Indelible Love - Emily's Story (33 page)

“Are you going to meet me in Paris or
not?”

“Is this a choice that’s not really a
choice?”

“Yup.”

“Well, then Paris it is,” I said,
thrilled at the thought of spending an entire week with him. It was
like a dream come true. No, it was a dream come true.

“Did you end up going to Paris in
February?” I remembered we were supposed to be there a few months
back.

“Yes, I had to
go…
alone
. It was
the most depressing trip of my life. I rarely left the hotel. I
went from my room to the conference room. It was hard being there
without you. The only highlight of the trip was when Gram came to
visit me.”

I promised, “I’ll make it up to you.”
We both cherished our moment together.

“Also, I have one more
request,” Jake said. “I’m going to buy you a laptop with a webcam.
I can
not
go two
weeks without seeing you—not after having endured five months. We
will set up a time to talk each day, OK?”

“Is that necessary? It’s only twelve
days. What a waste of money.”

He gave me a stern look that made me
cower into his demand.

Jake paid for our beautiful meal that
went untouched and we walked through the streets of Kyoto. We
couldn’t help our fixed smile or our constant touch. We’d been
apart for so long. I, more so than Jake, needed a continual
reminder of our togetherness. It was amazing how many months of
heartbreak could be mended within minutes, with a few magical
words. How fickle the heart could be. We sat on a park bench eager
to answer more questions and confirm our commitment one last
time.

“Emi?”

“Hmm?”

“What happened between you and Max?
Max told me at the hospital that you turned down his proposal, but
I didn’t quite understand why. Believe it or not, it was Max who
encouraged me to pursue you when I thought I’d hurt you too much to
salvage anything. He strongly believed you still loved me, and left
for Japan thinking I didn’t love you anymore.”

“After seeing you in New York, I
called Max, and we finally ended our story. Let me try to explain
what got us into this whole mess. When I turned down your proposal,
I knew it was temporary. It was just a matter of time before I
accepted your offer of marriage. My love for you was already there.
I just couldn’t take that last leap of faith. Ultimately, I
couldn’t trust that you wouldn’t wake up one morning and stop
loving me. As for Max, I knew the moment he proposed, he was not
the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. You were too
deeply imbedded into my heart. No was the correct answer, but I was
too much in shock to say anything. And then I saw you running
toward me, and I was terrified you might be mad. I froze, not
knowing what to do. I hope you can understand these were words I
desperately wanted to hear at one point in my life, and I didn’t
know how to refuse Max but still keep our friendship. Max will
always be like family to me, no matter what. Are you OK with
that?”

Forming this into a question, I gave
Jake a choice. Hopefully, he’d understand my need to keep Max as an
important person in my life. Jake looked tentative, but willing to
accept my feelings.

“I figured out after you left me that
there was nothing wrong with loving Max as a friend, and that
turning him down would not end our relationship. Does this make
sense? Maybe the better question would be, are you OK with my
feelings for Max?”

My answer didn’t erase Jake’s
insecurity. I had to declare my feelings for Jake one more
time.

“I love you with all my heart, and I
can’t imagine my life being void of you anymore. Please don’t ever
leave me again.” This time, my insecurities prevailed.

“Emily, though we were physically
apart, I never left you emotionally. You know that,
right?”

“I know it now. OK, so I have a
question. After New York, why didn’t you come talk to me? You knew
where I lived.”

“I’m glad you asked that because I was
curious about something too. First of all, I called you a million
times but you never answered.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I turned off
my phone after I stopped texting you. With you gone, I had no
reason for a phone anymore.”

“I tried to call you at
your school, but realized I had no idea where you taught. Funny
thing how I loved you enough to want to spend the rest of my life
with you, but I had no specific details of your life. I didn’t know
where you taught, or any of your friends’ last names. Worst of all,
do you know we’ve
never
taken a picture together? I searched my brain for
any stops we made to take a picture, and there were none. What did
we do in Hawaii all that time?”

“We, no I, lost a ton of weight from
all the exercise you Reids put me through. So you still haven’t
answered my question. Why didn’t you come find me at
home?”

“Sorry, got sidetracked. I did come by
your house. I came the next day and you weren’t home. I stopped by
at all hours and you wouldn’t answer your door. Then the day after,
against my wishes, the chief sent me up to Seattle to co-lead in a
heart transplant and I was gone for almost a week. By the time I
got back to your door again, someone else answered and said you no
longer lived there. I tried to convince this person to give me your
contact number, but I think she thought I was some kind of
psychopath. She almost called the police on me.

“This is where I’m confused,” said
Jake. “You hadn’t left for Japan yet because I didn’t get your
letter at the hospital till a week or so later. Where were you all
that time?”

“Funny how our lives got so crossed.
The day I got home from New York, Max came over and we had our
talk. Later that night, Sarah and Charlie came over and shared with
us the exciting news of their engagement. With less than two weeks
to help Sarah with wedding plans, I went back and forth from my
house to Sarah’s, trying to help her prepare. Fortunately the house
got leased immediately, and that would explain my tenant whom you
met.”

I felt a sudden panic
attack.

“Jake. What am I going to
do?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have a home to go back to. My
tenant is staying in my house till the end of summer.”

“Fantastic!” Jake exulted. “Move in
with me.”

He abruptly corrected himself. “Move
into my parents’ home with me. You can take up occupancy in the
guest room, unless…you get scared on the third floor by yourself
and want to sleep in my bed with me.”

“You’re incorrigible,” I said with a
huge grin on my face.

I had a list of people to call to
share our good news.

“Sarah?”

“Emily? Are you OK? Where are you? Are
you back in the States? Whose number is this?”

Of course she would be worried about
me. Once I began talking, she would know I would finally be
OK.

“I’m fine. How’s Hawaii?”

“It’s wonderful, but what’s
wrong?”

“I wanted to let you know that Jake is
here with me. He found me here in Kyoto.”

“What?” Sarah sounded too shocked to
talk. I could hear Charlie ask, “What’s wrong? Is Emily OK?” He
grabbed the phone from her.

“Emily. What’s going on?”

“I’m fine, Charlie. Jake came to me, a
bit late, but he’s here now.”

Sarah got back on the phone and I gave
her a quick explanation of what happened. Her tears of joy
resonated all the way to Kyoto.

“Emily. Nobody deserves
more happiness than you. Tell Jake if he
ever
hurts you again, he’ll have to
answer to me.”

“And me,” I heard Charlie yell in the
background.

Giggling, I looked at Jake. “My best
friend and her husband are threatening your life if you hurt me
again.”

“You tell the newlyweds there’s no
chance of that happening. Enjoy your honeymoon,” he called into the
phone.

“Sarah, I’m leaving here in a couple
of weeks and meeting Jake in Paris. I’ll see you back at home
mid-June. Have a great rest of your honeymoon. I’ll call you
again.”

Jane was next on the list. She, too,
was elated to hear that Jake and I were back together, and added to
the growing threat on Jake as we put her on
speakerphone.

“Jake? Don’t screw up this time,
OK?”

“I won’t. I’m not letting go of Emily
ever again.” He gazed over at me while talking to his
sister.

Our entire make-up story was rehashed
in under two minutes but more importantly, I also told Jane how
much I missed her. She was the one person besides Jake I most
wanted to see.

“When are you coming home, Jane? When
can we see each other?”

“I got a job so Manhattan is my home
for a while—maybe Thanksgiving at the earliest.”

“Jane…” I whined. “Hey, do you want to
meet us in Paris?” I thought this was a fantastic idea.

“No way!” Jake yelled at both of
us.

Shocked, I stared at him, and Jane
laughed.

“Why don’t you come see me?” she
suggested.

I looked at Jake, hoping he would let
me go see her. Neither one of us would want to be apart from each
other, but Jane was the sister I never had.

“Can I go visit Jane?” I asked
cautiously.

“If she promises not to tag along in
Paris,” he huffed.

A sour look shrouded my once happy
face. Jake softened and offered an alternative. “Why don’t we stop
by New York after Paris? We can hang with her a few days and then
come home.”

“Can we really do that?” I asked with
excitement.

“Emi, it’s your world. We can do
whatever you like.”

“Jane, I’ll call you from Paris and
let you know exactly when we’re coming. Call Nick and have him join
us as well.”

“You sound more excited to meet up
with my siblings in New York than to meet me in Paris.” Jake was
pouting again.

“Emily, you better go. Call me later.”
Jane knew her brother only too well. She probably had a mental
picture of his arms crossed and lips protruding like a
five-year-old. I turned toward my love, grabbed his face, and
kissed him numerous times till I got a smile out of him. His
dimpled smile returned, only to be vexed again, as it was time to
call Max.

“Hi, Max. It’s me, Em.”

“I can tell by the tone of your voice
that Jake is right there next to you.”

“You know me too well.” I smiled.
“Thank you, Max. You are wonderful to help me find Jake
again.”

“I’m happy knowing you’re happy. I
love you, Em. My debt is paid.”

Jake took the phone and talked to Max
while I pondered my good fortune of having in the present and the
past, two wonderful men who taught me to love. They both continued
to watch over me.

“Call Gram for me, I want to talk to
her,” I asked enthusiastically as I handed the phone to
Jake.

He did as I asked and handed the phone
back to me.

“Hi, Gram!” I started crying again.
“How are you? I’m so glad to be talking to you again. I’ve missed
you.”

“Emily. Don’t cry. I’ve missed you
too. I was very worried when Jake couldn’t find you. Hallelujah!
This madness is finally over. Is Jake being good to
you?”

“Oh, Gram, he’s been a dream. I’m
sorry we worried you. We won’t ever do that to you
again.”

“Are you going to marry my grandson
now?”

“Definitely, Gram! If he asks again, I
promise I won’t disappoint you.”

“Emily, come to London. Let me finally
meet you.” Her tone, welcoming, I knew I would love her like my own
grandmother. “Let me talk to Jake and we’ll arrange a
visit.”

Our last phone call was to Sandy and
Bobby, and they were thrilled to hear I would come live with them
till the end of summer. Sandy promised to have the guest room ready
before we got back from Paris. Jake told them not to bother as he
was sure I wouldn’t be sleeping there.

Without having eaten much all day, our
empty stomachs caught up with us. We walked toward the nearest
street vendor.

“By the way, didn’t you say that you
were waiting for someone back at the restaurant? You made it sound
like you were seeing someone already. What was that all about?”
Jake questioned. I thought we were done hashing out all of our
misunderstandings—apparently not.

“Yes, I said I was waiting for
someone, but I never said I was seeing anyone.” My ambiguous answer
didn’t sit well with Jake.

“What does that mean?” I loved that
his childlike tone surfaced whenever he didn’t get his way. “Have
you dated anyone since you got here? Have other men asked you out?
If so, how many?

I chose to keep mum. I shut my lips
and formed a flat horizontal smile, while eating my udon
noodles.

“Emi, aren’t you going to answer?” His
voice grew impatient while he placed his hands all over my body and
tickled me. I laughed, choked on my noodles, and promised to answer
without a fight.