Episode 63: Girlfriends

"Home sweet home!" Emily exclaimed whilst kicking off her shoes and flopping down onto the enormous bed.

She felt a form follow suit and find itself beside her. With one eye closed, she peeped at Nicholas who was staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom, seemingly in a daze. The woman didn't cease her adoration of his face as he completely closed his eyes for the next few seconds. He appeared tired; sleep bags leaving a visible indent beneath his eyes and that's when it occurred to her that he probably hadn't gotten any sleep during their flight.

From the moment she had started watching movies and unknowingly falling asleep to them, he was in the same position when she woke up.

On his laptop; utterly consumed by work.

It didn't help that she had slept for most of the flight. The fatigue she didn't feel prior had caught up with her so she couldn't see to it that he had gotten some rest. But now that they were home she could ensure that much.

The feeling of Emily locking his legs with her own had his eyes opening instantly.

He gave her an odd look which she returned with a bemused smile, arms opening themselves invitingly.

"Let's take a nap."

"You slept for almost ten hours, what are you talking about?" He questioned but still found himself drawn to her embrace.

With his head on her stomach, her fingers found themselves running through his scalp which caused a satisfied moan to leave him.

She blushed hard when he snuggled up to her more because of it as if he was prompting her to keep working her magic.

"But you didn't." She countered his statement from earlier.

Nicholas' body was entirely still when he realized what she was trying to do.

She was worried about him not getting enough sleep over the past 24 hours so she offered to do so even though she probably didn't want or need it.

He kissed her exposed shoulder blade quickly before he slowly withdrew from her embrace to face her. Right then, his brown eyes reflected gratitude. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Once or twice."

His eyes were radiating a high level of amusement but they changed with a deep shade of seriousness.

"Thank you."

That simple phrase touched her heart as he quickly gathered her in his arms again. She got a ridiculous amount of happiness from being there.

"By the way, where's our little troublemaker? I'm surprised she hasn't come between us the moment our bodies touched the bed." He muttered, eyes closed and fingers tracing the length of her arm.

"With Nanny Kim. She's introducing her to the bed and all the new toys you told her to buy for her while we were in Paris. You always talk so badly of Aurora but you're already spoiling her."

"I did some research and they said those are the essentials for a pet. I just want her to be comfortable in her new home. Not only for her benefit but mine. God knows how noisy she can be when she's not at ease."

"Yeah, yeah. Why don't you just admit you're a sucker for her already?"

His eyes opened in a flash and it startled her at how unexpected it was.

"Oh-"

"I thought you said you wanted us to get some rest." He said, sounding as if he was at his limit.

Such a tsundere, Emily thought.

"Okay, okay!" She surrendered.

About three hours later, it was the sound of a phone ringing that woke Emily from her deep sleep. She glanced over at Nicholas and saw that he was still asleep. As quickly as she could, she grabbed her phone and made her way to the bathroom.

She squinted a bit after flicking on the bright light.

Her eyebrows raised curiously when she saw the caller ID.

"Hey, Valentina. What's up?"

"E-Emily?"

Her good mood instantly faded at the urgency in the woman's voice.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

There was a series of shaky breaths before she finally spoke up again.

"I'm okay," she assured, "Are you free? I kind of don't wanna be alone right now after all of this shit happened. I know it's dumb but I'd just feel better knowing I have some company."

Rubbing at her eyes anxiously, Emily nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not caught up in anything right now. Are you at home?"

"Yes- well, what's left of it."

Her eyes expanded at that.

"Send me your address. I'll be over in fifteen minutes."

Valentina felt relieved hearing that but then she reconsidered whether she had called her too instinctively. They had gotten pretty close recently, enough to share their concerns, so her first thought was to call her for help. She knew she should have been more considerate seeing that it was getting late but the woman couldn't help it. She didn't really have any family physically close enough to keep her company.

"I'm sorry if this is so sudden. I just need someone to talk to-"

"Valentina, it's fine. I consider you a friend. And this is what friends do; they call each other in times of need. Just send me your address and I'll come over. You can explain everything to me then."

"Thanks Emily. You're a real one." She said before hanging up and sending the address via text message.

In a rush, the woman washed her face and brushed her teeth in the basin. She headed out the bathroom and to the closet for a warmer outfit. In the middle of dressing, she jumped at the sound of a hoarse voice.

"Where are you going?"

Nicholas was staring down at her, all bed head and confusion.

She shrugged on her coat before walking over to him to deliver a kiss to his forehead.

"Something's wrong with Valentina. I'm gonna go check on her. I'll be back soon."

He held onto her forearm, making her unable to leave.

"Wait, is she okay? Do you need my help with anything?"

Her heart melted at his concern for her friend and his willingness to help out.

"No, I don't think it's to that level. If it was, she would've called the police instead of me but I'll tell you if your assistance is required."

He gave a lopsided smile at her full on business tone.

"Okay, go do your thing."

She went to leave again but he didn't let her. Staring at him puzzled, he silently tapped at his lips.

Emily shook her head at him.

He only released her after she pecked him on the lips and then rolled onto his side, most likely going back to bed.

"Are you headed somewhere, Mrs. King?" Karen Kim asked as she caught the sight of a frantic expression on the girl's face as she came down the stairs.

Emily turned to see the woman preoccupied with Aurora who ran to her in a swift dash as she saw her owner. The puppy wagged her tail happily around her but she couldn't do anything but pet her twice before answering the lady, "I'm going out for a second to meet a friend. Could you please continue to keep an eye on her for me until then? I promise I'll be back in time for dinner."

"No problem. I am quite the animal lover. It's a pleasure. And I was thinking pasta for dinner, what do you think?"

"That sounds great! Gotta go, thank you!" Emily yelled before slamming the door behind her.

She could almost hit her head against the hood of the car when she realized the key she had grabbed wasn't the one for the Mercedes-Benz but the red Lamborghini. Too bothered to go back inside the house, she slid right in and put the address she got from Valentina into the GPS.

•••

Emily's hand flew to her mouth after being invited into Valentina's apartment.

The place was a mess. Almost as if it had been deliberately trashed. She winced at the broken glass and painting which hung by a string on the walls as she entered. There was a crunching sound beneath her boots as she stepped further inside. Even down to the television had a crack in the middle like one would if someone had swung a baseball bat straight at it. Numb to it all, Valentina walked through the disaster and sunk in one of the couches. It looked like she was relaxing. As if it was the first time she rested her body today.

"What," Emily choked on the million words that wanted to come out. "What happened?"

"Your cousin did."

"Jason?"

"The one and only," She confirmed with a deep sigh. "Bastard."

Emily took a seat beside her on the couch after making sure there weren't any shards there.

"You're kidding me," she blew out, shocked.

"Oh, how I wish I was."

"Why would he do something like this all of a sudden? I thought you guys already called things off."

Her eyes met Emily's for the first time since she arrived. They looked tired and her exhaustion was clear merely by her lousy posture and slowly spoken words.

"He came by a while ago," she started emotionlessly, "I was stupid enough not to check the peephole because I had ordered some Chinese food so I thought it was them but obviously it wasn't." Her dry laugh which followed was heartbreaking. "It was Jason. He tried to walk past me to get inside here as if everything was alright between us. Like he always did when he would come over before we broke up. I not so kindly reminded him of that fact and at that point, things turned for the worse. He laughed, just straight up laughed at me before pushing me aside and entering. I tried to stop him but couldn't. He went to get a beer from the fridge and turned on the TV and with the scariest look on his face, he told me to sit down."

"Did you?"

"Of course not, I told him to fuck off."

Emily wanted to laugh but the atmosphere wasn't really accommodating towards that.

"He threw a fit and started breaking shit. Talking about how we weren't broken up but we were taking a break. I kept telling him to leave my damn apartment before I called the cops and that's when he stopped and left."

She was shaken up. It was clear in the way she spoke and the empty gaze on her face.

"But that wasn't the scariest part, Emily," Valentina said in a low voice and if their surroundings weren't eerily quiet it wouldn't have been heard in the first place.

"The scariest part about all of that wasn't the fact that he thrashed my apartment or his never-ending anger or big ego. Those aren't new to me when it comes to Jason Evans..."

"What terrified me the most was the fact that he was so convinced that we were still together. To him, I hadn't called it quits with him. He made it sound like a cooling off period. And he stuck to that belief the whole time. That's what gave me the chills. That damn certain look in his eyes." Her own were blown wide as if someone was charging at her with something dangerous.

What she was seeing, it was impossible for anyone else to.

Trapped in her own psychosis, it was like she had experienced a living nightmare for the first time in her life.

The warmth of Emily's hand covering hers pulled her out of the episode and she looked to her, pupils still shaking.

Her heart broke seeing such a strong woman like Valentina in this state. Without saying anything in return, Emily gathered her into a tight hug. Her hands moved up and down the length of her back reassuringly.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

And so the tears came.

Her body racked with the sobs that came and her friend continued to hold her as she let all the frustrations out.

Valentina couldn't understand it. How it always had to be Emily to see her in this kind of state, she didn't know. But she couldn't say it was entirely awful because the girl had a way of comforting someone like no one else could. Maybe that was why her name came to mind first when the woman had panicked amidst staring at the state of her apartment upon Jason's departure.

Emily was feeling deeply enraged by what her cousin had done. She knew he had been disgusting all her life but she didn't know the extent to his actions, especially how he didn't give any consideration towards women in particular. They were all toys to him and if he didn't have control of them, he threw a tantrum. Like the bratty child he was.

Her mind was slowly drawing up plans on how to get back at him for hurting her friend because there was no way he was going to do something like this and get away with it. At the very least, an apology was necessary. A genuine one.

"He's going to regret what he's done today, trust me. You don't deserve to be treated like this." Emily told her seriously as her shaking finally ceased.

Pulling out of her embrace, Valentina wiped at her eyes, suddenly embarrassed.

She spotted a patch of her mascara on Emily's shirt and cringed. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I'm such a mess." Her hand wiped at the mark but gave up when it only made an even bigger blotch.

"It's fine. It's just a shirt." Emily dismissed easily. "Are you okay though?"

She nodded at her question. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better. Guess I just needed a shoulder to cry on. Literally."

The brunette laughed.

"Well, I'm honored to have been that shoulder. Though I have a feeling I won't be seeing you cry for a while after this." Emily eyed her knowingly.

"Damn straight," she spoke up confidently. "If I cry in front of you one more time I swear I'm gonna lose all the dignity I have left."

"It was fun while it lasted." Emily joked, making her shove her by the shoulders playfully.

"Don't be getting too cocky there, Pinault. You'll be needing me in the future to do the same. Don't forget I'm virtually your only friend."

The target held her hand to heart with a feigned expression of hurt. "Ouch."

"Yeah, you heard me, Miss Calm and Collected."

Emily burst out in laughter. "Is that the best you've got?"

"Stone wall."

"Wannabe Plankton."

"Robocop."

"Okay, okay! I get it!"

Valentina smirked triumphantly.

"Aw, I was on a roll. I have about twenty more comparisons left. It's not hard to do for someone like you."

"Again, I'm honored." Emily gave a half smile before pointing to the living room. "But I think we have to clean up your place before we get into more details about my cold facade."

"Oh, so you finally admit that it's a facade?"

She rolled her eyes at the woman, glad that she had stopped crying but overwhelmed by her meddlesome nature.

"Let's just start cleaning, Flores."