Page 48 of Modern Persuasion

Chapter Twenty-Six

Do you regret not accepting my proposal?" Freddy asked me as I lay in his arms that night.

"Honestly?" I asked.

"Yes."

I rolled onto my stomach so I could look at him. "Do you think I should have said yes?"

"No," he said after thinking about it for a moment.

I wasn't sure where things stood at the moment. I was ready to accept Ted's job in Los Angeles, but Fredrick was willing to move to New York to be with me. What he didn't know, and I was avoiding, was the formal job offer that Ted emailed me during my father's dinner party. I had already accepted it but hadn't told anyone. It wasn't about Karen's attempts to control my career, my father's needs, or my feelings for Fredrick. I took the job because I wanted it and was excited about Ted's vision for his company.

"I was twenty-two years old, and I was right about my reasons," I said, thinking about my pro and con list. "It's different now, but then, I was right. My regret is just cutting you out of my life as if those two years meant nothing."

Fredrick was silent as it sunk in. "I was angrier at myself than I was with you after a while," he said before brushing my cheek. "I knew you had made the right choice, but I didn't realize it until well after I had accepted what happened. By then, I had already made the movie and assumed you would be suing me. It's not like I fought to keep you in my life. I allowed it to happen, too."

"You were hurt. I understand that."

Fredrick shook his head. "No, we were twenty-two. We lived in a bubble. Your father and Karen made that very clear to me at graduation. Seeing you in your world over the past month made it even clearer. I thought we would just take our Chicago lives, move them to LA, and be happy. Now I know it never could have been that way."

"It's all different now," I whispered.

"Is it?"

"Every reason I had to be here has now become a reason to move to LA."

"Patrick said you were offered a job in LA. Was that what you did while I was there for the tour?"

"Yes, and I accepted it last night. It's a significant raise, enough time off, and telecommuting flexibility so I can be here when needed. It's a chance to use all I have learned and accomplished over the last eight years to my benefit. You're the first person I've told."

Fredrick pulled me closer and kissed me. I knew he wasn't going to argue about this. It was enough for me to know I was important enough to him that he would have come to New York to be with me.

"What about Karen?" Fredrick asked. "Wasn't she a major reason you came back to NYC?"

"She's taken me as far as I can go with her. She has tried to protect and support me but has, unfortunately, only hurt me with the things she did. Like with your book."

Fredrick looked confused.

"She set up email filters without my consent and your manuscript never even made it to my account," I said with a slight frown.

Fredrick grimaced. "My agent was confused when you didn't respond. I even had her send you the manuscript as you had last seen it just to make sure you knew what I wanted."

I tilted my head to the side. "What did you want?"

"Emma, I haven't been angry with you for a long time," he said. "I wanted to see you again and to decide if we could be together again."

"After reading what you sent me, I know. We have a chance to try something different and have a second chance."

"What about Dave?"

I had to laugh. "Did Elizabeth really get me drunk?"

"The last time I saw you that drunk, you climbed onto my lap and kissed me," Fredrick said with a chuckle.

"I didn't feel drunk."

He raised an eyebrow. "You were. What did you think was going on?"