Would You Fall Too?

Pushing a hand back through her ginger hair, Emilie peeked up at the clock on the wall, wordlessly willing away the final few minutes before her shift at the book store came to an end. It had been a quiet few weeks, after their reconciliation, she and Sergio had settled back into a comfortable rhythm, and she had to admit that she was pleased that they had. She was under no illusions, there still going to be moments where she worried that she wasn’t enough for him, but she felt a little better about their chances. When she’d broken up with him, a small part of her had thought he would just let it slip by and she was happy that he hadn’t. He was coming to mean more than a lot to her and, as much as she didn’t like the idea of Isla being right, she didn’t want to let him go.

Studying the clock for the moment longer, she jumped a little when the bell above the door rang, signaling the arrival of a customer. Pulling her stare away from the clock, she peered at the pretty dark haired girl who wandered around the shop, her mind trying to place her. She had seen her before, Emilie was sure of it, but she merely couldn’t place her. “Are you looking for something specific?” she posed.

The dark haired woman smiled. “I was looking for a gift” she noted.

“What sort of book are you looking for?” Emilie posed, stepping out from behind the counter.

“Something sporty” the woman noted “He’s not much of a novel reader, more biographies” she noted.

Emilie nodded her head. “We have a section for that over here” she noted, leading her towards the section of biographies “Is it a special occasion?” she posed, trying to make small talk.

“His birthday is at the end of this month, the 30th, and I am trying to mend some fences. The last time I saw him was a wreck” the brunette replied.

Emilie nodded her head. “Bad breakup?” she posed, gesturing to the rack of books.

“Something like that” the other woman noted “He was looking for things I just wasn’t then but I heard that he split with his rebound girl a few weeks ago so I am hoping that I can make amends” she smiled before she turned to rack of books, perusing the titles for a moment. Emilie watched her, her forehead furrowed, before it hit her.

“Sergio” she squeaked out rather involuntarily.

The dark haired woman looked up. “Excuse me?” she posed.

Emilie shook her head. “Sorry” she murmured “You…you dated my neighbour. Sergio” she noted.

“You’re the girl from next door?” the dark haired woman noted.

Emilie nodded.

“I’m Pilar” the dark haired woman noted.

“Emilie” the ginger girl replied.

“You don’t happen to have met this new girl of his, have you?” Pilar posed, still studying the selection of books of the shelf ahead of her. She hadn’t heard much, only that Sergio had been spending time with a girl since they’d broken up, but Pilar held out a little hope. From the most recent murmurings, she had heard that Sergio had broken up with the rebound girl and that provided her with a shot. She missed him and wanted to make amends for the way things had ended between them.

Emilie looked at the other woman before she shook her head. “Me and him are not exactly friends” she noted. It wasn’t a whole lie, they weren’t exactly friends, but she didn’t want to admit the truth to Pilar. She had no idea how she would react to the fact that she was stood in a shop with the girlfriend of the man she clearly wanted back.

Pilar nodded. “He did always say you were a little on the quiet side” Pilar commented.

“That’s me” Emilie noted “And if you want to get him something, I’d suggest this one” she noted, picking a book up off of the shelf and handing it to her.

Pilar smiled. “Thank you” she noted.

Emilie shook her head. “It’s my job” she noted.

~#~
“Are you going to finish that?” Sergio posed as he gestured to the piece of fish that Emilie had left on her plate, barely touched.

“No” she noted.

Sergio, who had been watching her throughout the entirety of their lunch date, shook his head. “I thought you were going to tell me about things, Emmy” he noted gently.

“I do talk to you, Sese” Emilie replied.

“Then why are you being so quiet? You’ve barely touched your lunch and that’s never a good sign. Are you Ok?” he posed gently.

Emilie peeked up at him and nodded. “I’m fine” she noted gently, sparing a small smile at his concern “I…I just had a customer that got me a little concerned earlier, that’s all” she noted.

Sergio tilted his head. “Em?” he encouraged.

“Your ex-girlfriend came in” Emilie noted, peeking up at him a little timidly.

“Pilar?” he posed.

“I didn’t recognize her at first but then she started describing how she had broken up with her boyfriend and the pieces fit together. She was getting you a birthday present” Emilie explained gently.

Sergio frowned. “What is she doing that for? I haven’t seen her in months” he noted.

“Apparently, she heard that you’d split from your rebound girl a few weeks ago and she thinks she in with a shot” Emilie murmured, hating that she had been referred to as his rebound as opposed to his girlfriend.

Sergi noted the small look that flashed across her face and reached his hand out, carefully taking her smaller extremity in his own. “Firstly, you’re not a rebound girl to me, Emmy, and if you don’t know that by now, I have no idea what we are doing” he commented, his voice a little light, yet still determined and firm.

“But she…”

“And secondly” Sergio cut her off, not wanting to listen to her put down their relationship or herself again. She was getting better at it, being in a relationship was starting to get a little easier for her, and he didn’t want her to take a step back. She was growing into them and whilst he was perfectly happy to be patient with her, he doubted it would be much long before she felt comfortable enough to be intimate with him. “She can try and win me back, but I only have eyes for one girl and she’s not her” he smiled, kissing her hand gently.

Emilie’s cheeks warmed a little at the amorous action and squeezed his hand, letting him know that she believed him.

Sergio smiled back at her impishly, wordlessly making a note to speak to Pilar before she got near to Emilie.