“And you’ll call me if you need anything?”
“Yes, Mom.”
Cassie reached across the console to poke her in the ribs, and Emily squirmed away.
“Will you survive a few days without me?”
“Somehow I think I’ll manage,” Cassie replied dryly.
“You won’t miss me?”
“You know I will.” Cassie pulled up in the departure lane and turned to face her. “Have the best time, and take a lot of photos for me.”
“I will, I promise.” She hugged her sister in the best bear hug she could manage in the car. “I’ll let you know when I get there.”
She retrieved her bag from the trunk and headed to the terminal, turning to wave at Cassie one last time. Her stomach fluttered as she approached the check-in desk—she always got nervous when she had to fly somewhere.
She wasn’t exactly scared of flying, but she didn’t really enjoy it either, and the thought of eight hours on a plane set her on edge.
She got through security and reached the gate, feeling disappointed when Camila was nowhere to be seen.
She still didn’t see Camila when it was time to board. Emily sat in the roomy first-class seat flicking through a magazine from the seat pocket, feeling more relaxed than she had ever felt on a plane before. A few minutes before takeoff, she heard Camila’s voice rattling off a list of instructions to whoever was on the other end of the phone. Jessica followed a half step behind.
“Emily!” Jaime wriggled free from Camila’s hand and scrambled into Emily’s lap. “Hi.”
“Hey, buddy.” He was wearing his spaceship pajamas, his teddy in his arms, and seeing him warmed her heart. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah! I like planes.”
“You do?”
He nodded, then leaned over to peer out of the window. Emily kept hold of him so he wouldn’t fall. Jessica dropped into the seat next to her with a sigh.
“Hey.”
“Hey, glad to see you made it—it’s nice to have someone else along this year.”
Emily hadn’t spent much time with Jessica, but she liked her and knew she had helped her get this job. It would be nice to know her a little better.
“Is it usually just you?”
“Me, Ms. Evans, the little guy and the—” She mouthed “asshole” so Jaime wouldn’t hear her.
Emily snorted. “I hope that won’t be my nickname by the end of the week.”
“As long as you don’t look down my top or stare at my ass whenever I bend down, you’ll be fine.”
“Agreed,” Emily promised, and Jessica grinned. Her face changed when she looked up. Camila was watching them, leaning over the back of the seat in front, her phone call finished. “Good morning,” Emily said, and Camila smiled tightly.
“Good morning. Jaime, come sit down.”
“Want to stay with Emily.”
“You’ll have eight hours to spend with her once we’re up in the air, but for now you need to sit with me.”
He let Emily hand him over without too much complaint, and Emily, her hands now free, drummed her fingers against the seat arm as the cabin crew prepared for departure.
“Nervous flyer?” Jessica asked.
Emily nodded. “Never been out of the country,” she admitted, “or on a plane for more than four hours. Although”—she glanced around the first-class cabin—“this isn’t the worst place to try it.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Jessica nodded. “I’m usually back in coach, but this is…something else.”
Emily wondered what had changed, but she was glad because it meant she wouldn’t be alone with Camila while being steadfastly ignored.
“So, um, how long have you been working for Camila?” Emily asked as the plane headed toward the runway. She was desperate for distraction—takeoff and landing were the worst parts of the flight for her.
“About eighteen months,” she said. Emily was impressed because Camila seemed like the kind of boss who cycled through assistants regularly. “That’s the face most people make when I say that,” Jessica said, chuckling, then leaned closer to Emily so Camila wouldn’t overhear. “But it’s honestly not that bad. You just gotta learn to read her moods. And not get upset when she yells at you.”
“I have not mastered either of those things,” Emily said, more to herself than to Jessica, and Jessica patted her hand sympathetically.
“You’ll get there. It took me awhile.”
Once the plane was in the air and the seat belt signs were off, Jaime climbed onto Emily’s lap. They spent the next eight hours watching movies, playing games, and snacking.
Camila and Jessica both worked for most of the flight.
Jaime was napping on her lap when the pilot announced that they would be landing soon. Emily gently shook him awake and handed him back to his mother. Then she craned her neck to look out of the window, seeing land beneath them instead of the endless blue of the ocean.
Watching the green and brown fields turn into a sprawling mass of buildings was Emily’s favorite part of the flight—at least until the plane started hurtling toward the ground. Emily looked for different landmarks in the fading light to keep herself distracted as they began to lose altitude.
Emily breathed a sigh of relief once they were safely back on land and the plane taxied to their gate. Despite not sleeping on the flight, she was wide awake when they disembarked. She shivered as she stepped into the jet bridge—the air was colder than she expected—and she drew her sweater tight around her as they hurried into the terminal.
Heathrow was one of the world’s busiest airports. People rushed everywhere, and they were soon swept up in a crowd heading toward arrivals. By the time they got through customs and collected their bags, it was eight o’clock.
As they left the terminal, they were greeted by a well-dressed man who held a card with Camila’s name on it. He would be her driver during their stay. The town car was black and sleek, almost an exact replica of the one Camila used in New York.
London was illuminated by sparkling lights, and Emily stared out the window, mesmerized. When they got closer to the heart of the city, the car crawled along in traffic. Jaime leaned against her sleepily while Camila went through her plans for the week with Jessica, who scribbled down everything with startling speed.
The drive took almost an hour. Emily had been up since four o’clock in the morning New York time, and exhaustion was kicking in. Her eyes were starting to droop, but she needed to stay awake awhile longer.
They got to the hotel, checked in, and straggled into Camila’s suite of rooms, and when Emily saw what would be her home for the next few days, she gasped. It was the most elegant, beautiful hotel room she had ever seen in her entire life.
The suite was an entire apartment with a kitchen, dining area, and living room. The second bedroom was almost as big as Emily’s entire apartment. The furnishings and fixtures looked so expensive that Emily was afraid to touch anything.
Jessica opened the drapes of the floor-length windows in the living room. The walkways and fountains of Hyde Park were lit up, and Emily couldn’t wait to see what it looked like in the morning.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Jessica asked. “I’m heading to my room for the night—I need about ten hours’ sleep if I’m going to function tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sleep well,” Emily called after her, and then the three of them were alone.
“I’m going to give Jaime a bath,” Camila said, hiding a yawn. “Do you want to order room service? I don’t have the energy to go out in search of food.”
“Me neither,” Emily admitted, and Camila handed her the menu. “What do you guys want?”
“I’ll have the Caesar salad, and Jaime will have whatever you think he’ll eat.”
Emily nodded. She knew his tastes well en
ough by now. She ordered him macaroni and cheese that would probably be stupidly fancy, a salad for Camila, and a burger for herself, then dragged her suitcase to the second bedroom and unpacked her things. She felt stale from traveling and longed for a shower.
Twenty minutes later, room service knocked. Emily hurried to answer it but Camila was already there. Jaime sat at the dining table, his hair still damp and wearing clean pajamas; he ate his mac and cheese happily.
“Right, Jaime. Whose room do you want to sleep in tonight?” Camila asked when they had finished eating.
“Emily’s!” he answered immediately.
“Will you tuck him in while I take a quick shower?” Emily asked. Camila nodded, and she grabbed her pajamas before ducking into the bathroom. When she finished, Jaime was already asleep. Camila sat in a chair beside the bed, the book she had read to him on her lap.
“You’re all right with him staying in here?” she asked, and Emily nodded. “All right then, I’ll see you both in the morning.”
“Night, Camila.”
The bed was huge, and Jaime took up almost no room, so she wasn’t worried about waking him as she lifted the covers and sank into it. She was exhausted, and she barely remembered to set her alarm and put her phone on the charger before she fell asleep.
* * *
Emily awoke feeling rested, but it was still dark. The clock in the corner showed it was two in the morning; she had only been asleep for three hours.
She tried to go back to sleep but after half an hour she gave up. She grabbed her phone and slipped quietly from the bed, wary of waking Jaime, and padded into the living room.
She lay back on the black leather couch, which was much more comfortable than her bed back home, and switched on the giant TV, keeping the volume low as she searched for something to watch, finally settling on a quiz show, hoping that she would feel sleepy again soon.
She was still wide awake when she heard a bedroom door open. She looked over the back of the couch. Camila was walking toward her in a tiny black nightgown that exposed her legs, most of her thighs, and if she turned around, Emily was reasonably confident that her ass would barely be covered as well.
When she caught sight of Emily, she hastily fastened her dressing gown around her waist to cover herself.
“Did I wake you?” Emily asked timidly. Camila shook her head and joined her on the couch, sitting at the other end where Emily’s feet rested.
“You couldn’t sleep either?” Camila asked. She kept her voice low, despite the fact that Jaime probably wouldn’t hear them even if they yelled.
“I did for a while. I got about three hours, I think. You?”
“About the same.” Camila leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, allowing Emily to study her profile. She itched for her pencil so she could sketch. “You’re going to be wrecked tomorrow,” Camila told her, eyes still closed.”
“I’m not the one who has to work all day.”
“Oh, so I don’t have to pay you watch Jaime anymore? Excellent news.”
When Camila was tired, Emily had noticed recently, she was more likely to let down her guard and relax, and right now she was more unguarded that she had been in a long time.
“You know what I mean. I’m pretty sure Jaime would be happy to hang around here all day tomorrow if I made it fun enough—you actually have to go out and talk to people.”
“An unfortunate side effect of being a CEO,” Camila admitted. “I’ve survived on less sleep, though.”
“Do you usually have trouble sleeping?” Lately she had seen deep bags under Camila’s eyes, though they were very carefully hidden under makeup.
“Sometimes.” She opened her eyes, turning her head to look at Emily, her cheek pressed against the back of the couch. “It’s been worse lately, since…since Chris left.”
“Hard to get used to sleeping alone again,” Emily said, and she hated herself for wondering when someone had last shared Camila’s bed.
“Mm. Luckily, I don’t need much sleep.”
“Are you one of those people who thinks that sleep is for the weak?”
“Of course,” Camila replied, and Emily allowed herself to smile. “How about you? An eight-hour flight wasn’t enough for you to sleep through the night in a new place?”
“Apparently not.” Emily shrugged. Camila raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. “I guess it’s left over from my time in the system. Your first night somewhere new, you had to be alert because you didn’t know who was going to come near you while you slept. It could be one of the other kids or the creepy foster dad…”
Camila looked horrified. “No one ever… You were never abused, were you?”
“Nah. I already knew how to defend myself by the time my parents died.” After punching one person in the throat and giving another person a black eye to protect herself and the other kids around her, people learned to leave her alone.
“But still…”
“It wasn’t the best time.” Emily grimaced. “But hey, it all worked out in the end, even if some of the after-effects still linger. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
“Even with a wriggling five-year-old sleeping next to you?”
“He’s a lot less wriggly than Cassie was when we were teenagers, believe me.” Cassie kicked in her sleep, and some of the bruises had lasted for days. “Besides, he might want to bunk with you tomorrow.”
“I doubt that.” Camila got to her feet. “I’m going to go make some cocoa. Do you want some?”
“Yes, please.”
“If I remember correctly from last year, there are some games in that cabinet.” Camila inclined her head in the direction of the TV. “If you’d like to play something, pass the time.”
“That would beat watching crappy TV and scrolling through the same three apps on my phone,” she said, and she riffled through the games, choosing Scrabble—because she knew it was Camila’s favorite—and Monopoly—because that would definitely pass some time.
“There’s no Catan,” Emily said when Camila returned with steaming mugs of cocoa and set them down on the coffee table, “but I made do.”
“I added a ridiculous amount of cream to yours.” Camila said. “It is not fair, you looking like that with the number of calories you consume on a daily basis.”
“I have a high metabolism,” Emily replied with a shrug, “and I work them off.”
“You certainly do.” Camila said it so quietly that Emily didn’t think she was supposed to hear. Camila glanced at her biceps, so she flexed them a little when she set up the Scrabble board. It wasn’t often that Camila looked at her like that anymore.
As usual, even at two in the morning, they both played to win, and when Camila lost, she stared down at the board like she couldn’t believe it.
Emily couldn’t help gloating a little, suggesting that Camila might be losing her touch. But she paid for it the next game.
“Monopoly?” Camila suggested, after the second game, and Emily nodded, setting up the board. “Do you have any weird rules?”
“Nope.” Emily said, and they moved onto the floor to play.
After about an hour, the two women started to flag. Emily was struggling to keep her eyes open, and Camila was stretched out on her side, resting her head on her arm.
“You wanna call it a night?” Emily asked, and was relieved when Camila nodded.
“What time do you have to be up?” Emily asked after they had packed up the game.
“In about”—Camila glanced at the nearby clock—“two hours,” she said, wincing. “I should probably try and get at least a little more sleep.”
Camila returned their mugs to the kitchen while Emily dragged herself back to the second bedroom, but she paused in the doorway because Jaime had managed to stretch his little body across the entire bed and she didn’t think she could slip back
under the covers without disturbing him. Instead, she grabbed a blanket from the closet and returned to the couch.
“What are you doing?” Camila was back from the kitchen and frowned when she saw Emily flop down on the couch.
“Your kid is starfishing, and I don’t wanna wake him, so I’ll just sleep here.”
“You shouldn’t have to do that.”
“It’s fine.” Emily shrugged. “Besides, this couch is more comfortable than my bed at home.” She could rest her head flat and stretch out without her feet touching the opposite arm.
“I…” Camila looked down at her, and for a split second, Emily thought she was going to invite her to sleep with her. But then Camila seemed to think better of it.
“If you’re sure.”
Emily was already falling asleep, and she mumbled “Good night Camila.” Camila flicked off the lights, leaving Emily in darkness.
Tonight had been good—great, even. It had felt like before the kiss, without any awkwardness, and Emily wondered if things might be different here, if London would be a kind of bubble where they could pretend that night had never happened.
She felt better than she had in a long time, and she fell asleep with a smile on her mouth and Camila on her mind.
Chapter 18
Camila cursed when her alarm went off. What had she been thinking, staying up so late last night just to spend more time with Emily?
It had been like old times. She dropped her defenses when she walked out of her room and found Emily on the couch wearing fluffy pajamas with llamas on them. She should have looked ridiculous but instead looked adorable.
It would have been better if she had just turned around and gone back to bed, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep, and she’d wanted company.
She regretted it now, though, as she rubbed her hands across her face. It was still dark outside.
She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower.
Emily was still asleep in the living room, and Camila tiptoed into the kitchen. She was sipping coffee and scanning her tablet for emails at the dining table when she heard an almost inaudible “What time is it?” She glanced over to see a sleep-rumpled Emily peering at her over the back of the couch.
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