“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Alex smirked.
Emily looked at him. “What are you planning?”
Alex smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Good Afternoon, Mrs. Peterson, Mr. Peterson,” he said as he shook Paul’s hand.
“Alex, the flowers were beautiful. It was so wonderful of you to send those for Emily,” her mom responded.
“It was nothing, Mrs. Peterson. It’s a special day and she should be given the royal treatment today.”
They smiled at each other as Emily spoke up, “We should go I don’t want to get lost in the massive shuffle today.”
Alex took her cap and gown as she hugged her parents. “I will see you guys after the ceremony. I will be the one in the blue cap and gown, you won’t be able to miss me,” she said laughing.
They drove to the campus arena and graduates were everywhere. Alex found a parking space and everyone admired his car. Emily laughed. “Do you know notice all the attention that you bring to an event?”
Alex looked at her confused. “What do you mean?”
“Alex, you must know that your car is amazing and you, yourself, just have a presence that makes everyone look and wonder who you are.”
“You are crazy. Seriously Emily, I’m getting you some help.”
Emily laughed. “You need to watch people as they enter your space. Women are captivated by you and men want to be you.”
Alex leaned over and kissed her. “Are you captivated by me?”
“I am, every second of every day.”
Alex smirked as he opened his door and walked around to open hers. He reached for her cap and gown and carried it for her. They approached the courtyard where a lot of students were gathering and Sam ran over to them and threw her arms around Emily.
“We did it, Girl!” Sam yelled.
“Yes, we did. Congrats, Sam. I’m so proud of you,” Emily said to her.
“Me? Are you kidding me? You are the truly amazing one. I’m so proud of you!” Sam said hugging her again. “Hi Alex, how are you?”
“I’m great, thank you, Sam. Congrats on your graduation. What are your plans now?”
Sam was even awestruck by him. Emily could see it in her eyes, as she tried to hide her laugh.
“I decided to head to grad school for a Masters in Psychology. I want to be a therapist and my father is helping me foot the bill.”
“Sam, you didn’t tell me that! That’s wonderful. What’s going on with Rob? I don’t see him here.”
“He’s with my mom. He said he needed some time with her, no clue what he is up too. Are you going to join us tonight for a celebration?”
“What’s going on?” Emily asked.
“My mom is throwing me a graduation party. I know you have been so busy with the whole Eric situation and I haven’t touched base with you. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, but you better come.”
Emily looked at Alex. “Are you up for a party tonight?”
Alex looked at her. “It’s your night. Whatever you want to do, I’m at your disposal.”
“Can I date you?” Sam asked laughing.
Alex gave one of his million dollar smiles and Sam melted under it. “We will be there,” Emily said as Sam hugged her and ran off.
Alex looked at Emily. “Why don’t you go and figure out what you are suppose to be doing and I will see you after you graduate.”
Emily nodded. “Sounds good.” Alex leaned down and kissed her softly.
As they parted ways, Emily ran into classmates that she had gotten to know over the past four years and everyone was excited to start the next phase of their lives. She found Sam again and helped her with her cap and gown. “Seems like we were just doing this for high school, doesn’t it?”
“I know. You and Eric were having issues then too, if I remember correctly?”
Emily nodded. “Yeah, we seem to have a problem with graduations.”
Sam smiled. “Do you think you guys will work it out? You have so much history together.”
“I don’t know,” Emily sighed. “Not all of our history is good, and I’m having a nice time with Alex. We have a long weekend ahead of us to discover more about our attraction for each other.”
“You mean sex.”
“Sam!” Emily yelled.
“What?” Sam said surprised. “I’m sure it’s been awhile for you now, right?”
Emily frowned. “Yes, but I like him and I don’t want to rush things.”
“Good luck with that, he’s hot. I just want you to be happy, ok? We earned this moment, Emily so we need to enjoy everything about it. Promise me that you will always be by my side?”
“Always Sam, now let’s go get our degrees.”
The ceremony was very long. Emily glanced around the arena but couldn’t find Alex or her family. She listened to all the names being called and it seemed like an eternity before they finally arrived at hers. She couldn’t believe it, she was officially a college graduate.
After the ceremony, Emily watched as families took pictures with the other graduates but she couldn’t find hers. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Emma running towards her. “Mommy!”
“Hey Sweetie. There you are! Are you proud of Mommy?”
“Yes and Daddy says we are going to play all weekend.”
“Well, that sounds like fun. I’m going to miss you so much.”
“I miss you too,” Emma said as Emily looked up to see Eric standing there.
“We both did it, Emily,” he said.
“Yes, we did. Now you can also add being rich and famous to that,” Emily said.
“I’m really proud of you too Emily, but it won’t be the same - not without you,” Eric said looking at her. "My agent called this morning, my contract should be finalized shortly.”
Emily smiled. “How cool is that? We may not be together but I’m proud of you and I look forward to coming to Denver for some games.”
Eric laughed. “You better and I will save you a seat for you and Emma.”
Emily’s mom ran up to her, crying of course, and demanding they take some pictures. Paul took pictures of them. They even included Eric in a few. Emily spotted Alex approaching her. He had confidence in his walk and he wasn’t breaking eye contact with her. A smile formed on his face as he got closer. She noticed Eric’s face change as he spotted Alex and realized who he was.
He walked up and hugged Emily. “Congrats, Baby.”
“Thank you.”
“Mr. Alex,” Emma said as she hugged his leg.
“Hello Emma, you look very pretty today.”
“Emma, can you say thank you to Mr. Alex?”
“Thank you,” she said as she ran back to Eric.
Emily took a deep breath. “Alex, I would like you to meet the famous Eric Mason.”
They shook hands like gentlemen but Emily could feel the tension mounting between them.
“Congratulations on getting drafted by Denver. It’s a great team to be a part of,” Alex said sincerely.
“Thanks, I’m heading there next week and trying to get all my stuff in order. I told Emily I would save her a seat for every game.”
Not missing a bit and as smooth as ever, Alex looked at Emily when he said, “I’m sure we will love going to the games.”
Emily knew the tension was about to break and finally interrupted before Eric could chime back in, “So, did you want to bring her back on Sunday night?”
Eric nodded. “We will call you throughout the weekend to touch base.”
Emily said her goodbyes to Emma and started to cry. Everything that the last four years had been centered around – school and Emma were gone and it overwhelmed her. Alex wrapped his arms around her as she spotted Eric looking back at them. Her heart broke again thinking about their situation.
Alex leaned down and whispered, “She will have a wonderful weekend getting to know her father and I’m going to have a wonderful weekend getting to her mother.”
&nbs
p; Emily blushed. “Why don’t we get out of here?”
They said goodbye to her mother and she handed Emily a card. She recognized her father’s handwriting. She opened the card to see a check for five thousand dollars fall into her hand. Emily gasped as she read the card.
Emily,
I’m so upset that I couldn’t be there today but I asked your mother to hand you this card once you had graduated. I’m so proud of you today and you proved me wrong. You managed to balance school and motherhood like a pro. Your mother told me about Eric, I knew I didn’t like him but I’m proud of your decision. You have matured into a beautiful young woman. I hope you understand why I couldn’t stand next to you today, our lawyers group recently bought out another firm and we are currently in transition. I hope this check will help you find your first apartment and get on your feet. I’m proud of you Emily. Come and visit me soon.
I love you.
Dad
Emily started to tear up as she hugged her mother. She gave her the card and check back for safe keeping and headed with Alex to his car.
Alex opened the door for her and she climbed inside. “Thank you for coming today.”
“No problem, it’s an important day for you. I have a graduation present for you.”
“Alex, you already gave me flowers, which are enough.”
Alex smirked. “We are going to make one stop before heading to Sam’s party, ok?”
“Sure, where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Alex said as he continued to drive down the interstate. He turned off towards the lake and followed the lakeside drive. The homes were beautiful with the lake as a backdrop. Emily admired the scenery as he pulled into a long driveway and headed towards a beautiful cabin.
“Whose house is this?” Emily asked.
“It’s my family’s place. We come here when we need to get away for awhile. So, this weekend, it’s ours.”
Emily got out of the car and walked around the outside of the large cabin. There was a long stone walkway that wrapped around the house, leading to a boat dock down on the lake. Alex came up behind Emily as she stopped on the front porch.
“My gift to you is a weekend away, no worries and no pressures, just us getting to know each other better and enjoying the outdoors.”
Emily sighed and turned to look at him. “Thank you, it’s just want I need right now.” They kissed softly, their lips barely touching each other. Alex ran his fingers through her hair as he deepened the kiss, feeling his tongue play with hers, she moaned softly.
She pressed tighter against him as she lost herself in his embrace. When she came back to her senses she pulled away and looked at him. “Remember that question you asked me earlier in the week?”
Alex nodded. “About how I want you to be my girlfriend?”
Emily looked at him and answered, “Yes, I will be yours.”
THE CONCLUSION, “FOREVER LOVE” WILL BE RELEASED IN WINTER 2012
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By: Melissa Johns
FIRST LOVE (Now & Forever Series #1)
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Everlasting Love (Now & Forever) Page 15