo,” she said under her breath and walked right up to them.

“Hello there, gentlemen,” she said by way of greeting.

“The incomparable Emma Mann!” Dan exclaimed, standing up to give her a hug. He was much larger in person than anyone would think, and not just in stature, but also in his arms. He picked her up into a warm hug. “I was wondering when we were going to get to see you!”

He sat back down and inched over so that she could sit with them. The other guys, Wayne, Ben and Daniel, all nodded in greeting. “Hey guys, Dan, how’s the party treating you?”

“Have to admit, it’s a pretty rad shindig,” Dan replied.

“Christian knows how to throw a party,” Emma acknowledged. “So tell me how everything is going? Excited for the big arena tour?”

“Yeah, will you be coming to any of them?”

“Ah, well, I’ll actually be in Europe when you guys will be close by,” she said.

“That’s right, I heard you’re taking a bit of a vacation after the wedding. Congratulations by the way.”

“Thank you,” she said happily.

“We got to meet Patrick and the guys at the Reading Festival back in August. They are some pretty cool dudes. When Patrick had told me who he was dating, I was like ‘Dude, no way, love Emma!’”

“You’re sweet Dan, thank you,” she said, blushing. “Christian isn’t too happy about it, but I think he’ll survive without me for a bit.”

“I don’ t know, you are the gem of the magazine right now,” Wayne replied.

“Don’t say that in front of Christian, he may get jealous,” Emma teased and they all laughed. “So, I have to know, new album soon right?”

The guys all looked at each other furtively. “Oh come on Emma,” Dan said.

She smiled. “Guys, if Christian knows, then it is only a matter of time until all of the music media outlets know. I just want to be the one who gets to be there for it first. Plus, you know I can make it shine in the right light.”

“So what are you wanting Emma?”

“An exclusive interview and listen at the new stuff. I’m thinking first a inside look at the process and then when the album is ready for release an extensive sit down about the tracks, maybe a small concert that we could give tickets away to that we would fund since you’d be doing us the favor of giving us the story of course.”

The guys all looked at each other. “You’d be doing the piece?” Dan asked her.

She nodded. “I wouldn’t pitch this to you guys if it wasn’t going to be me. I only trust myself on this kind of thing.” She watched the wheels turning in their heads. “Okay, why don’t you think about it, and give me a call. I mean, this is a party, what am I doing interrupting your fun to talk business.” She got up. “I’ll talk to you guys later…”

“Emma wait,” Dan said. “We’ll do it.” They all gave her excited looks.

She smiled. “Well, then, let’s get a round of drinks to celebrate!”

A couple of days after the party, Patrick returned from LA. Emma met him at the airport, eager to have him back. When she saw him stepping off the escalator and into the baggage claim area, she left Robbie’s side and ran to greet him.

He grinned wildly when he saw her and caught her in his arms, holding her tight against his body. “My Emma,” he sighed happily. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” she replied, kissing his lips softly. “You didn’t have any other luggage did you?”

He shook his head. “Just this backpack,” he squirmed a bit, “which is really starting to hurt my shoulders.”

Emma took it off of him and placed it on her back. “Jesus, Patrick, what did you pack in here?”

“A few pounds of crystal meth,” he said straightfaced.

She rolled her eyes. “I take it you finally finished Breaking Bad then?”

He grinned. “Oh yeah, and man, that ending! I’m not going to give it away because I need you to watch it. You’ll like it though, it ties everything up nicely.”

“So not Lost?”

“Yeah, no, not Lost at all.”

When they reached the SUV, Emma threw his backpack into the far backseat and then cozied up next to her fiancé with Robbie getting in the driver’s seat.

“So, packing all finished?” she asked him, as Robbie drove them back to her apartment.

“Yep, everything is ready for the movers to come,” Patrick replied. “Just a couple more weeks.”

Emma clutched his arm ad rested her head on his shoulder. “I can’t wait. Our own place together. The first one that we actually picked out.” She never counted the LA home as theirs because it was essentially Patrick’s. She just lived there for a little bit.

“I feel like everything will start happening really fast after we move in,” Patrick said to her. “I mean, we move in December, get married end of January and then we’re in Europe for the next two months.”

“Patrick, you act surprised, but haven’t our lives always moved this fast?”

“Yeah, I guess, for this stuff, I wish it would just slow down, a little so we can enjoy the little moments.”

“Like picking out curtains and arguing over paint colors?” she teased.

“Hey as long as we get some darkening shades for the bedroom, and no pinks, I’m cool.”

“You night owl,” she laughed. “I agree though on the pinks. They fade after awhile and then the room will start to look like a creepy child’s room from a horror movie.”

“Wow, that’s not what I was thinking at all about the color, but when you bring that point up, it just solidifies the choice to NOT use pink on our walls,” Patrick said, amused.

When they got back to her apartment, Robbie left for the rest of the day, they were able to make up for the time they lost over the last week, and soon clothes was scattered about the house and Emma was lying on her back, breathing heavily, sweat droplets forming in the crevices of her breasts, Patrick’s head resting on her stomach. She absently wound her fingers through his sweaty shock of hair on top of his head.

“One thing that is good about us being so busy and away from each other, the sex we have when we finally get to see each other,” Emma noted, closing her eyes and smiling.

“This I cannot argue,” Patrick said. He then turned his face and gave her a raspberry on her stomach.

She squealed. “Patrick!” He looked up at her grinning.

“What do you want to do for the rest of the day?” he asked her.

“This, just this. Laying around like a bunch of bums and having lots of sex,” she replied. “But, first, I need to eat. I’m starving.” She sat up and pushed Patrick off of her. “Where do you want to go eat?”

They decided to have a small meal at a nearby Greek restaurant, and then took a cab up to Central Park to walk around and bask in the fall atmosphere. As they walked around the paths, they held hands, pointing out new and interesting sights to each other. It was a rare moment that they didn’t seem to get anymore. In fact, Emma couldn’t really remember the last time they had ever done something so “normal” before. Even when they were going through their tumultuous time before the break up, they didn’t just have a moment where they did something that normal people did. It was refreshing to Emma because it made her feel as if she and Patrick could actually live a somewhat normal life in between her writing assignments and his touring, recording and interviews.

“So, I want to take you to Rockefeller and do the ice skating when they open it up,” Patrick told her, as they walked past the zoo.

“Ooh, I’ve never done that actually,” Emma said.

“Really? You’ve lived here for over three years?”

“Yeah, but the lines are always too long, ain’t nobody got time for that,” she joked.

He chuckled. “Well, we’ll see if Bob can give us a hand with that,” he replied, referring to the guys’ manager.

“He would be able to get us into the ice skating rink without waiting in line.”

“The man has connections in this city,” Patrick replied. He then stopped. “Look at that.” He grabbed her shoulders and directed her attention to a large pile of leaves in the middle of one of the areas of land. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“What a great deal of composite that will make?” she said skeptically.

Patrick shook his head and grabbed her hand. “Come on.” He started running toward the pile, and Emma realized only too late what he was planning to do.

“Patrick, wait!” She exclaimed as he pulled them into the pile. She felt herself falling into the soft, damp pile of red and brown foliage as he let go of her hand, and she lost her breath momentarily from the exhilaration. She fell into the pile on her backside and she shakily stood up, laughing. “Patrick?” she called out, not seeing him anywhere. She felt a moment of panic, thinking he might have gotten hurt, then she heard an inexplicable yell and she jumped, turning around quickly as Patrick jumped up from behind and showered leaves on her head.

She screeched and grabbed up a pile of her own leaves and threw them in his direction. “No!” she gasped through her laughter as they threw leaves back and forth at each other, Patrick grabbing at her to trap her in his arms. She sloshed around the leaves, bringing her knees high to try and move in the large pile.

“Hey you kids, what the hell are you doin’!” They both froze and looked at the grounds crew member who was running toward them.

“Shit,” Patrick said, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go!” They dashed out of the leaves, running and breathing hard until they were safely out of the man’s view. Patrick hid them behind a large oak tree, pressing Emma against the trunk.

“Did he follow us?” Emma breathed.

Patrick peered around the tree and then looked back at her. “Nope, we’re safe.” He grinned at her wide like an eager child.

She shook her head and laughed, fixing his black scarf around his neck. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

He made a face. “Ugh, do I have to be adorable? Pete always calls me that. Even on stage.”

She laughed. “Well, you are. It’s one of the things I love about you.” She then pulled his head toward her and pressed her lips against his. In that moment, she felt blissfully happy. Everything seemed to be perfect and she didn’t think anything could ruin that feeling.

Then, Emma’s phone started ringing, interrupting their kiss. She sighed and pulled it out of her pocket. It was Marie. “What does she want?” Patrick asked.

“No idea,” she hit “Answer.” “Marie, hello, what’s up?”

“Emma, not to alarm you, but um, you may want to pick up a People magazine… or an US weekly, doesn’t matter.”

“Why?” Emma asked, her whole demeanor changing to serious mode. Patrick looked at her questioningly.

“Because you are on the front cover of both, and I imagine if you did an internet search right now, you’ll pop up too.”

“Marie, why would I be on the cover of those magazines?” Nothing crazy had happened to them in awhile and she was starting to see a decrease in paparazzi activity around her apartment. She was relieved that they were losing interest in her and Patrick because she was getting tired of putting makeup on before she had to go for a run.

“Just, just look Emma.”

Suddenly, Patrick’s phone started buzzing. “Hello?” he said, picking it up. Emma watched him as whoever called him started talking.

“Emma!” Marie exclaimed.

“Hold on Marie!” Emma hissed into the phone. She looked at Patrick whose face was unreadable. “Patrick, what is it?”

“Yeah, thanks Wendy. Okay, bye.” He hung up the phone. “Emma, we have a problem.”

“I’ll call you back Marie,” Emma said, ignoring Marie’s protests. “What’s wrong?”

Patrick pulled open his email and opened up a link on his phone to the People magazine website. He stared at it for a long time before turning his phone over to Emma. She looked down at it and saw a picture of her with Dan sitting closely together in the VIP booth at the Stone party a few nights before, with the tag line “IS THERE TROULBE BREWING IN THE FUTURE STUMP HOUSEHOLD? MORE PICTURES INSIDE!” Emma gasped.

“Are you kidding me!?” she exclaimed. She looked up at Patrick, who looked hurt. “Patrick, you cannot seriously believe this?!”

“Of course, not,” he said in a hollow voice.

“Patrick, I was talking to Dan about an exclusive story that Christian wants me to do about their new album they are secretly working on. Dan and I are friendly, but that’s it. I would never…” she trailed off. “We have to get that magazine.” She grabbed Patrick’s hand and dragged him out of the park.

Once she had a copy of both US Weekly and People in her hands, she started skimming through the article, in which various “unnamed” sources talked about how close her and Dan were all night. She knew that she was a little drunk that night and when she got drunk she got a bit touchy feely, and the pictures showed that. Although there were no pictures that proved they were actually cheating, the closeness of their bodies and the number of drinks that were sitting on the table would have been suggestive enough for anyone.

Wendy, the group’s PR manager, had come over to work with them on some damage control. “Here I was hoping that the press would subside for a bit, but leave it to the paparazzi to find new ways to create stories.”

Emma shook her head. “I don’t understand, no cameras were allowed in that party. How did these pictures come to surface?”

“Maybe someone inside the party took them?” Patrick offered. He had been quiet the entire cab ride home and now in her apartment.

“I don’t understand why anyone in the party would do that though. It was all celebrities and staffers for the most part, and no one has it out for me, or us.”

“What about Joel?” Patrick asked her.

Emma’s eyes widened. “No, Joel wouldn’t do this.”

“Really? Because the man is in love with you Emma, or have you forgotten that?” She was startled by the sarcasm in his voice.

“Patrick, Joel told me that he is over me,” she said, although she knew that part was false, “and he does not want to break us up,” she added, knowing that that part was true.

“Maybe he just said that to you to earn your trust again,” Patrick muttered.

“What! Patrick, come on,” Emma exclaimed.

“Why are you so quick to defend him anyway?” Patrick asked her suspiciously.

“What! Oh my God, because he’s my friend first and foremost. I have to believe that not every person in my life is cruel and heartless.” She sighed. “Well, at least you aren’t worried that I’m actually sleeping with Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons.” She curled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them tight.

“Well, although the press is blowing up about it, I’m sure we can get this to blow over quickly. Have you heard from Dan yet?” Wendy asked her, glancing at Patrick.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, he called me right before you came here. His wife is not too pleased,” she said.

“He’s married?” Wendy asked her.

“Yes, like for a long time. This whole thing is just absurd. They really will make a story out of anything.”

“Well, let me get his publicist’s contact information so we can go ahead and coordinate rebuttals.”

Emma gave her the information and then Wendy left to make some calls. Emma glanced at Patrick who remained silent, staring into space. “Patrick?”

He looked at her and just smiled. “Yeah,”

“Say something please,” she said, giving him a pleading look. “It’s a stupid story and you know it.”

“I know. I just don’t know why someone would do that. I mean, not only are they hurting us, but they are hurting Dan and his wife.” Patrick shook his head. “I will never understand this whole part of fame.”

Emma crawled to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “As long as we don’t let it get to us, we’re fine right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, just let it roll off our backs, I guess.”

She rested her legs over his. “Patrick, I don’t want you to think… I wasn’t defending Joel because I have feelings for him or anything like that. I just don’t want us jumping to conclusions because of the past.”

Patrick sighed and started stroking her knee. “I know. I guess deep down, I still have a hard time with the fact that you and him are still working so close together.”

“I can’t help that Patrick. Christian can’t fire him. And it’s not like I hang out with him outside of work. Not like before when you weren’t in the picture. You mean more to me than he ever will, Patrick.” She heaved a heavy sigh. “Can we just forget about all of this? Go back to two hours ago when you were throwing dirty leaves at my face?”

Patrick let out a weak laugh. “You don’t make it sound as fun as it was.” He kissed her head softly, and she just stared at her hands, wondering why every time she and Patrick had a moment of happiness, someone was trying to steal it away.