Chapter V: Emerson makes his appearance
2046 Words
Emerson Allister had had a shitty afternoon. Having driven to Cardigan to pick up a mare, the customer suddenly refused to pay, claiming it was too expensive. They argued for a while but, seeing that the son of a b***h had no intention of giving in, Emerson decided to tell him to f**k off and go back alone.
It pissed him off that they wasted his time and gas for nothing, so he was in a foul mood. Not wanting to go home yet, he thought about stopping by Milford Haven for a drink and relaxing a bit.
And as soon as he set foot inside the local, he found this scene. Emerson's headache deepened. Today someone was asking to be taken to hell.
He quickly identified the two women of Superintendent Williams and Inspector Hughes, but not the third woman who accompanied them. She was thinner and smaller than they were, and had long brown hair tied up in a high ponytail with a bow. Her eyes were large and expressive, and she had a tired, slightly frightened look on her face. Emerson felt a sudden surge of protection toward her, as if something were pulling him in her direction.
His body was so big that it covered the entire door frame, so he walked until he stopped in front of them. His eyes scanned the three of them closely, looking for injuries.
“What are you doing here? What is all this fuss?” he demanded to know without much ceremony.
“Uh...well…”
Stephanie cheekily pointed her finger at the stranger behind them.
“It's him, it's him! I ran into him and he went into a rage, calling me a w***e and threatening to f**k me if I didn't pay him. And now he was about to go after all three of us,” she accused.
Emerson's dark and terrifying gaze fixed on the culprit.
“Hey you, come here.”
He backed away.
“Who the hell do you think you are, asshole!? Come on, turn around and f**k off before you…”
But his words were interrupted when a large, heavy hand grabbed his arm and yanked him like a rag doll. Then, to everyone's astonishment, Emerson crashed his forehead into the other guy's without warning, causing the latter to fall to the ground, completely passed out.
Another silence even heavier than the previous one was established again in the bar.
Emerson, without the least bit of shame, seized him by the collar of his shirt and ominously announced:
“I'm going to throw out the trash.” And he left.
The three remained standing, dumb with astonishment.
“Uh… and now what do we do? Stay here?” Stephanie asked after a few moments of silence.
Lauren showed her her cell phone.
“I already called Evan. He's on his way. Besides…” She glanced around, “I think we've drawn too much attention.”
Her friend snorted.
“Damn f*****g i***t. He screwed up our night.”
“We can meet another day” Erica offered timidly.
They both agreed.
“Alright. We'd better go outside and wait,” Stephanie said.
But before they could, Emerson returned.
“Where did that one go?” asked Stephanie, curious.
“He's in the trash can.”
“Did you really throw him there?”
Emerson shrugged.
“I said so,” he simply replied. Then he carefully examined all three of them. “You better go home now. It's getting late.”
“That's what we planned to do,” Stephanie replied sourly
“And next time, don't come alone at night because it's dangerous. I don't understand how your husbands have let you go unsupervised in a town that is not ours.”
“Well, because basically we can do whatever we want…”
Lauren quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
“Evan is coming to pick us both up, so don't worry, Emerson,” she said gently.
He turned to Erica.
“And what about you? Do you live here?” he questioned her.
Before she could open her mouth, Stephanie beat her to it.
“This is Erica, your new neighbor, didn't you know? And she has come in her car.”
Emerson studied her carefully without revealing anything of his countenance. Erica cringed under his gaze, but she wasn't scared. She had been more frightened by that man in the bar than by him, and now that the fright was over, she felt her legs go a little weak. She still had the pepper spray in her hand and she didn't want to get rid of it.
“You're shaking.”
Somehow his voice didn't sound as sharp as before. Had he softened his voice for her?
“Erica, are you okay?” Lauren asked with concern.
“Oh yes, it's because of before…”
“Why do you have pepper spray in your hand?” It was Emerson.
“Well…”
“She lunged at the man and sprayed pepper in his eyes,” Stephanie replied.
Emerson narrowed his eyes. And Erica felt herself grow smaller as his gaze bored into her.
“Did you face a violent man who weighs five times more than you? Alone?” Disapproval and horror were palpable in his voice. “Are you crazy?”
Erica felt she had to explain herself.
“Well, that man was saying some very ugly things to Stephanie and I was afraid he was forcing her to…to…” She trailed off. “It was dangerous, but I couldn't sit idly by. I had to do something.”
Stephanie hastened to pull her into her arms and cover her face with touched kisses.
“Oh, thank you very much, Erica. But Emerson is right about this. It has been very risky and it would hurt me to see you get hurt because of me. Next time stay behind me, okay?”
“But then you…”
“Stephanie is a jiu-jitsu teacher,” Lauren explained. “She knows how to defend herself.”
Erica's face turned completely red.
“Oh I did not know. So I made a fool of myself in the bar,” she said sadly.
“Not at all,” her friend protested sternly. “What you've done has been great, seriously. You looked like a heroine straight out of a movie. If I wasn't straight and single, I would definitely fall for you.”
Erica blushed even redder to the point that her cheeks and ears were as red as tulips.
“So can I call you Steph too?” she wanted to know hopefully.
Her friend couldn't help but give her another kiss on the cheek.
“Of course you can! Ah, you are so cute and small. And you're so soft too.”
“Steph, you tickle me…” Erica protested weakly.
“You finished?” Emerson's cold, steely voice rumbled, though his eyes were glaring at Stephanie.
“No, go away. You are annoying.”
“Hey, Steph,” Lauren called. She pointed to the blue car that was just coming up to the side of the parking lot. “I think that's Evan.”
“Oh, we have to go.” She turned to Erica. “Will you be okay driving by yourself? You're not drunk, are you?”
“You drunk?” he scolded her angrily.
“It was just a beer. I'm fine,” Erica replied.
“In that case, we'll see each other another day. Text me when you get home, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I hope your husband spanks your ass when you get home,” Emerson muttered under his breath.
Stephanie gave him the middle finger.
“If he does, it's because I asked him to, gorilla,” she replied.
“Gorilla? Who are you calling gori…?”
“Bye, Erica,” Lauren said, giving her a friendly hug.
“Bye, Lauren. See you tomorrow.”
“Be careful on the road, okay?”
Once they got in the car and drove away, Emerson and Erica were left completely alone.
Well, I think it's time for me to go too, she thought.
“Uh, then I'll go. My car is parked there,” Erica said, pointing in another direction. “Have a good night…”
“I'll accompany you,” he interrupted her, adamant.
“But it looked like you were going to go into the bar for a drink,” she answered, confused. Was she wrong?
“I've changed my mind. I don't want to go in there anymore and I'm tired.” He pointed to his own car. “I'll go right behind you. It's dangerous to drive at night and we live almost next door anyway.”
“Do I have the option to choose?”
“No.”
Erica snorted, exasperated.
“I feared it. Fine. Follow me, if you want.”
“I was going to do that.”
Why are all the men I meet like this? Erica thought as she quickly walked to her vehicle and started the engine. It must be a Comraich Gaoil thing.
But as she drove home, closely followed by Emerson, the young woman began to think of him. At first when she saw him walk through the door she almost urinated on herself. He was so big and beefy it was a bit scary, and he had that classic wild beauty that many women were fascinated by. Tousled black hair, a sharp chin, searching blue eyes, and an irresistible little beard. He was like the living reincarnation of a strong and virile Ares. But…
He has terrible manners, Erica had to admit to herself. It was understandable, really. You had to balance things somehow. She couldn't help but laugh as she remembered Emerson's face when Steph called him a "gorilla." As big and raw as he was, it suited him wonderfully.
“He's so different from Sean,” Erica observed aloud. “I wonder who each of them went out to.”
Her thoughts drifted in that direction until she finally reached home. For a moment she thought that Emerson had stopped following her and had turned in the direction of his own house, but she soon put that idea out of her head when she saw his car appear behind her minutes later and park right next to her.
“You didn't have to follow me here,” Erica said when she got out of the car, “but thanks anyway. Have a good night.”
Emerson frowned.
“Wait,” and he got out of the car too.
She raised her eyebrows.
“Something happens?”
“Your hand.”
“My hand?”
Emerson pointed at her.
“Give it to me,” he ordered severely.
Confused, Erica handed it over without question. Then she realized her mistake.
Why did I just do that?, she wondered strangely. It had been a reflex action, an instinct. His voice had sounded so commanding for a moment that she didn't even think twice before obeying. Hmm…
Then Erica felt something wrap around one of her fingers. When she looked up, she saw that Emerson had put a band-aid on her… A band-aid of hearts.
The young woman did not know what to say.
“Your finger was bleeding. You must have cut yourself when you used the pepper spray. Be more careful next time,” Emerson scolded her in his usual rude tone, but this time Erica didn't bother about it. She was still looking at her band-aid wrapped finger.
“Oh...! Thank you, Emerson, I hadn't noticed the cut,” she said, blushing.
The man nodded and got back into his car without saying a word.
“Lock the door when you come in,” he warned her.
She knew he wasn't going to leave until he saw her come into the house, so Erica walked up her porch steps and into the house, before putting all the locks on. Through the window she saw the car finally start up and disappear into the darkness.
Erica examined her finger again.
I take that back, she thought, both brothers are very similar to each other.
- Writer
