The Boxer: A Stepbrother Romance (3 page)

              “I’ve actually heard people say I sound like I’m from New York too. Why is it always the big cities? Ha, probably because they’re the most popular I guess.” The cabbie said, answering his own question after he asked it as they pulled up to the airport. “There ya are miss.”

              “Thanks.” Emery said as she paid the cabbie before heading off.

Chapter Three

              Emery was glad to have had a decent flight not filled with screams on the way back to Atlanta as her flight touched down at the airport. She walked through the crowded terminal, thinking about Chance and how she couldn’t believe she had had a one-night stand. She just wasn't the type, having never broken out of her need for relationships. She wanted to blame it on the Captain and Coke, but she knew there was something more to it. She tried to shrug it off and focus on her work as she got out to the parking lot, waving down the first cabbie she saw.
I need to start renting cars
, she thought,
I'm spending way more on cabdrivers everywhere I go.

              “Where too miss?” The cabbie asked, before realizing it was an old friend of his. Oh, hey Emery. How was Vegas?”

              “Pretty fun, Shane.” Emery replied, “I’m heading straight home. I got jet lag.”

              “Good, good. Glad to hear it was fun and you didn’t blow all your money.” Shane said as he drove the taxi off. “When I went to Vegas I just lose all my cash on Blackjack. I suck at that game but I can’t help but play it when I hit the casinos.”

              “That’s called a gambling addiction Shane. I’d keep an eye on that if I were you.” Emery replied, looking up at Shane through the rear view mirror and shaking her finger at him. “Seriously, I don’t want to see you lose everything because of a damn game.”

              “I won’t, I won’t. Thanks Emery. Lia already yells at me enough about it. She won’t let me near the tables haha!” Shane replied, for a moment Emery had completely forgotten that her long-time single friend Shane had gotten a girlfriend. “Yeah, she totally pulled me out of that mess I gotta say. So when are
you
gonna find yourself someone?

              “I’m too busy with work to think about that.” Emery said, not feeling close enough emotionally to tell Shane about Chance.

              “Here we are.” Shane said as the pulled up to the apartments Emery lived in. Emery tossed some money to Shane as she climbed out of the car.

              “Thanks Shane. That other ten is a tip. Don't spend it on Blackjack, haha.” Emery said, pulling her luggage out of the back of the cab before she waved at her friend and shut the door.

              She turned around and sighed, being glad to be home even though she had only been gone a day. It was always that strange glad to be back home feeling she got even though she was coming back from a pleasant trip. The neighbor's little puppy barked its high-pitched puppy wails at her as she walked, wagging its little tail and stealing her heart.

             
Aww, he’s so cute
, She said to herself, wanting to pet the puppy but she was heading up the stairs, hauling her luggage behind her.

              Emery walked into her small apartment and tossed her bags on her brown leather couch. Her answering machine sat there on the table, mocking her with its blinking. She wondered how many calls she had missed while she was gone. She pulled out a bottle of water she had gotten at the airport from her bag before walking over to the answering machine. She uncapped the bottle and clicked the play button on the answering machine before taking a drink of her water.

              “Hey Emery, it’s Donna and now is your time. You got the promotion to chef, Emery.” Her superior at the restaurant said over the answering machine. “You’ve got the floor starting this Monday. You’ve got this Emery, I’ve tasted your meals and I’ve never tasted anything bad. You’re a
chef
not a cook.”

              Emery’s anxiety skyrocketed from hearing the news. It was great news but despite that it filled her with panic. She allowed a small trickle of joy to mix with the panic. She knew it was her big break; it was what she had been working towards for
years
now. She started to feel excited about taking over the restaurant and started thinking about what foods she would cook for her first day there. In addition to her own cooking, she would be managing other cooks as well and worried about how people would take her being boss. She wasn’t used to telling people what to do and how to do it but she knew what she was talking about. Emery planned on keeping a firm, yet kind tone of voice with her employees and a rush of butterflies popped in her belly as running the restaurant sank in a bit more.

              “Ugh…” Emery sighed, remembering that she was supposed to meet her dad’s new wife. It irritated her, but at the same time she knew that her mother wouldn’t have wanted him to be lonely the rest of his life. “I miss you mom…”

              Her mother, Beatrice, had passed away years ago but the pain hadn’t faded a bit. She still missed her greatly and wished she could just spend another hour with her. A tear streamed down her cheek, thinking back to the last time she spoke to her mom. The tear was a happy tear as she had told her mother she loved her and had had a great day with her. She wiped her tear away, also knowing that her mom wouldn’t want her to be sad, but to be happy that she had known her.

              She sniffed and focused on what she would cook on her first day as chef but she was unable to keep from thinking about how it had been just her and her father for years since her mother’s death. Now her father was going to be with someone else. She was happy about it, but she honestly felt left out or left behind by this new life. It wasn’t really just like her dad had gotten together with some woman, it was really the fact that the woman had a son and it made Emery feel like her dad had a new family, one she wasn’t a part of. That’s what the meeting was about, integrating the families into one, but she wasn’t sure how she would feel about it. She wanted to like the woman, she really did, simply because she made her dad happy, but she was worried about her new mom’s personality; was she a bitch?

              Her dad lived in Chicago and they were pretty much expecting her to show up, but a plane ticket there was pretty pricey. She knew if she even hoped to make it there by the weekend she would have to work double shifts the entire week.

              A week later Emery had finally saved up enough money to get to Chicago. She had pulled double shifts all week just like she figured she would have to. It was exhausting but worth it to go see her dad. She hadn’t seen him in a while since she’d been focused on her work and he had been focused on his new wife. They had just recently gotten married though, despite having dated for a year. Emery packed her things, preparing for a Thanksgiving weekend with her family. She had run the store for a week as a chef and
still
it didn’t make her as anxious as meeting her dad’s new wife. She was seriously worried that she would have a horrible personality or would just be some gold digging airhead. She breathed in and sighed slowly, trying to get her anxiety to relax.

              Even more annoying was that she taking a plane to Chicago; she was beginning to hate flying. It was always some crying baby, or a loud mouth drunk or something. Very rarely did she ever get a plane ride that wasn’t just riddled with annoyances. She wasn’t an irritable person, these things would bother any normal person and just like a normal person she gritted her teeth and pushed through it, but didn’t say anything, usually.

              Emery walked out of her apartment and locked the door. As she headed down the hallway dragging her luggage behind her she pulled out her cellphone and texted Shane to let him know she was heading out. They had made plans for him to pick her up and take her to the airport since he was almost always driving the local taxi. Emery wasn’t sure if it was because it didn’t pay much and he needed the money or if he just really liked driving people around. Emery walked out into the parking lot and checked her phone.

              “
Omw.
” The text from Shane read, meaning he was on his way.

              Emery stood around, thinking about how the last time she had left the city she had had a great night with a stranger. She still felt weird about it but was glad she had done it, breaking out of her mundane life a bit to live a little. Shane pulled in with his taxi and honked his horn at Emery, waving out the window to get her attention some more. Emery laughed at him, thinking that the honking had done the trick as she walked up to the taxi.

              “The ol’ Thanksgiving family get together, eh?” Shane said as Emery climbed in the back of the cab.

              “Yeah, I’m meeting my dad’s new wife and her son.” Emery said, trying to get herself excited about it but could feel herself wanting to turn back out of anxiety every step of the way, “Ugh… I don’t want to go but I have to.”

              “I understand that. Lia’s got me going to her family’s get together this weekend. Her dad and I don’t really see eye to eye.” Shane said as he drove the taxi out of the parking lot and headed for the airport.

              “I don’t think any dad likes their daughter’s boyfriend.” Emery said with a chuckle, “I remember the
one
time I brought a boy home. My dad said ‘
Ten O’clock or you lose a finger for every minute she’s late.
” I was home at nine and never got a second date.”

              “Damn.” Shane said with a laugh, “Now that’s a protective father. My dad would have probably tried to cock block me and swindle my girl away had I ever brought them home. Except that was
never
on my mind. I was always goin’ to their house because of my dad.”

              “That sucks, Shane.” Emery said, feeling bad that he had grown up with a drunken, abusive father. Whenever she heard stories about other people's dad's, hers didn't seem so bad.

              “Nah, it was great. Got me tail all the time. Might have been pity sex but hey. Haha!” Shane said, laughing as he drove down the road.

              “At least you were able to find the silver lining.” Emery said with a smile, sincerely glad her friend had come out of a dark situation the way he had. She wondered what kind of inner strength Shane must have to have come out such a nice guy still, “So you and Lia are still together, eh? This is a new record for you Shane; a
week
.”

              “
Three
weeks.” Shane corrected her with a grin, “I don’t know. I was always one for the one-night banger but this time’s different. I don’t wanna do that to Lia. I don’t think I
could
. I feel for her differently than I’ve ever felt for any other chick. I think the fact that I don’t wanna do that to her means somethin.”

              “Awww, Shane’s in
love!
” Emery teased from the backseat with a laugh.

              “Hey now, no bein’ a backseat driver.” Shane replied jokingly with a grin on his face.

              “Is it bad that I’d rather go meet your girlfriend than my dad’s new wife and her son?” Emery said, feeling that urge to go back home again but couldn’t, “Ugh, maybe someday, huh?”

              “Yeah, we’ll be busy this weekend same as you, but when ya come back we should set something up. I’m sure Lia would like to meet you too.” Shane said as the pulled into the airport parking lot. He drove right up to the door so Emery didn’t have that far to walk, “There ya are. Don’t worry about the fee, it’s on me. Happy Thanksgiving, Emery.”

              “Thanks, Shane. Have a happy Thanksgiving.” Emery said with a smile, thankful her friend had let her ride in the cab for free. It was not an expensive fee, but it made her even more appreciative for the holidays.

              Emery headed into the packed airport, taking a deep breath before she walked in as her anxiety skyrocketed. She didn’t like packed rooms or being in too close of proximity of other people. She had claustrophobia to an extent but forced herself to keep walking through the airport. She had already called ahead and ordered a ticket for that day so she just walked up to the desk with her ID and money. The attendant was on the phone with someone and spoke so quietly she was inaudible. She reached her hand out so Emery handed the woman her ID and without saying a word the attendant ran her card, saw that she had a ticket and handed it to her. Emery handed her the money for the ticket and walked off for the terminal, hoping that her flight wouldn’t get delayed.

              She had timed it so that she wouldn’t have to wait in the airport for too long. That was another one of the most annoying things about taking a plane anywhere. As Emery walked through the airport she checked the flight times, keeping an eye on them as they shifted through all of the flights coming out or into that airport until she saw the one for Chicago. It was still on time and would be leaving in ten minutes. She felt a spike of glee in her belly, the rare moment something had went exactly as planned; she hoped that luck would stick around.