The Affair: Emily Thompson’s Entaglement

Double Sided

His face was buried in his phone’s screen, and his fingers were typing fast. He had that look on, the look people have when composing an angry text or a complaint email.

The moment he took his seat, the room’s temperature felt like it dropped lower than zero. Emily could see it on their faces; she wasn’t the only one who had fear in her, except she was not half as scared as she was shocked.

She could see two people. One, he is the Merchant. He has to be. Second, the person she’s looking at is the heir to Johnson’s Dynasty. The Billionaire Antique and Real Estate guru, Johnson.

Maybe he’s not the one. She was drunk through the night. she didn’t see much of his face. ‘Vodka remember?’ she recalled, ‘those damn extra shots.’

Edward raised his head from his phone. Just like that, she was the first person he looked to. His eyes. Those eyes. They felt familiar. Something about that stare. He’s got to be the one. He has to be the Merchant.

It quickly became seconds and they were just looking at each other.

“We have the representative from Broadway Corp ready for her presentation sir” Owl glasses announced to the room and they started to clap.

Emily finally broke the stare. Now she’s certain, he was looking at her like he knew her.

She raised her head slightly to Owl Glasses, looking at him like she didn’t know what she was meant to do. Like she didn’t know it was time for her to start with her presentation. She did, but didn't know how to start.

“Whenever you are ready now, Ms Emily” Owl glasses said to her, taking his sit.

Sheepishly nodded and trying really hard not to look at Edward, Emily grabbed the presentation documents from her bag. Her hands were already jittering and it’s a no brainer her voice would too.

She made it to her feet. Took a deep breath and was about to open her mouth, not like she was sure words would come out.

“you all can leave.”

The Voice. The eyes. The stance. It was definitely him. Emily was twice as sure.

The whole room went into murmur. Emily only wanted to run, disappear, or jump out of the f*cking window. It was the Merchant. It’s definitely him. She recognized him, and he definitely recognized her too.

“I said you all should get the f*ck out!” This time, Edward shouted and slammed the table for effect.

As everyone started to gather whatever they had brought in with them to the meeting and Emily was grabbing her bag—in her mind, she was already out of the godforsaken place—she heard him loud and clear again. “Except you,” he said, his words hitting her like arrows and leaving her frozen in her position.

“Sit. Down,” he added.

Emily slowly sat down with her eyes shut. She heard the last person close the door. She was now alone, in the boardroom with the man she had left hanging on their wedding, the man she had a night thing with. No, not man, Monster.

And even though she was scared for herself she couldn’t help but think about the details of the night. It was now replaying in her head in slides. The mourning, groaning, and scratching.

‘Get your s**t together’ She warned herself.

Opening her eyes, he was already walking towards her. “Well, well, well,” he said. “If it isn’t Emily Thompson, daughter and first child of Jonathan Thompson, and the proposed wife to the Merchant who ran away on her wedding.”

Edward stopped five feet away from her, probably waiting for a reply. But nothing was going through Emily’s head. Nothing than ‘get your s**t together’ — which wasn’t working.

“But I understand”

‘You do?’ Emily thought but it was written all over her face.

Edward smirked again, sizing her up from her toe to her head, “that night must have scarred you”

She looked away from him. She was an inch away from rolling her eyes. “I needed more time”

“You speak?” Edward appeared surprised, “I had to force you the last time.”

‘Use your words’ she could hear his voice from the last time and that was before she started to… Emily shook it off her mind.

“I needed more time to process things” Emily said.

“More time to process what things?” he asked, closing up the distance between them slowly like a predator to it’s prey.

“To...” Emily stopped, his hands were removing her hair from her face. Emily stood still, trying to hard not to show how much his hands on her skin scared her. As soon his hands were off her face ,she continued, “to pay you back.”

“But you didn’t owe me, did you?You never do, still don’t” he said with the friendliest tone she had heard him speak in. “You are my return on investment. A profit, nothing more, nothing less. You are my reward for lending to your father.”

‘A reward?’ For a moment she had thought he was being rational or nice at the least.

Edward read the disgust on her face and he smiled, “Let’s say you can, by some chance pay me, When?”

Of course, she didn’t know when. There was no reasonable way she could get the money in anytime soon.

“Or….” he continued, “your brother could work with….”

“Can we keep him out of this” She interrupted him.

“Interesting” He said, with a smile that slowly became a stern face, “then, you do have a date to repay don’t you?”

Emily couldn’t reply. There was no date, and she doesn’t know how it’d all end but having her brother to work with a underground world mafia—who happens to be Edward Johnson.

“Hmm” Edward broke the silence, his eyebrows raised and his voice now sounded cold, serious, and filled with menace “…I’d give you more time. But one thing,” he paused, sizing her up again.

There’s something about his eyes looking at her head to toe that gives her cold shiver down the spine.

“...you let me bring to life your wildest fantasy” he whispered slowly.