Jenna came running into the bedroom and looked at me. She knew something. I could see it in her sad eyes.
“Where is she?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I don’t know, Alex. She just said that she needed to think and clear her head.”
“She can’t fucking do that here in California?”
“Calm down. You don’t know if she left the state. Maybe she went to Adam’s house.”
“Maybe she did. I’ll give him a call.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed Adam.
“Hey, Alex, what’s up?”
“Adam, have you talked to Emerson by chance?”
“No. I was going to call her later to find out how she was feeling. Why?”
“Are you home?”
“Yeah. What’s going on, man?”
“We got into a huge fight and her suitcase is gone and so are some of her clothes.”
“Shit, Alex. What the hell happened?”
“It’s a long story and I’d rather not get into it right now. Could you do me a favor and give her a call? If I call her, she won’t answer.”
“Sure thing. I’ll call you back.” Click.
Suddenly, I heard her phone go off. I looked at Jenna and she looked at me. It sounded like it was coming from the nightstand. I walked over, opened the drawer, and saw her phone sitting there. I answered the call from Adam.
“It’s me. She left her phone here.”
“Ah, fuck! Find her, Alex. Do whatever you have to and find her. I don’t trust that she’ll come back, especially if she’s hurting.”
“I will. I’ll keep you posted.”
Looking over at Jenna, who was shooting me a nasty look, I walked over to the closet and took the map down she had stored up on the shelf. Laying it on the bed, I spoke, “Let’s see if we can figure out where she went off to.”
As we looked over the map, nothing was looking right. I sighed as I sat down on the bed. Suddenly, the song she sang at karaoke last night crept into my mind.
“Jenna, Emerson sang a song last night at the club and she was staring at me the whole time she sang it. Something about Boston.”
“Hmm. Let me google it. Hold on.”
She pulled her phone out and looked at me. “Is this the song she was singing?” she asked as she played the song.
“YES! That’s it. I will bet my life on it that’s where she went. She’s heading to Boston. Pull up the flight schedule and see what the next flight is. There’s no way she got on a plane already.”
“It says here that the next flight leaves in thirty minutes,” she spoke.
“That’s the one she has to be on. Is it nonstop?”
“Yes and it’s a five-hour flight.”
“Okay. If I leave now, I can catch her at the airport in Boston.” I ran to the closet, pulled out my carryon bag, and packed a few things. Pulling out my phone, I called my pilot.
“Get the plane ready NOW! We’re going to Boston.”
“It’ll be ready and waiting, sir.”
****
Emerson
What am I doing? I thought to myself as I sat on the sand in Venice Beach. I watched as couples walked along the shoreline hand in hand, laughing and kissing. Looking around, I took notice of the families all around. Parents were having fun with their kids, chasing them around, and helping them build sand castles. I knew Alex would make a wonderful father someday, even though we never once talked about children. Hell, I didn’t know if he even wanted any kids. But I did. I wanted a family like I grew up with. It was something that Emily and I always talked about before the accident. We’d talk about how we would get married and our children would grow up together. That dream died the day of the accident, but resurfaced when I fell in love with Alex.
God, I was stupid for acting the way I did. I didn’t doubt that he loved me. I really didn’t. I was hurt so deeply and, in some way, I wanted him to feel my pain. Two wrongs didn’t make a right and I was a fool for saying what I did. I had planned to spend a couple of days here in Venice Beach just to clear my thoughts and my head. But I changed my mind and I hadn’t made a room reservation yet because I stopped at the beach first. Digging through my purse, I noticed my phone wasn’t in there. When I reached the car, I looked to see if maybe it had fallen on the floor. I looked under the seats and it wasn’t there. Shit. I didn’t remember taking it out of the nightstand drawer because I was in such a hurry to get out of there. I hopped in the car and drove back home to apologize to Alex and beg for his forgiveness. Okay, I wasn’t going to beg, but I was sure going to make him see how sorry I was.
****
Alex
Sitting on the plane, my phone was almost dead, so I turned it off, pulled out my charger, and plugged it in. There was no need to have it on since Emerson didn’t have hers with her. She probably left it on purpose so I couldn’t contact her, which made me angry. But I didn’t blame her. I was nothing but a douchebag. No, actually, I was a fucker, and I was going to make things right the minute I found her in Boston. I made a promise to her that she would never travel alone again and I broke that promise when I told her to leave. I just prayed to God that my plane got in before hers so I could catch her at the airport. She had to be on that flight. It was the next available one and the time frame worked out. She would have had plenty of time to get to the airport and board before it took off. I rested my hand on my forehead and closed my eyes.
Chapter 42
Emerson
Walking into the house, Parker greeted me. As I bent down to pet him, Jenna walked into the foyer with a surprised look on her face.
“Emerson. What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on your way to Boston.”
“Huh?” I asked in confusion. “Why would I be going to Boston? I was in Venice Beach and decided that I needed to come home.”
“Oh fuck!” she said.
“What? Where’s Alex?”
She gulped. “On his way to Boston to find you.”
I shook my head because I didn’t understand what the hell was going on. “What do you mean he’s on his way to Boston? Where did he get the idea that I went to Boston?”
“From a song you sang last night.” She bit down on her bottom lip.
Suddenly, my eyes widened. “Oh shit!” I ran up the stairs and pulled my phone from the nightstand, quickly dialing him. It went straight to voicemail. “Shit. It went straight to voicemail.”
“He probably doesn’t have service up in the air.”
“Oh my God, could this day get any worse? I need to go to Boston.” I pulled up the flight schedule and the next flight out was in three hours, but it was sold out. The next flight was with a connecting flight in Minneapolis, which put it at almost eight hours and that flight didn’t leave for another four hours. The next nonstop flight didn’t leave until tomorrow morning.
“Why don’t you just wait until tomorrow morning to fly out?”
“No. I can’t wait. I have to get on a plane now.”
“But you won’t get in until four a.m. That’s dangerous. You can’t be walking the streets of Boston in the middle of the night.”
I sighed. “What about his private jet?”
“He’s on it now. You’re really going to make his pilot fly another five hours back to Boston?”
“Damn it! I suppose you’re right. Well, I’ll just get in at four a.m. and get a room at the airport until I figure out where he is. I can’t stay here all night. I’ll go crazy.” I booked the flight that was leaving in four hours.
****
Alex
The plane landed at the airport and I raced off it, running to a monitor to see which gate her flight was at. Of course her flight had just landed and her gate was at the other end of the terminal. I ran through the airport like a madman.
“Excuse me. The flight that just landed, have all the passengers gotten off already?”
“Yes, sir. We just shut the doors. Everyone is off the plane.”
; “Thank you.” I sighed as I looked around and then headed to baggage claim. She wasn’t there. But then again, her carryon bag was gone from the closet, so she probably didn’t check a bag. As I sat down on one of the benches, I went to pull my phone from my pocket and noticed it wasn’t there. FUCK! I forgot to grab it before I got off the plane. Could this day get any worse? I cupped my face in my hands.
I hailed a cab and had the driver take me to my hotel, Parker International. As I walked through the lobby doors, the employees stared at me with frightened looks on their faces. I gave a small wave and took the elevator up to my penthouse suite. Setting my bag down, I poured myself a drink and headed back down to the lobby.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Parker.” Todd smiled at me from behind the desk. “We didn’t know you were planning a visit.”
“It was very last minute. Listen, Todd, I need you to do me a favor.”
“Anything, sir.”
“I need you to tap into the system of all the hotels in the Boston area and find out if a woman named Emerson James checked in anywhere.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but the only person who can do that is Wes, and he’s gone for the night.”
“Well then, call Wes at home and tell him I need him here. It’s an emergency.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
I looked at my watch. It was nine o’clock. “Also, have a filet, medium rare, with a baked potato and green beans sent up to the penthouse.”
“Right away, sir.”
****
Emerson
My flight from Minneapolis was delayed an hour and finally ready to take off. I laid my head against the window as I thought about Alex. I couldn’t believe he thought I was going to Boston. Those damn cocktails I had last night. I wondered what he was doing, where he was, and how pissed off he was because he couldn’t find me. Even if I was in Boston, how the hell would he find me? Would he scour every hotel in the area looking for me? God, I loved that man so much and to put him through this tore me apart. Then again, he was the one who just assumed I went to Boston, so technically, it wasn’t my fault. He shouldn’t have gone assuming things. But with my pattern, I didn’t blame him. Boy, did I have some serious making up to do for this one. I closed my eyes to get some sleep.
****
Alex
As I was eating dinner, there was a knock at the door. When I opened it, Wes was standing there.
“Good evening, sir.”
“Good evening, Wes. Thank you for coming here.”
“The front desk said it was an emergency.”
“Yes. I need you to tap into all the hotel systems in the Boston area and find out if Emerson James has checked into any of the hotels.”
“I can do that. May I use the laptop on the desk?”
“Certainly.”
He took a seat at the desk and began typing on the laptop.
“May I get you a drink?” I asked.
“I’m fine, sir. Thank you. It doesn’t look like she has checked in anywhere.”
“Impossible. She had to have.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but her name isn’t anywhere in the databases.”
“Great. I wonder if she checked in under a different name knowing that I would be looking for her. Try Emily James.”
He slowly shook his head. “I’m sorry, but she’s not checked in either.”
“Thank you for your help, Wes. I’ll make sure to compensate you well for this unexpected visit.”
“No need, sir. I’m just doing my job.”
I gave him a small smile as I led him to the door. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out two one-hundred-dollar bills and placed it in his hand.
“Take this and thank you.”
“Thank you, sir. Have a good night.”
I shut the door and went into the bedroom. Opening my bag, I removed the small blue box from it and opened it. Where are you, Emerson?
Chapter 43
Emerson
I finally landed at five a.m. Good God, I needed coffee. Once I got off the plane, I found a Starbucks and ordered a coffee with a double shot of espresso. Taking it to one of the tables, I sat down and pulled out my phone. Now what? It wasn’t like I could do much at this hour. I drank my coffee and then headed to the bathroom to freshen up. I was a hot mess with mascara stains underneath my eyes. After removing my makeup, I reapplied it and then brushed my hair. If I was going to find Alex, I wanted to make sure I looked good for him. I kept trying to call him all night and it still went to voicemail and I was starting to get worried. It wasn’t like him to have his phone off. Now that it was seven a.m., it was time to start looking for him, but where did I start? If he got in yesterday, then he would have gotten a room somewhere. I called Adam.
“Where the hell are you? I’ve been worried sick.”
“I’m fine. You all have totally blown everything out of proportion and I’ll explain it to you when I see you. But first, I need to know if Alex has a hotel here in Boston?”
“I think he does. Hold on, let me make sure. Yes. It’s called Parker International and it’s across from the Ritz Carlton on Avery Street. It’s about a fifteen-minute drive, but you’re going to be in rush hour, so it may take a little longer.”
“Thanks, Adam. I love you.”
“I love you too and we’re going to talk when you get back.”
I sighed. “I know.”
Walking out of the airport, I hailed a cab and had the driver take me to Parker International. As I stepped into the lobby, I went up to the desk.
“Hello, welcome to Parker International. How may I help you?”
“I’m looking for Mr. Alex Parker. Is he here?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that information.”
A nice-looking man walked over and smiled at me. “You wouldn’t happen to be Miss Emerson James, would you?”
A smile crossed my lips. “Yes, I am.”
“I’ll just need to see some identification, if you don’t mind.”
I reached into my purse and pulled out my driver’s license and handed it to the man named Wes.
He glanced at my I.D. and, with a smile, he handed it back to me. “Here’s the elevator key to get to the penthouse. It’s on the top floor. Mr. Parker has been looking for you.”
“I know. Thank you.” I smiled.
I headed to the elevators, inserted the card, and took it up to the top floor. When the doors opened, I stepped into the hallway and stood before the large, double wooden doors. Taking in a deep breath, I lightly knocked. The door opened and Alex stood there with a shocked look on his face.
“I heard you were looking for me.” I grinned nervously.
He grabbed me and pulled me inside. Our mouths smashed into each other as our tongues danced with happiness. His hands were firmly planted on each side of my face as our kiss was never ending.
“Thank God, you’re safe.” He smiled as he kept kissing my lips.
“Of course I’m safe. I’m a seasoned traveler.”
He chuckled and held me tight. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to search the city for you. You didn’t check into any hotels.”
“I didn’t get into Boston until a couple of hours ago.”
“What?” he asked as he broke our embrace.
“You idiot!” I lightly smacked his chest. “I wasn’t coming to Boston. I went to Venice Beach. I was only going to stay there for a couple of days to think and then I missed your dumb ass too much and after a couple of hours I went home.”
“Oh. But you left without your phone.”
“Yeah. I forgot it in my mad dash to leave the house. And speaking of phones, I’ve been trying since yesterday to call you.”
“I turned it off to let it charge and I left it on the plane because I was trying to get to your gate to catch you before you left the airport.”
“Sorry, but I wasn’t there. I was back in California!”
“The only thing that matters is you’re her
e and you’re safe.” He pulled me back into a tight embrace.
“Alex, I’m so sorry for everything I said. I didn’t mean any of it.”
He placed his hand on my cheek. “Don’t. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have told you that night. My God, Em, I love you so much and I never want you to doubt that.”
“I know, and I love you too, and I don’t doubt it. I never did. I was just being a bitch.”
“You’re not a bitch, sweetheart. You’re the love of my life and the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.” He smiled. “Are you hungry? I was just about to order breakfast.”
“I am, but we can eat after we have the best make-up sex on the planet.” I smiled.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.
****
Alex
She blew my mind. I didn’t think sex with her could get any better than it already was and I was dead wrong. We lay there, trying to catch our breath and smiling at each other. As we both climbed out of bed, we slipped on our robes and I ordered us breakfast.
“We need to talk, baby. I need to tell you about why Bella was at my office that day,” I spoke as I took her hand and led her to the couch.
“I know and I’m ready to talk about it.”
A smile crossed my lips as I kissed her. “Shortly after she left for New York, she found out she was pregnant and I was the father. Instead of telling me, she went and had an abortion.”
“Oh my God, Alex.” She placed her hand on my cheek. “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry.”
“She told me she had been ridden with guilt for the past five years and she said that she needed to tell me with the hopes that I would forgive her because she couldn’t forgive herself.”
“Did you forgive her?”
“Yes. I was angry at first that she would do something like that without talking to me. But after we talked a bit and I could see how upset she was, I forgave her. I suppose she suffered in silence enough over the past five years. That’s when you must have seen us hugging. It meant nothing, Emerson. It was a friendly hug goodbye.”