Chance Encounters (19 page)

She was slightly taken aback by his comment. She slowly
backed away from him on the bench. “Emma, will you please tell me what I can do
to win you back? This is killing me. I know I screwed up; I promised you I will
make it up to you, forever if that’s what it takes. I promise I will never hurt
you like that again, I was such a fool.”

Emma started to cry. “Matt, I can’t do this, any of it.”

He lifted her chin so he could look in her eyes. “Are these
tears because of me or because of someone else?”

“That’s not fair, Matt. It’s you who tore my heart out. It’s
you who took another woman to our bed, and it still hurts like hell. But, the
funny thing is … I forgive you. It took me some time, but then I realized that
we’re just not meant to be. I do believe there is someone out there for you,
but it’s not me.”

“How can you say that? We’ve built a life together. We planned
a future together.”

“Weeks before our wedding, Matt, we were only weeks from our
wedding. You, for some reason, decided to bring someone else in our bed. To me,
that seems like a surefire way to get out of marrying someone. I believe you
knew what you were doing. You must have felt deep down that we would have been
unhappy. Why else would you wait eight years to ask me to marry you?”

“Emma I … I thought we’d worked all this out. I thought I
was losing you.”

“I thought so too, but deep down inside, I’ll always wonder
where you are, or who you’re with. I thought we were happy and secure, and we
weren’t. I will always love you. You are a huge part of my history, but not my
future.”

“Please just tell me this isn’t because of that man that you
met. Is this why you are talking like this? Because he’s gone, Emma, he left
without as much as a good-bye. However, I am still right here.”

She pulled away from him. The tears only fell harder.

“Emma, tell me you’re not in love with that man. He’s a
stranger. You barely even knew him, and he’s gone.”

“I don’t even know how to explain it to you, Matt. I feel as
if I’ve known him forever. He’s funny, witty, and whimsical. He lives by the
seat of his pants, so to speak. He’s unlike anyone I have ever known. Until I
met him I didn’t know that there was so much more to life than what I had been
living.”

Matt backed away. He felt as though a dagger had been
plunged into his chest.

“I thought you felt that way about me.”

“Oh Matt it’s not you, it’s me. I’ve changed, and Jacob is
the reason why. I just don’t see things the way you do anymore.”

“I don’t understand. You can’t throw away us … this … for a
fling with someone you’ll never see again.”

“See, I just don’t believe that. He made me believe in fate.
He’s proof of that. Our paths just kept crossing and I know it was meant to be.
I have to believe in that.”

“Well, I don’t. We forge our own destiny. We pave our own
path in life. If you want something, you have to make it happen. I refuse to
give up on us based on fate. I just can’t.”

“This is why I thought that you following me here to New
York was a bad idea from the start. You came, because you believed one on one
time together would bring us closer. It has, but not like you meant for it to,
Matt. I’m sorry if I led you to believe that we were going to get back
together, but it’s not what I want.”

“Emma, just give us a chance, please. If I hadn’t screwed up
… you never would have met him. It’s my fault, not fate. He wasn’t even man
enough to say good-bye to you. How can you love someone who walked away from
you so easily? I haven’t walked away. In fact, I’m fighting like hell to fix
things between us.”

“This can’t be fixed, Matt. We’re not broken.”

“Emma, no! Give us a chance. I’ll do whatever it takes. I
can wait until you are over him, as much as it pains me. I swear I’ll get you
to fall in love with me again. You say you believe in destiny … you are mine. I
know you are. I can’t live a life knowing you won’t be in it.”

“Oh Matt! You are a wonderful man. Flawed, yes, but still
wonderful. You’ll make some girl, someday, very happy. You’ll look back on me
and I hope the memories will at least make you smile.”

“So what are you saying? Is this the end of the road? That’s
it, am I just supposed to roll over and let you walk out of my life?”

He walked up to her, grabbed her hand, and placed it on his
chest.

“Do you feel that, Emma? It beats for just you, and no one
else. If you leave me, it’ll stop. That’s what you are to me, my Emma, you are
my heart. You are in the every beat it takes. You make me want to be a better
man. Please, give me a chance. Please don’t throw it all away. I am standing
here in front of you, begging, pleading for you to not give up on me.”

The tears continued to fall down her cheeks. She noticed
some passersby slowly lingering, thinking this was a marriage proposal and
hoping to witness it. When they realized there was not going to be a happy
ending, the small gathering of people moved along.

Emma wanted to help ease his pain, but it wasn’t hers to
bear any longer. “I think that maybe we should go our separate ways, Matthew. I
think that it is time for both of us to move on.”

He was down on his knees in front of her, holding her hands
in his. “You can’t mean this! I gave up everything. I have nowhere to go home
to. I left it all behind for you. Wherever you are, that is where my home is.
Marry me, Emma. Just marry me.”

“Matthew … I can’t. You should just go back to California.
You know as well as I do that your job will still be there. I think you should
go. You’re not happy in New York anyway. You’re not one for the cold weather,
and believe me it gets cold.”

Matt looked forlorn. She reached down and pulled him into a
hug.

“I swear someday you’ll thank me.”

“Somehow, I don’t see that happening.”

“I’m going to go now, Matt. I think you should stop calling
me and stop coming by for a while. I think we both need some time apart so we
can move on.”

He held her even tighter, knowing this was going to be the
last time he held her.

“Do you know what tomorrow is?” he asked her with pain in
his voice.

Emma thought for a minute. Their wedding, it would have been
tomorrow.

“I’m going to love you forever, Emma.”

She smiled. “I know, Matt. I know,” she responded.

BY THE TIME Emma got back to her
apartment, Catherine was gone, and Renee was painting her toes on the coffee
table. Renee took one look at her and put the polish down. “Emma, what
happened?”

Emma sat on the couch beside her friend and the tears
started up again. “Tomorrow was supposed to be my wedding day. Matt just asked
me to marry him again.”

Renee had an unsure, but excited look on her face. “And …”

“I said no. I told him to go back to California.”

“Are you crazy, Emma? Do you know how much that man loves
you?”

“It’s not enough. I don’t love him like that anymore. I’m
finally over him. I have no hard feelings toward him, just relief that I didn’t
make the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Oh, Emma, I hope you know what you just did.”

Emma looked at her with a surprised look on her face. “I’m
not going to marry someone that I don’t love, when I’m in love with someone
else.”

Renee lowered her head. “Do you honestly think you are in
love with that … that hippie?”

Emma wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt and nodded.
“Yeah, I love that hippie. I love the way he charges into life each day like
everything is so new. I love the way he looks at me like no one else exists but
me. I love how when he touches me, every cell of my body reacts to him. Last
night before you showed up in my office I was picturing the life I wanted, and
Jacob was there. I don’t want this cold, crappy apartment. I don’t want this
congested city. I don’t want to work eighteen hour days. I thought I did, but I
don’t.”

Renee started to well up with tears. “What is it, Renee? Why
are you crying?”

“You are going to hate me, but I have to tell you something.
Just know that what I tell you, I only did it out of love. I thought I was
looking out for you.”

“What, Renee? Tell me,” Emma demanded.

Renee told her about everything that transpired that day in
Tennessee when she and Matt showed up at the garage. “I made him leave, Emma. I
convinced him that you and Matt were back together and it really was for the
best. He happened to look in the window just as Matt threw his arms around you.
I’m so sorry.”

Emma jumped up from the seat. She was hysterical. She was
livid. “You are telling me, that Jacob was there to see me? He didn’t want me
to leave without him.”

“Yeah, that is what I am telling you.”

“Renee … you are supposed to be my best friend. How could
you let me think I was used when you knew how much I cared for him?”

“I wanted you and Matt to get back together. I also never
cancelled the wedding, none of it. I assumed I could push the two of you
together and get you down the aisle tomorrow.”

Emma collapsed in a nearby chair. “You mean the wedding in
my hometown, here in New York. So the florist, and the cake, and the food, they
are all headed there for tomorrow?”

Renee had make-up smearing down her face. “Well at least
it’s Matt footing the bill. I made sure everyone took payment from his account
and not yours.”

Emma was so emotional she burst out laughing. Renee was
unsure how to respond to her so she nervously giggled, too.

Emma stood up and threw her arms in the air. “Well, I have a
chance to find my happiness. Todd and Lena will be at The Mercury Lounge
tonight. I have to talk to them. They probably think I am some ass who used
their friend and ran back off with her rich fiancé. Oh God this was exactly
what Lena warned me against! She told me not to hurt him. I thought he hurt me,
when it was you who made me hurt him. I think I am going to be sick.”

“Emma, please don’t hate me. I was only trying to do what I
thought would make you happy. I didn’t realize until now how much you really
have changed. I’m sorry. I’ll help you make it right.”

“I think you’ve done enough, don’t you?” Emma stormed off
and slammed her bedroom door. By the time she came back out she was dressed in
black skinny jeans, and a black lacy T-shirt. She had very little make-up on
and her hair was down. Renee stood with her pocketbook in hand and followed her
out the door. She was going to follow Emma, even if Emma tried to fight her
off.

They arrived at the Lounge and the line went down the street
and around the corner. Emma was impatient, and her heart was beating a million
beats a minute. She broke out of line and walked to the door. People were
screaming at her to get back in line and she screamed back at them. Renee
smirked, because Emma was never one to mouth off. She was always the sexy
librarian type. Emma tapped her foot trying to get the bouncers attention.
Finally she slammed her hand on the clipboard. “Yeah hi,” she said
sarcastically to him. “I need to get inside. I have to talk to Todd.”

The bouncer laughed at her, thinking she was just a groupie.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but Todd doesn’t do groupies. His wife is inside.”

“Great, get her please. And by the way, I am not a groupie.
I am a close friend of Todd and Lena’s.”

“That’s what they always say. Now get to the back of the
line.”

Emma was about to panic. “Isn’t there a list? I can
guarantee you I am on it.”

“They haven’t brought it out yet. They won’t be out for
another forty-five minutes,” the big burly man scoffed at her.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “Well I am going to wait
right here until the list comes out and you apologize to me.”

The man laughed even louder. “Get to the back of the line
before I have you carted out of here on your ass.”

The door creaked open and a man with a blue tooth adapter in
his ear stepped out and handed the bouncer a sheet of paper. Emma jerked her
neck back and forth to tell him off. “The name is Emma Reed. R-E-E-D, just in
case you can’t spell.”

The man was just about to tell her to get the hell out of
there when he noticed her name was flagged with a special VIP pass. He handed
her a pass and looked over at Renee. “Oh no, I am with her one way or the
other, you choose.”

The man shook his head and handed Renee a pass also. He
reluctantly opened the door for them to pass through. Emma could hear some
voices of complaints as they passed by the people waiting. Renee flipped her
hair over her shoulder and smirked at them with her best Barbie smile.

Emma made her way through the club. She noticed roadies
setting up the equipment, but she saw no signs of any of the band members
themselves. The bartender noticed her frantically looking around and called
over to them. “Come and take a seat at the bar, ladies, I will mix you up
something to help you settle down while you wait for the show to start.”

Renee took a stool and smiled flirtatiously at him. “Why
thank you. I’ll take a Cosmopolitan.”

He threw a rag over his shoulder and grinned. “Of course you
will, Barbie, of course you will.”

Emma let out a frustrated grunt. The bartender placed the
Cosmopolitan in front of Renee and commented, “So she’s like a groupie for the
band or something? We get a lot of them around here.”

Renee took a sip of her drink. “Oh please. She’s the senior
editor at The New York Times. Do you really think she’d be some band whore?
She’s tempting fate. The man of her dreams is friends with the singer. She’s
hoping he’ll be here so she can profess her undying love to him.”

The bartender didn’t know how to respond to Renee. He
couldn’t tell if she was pulling his leg, or if the story was just that crazy
enough to be true. He mixed up a gin and tonic and slid it to Emma. “So you
work the Times, huh?” he asked, testing the waters.

She took the drink and looked at him. “Yup, I’m the Senior
Editor.” She downed the entire drink and slid it back to him.

He mixed another and leaned over the bar. “The band hasn’t
shown up yet. The manager is here, but the bus hasn’t arrived. I’d slow down a
little if you don’t plan to make a scene.”

Emma smiled. She couldn’t help it. Here was a complete stranger
telling her to take a deep breath so she didn’t make an ass out of herself.

People started to pile in to the lounge. Emma’s heart was
racing. She was waiting for something, anything to tell her this was right.
Through the crowd she spotted Lena. She dropped her drink and bolted into the
crowd. Lena spotted her and hesitated only for a moment until she saw the
frantic look on Emma’s face. “Emma, you made it. We weren’t sure you would.”

Lena hugged her and Emma grabbed hold of her. Todd poked his
head out from behind the stage. He noticed Emma and hurried over. “Oh, Emma,
it’s so great to see you.”

“Hi Todd, thank you for putting me on the list. I almost had
myself thrown out of here.”

Todd cracked up laughing, but Lena watched Emma hesitantly,
trying to figure her out. “So, what brings you here? How’s New York treating
you?” she asked.

“Truthfully, I hate it here. I really and truly hate it
here. I messed up, Lena. I need your help. I tried to call you but I chickened
out.”

Lena shot Todd an aggravated look to tell him she told him
so. “What do you need, Emma?”

“Jacob, I need Jacob.”

Lena hesitated. She just wanted to be sure that Emma wasn’t
going to rip his heart out. “What about Matt?”

Renee walked up beside Emma and Lena, and they exchanged
rude looks. “There is no me and Matt. There wasn’t any me and Matt,” Emma
pleaded. “At least once there was a Jacob, there was no more Matt.”

Renee rubbed her friend’s shoulder and turned back to Lena.
“I forced Jacob to leave. I knew what he was going to do, and I didn’t think it
was right for you.”

Emma looked at her and asked, “What, Renee? What are you
talking about?”

Lena and Renee exchanged glances. Lena knew what Renee was
about to confide, and allowed Renee to finish the story.

“He had a ring and he was going to propose to you.”

Emma gasped at the news.

“I didn’t want you to settle for just some nobody. I thought
you’d end up regretting it. I was wrong, Emma. I was so wrong,” Renee stated.

Emma collapsed to the side of the stage and began to
hyperventilate. She felt the room begin to waiver and then her world turned
black.

WHEN SHE CAME to, she was lying on a
couch in the back stage area. Renee and Lena were both sitting with her. Emma
slowly tried to sit up, but the room still felt shaky. “Is he here, Lena? Am I
too late?”

Lena sat beside her and wrapped her arm around her. “It’s
never too late for love. He is here. I am just not sure where, and he doesn’t
believe in cell phones. He went out into the city to find you.”

“I have to go out then. I have to find him.”

Lena grinned. “Something tells me that now that you are
here, he will most definitely find his way back. The two of you have this
uncanny connection. You seem to always know where to find one another. How
about we go and enjoy the rest of the show, and wait for him to come back?”

Emma looked over to Renee, “I don’t know what to say to you
right now. I am so hurt that you could keep something like this from me. What
gives you the right to decide who or what is best for me?”

Tears filled Renee’s eyes. “I don’t have the right, Emma. I
don’t. All I was trying to do was keep you from getting hurt.”

“Renee, you caused me to get hurt.”

“I was trying to fix you and Matthew.”

“Fix us? He hurt me, too. You said you were trying to keep
me from getting hurt, then why on earth would you push so hard for me to get
back together with Matthew?”

“I thought he was better suited for you. You come from the
same place, Emma. You built a life with him. I was wrong. I admit it.”

“At one point, I would have agreed, but it wasn’t right.
Matthew and I worked through it.”

“I know that now, Emma. I do. I said I was sorry. You are
like a sister to me. I’m going to make mistakes, lots of them.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I can’t hate you.
We have been through way too much together. You are the only family I have
left. I’m just hurt.” A tear trailed down her cheek. Renee wanted to hug Emma
and make it right. She was determined to make it right.

Lena led Emma out into the lounge area. A special table was
reserved for Lena, and the other spouses of the band members. They warmly
accepted Emma and told her and Renee to pull up a seat. Renee hesitated for a
moment before excusing herself to use the restroom. She hurried down the
corridor and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until she
came across Catherine’s number. She was glad she had taken her number earlier
in the day. Catherine answered on the first ring.

“Hello,” she said with an eager voice.

“Catherine, it’s Renee … I need your help.”