Long chapter, but it's worth it because it's quite exciting and if I dare say so myself, touching. Enjoy it, loves x

Episode 15: We're Over

Wisps of dark brown hair and an expensive floral scented perfume hit the actress' senses when the door to the meeting room opened.

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Stella who made eye contact as she sat down around the table.

The executives were present, headed by Jake and Steven. Even though the two of them held the title as co-owners, the truth was that Steven had an even greater share in the company. Nothing could be done without his input. Jake was just daddy's little boy who benefited off the name of his father who was an amazing actor and director in the show biz. He was an investor in Starz as one of the originals, so there was a sense of respect on his part. When his father had retired, Jake took over and followed in his steps. Too bad he was doing it in such disappointing ways in comparison.

There was not one person under Starz who felt like they were being treated fairly in this place, including Emily.

She never said anything about the way Jake operated his business in order to not offend him. But he was doing a terrible job.

Though Emily had two years left in her contract before she could sign over to another agency, there were still a lot of loopholes within the clauses. She decided she was going to use those to her advantage with the help of her lawyer who she had given it to review.

Starz Entertainment had called for a meeting to discuss the progress of their actors and actresses. Things like contractual renewal, who was going to be let go and the introduction of the newbies.

Emily was wondering why she still had to attend these things.

Not because she thought she was better than anyone else, but because she had more important things to do than watch as Jake did a poor job of hiding his preference for Stella all throughout it.

Anyone with a brain could see that he was putting her on a pedestal - one that she didn't deserve with her acting skills still being at an amateur level.

Emily bet her car that a random girl on the streets could be asked to recite her lines and she'd do it with more passion.

Stella Peterson was a shame to other actresses.

As her senior, Emily had been nice enough to give her some pointers on how to enhance her performance. Like how to not blink excessively as the camera panned in on her, how to cry on demand (though she had failed, so Emily settled on how to make her eyes watery as if she was on the brink of crying) and subtle body language that made a huge difference in a scene.

Emily had been helping her build her career, not knowing that the ungrateful wrench was rolling around in the sheets with her boyfriend.

How much a laughing stock she must have been.

She never regretted being such an amicable person before in her entire life.

And Jake.

Who did he think he was?

Emily watched him the entire time. How his hands lingered on Stella's shoulders or waist as he guided her to sit or stand. His eyes would linger on her as he spoke and only removed them when he finally wrapped up the meeting.

Jake Mallion, aren't you ashamed as a human being?

"That's it for this meeting. You're dismissed."

Emily didn't have to be told twice, she drew for her Chanel handbag and started walking out the doors.

Her juniors had allowed her to go first just as she did the executive board members. However, just as she felt as if she had escaped from the suffocating space that wreaked of Stella's perfume, she heard the witch calling out her name.

"Emily, wait!"

Emily froze with her back to them.

She refused to turn around to give her the time of day, so she pretended as if she hadn't heard a thing and proceeded to walk out the room.

Stella cursed beneath her breath before she ran her down, telling Jake she'll see him later.

"Emily!" Stella called out and ran in front her to stop her.

Emily had no choice but to listen to her.

Stella drew for a deep breath as she looked into the passive eyes of Emily.

"I just wanted to tell you congratulations on your new show. I'm sure you're gonna hit that viewership mark as well!" Stella told her brightly.

Her smile fell when Emily didn't give her usual appreciative reaction.

Why was she looking at me like that? Stella thought pensively.

Emily was trying hard to not be obvious, but she was human too.

How could she not feel resentment with this backstabber smiling in her face like this? Making pain look this good? As if she wasn't doing something disgusting and sinful?

How could someone be so cruel to laugh in your face then jabs a knife in your back the moment you walk away?

"Are you not feeling well?" Stella asked upon noticing her grim expression.

Emily ran a hand through her hair in frustration at her 'concern'.

She was slowly growing a temper of her own it seemed.

The brunette wanted to hit something.

Preferably the woman in front of her.

"No." Emily said between gritted teeth.

"Why?" Stella asked as if it was the worst thing she had heard today.

Internally though, she was cackling and wondering if Jake had already told Emily that they were over.

She hoped he hadn't.

She wanted to be there to witness when the brat broke down and begged him not to leave her.

That pitiful look on Emily's face was worth all the pain she had to endure over all these years.

If she knew a baby was the key to opening doors to everything, she would have gotten knocked up long ago.

"Take a guess." Emily said with frost coating her tongue.

Stella's smile fell.

"How..." She fumbled for words not used to this cold image Emily was showing. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Right?" Emily agreed sarcastically.

"How are you supposed to know what's wrong with me? It's not like you're interested in everything that happens in my life."

Stella felt herself getting worked up for some reason.

It was almost as if she was mocking her.

"Emily." Stella shook with the breath she drawled.

"I just came here to congratulate you. Why are you acting like this to me?"

Just at that moment, Jake had finished packing up all his stuff from the meeting. He took a hold of his briefcase as he walked out the room but he stopped at the saddened words coming from Stella.

To him, Emily must have been being mean to Stella again.

He had always noticed her little signs of jealousy as Stella grew more and more popular.

Now she wasn't bothering to hide it.

How low is she going to stoop? Jake thought in annoyance.

Emily shook her head at Stella before she walked away, her red bottom heels clicking on the tiled floor.

"You sicken me." Emily whispered to herself but Stella heard and grabbed after her roughly.

"What did you just say?"

"Take your hands off me." Emily shook her filthy paws off her.

Initially, Stella had let go but when she saw Jake's reflection in the mirror before her she reached after Emily again.

Emily was adamant and brushed aside Stella again, however the girl pretended to be shoved and fell to the floor dramatically.

Jake, upon seeing this, ran over to her.

Stella held her stomach as she started bawling.

Emily looked at her in disbelief and hatred.

She hadn't even touched her!

In Jake's eyes, however, she had done more than that.

"What the fuck!" He shouted at Emily.

"I didn't touch her." Emily stated as a certain heat pricked her skin.

"Sure you didn't!" He was up in her face within a second. He glared down at her with chilling eyes. "How could you be so evil? After doing something like this you won't even apologise? What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Emily blew up at him.

She pointed at the whining, lying bitch on the floor.

"What's wrong with her? What's wrong with you?" Emily poked at his chest hard making him stumble.

Jake looked at her, his eyes blown in rage.

"I don't want to do this anymore with you, Emily. You're not the girl I fell in love with. It's not just now, it's been a while."

Emily couldn't help how her chest rose and fell with each breath she took.

She was feeling wronged all over again.

"Now you're just somebody that I used to know."

Jake looked at her with eyes that she once loved while saying, "Let's not get married. Scratch that, let's not do anything. Emily, we're over."

Jake stooped back down and wrapped his arms around Stella as he helped her up.

The pretender buried her face in his neck as she cried as if her life depended on it.

"Jake, it hurts."

Emily stood there dumbfounded.

Three years.

Three years of her life wasted on this piece of trash.

"Fine." Emily said calmly taking them both by surprise.

They thought she would have shown a stronger reaction to Jake's news.

However, Emily stood there composed as she folded her hands over her chest.

"Let's break up." Emily agreed casually.

Stella looked up in disbelief.

Why wasn't this brat begging on her knees already?

What was she doing?

This wasn't what she had expected!

"But let me warn you, Jake Mallion. I will make you regret this moment, no...you'll regret every moment with me for the rest of your life."

With those firm words, Emily turned on her heels and walked away.

What a perfect cheating couple they made.

Pathetic.

Emily called Talia on the phone telling her to gear up for the next stage of their revenge.

She had been holding back for the fear of becoming someone she loathed.

But she didn't care anymore.

She was going to make them pay.

Jake Mallion, you are going to eat your words.

Emily wished she had missed the first time they had kissed.

She wished she never fell for his dazzling smile or the sweet compliments he showered her with.

All her mistakes with Jake had been slowly drowning her these days.

He had collected her heart in a jar and put it up as a display to the world.

She was nothing more than a freaking collection to him.

Emily decided she was going to be his greatest collection yet.

One that he had and miserably lost.

With that realization, he was going to live with the regret eating at him for the rest of his life.

• • •

By the time Nicholas arrived home, it was already very late. He was worried that Emily had stayed up for him once again. Relief hit him when he didn't smell the aroma of Emily attempting to make dinner. Though, he grew very concerned with how it seemed like a desolate and remote area altogether. The temperature in the house was frigid and a cold chill ran up his spine when he spotted the little woman sitting in the living room, swallowed by complete darkness.

"Emily?"

At first, he thought she was watching a movie, but the television was turned off. Then he concluded based on her slouched posture, that she had fallen asleep while waiting. Her neck crooning around to look at him with wide, awake red eyes had him frozen still for a moment.

Nicholas walked over and sat on the edge of the recliner.

"What happened?"

Upon sensing the familiar presence, Emily found herself immediately sitting up and shifting next to him.

Nicholas didn't hesitate and allowed his hands to encircle her tiny figure. He was taken aback at the pictures which he saw of her on the phone before them - images of her and Jake.

She sighed, looking up at him tiredly.

"I just got around to deleting them all." Her explanation was followed by her tapping the bin icon on the phone and just like that, the last memory of them captured on camera was erased.

Something was up.

Nicholas sensed it.

He lifted her up so that she could sit in his lap. He brushed a hand through her hair as she leant her face against his hard chest. His shirt still smelled as good as it did when he left this morning and her nostrils were sniffing his addictive cologne. It acted as a form of sedative.

"Do you think I'm stupid for still being affected by him?"

Her hand fisted his shirt as she hid her face and trembled in his hold.

"I thought I had gotten past the point of him getting to me. That it was a given that nothing he could do after cheating on me could hit me hard, but today- today was..."

"If you want to cry, then cry. You'll feel better afterwards. Trust me." Nicholas gently patted Emily's head.

She had been holding it in all day, but after being encouraged by Nicholas, she immediately let go and burst out into waterworks.

After she finally calmed down, there was a feeling of embarrassment.

She was so stupid.

Why was she crying in front of her husband over an ex-boyfriend who didn't even deserve that much from her?

"Sorry, I shouldn't cry over insignificant things like this."

"I'm glad that you know that he's insignificant and is absolutely lacking for making you feel this way. It's okay to cry though. Apart from your sexy husband, who else would you be able to show this side of you?" Nicholas said teasingly but it brought her great comfort.

Maybe it was because Nicholas was older than Emily by three years and exuded a sense of safety and maturity that she had felt the need to cry in his warm embrace would be fine.

And it had been.

"Better?" He asked when her hiccups had died out.

"Uh...yeah." Emily croaked, freeing herself from Nicholas' strong arms.

Her words weren't very convincing though, it was almost as if she was trying to tell herself she was better now.

It was heartbreaking.

Even more so when she tried to change the topic.

"You must be hungry. I'll go and cook something for the both of us to eat."

She went stood up but his hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back down.

Without any kind of warning, Nicholas did the thing any man should when his woman was feeling down.

He grabbed ahold of Emily's chin and with all his might, pressed his lips firmly against hers.

She sat there, stunned in the poorly lit room, her eyes wide open in shock at the man before her.

She hadn't expected anything like this. But she couldn't say she hated it either.

In fact, her skin tingled in the most delightful way and she was grateful for the absence of light because it heightened her senses which made her really feel him more.

Emily felt his desperation to make her better. His passion in the way his mouth moved with expertise against her own. It was incomparable.

Her heart leaped within her chest when he journeyed down to her wet cheeks to give them the softest pecks.

Not only did he want to kiss away her tears, but he also wanted to use this special moment to comfort the hurt woman in his arms.

The kiss proved to be the best cure for a broken heart after all because when he attempted to pull away, she gripped the material of his suit, shaking her head.

"Not so fast."

He was stunned by Emily for the first time due to her actions when she pulled his mouth against hers once more.

His reaction wasn't delayed for one second in return.

The hand he used to hold her travelled up to the nape of her neck, planting her firmly against him and she moaned at the heat of this kiss.

It wasn't gentle like the first one, it was filled with lust.

The couple kissed so passionately; with a fervent desire to change society's ideals of a love affair, pretending as if they were having one.

The desperation.

It was almost as if they couldn't get enough of each other.

Nicholas' amorous lingering nips at her lips, neck and shoulders had the woman before him curling her toes in sheer pleasure.

The world felt like it was spinning as they tried to catch their breaths again.

Her eyes which had closed during the fulfilling moment fluttered open at the raspy sound of his voice. His thumb caressed her cheekbone as he made his heartfelt request.

"Emily, I hope that regardless of the emotional state which you're in, happy or sad, I will be the first person you turn to. I don't care how many masks you wear in the outside world because that's a given, but once you're here, in our home, we must face each other truthfully. We ought to be the epitome of a married couple. One that can trust and be able to rely on each other. Just like how I seek to confide in you every day because you bring me a sense of contentment."

She was speechless at his words.

The happiness it brought her was incomparable to any other.

Had he truly felt this strongly about her?

As if that amazing kiss didn't confirm that already, her subconscious mocked.

Nicholas made one last lingering trace of her swollen lips before he stood up.

Emily thought he would've continued with his sentiments but he attacked the real concern between them.

"I've said this before and I won't say it again, you aren't allowed in the kitchen anymore. So no cooking dinner for you tonight or any night for that matter."

"Nicholas!"

Emily couldn't help the laughter that spilled from her lips.

He smiled at the genuiness in her voice.

Good.

She saw Nicholas turning to leave, so she quickly grabbed onto him, still burning from their little episode, "You said to be truthful right?"

Nicholas nodded warily at her.

What was she getting at now?

Emily hesitated.

It didn't take long for her then to decide there was no need to be afraid when this man was lawfully hers anyway.

"I need you."

Nicholas' eyes flew open at her profession.

Her words were extremely rushed.

"I know it's sudden but I need you right now, Nicholas. I need you to stay with me, hug me, kiss me..."

He took in the pleading sight of her and felt his stomach turn. Not in a bad way of course.

If it had been any other day he would have glady taken her up on the offer.

He would've done what she had asked...and more.

But she was vulnerable right now.

He wouldn't forgive himself if he was to take advantage of her in this unstable state.

"I need energy to kiss you, and food gives me energy. I'll go and make some dinner for the both of us. Let's see what happens after that." He teased, flickering her on the nose.

Emily retracted her hands that reached out to him.

Embarrassment was catching up to her.

She wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat, realizing that maybe she had gone too overboard with this. It was selfish of her to ask him to focus solely on her like this when he had probably had a tiring day at work.

She got off the recliner, "Okay. I'll make you a warm bath then."

"Only if you promise to join me."

Her mouth fell to the ground as she tried to rid her cheeks of the heat from her face.

"No...?"

"It was worth the shot." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making her double over in a fit of laughter.

Who would've thought he could be so silly?

Nicholas