Chapter 21

​ Emma regretted the words as soon as the words fell from her mouth. Her hands flew to her mouth, and tears of shame stung her eyes. Will stared at her with cold indignation. She’d hurt him, exactly as she wanted to. Who had she become? She had finally had the courage to stand up for herself and expressed her true emotions. But she had to hurt someone to do it.

​ Before she could apologize, Will left without a word.

​ “What have I done?” she cried, as she sank to her knees. Violent sobs quaked through her body. What would become of her now? She angered the man who held her life in his hands. He paid her father’s medical bills, and provided private round the clock care. She owed him $300,000, and was under a contractual obligation with him.

​ After a few minutes of trying to catch her breath, Emma got her crying under control.

​ “I have to get out of here,” she said to herself. She pulled out her regular phone and called Sabrina.

​ “Hi, Emma!” Sabrina’s chipper voice answered.

​ “Sabrina,” Emma sniffled.

​ “Have you been crying?” Sabrina’s voice changed and she spoke with anger and alarm. “What happened?”

​ “Can you come and get me? Please?”

​ “Send me your location. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

​ A trickle of warmth seeped back into Emma’s heart. She may have driven away Will, but she did have people that cared about her. It would a long road, but perhaps there was a way out of this mess. Emma sent Sabrina the name of the bar she was at along with the number of the VIP room she was in, and she could hear Sabrina’s car keys rattling as they hung up. While she waited, she attempted to clean herself up. She was a mess. Her eyeliner and mascara were smudged, her eyes were red, and her face was puffy, blotchy, and tear-stained. Sabrina would have a conniption if she saw her like this. How would she explain this to her friend? Her relationship with Will, whatever it was, had been kept secret. How would she explain crying alone in a bar’s private VIP room? How has she allowed herself to get into this mess?

​ About half an hour later, she heard a scuffle outside the door. Sabrina was arguing with someone. Emma heard a loud thud, followed by a man’s pained groan. Before she could get to the door to see what the commotion was, it swung open and she was greeted by Alex, who had a bruise blooming over his left eye.

​ “You better get away from her, you asshole! Touch her, and you’ll have more than a black eye to worry about!” Sabrina yelled as she pushed past him. She pulled Emma into a tight embrace.

​ “He won’t bother you again,” Sabrina assured as she shielded her friend from Alex.

​ “Sabrina, he didn’t do anything,” Emma replied, and then addressed Alex. “Were you there the whole time?”

​ “Yeah,” he answered, rubbing his eye. “I wanted to be sure he didn’t hurt you.”

​ Emma was surprised by this. Alex was very flirty with her, and she’d been convinced he was some air-headed billionaire playboy. Underneath that flippant exterior, she was surprised to learn there was a decent guy hiding underneath.

​ “Who is he talking about? So, this guy didn’t do anything to you?” Sabrina asked, looking her friend over again.

​ “Not at all. You should apologize,” Emma winced as she looked at Alex’s face. “Looks like you got him pretty good.”

​ Sabrina turned around, crossed her arms over her chest, and eyed Alex up and down.

​ “I’m sorry,” she said not sounding sorry at all.

​ “It’s fine,” Alex answered with a smile. “Maybe next time just get the whole story before you swing on somebody. You’ve got a wicked punch.”

​ “Yeah. I’ll be sure to be more careful next time,” Sabrina winked. “I guess I should thank you, for looking after my friend.”

“Don’t mention it,” Alex smirked. “It was the right thing to do.” Sabrina and Alex looked at each other for another minute in mutual respect.

“Come on, Em,” Sabrina soothed. “You can come home with me.” Sabrina put her arms around Emma, and led her out. They drove to Sabrina’s apartment in a comfortable silence. Emma was not ready to talk about what happened, and she was glad her friend didn’t push for any explanations. But she knew that she would have to talk about it eventually.

​ “I opened up the sofa bed for you,” Sabrina announced as they arrived at her place. “Why don’t you take a nice, hot shower before bed?”

​ “I think I will.” Emma sighed. “About tonight, I—”

​ Sabrina put a hand up to stop Emma from saying anymore.

​ “Em, I can tell that whatever happened tonight was bad. I can also tell that you aren’t ready to talk about it right now,” Sabrina soothed. She came up to Emma and placed both hands on her shoulders. “No one harmed you, and that’s what important right now. But, when I find out what bastard broke my best friend’s heart like this, you better believe he’ll get more than a black eye.”

​ Emma giggled.

​ “Thank you,” she smiled.

​ “You don’t have to thank me. Not for this. Go have your shower. I’ll leave some clothes out for you. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” With that, Sabrina left Emma alone.

​ The adrenaline had gone back down, and the after effects gripped Emma by surprise. She ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet, and starting throwing up. *How much did I drink?* Emma thought as round after round of vomit spewed from within her. After about thirty minutes, her stomach finally settled. She stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower. As the hot water ran over her, she could only think of Will’s hands roaming over her. She felt the hard lines of his body pressed against her and, much to her surprise, she found that she missed him.

​ Emma wondered why she got so emotional at the bar. Will had a way of bringing out the worst in her. He got under her skin in a way no one else had, not even Jane. What must he think of her now? He treated her like a pet. *What a poorly trained pet I turned out to be,* Emma mused. She hated the emotions he brought out in her. She hated it even more that all she wanted was to see him right now. There was a good side to him. A side of him he desperately wanted to keep hidden. It was a side of him she longed to know.

​ Emma got of the shower, and put on the clothes that Sabrina had left out for her. Being away from him gave her time to think clearly. After everything she’d gone through, there was only one course of action left. Could she call it a break up? They weren’t in a real relationship. There was the matter of the contract to consider. Though she could argue that he broke it first by flirting with Vivian.

​ “I have to do it now,” Emma said to herself, as she sat on the sofa bed. “Before I lose my nerve.” She fished out the phone Will had given her, and typed out a message.

​ *Will, I’m sorry for what I said tonight. It was cruel and although you were being cruel to me, I shouldn’t have done it back to you. I need you to know that I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know what to call us. So, the best I can say is, I am breaking us up. I’ve had enough.*

​ Before she could change her mind, she hit send and turned the phone off. On her own phone, she called Vivian.

​ “Emma Wells, do you have any idea of what time it is? This had better be good!” Vivian yelled over the phone.

​ “Just shut up and listen. I’m going by the dorms tomorrow. I’m going to leave a phone in there. I want you to call Will on it so he can come and pick it up. Take this as your chance to get to know him if you want.”

​ “Will?” Vivian’s tone changed. “Well, well, well. Looks like you finally learned your place,” she laughed. “I guess you’re not that dumb after all.” Vivian laughed again. Emma couldn’t listen anymore and hung up.

​ The weight of this decision was not lost on Emma. She didn’t know how Will would react. He could retaliate against her or her father. But it was too late. Tears fell down her face, and she hurriedly wiped them away with the back of her hand.

​ “Stop crying. Tomorrow is a new day. Things will get better. They have to,” she said to herself and new tears sprung up. Emma cried to herself to sleep that night.