Summary: A fight at the school newspaper leads MC (Emma) and James to make some difficult decisions about their relationship.
Emma jumped out of the car and hurried towards the newsroom. Crap, crap, crap she thought, checking her watch. She and Zig had hit a lot of traffic coming back from the beach and she was officially late for the staff meeting. After sitting on the sand with Zig, the last thing Emma wanted to do was talk about the newspaper, but she knew James was trying really hard to establish himself as a strong editor. Emma sometimes wondered if James was trying so hard to prove himself after what happened in LA. Most people were really impressed with his movie deal, even though it hadn’t worked out, but Emma knew James felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing. It had been a blow to his ego to have Hollywood chew him up and spit him out again and even though his parents had somewhat come around to the idea of James as a writer, Emma knew he was still trying to prove himself to them. However, even knowing all this, Emma was still unprepared for what awaited her when she pushed open the newsroom door.
“You’re late,” James said, his mouth set in a hard line. Emma glanced around a little self-consciously at the other staff members, all of whom were staring at her. She walked across the room to an open chair and sat down in it.
“Sorry, I hit a lot of traffic,” she apologized. “What did I miss?”
“About thirty minutes of brainstorming,” James snapped. “Don’t make this a habit, Emma.”
“I said I was sorry,” she said, feeling a little hurt.
“It’s called news, not olds,” James continued angrily. “It waits for no one.”
“Olds? Seriously, James?” Emma asked, acutely aware that the entire newspaper staff was watching this drama unfold. “This was a last minute meeting, you gave me almost zero notice, and I can’t control traffic.”
“Well, maybe if you took this seriously instead of galavanting around at the beach, you would’ve been on time.”
Emma stared at James, the silence between them thick and heavy. His angry expression didn’t waver. Without another word, Emma stood up and left the newsroom, gently closing the door behind her. She’d almost made it outside before the tears fell in angry rivulets down her cheeks.
__________
Emma sat in the coffee shop, her hands wrapped around a mug she’d barely touched. Brandon was behind the counter and had, thankfully, not asked a lot of questions when she’d come inside, her eyes still red and puffy from crying. She’d taken the table by the window and instead of drinking her coffee, she’d let it grow cold in her hands. Emma couldn’t believe James had yelled at her like that, especially in front of everyone.
“Emma.”
She looked up and saw James standing by her table. She didn’t say anything.
“Can I sit down?”
“Sure,” Emma finally said. James pulled out the chair across from her and sat down, shrugging off his jacket.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
Emma didn’t say anything, but she nodded. They sat in silence for a long moment.
“Okay, I’ll start,” James said. “Look, I’m sorry that I yelled. But you were late and I can’t let it seem like I’m giving you preferential treatment just because we’re dating. I need to establish myself as a strong leader, not one who lets himself get walked all over.”
Emma said nothing. She examined her coffee mug and noticed that the pink fingernail polish on her thumb had chipped. She’d have to fix that. She’d have to fix a lot of things.
“Do you have anything you want to say?” James said, trying to fill in her silence. Emma sighed.
“James, I understand that you want to do a good job at the paper. I do. But you shouldn’t have to humiliate someone to do it.”
“But you were late,” he protested.
“To a last minute meeting you gave me almost no notice for,” she said. “I apologized, twice in fact, but you couldn’t just let it go.”
James sat back in his chair, rubbing a frustrated hand across his mouth.
“What were you doing at the beach anyway?” James asked. “It’s September, it’s too cold for the beach.”
“I was hanging out with Zig, we were having some roommate bonding time,” she said. James snorted.
“Bonding time. Right. You guys are already friends and now you live together, how much more bonding time do you need?”
“James, are you … are you jealous of Zig?” Emma asked incredulously. James looked away. “Oh my god, you are.”
“Oh, come on, Emma.”
“Come on what?”
“He’s got a thing for you!” James exclaimed, his voice rising. He glanced around the coffee shop and lowered his voice. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”
“James, that’s crazy.”
“Don’t call me crazy,” he said quietly, his voice even and angry.
“I didn’t–”
“He’s had a thing for you since he met you. I was here that day when he punched Sebastian for grabbing your arm. I see the way he looks at you. Now you’re living with him and blowing off newspaper commitments with me–”
“It was a last minute meeting. I didn’t blow you off!”
“You’re my girlfriend!” James exclaimed.
Emma stared at him. He refused to meet her eyes.
“James, what reason have I ever given you to not trust me?” she asked gently.
“Other than hiding Vasquez’s cancer?”
“That’s not fair,” Emma said, anger bubbling inside her. “That wasn’t my secret to tell, and I meant in regards to our relationship. When have I ever been unfaithful to you? Or even given you a reason to think I might be?” You’re the one who kissed someone else she thought, but she kept those words behind her lips.
“You haven’t,” James finally admitted. He sighed. “Things were so rough last year, and I just … I don’t want to lose you.”
Emma wanted to tell him that he wouldn’t, of course he wouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop thinking of how he’d yelled at her in the newsroom. Could she be with someone who was willing to treat her like that in order to get ahead? At a college newspaper?
James reached out and took her hand.
“Look, I know things are weird, but will you come over tonight? I want to talk more, but I don’t really want to do it here,” James said, glancing around the coffee shop.
“Okay,” Emma said finally.
“Great,” James said, allowing himself a smile. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Emma nodded and he kissed her cheek.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too,” she said quietly. After James left, she stayed seated in the coffee shop for a long time, her unfocused gaze fixed out the window.
__________
When Emma arrived at James’s apartment later, James grinned widely when he opened the door for her.
“Hey,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “Come on in, I’m just finishing up a couple things and then I’m all yours.” James led her inside and gestured to his computer apologetically. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Emma took off her jacket and slung it over the back of the sofa before she crossed to the large window. She could see her ghostly half-reflection in the glass as she gazed out at the twinkling lights of the city. The same thoughts had been circulating in her head since the coffee shop on a loop and she was tired of thinking. Her brain felt exhausted and although she still wasn’t sure what she wanted in terms of her relationship, she did know that she wanted to turn off her mind, at least for a little bit.
James walked up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Emma tilted her face towards his and kissed him. He responded hungrily, turning her around to face him and pulling her closer. Her tongue met his and she felt his hands caress the curves of her body, his fingers slipping underneath the hem of her shirt. Emma unzipped his jeans and slid her hands inside. She felt him grow hard in her hands and she wrapped her fingers around his length, moving them up and down. His lips pulled away from hers and made a trail across her jaw and down her neck as he groaned softly into her ear. James pulled at her shirt, tugging it over her head, before he quickly undid her bra and tossed it aside. He cupped her breasts in his hands, rubbing her nipples with his palms. Emma knelt down on the carpet in front of him, tugging at his pants until he was exposed. She took her time, teasing the tip of him with her tongue, flicking it against his head. She ran her hands and her tongue up and down his length before she finally took him in her mouth. James moaned, his fingers knotting in her hair as she moved him in and out, slowly, steadily.
After a few minutes, James’s breathing grew faster and he suddenly pulled away from her. He knelt down onto the floor with her and lay her down, urgently yanking off her pants and tossing them aside. He paused for a moment as he opened her knees, taking in the sight of her before he ran his hands up her thighs. His fingers parted her and he pressed his thumb against her clit, rubbing in small circles the way he knew she liked. Emma arched her back and pulled his hips to meet hers, guiding him inside. James leaned down over her, bracing himself on his elbows as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper with each stroke. The carpet burned against her back as James took one of her nipples in his mouth, then the other. Then he began to move faster and Emma began to feel a climax swelling inside her. She moaned, her nails digging into his back as he brought her closer and closer.
“Come for me, baby,” he whispered, his lips against her neck.
Before long she complied, her cries filling his apartment as she came, no longer in control of her own body as she bucked against him. Soon James groaned, pushing into her hard as he reached his own peak. Breathing hard, he extricated himself from her and rolled over to lay beside her on the carpet. He closed his eyes and his hand felt for hers, catching her fingers in his.
After a minute or so, James rolled over and kissed her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him and he kissed her lips, softly and tenderly.
“Hey,” he said quietly. “I know this might not be the best time to bring this up, but I’ve been thinking about it, and … Emma … will you come back to the paper? Please? You have such a strong voice and I feel like the paper would be weaker without you.”
“I think I need a break,” she said.
“From the paper? Okay, I totally understand,” James said quickly. “Although, is it really a break if you haven’t started?” he joked weakly, squeezing her hand.
“No, not the paper,” Emma said. “From this. From us.”
James slowly let go of her hand and propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.
“Emma, you can’t be serious,” he said.
“James, I don’t know if I can be with someone who is going to yell at me like you did today in the newsroom.”
“Emma, come on, that was one fight. You’re seriously going to throw everything away over a single fight?”
“It’s not just one fight,” Emma said as she stared at the ceiling, swallowing hard. “Things haven’t been the same since LA. You know they haven’t. I think maybe we need some time apart, at least for a little while.”
James lay back down on the floor and sighed.
“You’re right, they haven’t been the same,” he finally admitted. “So what does this mean, we’re broken up?”
“It means we’re taking some time to think about things,” she said. “I think we both need to figure out if this relationship is something we both want and I also think that giving ourselves a little distance from one another will help give us some perspective.”
James tentatively reached for her hand again and this time, Emma laced her fingers between his.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
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