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Chapter 9
It might only betwo weeks into the summer semester, but Emma already felt the pressure growing from her heavy grad school schedule. The only good thing about her grueling work lineup was that it left precious little time for her to wallow in regret over having said goodbye to the two extraordinary men who'd made her a woman in France. At times, it felt like it had been one big dream.
She only had one regret, which grew stronger with each passing day. Why hadn't she given them her last name and her phone number that final morning? Even as she thought it, she knew it wouldn’t have mattered. Emma was a fool to entertain the idea that they might have wanted to stay in touch. Her brain knew the swift split was best, but her heart hurt at the thought of never seeing Chase or Jaxson again.
Finding their last names had been easy. A few minutes on Google and she had enough information to keep her busy reading for hours. They weren’t just models–they were A-list models, in demand for top-end ad campaigns around the globe. Her investigation had dug up more than just their professional portfolio. The Internet was full of candid pictures of Jax and Chase at back-stage parties, fundraisers and even movie premiers. They were regularly photographed with musicians, movie stars and politicians who traveled in the circles of the rich and famous.
Emma was grateful she hadn’t known just how famous they were when they’d been together. Now, knowing who they really were, she treasured their intimate time spent together even more knowing she’d seen a side to the extraordinary men the cameras never got to see. She was proud that they’d trusted her enough to show her the real them.
"Emma! I'm back!" She was jarred out of her memories by the voice of a person she had hoped would never come searching for her. She glanced up to see Bianca sauntering towards her, dressed as if she were headed to a fashion show instead of an Econ 101 class. She was surrounded by two other Barbie doll wanna-be's who appeared to be hanging on her every word. Emma had to fight down the giggle when she realized how silly Bianca looked.
Not wanting to engage, Emma moved around her to continue on to the lecture hall where class was to begin in ten minutes.
"Hello? How rude! If you won't talk to me as a friend, you can at least tell me what assignments I've missed so I can get caught up."
Emma stopped in her tracks. Surely Bianca wasn't that stupid.
She turned to address her previous travel companion. "You can't be serious. It's summer. We cover a chapter per class. You've missed four chapters already. Drop the class."
"No way. I need this as a pre-req for a class in the fall."
Anger flared. "Then I guess you should have come home sooner instead of gallivanting around Europe on the back of Marrrio with an R's moped."
"It was a Vespa," she whined as if that made a difference.
Emma chuckled at Bianca's childish behavior. "Fine, suit yourself. Come to class, but don't expect anything special from me. You'll do the work like everyone else."
Anger flashed across Bianca's pinched face. "What's wrong with you? You seem different... like a total bitch."
Emma didn't deny it. She had changed. "I am different, but you'd better be careful about calling your professor names. I might have to take points off on your next test to dock you."
One of Bianca's fan club turned her nose up, hurling what she thought was an insult. "Someone needs to get laid. Wait–girls like you can't get a guy, can you? Maybe that's your problem."
In that moment, Emma's heart ached for Chase and Jaxson and strangely, it wasn't so she could flaunt them in front of these bitches. It wasn't even for the sex... okay it wasn'tonlyfor the sex.
In the two weeks since they'd said farewell, Emma had figured out what she missed the most was how they made her feel when they were together. As if she were a queen, worthy of their attention. She longed to be the center of someone's attention as she'd been with not just one, but both men.
No, she couldn't share that with Bianca. There was no point since the bitch would never believe her anyway.
A tense thirty seconds passed in the hall as the women squared off. Emma refused to fight at their level, instead choosing to walk around them to proceed to the lecture hall.
She was five minutes into her lecture when Bianca and her entourage finally strolled in late, taking a seat towards the front of the room, causing a commotion as all of the students present stopped to watch the show they were putting on with their strutting. Emma was in no mood to put up with Bianca's childish behavior.
"How thoughtful of you to join us two weeks late, Miss Branson. I see you brought friends who aren't even registered as students for the class. You hoping they'll be able to help you catch up?"
Bianca appeared shocked to be called out in front of the entire lecture hall of fifty plus students. Seeing her face reminded Emma of how much she had changed since meeting the men. She was so much calmer now. Confident. Not willing to put up with immature bullshit.
Bianca spewed back hurtful words. "At least I have friends. You're gonna end up alone in life, you know that Emma?"
Direct hit. It was Emma's number one fear. A deep sadness settled in as she realized the amazing men she’d allowed to see the real her didn't even know her last name. Their friendship was an illusion. She hated Bianca for saying the words she hated to hear the most... she was alone while they were still in Paris rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. The worst part was she already knew no man would ever be able to compete with the memories of two extraordinary men who swept her off her feet, ruining her for all men going forward.
"Why are you letting her get to you, sweetheart? You should tell her the truth. That you've found not one but two men to spend your time with?"
Emma was losing her mind. There was no other explanation for hearing Jaxson's voice nearby. She'd officially missed them so much she was hallucinating now. The only clue that perhaps it wasn't a figment of her imagination was the look of jealous shock on Bianca's face.
Time stood still. They could hear a pin drop, the huge lecture hall was so silent. She didn't dare turn towards the voice because then she'd have to admit she'd imagined Jax was there. They visited her in her dreams, but she was losing it if she was imagining them in the middle of class.
It wasn't until strong arms hugged her from behind, pulling her back against a muscular chest that she'd recognize anywhere that she allowed hope to take hold. He whispered into her ear. "Hi, baby. We missed you."
