Page 28 of Right Where You Left Me

Emma

I have the heat blasting in my car as we drive to the diner.

We could have walked, but fall is in full swing now that it’s November, and it’s starting to get almost too cold to walk anywhere.

“Why can’t he stay in a hotel?” Sage asks from the passenger seat.

She’s been in a pissy mood all morning. Not even the way I made her come on my face before we left was able to get her to snap out of this weird funk she’s in.

I’m trying very hard to be understanding, but it’s getting harder and harder to not get irritated with her.

Her jealousy is irrational, but I can’t pretend I don’t understand why she’s upset.

I get it. I do, but she needs to let this go a little bit.

I want to be able to enjoy having time with my two favorite people, and she’s making it hard.

She said she trusts me, but every grumbled word and angry eye roll makes me feel like she doesn’t and it’s making my stomach hurt.

“Babe.” I say softly. “My mom wants him to stay at the house. But I told you, I’ll stay with you while he’s here. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with any of this.”

She sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“I’m being a bitch.”

“Well.” She smacks my arm lightly and I laugh. “You are!” I defend.

“I know.” She grumbles. “Okay, I’ll be good. I promise.”

“Good.” I grab her hand and place a soft kiss on her knuckles. “We’re meeting him for lunch and then we’ll drop him back off at my mom’s house to get settled in and then pick him back up for dinner. River said he’d cook a big family meal for us.”

“Family.” I hear her huff under her breath, but I ignore it. She can be jealous as long as she’s nice.

I slow my car as we turn into the diner’s parking lot and park in the first spot I find, scanning the lot for Liam. He’s standing against his car, phone in hand, and I watch his face light up when he sees us. “Em!” He calls out when I open my car door. “You look great!”

Sage stiffens beside me, and I cut her a look.

“Thanks, Liam. So do you.” I wrap my arm around Sage’s waist. “I know I’ve already gushed about her, but this is my girlfriend.

Sage.” I say squeezing her, hoping that she can feel the comfort I’m trying to push into her.

I really don’t want her to feel bad about this.

Liam is still my best friend, and he’s a big part of my life.

I’m not going to cut him out just because our marriage didn’t work out.

And oh my God. I get why she’s so mad now. Fuck .

“Babe.” I murmur against her, but she just shakes her head.

“I’m fine, Em.” She gives me a weak smile. “Hi, Liam. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise! I’ve heard so much about you!”

The two of them exchange more polite small talk while we grab a table by the front window of the diner and I watch warily, hoping that this all goes smoothly.

I’m such an idiot, of course she’s upset.

I cut her off so easily for a kiss and here I am parading my ex-husband in front of her.

Shit shit shit. I’ll apologize as soon as we get back to her apartment.

I’ll show her that she has nothing to worry about.

Our waiter comes by, smiling with familiarity at Sage and me, to grab our order. I get my usual breakfast plate, Liam a burger, and Sage orders a salad that she just stares at while pushing the lettuce around with her fork.

“How’s the patisserie doing?” I ask Liam, gently bumping my knee into Sage’s. She gives me a weak smile, but pushes her knee harder against mine.

“Good, good.” He says around a mouthful of food. “Oh!” He says, snapping his fingers in my direction. “I forgot to tell you. The other day Harris burned an entire tray of madeleines.” He gives me a smug smile and I groan into my hands.

“Did he have to make more?” Sage asks blandly. “Sucks for him, I guess.”

Liam waves a hand, “Sure, but I told him it was because Emma left behind her curse.”

“Liam.” I snap, my cheeks growing hot.

He cackles, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “Emma has never successfully made madeleines. Ever. Burns them to a crisp every single time.”

“Not every time.” I grumble under my breath.

“I find it hard to believe you’re bad at baking something.” Sage says quietly, just to me, and it warms me up.

“Thanks, babe.” I murmur, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

“Well, how did poor Harris handle your stupid joke?” I ask Liam.

“I watched him order a bunch of incense online, to cleanse your negative madeleine aura out of the space.”

“Oh, lord.” I laugh. “He sounds like my mother.”

Liam smiles. “No one is like your mother. She’s one of a kind.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” I say, clinking my glass of water against his.

“I’m excited to see her, it’s been a while.

” He says, his eyes warm as he reaches across to pat my hand.

Sage stiffens beside me and I try to reassure her by pressing into her side more, but she doesn’t seem to pick up on it.

It’s fine, I’ll just make sure she’s okay when we leave and we can talk just the two of us.

Liam and I fall into our comfortable banter, our inside jokes that I try to include Sage in, the vibe we naturally fall into after having been together for so long.

And through it all I can see Sage forcing a smile and faking laughs when appropriate.

She’s tense and I hate it. I feel so fucking bad.

“I’m so glad I could come see you.” Liam says, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Our lunch having long since been eaten, the easy conversation having us lose track of time.

“Me too.” I say softly. “If you’re ready we’ll lead you to my mom’s house and then I’ll come back for you to bring you to Sage’s place for dinner. Let you get some alone time, I know how you need to prep for social gatherings.”

“Don’t know why he can’t just use his phone’s GPS.” Sage mutters to herself, but Liam doesn’t seem to hear her.

“Sounds perfect, Em.”

“Perfect.” Sage echoes.

Liam follows behind my car for the short drive to my mom’s house.

I park and tell Sage I’ll be quick. She dips her head in response.

My chest feels tight, but I can’t let Liam just go in alone to face my mother.

I sigh and show him in. My mom gushes over him and tells me not to worry, she has the guest room all set up for him and that she’ll keep him company until I come back to get him.

He stares at me wide eyed and I grimace.

He’ll be fine though. “Alright, see you in a few hours!” I call out, walking out the front door and book it back to my car.

The drive to Sage’s apartment is uncomfortably silent. I try and fail a few times to say anything to her, but words get stuck in my throat. It can wait until we’re tucked into her room anyway.

She unlocks her front door when we get there and drops her keys on the coffee table. The silence around us is deafening. The tension grows each second she’s staring ahead and not at me.

“Sage?” I ask softly.

“You guys are really cute.” She says stiffly, robotically. “I can see why you got married.”

“Stop it.” I say. “Don’t start this right now, please.”

She shrugs. “I’m just saying, it makes sense. Ya know? You guys have chemistry. I felt like I was crashing a date.”

“Babe—”

“The inside jokes, the giggling. It was all just very… sweet.”

She still isn’t looking at me and I can’t take it anymore. I force myself in front of her, looking up into those golden green eyes I love so much and grab her face, pulling our foreheads together. “Sage. I do not like men.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

I reel back as if she slapped me. “Excuse me?”

“The way you two were together. I just don’t think— Emma this isn’t going to work out. You should go home and talk to Liam.”

What. The fuck. Is happening right now.

“Sage.” I say as evenly as I can. “I don’t like Liam. I don’t like men. I’m not sure if all the sex we’ve been having has clued you in or not, but I very much like you. You are being ridiculous right now.”

“Ridiculous?!” She shouts, and I flinch. It’s been a long time since I’ve had her anger directed at me and I don’t like it. It’s scary, and I know that if I can’t get through to her she’s going to not let this go.

“Sage—”

“No! Listen, Emma. We had some fun, but I’m not going to let you break my heart again when you decide to go back to him. So, I’m ending it now before you can. We’re done. You can leave.”

“I’m not leaving.” I choke out. I can feel the tears streaming down my cheeks.

The air stinging my lungs as I try to breathe through this sharp pain in my chest. She’s not going to throw me away like this, I’m not going to let her.

We have something real . It isn’t just having fun.

She’s everything I’ve ever wanted and I’m not going to run away just because she told me to.

“Emma, get the fuck out of here.” She snaps. She turns her back to me and storms toward her bedroom. I can hear the lock click and that sound is what breaks the dam. A sob rips from my throat. Why won’t she listen to me? I can’t do this. I can’t leave. I?—

I collapse on the couch and cry. My eyes burn and my head is pounding, but I can’t leave. I won’t. She has to come out eventually right? And when she does, we’ll talk about this rationally. She’s just letting her fear talk right now. She’s going to see that and everything is going to be okay.

The front door knob jiggles and River walks in, takes one look at me and immediately drops the groceries in his arms. The groceries that he got to make family dinner tonight. Oh my God, this is ending. I can’t— I sob even harder and River’s eyes widen in concern.

“What the fuck, Emma? What is it, cheri? Where’s Sage?” He scoops me up and wraps me in his big arms. It’s like a cocoon of warmth and love and I press into his chest, my tears soaking his shirt.

“In her room.” I manage to get out.