Chapter 89 The Interview
Emily sat across from Laura Terence, the well-known local newscaster with the famous blond bob hairdo.
“Look at that beautiful ring!” the news host exclaimed, admiring the jewels on Emily’s finger. “Are you engaged?”
“Yes,” Emily said, “And I’m so happy.”
“Looks like your career is on fire as well as your love life,” said Laura. “Do you have any advice for young people out there who are just starting out?”
Emily blushed, feeling the heat of the bright lights and the pressure of being thought of as a role model.
“I don’t feel like someone who should be giving out advice,” she said, “We all have our own unique path in life, and what works for me might not work for anyone else. I’m very lucky because I followed my dream, and it came true.”
“And what can you say about your designs?” Laura asked.
“They’re made for fun-loving and girly girls who want something they can wear every day,” Emily said. “I’m wearing one right now.” This was a short-sleeved dress with a cute pocket on the front.
“I love it!” Laura said.
Overall, it had been a great interview. Emily texted her parents to say it had gone well before leaving the studio and taking the elevator into the parkade.
She walked towards her car, hardly noticing her surroundings because she was still thinking of the interview. When she heard echoing footsteps in the large, empty space of the parkade, she looked up to see a tall, blond man coming slowly towards her.
Instantly, her hand went to her phone. She could call the police and have him arrested at once. But she was alarmed by the object in his hand. It was hard to tell in the darkness of the garage, but it looked like a gun...
“Don’t touch your phone,” Josh said, raising his hand. It really was a gun being pointed at her.
“Why are you here, Josh?” she asked. And why does he have a gun? She was afraid of what the answer might be.
“I heard you got engaged,” he said, coming slowly closer, “it was in the newspaper, and I could see you flashing your ring around all your little video podcasts.”
Instinctively, Emily backed away, but when she glanced behind her, there was nothing but a low concrete wall and a long drop down. They were on the highest level of the parkade.
“Josh, you’re not supposed to be here,” she insisted, “You could be arrested for breaking the protection order.”
“I know you fabricated that whole relationship for my sake,” Josh said, ignoring her. “Am I such a burden on you that you had to get fake engaged too?” His features, which she had once thought of as attractive, looked ugly when his face compressed into an angry grimace.
“I’m not fake engaged,” Emily said fiercely. “This is a real relationship. It might have started out fake, but it’s not. Maybe the more important question is, am I such a burden on you that you waste all your time thinking about me?”
“Please, as if you ever cared about me,” Josh scoffed. He came even closer, standing in the space between two cars so that any random person walking in the parkade wouldn’t likely see him pointing the gun.
“I do care. Not in a romantic way,” she hurried to correct herself, not wishing to give him the wrong idea that he seemed to insist on believing. “But I care about you as a human being. I don’t want you to suffer for my sake when you could be happy with someone else.”
Where the hell was Fred? He was supposed to be lurking in the background and tackling Josh if he ever dared approach her. Although now that Josh was armed, it was more complicated. Maybe Fred didn’t want to risk her getting shot?
Emily had to assume no one was coming to help. In the past, she would have tried to run away, but now she had grown into a different person. Somehow, she had the courage to face him.
“How can I be happy with anyone else,” Josh said bitterly, “when we were perfect together?”
“We were so young when we dated,” Emily said, “we barely knew each other. It was far from perfect.”
“But I know deep down in my heart that you’re the one for me,” he said.
“Josh, you don’t know that,” she said calmly. “And how could that be true, if I’m with someone else? Would the woman of your dreams really abandon you to be with another man?”
“I know you didn’t really abandon me,” he insisted, “Your relationship is fake.”
“You’re in denial,” Emily said, even though she dreaded provoking him. “If you really think about it, you’ll see the relationship between you and me has not existed for many years. That’s the fake relationship here.”
“You’re lying.” The gun shook in his hand as he squeezed it with a white-knuckled grip.
“No, I’m not,” Emily said. “And you could threaten to shoot me right now, but my answer will still be the same. We are not meant to be together.”
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