I See You

Chapter Thirty-Two

Emma went down the stairs slowly, holding the banister, because her legs were wobbly. Because Cody was intoxicating and basically hot enough to be considered a freaking walking orgasm and oh dear Lord she loved him so much!

Her face burned brightly while she nibbled at her lower lip lost to the memories of the evening. This night had been one she'd never forget. So many different things for her to cherish deep within her heart. After losing her only family, she'd finally found another place, Cody's arms, where she belonged with a man she loved so very much. Emma realized that she'd gained not just the love of her life, but a whole new family as well. She smiled to herself as she glanced at the couch and her face burned even more.

         Yeah. This night was the best of her life so far. If only she and Cody could've finished what they'd started, but then according to Marissa and Sophia they had the rest of their lives for being together.

She laughed softly as she tightened the belt around her waist. When Emma entered the kitchen her feet went still as she watched Cindy digging in the depths of the older fridge. Emma walked in and smiled. "Hey bestie," she murmured softly, the smile faded when Cindy stood. Her face was blotchy from crying, her nose was red and her lower lip still trembled. "Cin? Oh my goodness, what happened?"

Cindy pulled a half gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from the depths of the freezer and closed it, sniffling softly. "I caught Mike with someone else. In my bed!" She said finding a spoon in the dish rack and crossing to the table. Cindy eyed the ice cream and returned to the cabinets, obviously in search of something else.

Emma watched her with a frown crossing to hug her friend tightly, ignoring the load of junk food in her arms. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry! I never would've thought that Mike could do something like that to you."  She took the ice cream and placed it on the table.

Cindy gave a cool laugh as she turned back to the cabinets and dug around some more until she emerged with a pack of sandwich cookies and a bottle of white wine. "Yeah, me neither." she pushed the cabinet shut and swiped a shaking hand through her long hair, glaring at the bottle of wine. "He used to say we'd get married and travel and then settle down and have kids when my career was over."

Emma sat and pulled her legs up to rest on the chair, making sure the robe's folds were covering everything. Suddenly she felt awful for the fact her life was working so well at the moment and Cindy's was falling apart. "What exactly happened?"

"Yeah, hold that thought, I need wine," Cindy murmured softly, with a sniffle as she rummaged around in the drawer. Once she found the bottle opener; she grabbed a coffee mug and moved to sit with Emma. She deftly opened the bottle. "I didn't call him when I left a while ago, thought I'd surprise him. You know because I hadn't seen him in a week or so.

Emma nodded, her tummy queasy because she could pretty much guess where this was going. "Yeah?" She reached out and rubbed Cindy's arm that lay on the table between them. "Go on."

Cindy swallowed hard and took a deep breath as if steeling herself for saying something difficult. "Well, when I walked into the apartment, I made sure to be quiet because I wanted to surprise him." She poured a generous amount of wine into the mug and took a drink before opening the carton of ice cream. "I heard the song we always play," she rolled her eyes as a twin set of tears escaped her eyes. She wiped them away and tried to speak again. "Sade's, Smooth Operator," she shook her head and took another long pull from the mug. "I should've known right then damn it. I just wanted to surprise him you know?"

Emma winced in commiseration and pulled the cookies closer and opened the pack pulling one out. "That doesn't sound unreasonable for you to want to surprise him," she pointed out. "You missed him."