A Stolen Heart

by Beverley Hollowed

  “Hi,” Zach said looking just as surprised as her.

  “Hi,” was the only thing she could manage to get out. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest.

  They stood there for what seem like an eternity staring at each other. Emma wanted to push by and runaway but she just stood stuck to the spot. She knew she should say something but she couldn’t find any words.

  Standing there face to face with him, Emma could feel the same old familiar feeling she got whenever she was near him. She remembered how he used to kiss her. How he made love to her. She remembered every last detail. And her stomach lurched as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

  “Mommy,” Mia said pulling at Emma’s arm and snapping them both from their thoughts. “I’m hungry.”

  Zach looked down at Mia and smiled brightly at her.

  “Hello there,” he said in a friendly voice, suddenly distracted by the little girl. He smiled brightly as he bent down to her. “What’s your name?”

  “Mia,” she replied and gave him one of her usual charming smiles.

  “You’re a very pretty girl,” he said smiling back at her.

  “I’m four,” she added.

  “Wow, you’re a big girl” he said and patted her head. Emma couldn’t breathe.

  “We have to go,” Emma finally managed to say. Zach looked up at her, and then stood up.

  “Well it was really nice to see you again, Emma” he said looking at her in the same intense way he always did. “You look amazing.”

  Then he turned to Mia and smiled. “You too Mia.”

  “Goodbye,” was all she could say but she didn’t wait for a response. She took Mia’s hand and left without as much as a backwards glance.

  ********************************

  “The waitress will be down now to take our order,” Louise said as Emma slid into the seat in front of her.

  “Okay,” Emma replied as she absentmindedly picked up the menu and stared at it blankly.

  “Are you okay?” Louise asked when she looked up from the menu at Emma, who looked as white as a sheet. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I am fine,” Emma laughed, forcing herself to smile.

  “You sure?” Louise replied still not completely convinced.

  “Yeah,” she reassured her. Emma studied her menu and tried to calm herself down. The last thing she needed was to make Louise suspicious.

  The waitress came and took their orders. Louise was rummaging in her bag for Andrew’s bottle. When she found it she looked up and stopped what she was doing immediately.

  “Oh my God!” Louise exclaimed in a hushed voice nodding towards the door of the coffee shop. Emma was surprised to see Louise blush.

  “What is it?” Emma asked curiously.

  “Don’t look now,” Louise whispered. “But remember that hot barman. The one that bought us a drink, that night in O’Grady’s. He has just walked in.”

  Emma’s heart slammed against her chest and almost stopped. She thought she was going to be sick.

  “I am mortified,” Louise said. Emma looked at her for a second. She had no idea why Louise should be mortified to see him.

  “Why are you mortified?” Emma asked her confused.

  “Can’t say now, he is coming this way,” she replied quickly dropping her eyes to the table. “Tell you later.”

  Emma could hear foot steps approaching her from behind. They stopped beside her. She glanced sideways and saw Zach bend down. He picked a bib belong to Lily up off the floor.

  “I... eh think you dropped this,” he looked straight up at Emma and let his eyes hold her before he handed it back to her.

  Once again she was face to face with him and he stared directly into her eyes. As she took it from him, his fingers softly brushed against her and it sent a bolt of electricity through her. Emma could feel her face burn and she quickly snapped her hand back and looked away from him.

  “Thanks,” she replied feebly.

  “Hi!” Mia chirped happily when she looked up and recognizing him.

  “Hi,” he replied and smile warmly at her. Then he looked back at Emma and gave her a half smile.

  He turned and walked up to the counter.

  “How embarrassing!” Louise groaned completely missing the tension between the two.

  “What? Why?” Emma asked half listening to Louise half watching Zach.

  “Well, not long after your wedding we had a little misunderstanding,” Louise replied casually.

  “What sort of a misunderstanding?” Emma asked this time give Louise her full attention.

  “Well I saw him parked outside the house a few times starring at our house,” Louise explained to a shocked Emma. “I thought he was some kind of nut job, that maybe he was stalking me. So one night, I was in O’Grady’s and I saw him. So I marched up to him had asked him out straight, what his fucking problem was. Of course he just stood there completely horrified while I continued yelling at him like some crazy person. Turned out he wasn’t stalking me. He was thinking of buying the Foleys old house. Needless to say he changed his mind about the house.”

  Emma glanced over at him again. She couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of Louise accusing him of all sorts. She could picture her in the pub screaming at him. She must have looked completely unhinged.

  But still she wondered what he was doing outside the house. She knew Zach had no intention to buy Foleys house. So why was he sitting outside her parents’ house? After all it was he who changed his mind about their relationship. She was even more confused.

  Suddenly he turned around from the counter with his order to takeaway. Emma quickly looked away but couldn’t help but peek at him from beneath her long lashes as he walked back in there direction.

  He stared at her the whole way down from the counter.

  “Bye Mia,” he said as he passed by. Emma felt her blood run cold. She wondered if he knew. But how could he. She was just being silly she told herself.

  “Bye,” Mia replied. She stood up on her seat and waved goodbye as he walked out the door.

  “How did he know her name?” Louise asked this time she was the one confused.

  “He came into the photographers after you left.” Emma explained quickly as her face burned even hotter. “And you know Mia, she would talk to anyone.”

  “He sounds like Daddy.” Mia said as she went back to playing with her doll.

  Emma was floored. She couldn’t believe Mia said what she did. And then she realized that she had barely thought about Jonathan in days. All she seemed to think about was Zach. She felt so guilty. Almost like, she was cheating on Jonathan all over again.

  “Are you okay?” Louise asked quickly when she saw the expression on Emma’s face.

  “Yeah” she replied hoarsely as a sudden wave of grief hit her like a thunder bolt. “It just seems weird. Sometimes she talks about him like he is still here.”

  Louise reached out and touched Emma’s hand reassuringly. Emma forced a smile on her face but her heart ached. She missed Jonathan. She wished he was with her right there. She longed to have him hold her and tell her everything would be all right.

  But her thought drifted back to Zach. She remembered how happy she felt wrapped in his arms once too. In fact she has never felt the same level of happiness in her life that she once felt when she was with Zach. With him she felt complete.

  Their food arrived and Emma tried to put all thoughts of Zach out of her head.

  ********************************

  “I heard he’s marrying that Joanna from the pub,” Louise said as they headed back home to their parents’ house.

  “Who is?” Emma asked not knowing who Louise was talking about.

  “The hot barman,” Louise answered. Emma felt her stomach churn. Louise didn’t seem to notice. “She is a right snotty cow, that one. And now she is running O’Grady’s for her father she thinks she is the best thing since sliced bread, but really she is nothing but a complete tart. I don
’t know what he sees in her, but then again you don’t look at the mantel piece when you’re poking the fire.”

  Emma didn’t reply. She didn’t say a word the rest of the walk home. However Louise didn’t even seem to notice. She talked most of the way home. But Emma didn’t hear a word she said.

  By the time they reached the house Emma was fight hard to keep the tears back. When they walked into the house Helen sensed something was wrong as soon as she saw Emma.

  “What happened?” she asked. It was all she had to say. Emma burst into tears. She turned a rushed up to her room.

  “Louise, why is she upset?” Helen asked her other daughter hoping for some answers.

  “I think it was something Mia said” she replied thinking that was why Emma was so upset. She explained what Mia had said about some guy sounding just like Jonathan. ”I think she might just need a little time to herself.”

  Emma closed her bedroom door behind her and slumped down on the floor. She curled herself up in a ball on the floor and sobbed.

  Why was her life such a mess? A year ago she had been so happy. Her life was perfect. She had a husband and a daughter. She had a life. But now she felt like she just wanted to go asleep and never wake up again. It wasn’t enough to just get up for the girls every day, she wanted more. She wanted her life back. She wanted to feel like she matter to someone again. She longed to be held. She missed the feeling of excitement when someone touched her soft and tenderly. She longed to be loved again.

  When she finally had no more tears left to cry she pulled herself up and leaned against her wardrobe. The wardrobe wobbled and a box fell from the top and hit her on the head.

  “Ouch” she yelled as she picked the box up. She recognised the box straight away. It was the box she had growing up. She kept all her private memories in here. She had completely forgotten all about it. She removed the lid on the box and started to rummage through the contents.

  She found old school reports, old valentine’s cards she got when she was a kid from her secret admirers. She read through some of them and they were so corny she had to laugh.

  There was old an old diary. She flicked through the pages. ‘Emma Kelly and Michael Byrne forever’ was scribble on every other page.

  Emma laughed when she thought about Michael Byrne. He was her first love and he gave her, her first kiss. She thought she would never love anyone again, when Michael unceremoniously dumped her two day before her fourteenth birthday. She was so wrong.

  There were lots of other memorabilia from her childhood. She found pictures of her and Grace on their Debs and she laughed at their dresses. At the time, ok course, they thought they were fabulous. But looking back now, they looked like two matching meringues. At the time they thought it would be a great idea to go in matching colours but in hind side it was probably a bad idea.

  Then a cold chill ran down her spine. She saw a white envelope lying at the end of the box and knew straight away what was inside.

  It was the letter Zach had sent her the night she was to meet him so they could go away together. She held it in her hands for a few moments. She didn’t know if she could read it again.

  But really, she didn’t need to. She remembered it word for word. Slowly she opened the envelope and unfolded the piece of paper and began to read the words.

  My dearest Emma,

  This is the hardest letter I had to write. I am going back to the States tonight as we planned, but I am going there alone. I love you but I can’t ask you to give up your life for me. You should marry Jonathan tomorrow as you planned. He can give you a life that I never could.

  He truly loves you and you will be happier in the end with him.

  Forget about me, live your life to the fullest and be happy.

  Zach.

  Emma folded the letter once again and wiped the tears from her eyes. She placed the letter back into the envelope and placed it back in the box.

  There was a soft tap on the door. Emma got up and put the box back on the top of the wardrobe.

  “Come in,” she said expecting to see her Mom’s head peeking around the door. But instead Jenna’s smiling face came around the door.

  “Anybody seen my best friend Emma Daniels?” she said with a big smile.

  Emma jumped up, wrapped her arms around her friend and cried. But they weren’t just tears of sorrow but tears of happiness for having her best friend with her when she needed her most.

  Chapter 11

  ~Five years earlier~

  “Where did you get to last night?” Gerry asked as Emma sneaked back into the house early the following morning. She had spent the night with Zach and thought she would make it home before anyone was up. Her heart sank when she found her Dad sitting in the kitchen.

  “I stayed at Grace’s place,” she lied. She hated lying to her parents but didn’t think he would understand the truth.

  “Did you have a good night?” he asked as he picked his paper back up.

  “Yeah,” she couldn’t help but smile because she had. She had the most wonderful night of her life. When they left the pier the night before, they went back to Zach’s apartment. At first Emma was nervous but Zach was so easy to be with that she soon relaxed. They chatted for a while as Zach made them both a coffee. While he was making the coffee Emma wandered over to his stereo and looked through his cd collection. He said she could pick something for them to listen to.

  She selected one of her favourites and put it in the player.

  “You like Bryan Adams?” he said handing her a coffee.

  “Yeah,” she nodded and took a sip from her cup. “I saw him in concert once and he was fantastic.”

  They chatted about all kinds of things and the time was passing by so quickly. She really enjoyed his company.

  Suddenly the song “Heaven” came on the stereo.

  “I love this song,” she thought out loud. Zach smiled and took the cup from her hand and placed both coffees on the table. He stood up in front of her and held out his hand.

  “Would you like to dance,” he asked. She smiled and took his hand. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. They moved together in time with the music.

  Emma thought of Jonathan. He hated to dance. He always made a big deal whenever he was asked to dance. Sometimes he would dance with her for special occasions but he would never dance with her just like Zach was.

  Just as the song was ending there was a knock on the door. Emma looked at Zach. He told her not to worry and he went to answer the door.

  Emma could see a pretty red head standing at the door smiling at Zach when he opened it through the crack in the door. Emma kind of recognized her face but couldn’t place where she knew her from.

  “Joanna,” Zach said sounding surprised to see her. “Is there something wrong?”

  “I was passing by and saw your light on,” she purred. Emma couldn’t help but giggle at how forward this girl was being. “I have your wages.”

  “Oh ok,” he replied, sounding a little impatient, taking his wages from her.

  “I’m sorry, is it a bad time?” She asked. She turned and saw Emma standing in Zach’s apartment. “Oh, I didn’t realize you had company.”

  “Eh...this is Emma,” Zach said introducing the girls. “Emma, this is my friend Joanna. Her dad owns O’Grady’s. She is the one who got me the job.”

  “Hi,” Emma said. Now she knew exactly where she recognized her from. She was worried she might recognize her.

  “Hi,” Joanna replied barely even looking in her direction. “Well I guess I will see you tomorrow. Bye Gemma.” She didn’t even look at Emma when she said it.

  “I don’t think your friend likes me,” Emma said after Zach closed the door.

  “What?” Zach said with a laugh. He returned to the sofa where Emma had sat. “How could you tell that?”

  “Trust me I know girls,” Emma replied and shrugged her shoulders. “I think she
had come here for more than just your wages.”

  “No way,” Zach laughed. “I’m telling you, Joanna and I are just friends.”

  “I am telling you she gave me a look that time that would turn milk sour,” Emma insisted. “And she called me Gemma. I mean what’s that about?”

  “So she mixed up you name,” Zach replied and looked at Emma in confusion.

  “Oh come on,” Emma said amazed he couldn’t see what she saw. “That is the oldest trick in the book, use the wrong name to make them sound unimportant.”

  “You have got to be kidding” Zach said shocked. “Girls are so mean.”

  “Guys do it too,” she replied and felt a little irritated he couldn’t see what she was talking about. Emma looked at her watch. She didn’t realize how late it was. “Actually, I should be going too. It’s really late.”

  She stood up and picked up her coat and headed towards the door. Zach followed her quickly and took hold of her hand.

  “Don’t go,” he blurted out as he gently tugged her back to him.

  “What?” she replied, surprised by his request. “I have to go.”

  “No you don’t,” he said this time taking her by both hands and stepping closer to her. “Stay with me, tonight.”

  Emma felt torn, she knew she should go but she didn’t want to leave him.

  “Please,” he whispered, as he slowly brought his lips to meet hers. Emma allowed herself to be enveloped in his strong arms as she pressed her body against his. When she could feel his hard length pressed against her stomach she gasped. He pressed her against the apartment door as he kissed her harder. He dropped one of his hands and cupped her backside, pulling her closer to him. He ground his cock against her and Emma could feel her head spin as desire and pure want, thundered through her body. Breathlessly he pulled his mouth from her and looked deep into her eyes. “Stay.”

  Emma knew she should have said no, she knew this was wrong, but she wanted him. With every ounce of her body she longed for him.

  She smiled shyly up at him and he knew exactly what she was saying. He grinned back at her. Suddenly neither could hold back no longer.