Chapter 61

Will arrived to his hotel room after another day of battle. Things in Italy were worse than he feared. He didn’t intend to stay as long as he had. The memory of Emma, and how had been that night stayed with him. He couldn’t wait to get back and have an encore performance.

​ Any other business trip would have found him with a different girl in his hotel room each night. There was only one girl on his mind, and it was strange to him. Their “relationship” had taken twists and turns he hadn’t anticipated. Not once did he imagine things would happen the way they did. *How interesting.*

​ He looked at the clock and saw it was time to call Emma. As he waited for her to answer, a small smile crept over his face without his permission.

“Hey,” she answered. He could hear that she was messing with something. She sounded distracted.

​ “How did it go?”

​ “It was amazing. The judges really liked me.” He had expected a rapid fire, mile long babble, complete with minute details. She seemed muted.

​ “You don’t sound as excited as you should be.”

​ “Oh, I am. It’s just that now I have nothing to do. No schoolwork, no contest. You’re not even here for me to argue with.”

​ Will laughed. Was that her way of saying she missed him?

​ “I can’t help with the first two, but I can help with that last one. Everything is finally solved here and I’m coming home. I should be there tomorrow.”

​

​ “That’s great,” she said. “Do you know around what time?”

​ “If everything thing works out the way it supposed to, I’ll be there early afternoon.”

​ “Okay. I’ll be waiting.”

​ “See you soon.”

​ That call didn’t leave him with the usual feeling he got after speaking with her. He looked at his suitcases and saw the gifts he had picked up for Emma. Another illicit smile. Something had shifted between them during this trip. He wasn’t sure when it happened, but he found himself feeling excited to go home and see her.

​ Emma was a source of irritation and disorder in his life. Or at least she usually was. She never did things the way he wanted them done. And for some reason, he liked that about her.

​ After ensuring that everything had been packed, he went to bed. As he drifted off, his phone pulled him from slumber. He answered without looking.

​ “Hello?” a woman’s voice answered.

​ “Emma?” Will’s voice was heavy with sleep. “Is something wrong?”

​ “Of course, you’d think it was her calling. Have you forgotten about me already?” That voice caused Will’s blood to freeze.

​ “Grace,” he whispered. “Why are you calling me?”

​ “Oh, Will,” she sobbed. “I can’t do this anymore. He’s so horrible to me. I don’t know why I married him. I’ve made a huge mistake.”

​ “Calm down. Why are you calling me?” he repeated.

​ “I couldn’t think of anyone else to talk to. I needed to talk to someone who loves me.”

​ “You don’t get to do that. You left me. My love wasn’t enough for you.”

​ “Please, Will. I… I can’t live this way. I just need someone to talk to. I need someone to keep me from killing myself,” she cried. Will bolted up in the bed, all traces of sleep gone from his body. “Can we meet up somewhere? Please?”

​ “I’m not even in the country right now,” he panicked. “I’m flying back in the morning. We can talk when I get back. Promise me you won’t do anything until we talk.”

​ “I promise. See you soon. Thank you.”

​ “Bye.”

​ He hung up the phone, and stared out into the dark room. Realization of what just happened began to sink in.

​ “Fuck,” he hissed, his hands grabbed at his hair. “Goddamn it!” he threw his phone somewhere, hoping it wasn’t smashed. He hated himself in that moment. Why did Grace still have such a hold on him? He should have hung up the second he realized it was her. Rational thought aside, he had to see her and make sure she’d be okay.

​ Sleep definitely wasn’t going to happen now. His flight didn’t leave for another several hours, but he got up and started to get ready anyway.

​ “I’ll sleep on the fucking plane,” he muttered as he stomped around the hotel room. He realized he was talking to himself and laughed. It was something he picked up from Emma. He had even teased her for it. He would make sure Grace was okay and then go home to Emma. That was the plan.

​ He got off the plane feeling like trash. He had not slept on the plane as he intended. Two women were at war in his mind. And he hated it. This day was supposed to be easy. He was supposed to go home, and surprise Emma with all the gifts he’d given her. There was also the hope that things would pick up where they left off. Emma had broken her own rules, and he couldn’t be happier. But now, Grace needed him. And he couldn’t say no.

​ Grace called him, letting him know that she would be waiting for him at his office. Will figured he should call Emma and let her know what was going on.

​

​

“Are you almost home?” she answered. He could tell she was trying not to sound excited.

​ “No, not yet. I called to tell you that I need to go to the office first. But I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

​ “Oh. Okay.” Will didn’t like her reaction. She didn’t seem to care.

​ “Sorry,” he added.

​ “No, it’s fine. I’ll be here.”

​ After hanging up, he grasped that he didn’t tell Emma why he was going to his office. There weren’t any nefarious intentions on his part. He was going to help a friend. Surely Emma would understand that. Nothing was going on between Grace and himself anymore. Emma knew that, he was sure of it. So, why didn’t he tell her?

​ He arrived at his office and noticed the staff seemed to be uncomfortable.

​ “H-hello, Mr. Stewart. Welcome back,” his secretary greeted. “Sir, Miss Cunning is here. She insisted on waiting for you in your office. We tried to send her away, but…” Will put up a hand to stop her. Grace was well-known by his staff. She was a fixture at the office when they were together. He should have realized that they would be suspicious of her sudden visit. Especially now that he was married to someone else.

​ But he didn’t owe any of them an explanation.

​ “No need. I’ll see her. Thank you.”

​ When he walked into his office, Grace launched herself at him.

​ “Will!” she threw her hands around his neck and sobbed. His hands hovered around her. Her hug shocked him. There was a time in his life that her touch was all he craved. Things were different now.

​ “I need you to calm down,” he soothed. He attempted to move away from her, but she wouldn’t let go. “If you’re going to be like this, we can’t talk here. Let’s go for a walk. This a small park behind the building. It’s private. We can talk there.” Grace nodded and allowed Will to escort her from the office. When they got outside, and away from the judgmental eyes of his office staff, he began to question her.

​ “So, what happened?” Will sat on a bench

​ “Things have gotten so messed up between us.” Grace blubbered.

​ “How did things get so bad? You’ve only been married a short time. Shouldn’t you be madly in love with each other especially since you…” *you left me for him,* Will finished internally. He couldn’t bring himself to speak those words out loud.

​ “He cheated on me,” Grace cried. “He’s horrible. He’s not the same man I knew.”

​ “Has he hurt you?” Will asked. Grace didn’t answer, and Will felt anger grow inside him. He stood up in his rage. “I’ll fucking kill him. He dared to lay a hand on you? Let’s see how he feels when I kick his teeth in!”

​ “No,” Grace said. She stood as well, and took Will’s hands in hers. “He hasn’t hurt me. Besides, you know you can’t do that. We’re always in the public eye and the last thing people like you and I need is a scandal. I don’t need you to do that for me.”

​ “So, he hasn’t harmed you?”

​ “Not physically,” she sighed. “This is the worst. I can’t even go to my family with his. I have no concrete proof, and so they’ll make me go back to him. Right now, I just need you to stay with me. Please stay with me.” Grace pressed herself against him, nuzzling into his chest. It was then he realized what Grace wanted from him.

​ “I have to go,” he whispered. He moved away from her, and turned around. Before he could turn away, she grabbed him, and hugged him from behind and kissed his neck. He froze.

​ “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.

​ “My wife is waiting for me,” he countered. He tried to move, but she held tight.

​ “I can’t go back to him, and I have no where to go. Bring me with you.”

​ “Grace, no!” He wrenched himself away from her grasp. “I am married, and my wife is waiting for me.”

​ Grace’s tears and desperate pleas seemed to turn off all at once.

​ “Well then, can you at least bring me to a hotel?” she asked.

​ “You’ve got to be kidding…”

​ “Please, not like that. I can’t go back to him and I can’t go to any of my normal places. He’ll find me. You’re not just going to abandon me, are you?”

​ Will frowned at her, but reluctantly agreed. He drove her to a luxury hotel outside of the city, away from the prying eyes of any paparazzi. She didn’t speak during the car ride. Her demeanor was meek and docile which was not like her at all. Will checked her in, and escorted her to the room, to make sure she would be okay. But as soon as they walked in, she jumped at him and locked him in a kiss.

​ Years of pent-up loss and longing smashed into Will. For a moment he lost himself and kissed her back. But he realized what he was doing and pushed her away.

​ “What the hell, Grace? What are you thinking?”

​ “Why are rejecting me?” she shouted.

​ “For the love of… I’ve said like 100 times. I am married and my wife is waiting for me!”

​ “You’ve never pushed me away before! What’s changed? Why don’t you want me?”

​ “You can’t be serious,” Will was angry. His hands pulled at his hair and he paced around the room. “You were all I wanted and you left me! Have you forgotten that night? I begged you, cried for you not to leave me. And you left me for that asshole anyway! You broke my fucking heart, Grace! I was a mess! For years!” he yelled.

​ “I left because you wouldn’t commit to me. I wanted to get married and start a family.”

​ “We were barely twenty years old! I can’t do this.” He moved to leave, but Grace grabbed him by the waist again.

​ “Get off of me,” he warned.

​ “Don’t you miss this? Miss us? We were meant to be together. Ever since we were kids, we were amazing together. We were best friends, lovers, soulmates. We loved each other. I’m sorry I hurt you, but we can start over. I know you still love me. There’s no way you love her. You can’t be in love with Emma.

​ “I wouldn’t have married her if I wasn’t in love with her!” he yelled, and pushed his way out of Grace’s arms.

​ “There was a point in time where I was the only one that made you happy!”

​ “Maybe that was the problem. Good night, Grace.”

​ Will left her in that room, and got to his car as soon as he could. He sat in the driver’s seat. His hands gripped the wheel, and his head slumped forward. He took slow, deep breaths and compelled himself to calm down.

​ “What a fucking mess,” he said to himself. His emotions were everywhere. He’d never confronted Grace about what happened. There didn’t seem to be any satisfaction with doing it now. The only thing that seemed to bring him any peace was that he was going home. And that someone would be there waiting for him.