Wrapped in Silk (24 page)

“Hey Emma,” Lila smiled, “Did you meet a hot new friend, you know the Rockstar will be heart broken.”

“Emma, is this the friend you where talking about?” Mark said and his eyes twinkled.

She shook her head yes, “Lila this is Mark, Mark this is Lila.”

“Pleasure to meet you Mark,” Lila smiled.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he laughed.

“Not yet but it could be,” Lila laughed as she stepped back into the car.

He laughed and Emma looked at him, “She is all bark and no bite.”

“That’s too bad,” Mark looked past Emma and towards her. “Give her my number, PLEASE,” he said with pleading eyes and hugged Emma, “Call me as soon as you have time to process it alright.”

“Come on London’s waiting,” Lila yelled.

“London?” he asked.

“That’s my daughters name,” Emma smiled.

“Alright two more bits of info about my new favorite patient, making you absolutely unforgettable,” Mark smiled as he opened the door for her, “Very nice to meet you Lila.”

“Nice Emma,” Lila laughed.

“That is my new oncologist, Dr. Mark Slain. And he wants me to give you his number,” Emma laughed.

“Well I guess I could call him, for you that is, you know take one for the team,” Lila said in a sexy voice.

Emma laughed, “Maybe he will tie you up in bows.”

“Hmm one could only wish. Speaking of bows, your boy has two interviews that will be aired tonight, you should watch them,” Lila grinned.

“Lila I need to keep focused, this is not over yet. I will be seeing the good Dr. for awhile. Just think he’s already seen my tits, even touched them, yours could be next,” Emma winked.

~

Emma and Lila walked into the house with dinner on the table.

“I could get used to this,” Emma smiled as London hugged her gently so she wouldn’t hurt her.

Caroline had been researching recipes that had cancer fighting ingredients. She made sure that most everything was high in vitamin D which was linked to slow the growth of cancer. As well as green vegetables, tonight it was brussel sprouts.

As they ate Lila made mention that Brody had a couple interviews that would be aired tonight and winked at Caroline. Emma thanked Lila and wrote down Mark’s number.

“Call him, he is as married to his career as you are, and hot as hell. His eyes twinkled when he looked at you Lila,” Emma smiled and hugged her.

When London was asleep Caroline brought over laundry and turned on the TV.

“I will fold them just sit and relax and watch TV with me,” Caroline smiled.

Emma was almost asleep when she heard Brody’s voice and jumped. Caroline smiled and looked at the TV.

“Welcome Back Brody Hines” Gordon the host said.

“Good to be here,” Brody said and flashed his sexy smile.

“So as per your Publicist we have to avoid any talk of your personal life except what is on this card,” Gordon laughed as he crumpled it up and threw it over his shoulder.

Brody licked his lips and his eyes narrowed a bit, “Well we just feel the less personal the better,” he said sitting back.

“Well let’s get all the personal stuff out of the way first, we can time it if it will make you feel better. Let’s do thirty seconds of rapid fire questioning. You can skip three. Agreed?” Gordon asked smiling.

“We shall see, shoot,” Brody smiled.

“Boxers or briefs?” Gordon asked.

“Neither,” Brody smiled.

“M&M’s really your favorite?” Gordon asked.

“More than you’ll ever know,” Brody answered.

“Miss your ex wife?” Gordon asked.

“Hell no!” Brody laughed.

“Anyone new in mind?”

“Yes,” Brody gave a half smile.

“Have you sealed the deal?” Gordon asked.

Brody raised his eyebrow “Skip.”

“Do you want to seal the deal?”

“I believe in abstaining until marriage,” he chuckled.

“Will you remarry?”

“Sure, if she would have me.”

“How long would it last?” Gordon laughed.

“Forever,” Brody said deep in thought.

“Do you like top or bottom?” Gordon laughed.

“Hmm, top,” Brody said.

“Vanilla or mix it up?”

“Skip” he laughed.

“Do you want children?”

“I love children, doesn’t matter either way.”

“Now look at the screen and tell me which is more your type, A B or C.”

Brody watched as the pictures came across, one was of Ariel, the second of Princess Kate and the third of Emma from the first time he ran into her at the park.

“Skip, are we done here?” He asked annoyed.

“Yep, thirty seconds is up, thank you for playing that with us. After commercial break we will return to talk about Brody Hines’ new Album, to be released a week early. And to discuss a new charity he has founded. Stay tuned,”  Gordon stood and smiled at Brody as Brody looked at the ground.

~

“He is very handsome Emma,” Caroline said softly.

“Mom, please I need to get through all this,” Emma said looking down.

“Do you love him?” Caroline asked.

“In a perfect world without cancer or ex’s he would be wonderful, possessive and…” Emma started.

“Domineering is the word I think you’re looking for dear,” Caroline giggled.

“Mom I am sorry about that,” Emma was embarrassed.

“Don’t be sorry, enjoy him,” Caroline laughed and Emma joined her.

They heard his voice again.

~

“So Brody tell us about your new Charity,” Gordon said.

“Well it’s called London’s Child. It is to raise money for families, mainly orphaned children whose parents have died of terminal illness. So that they don’t have to fend for themselves. This is Rebecca, my sister,” he said looking into the camera and Emma gasped, “She will be running a home here in London for kids who have lost a parent. A lot of times when someone dies the other parent struggles and it’s the children who are failed. Be it to drugs or alcohol or just the demands to work more to replace income, those children lose. We want to help them, as many as we can.”

“Is there a reason behind this?” Gordon asked.

“Actually it’s personal. But I will share. My mother died of cancer when I was young and well, to put it mildly, I lost my way for awhile. Until the past few weeks I didn’t realize how much I needed my mother. There you have it,” he smiled shyly.

“So what else are we going to do today Brody?” Gordon asked.

“Well I would like to wrap some gifts that Rebecca and I bought that we will be donating to the charity for Christmas. We want to wrap them up in bows,” he said grinning and looked at the camera. “Pretty little packages, if anyone cares to donate a gift the address should magically appear on the screen.”

~

Caroline laughed and looked at Emma who was crimson and crying. “What’s wrong Emma?” Caroline said and hugged her.

“His mom died of cancer, he was alone and scared and sad for many years. Now I have cancer and that’s just yet another reason I can’t be with him and I love him Mom, I do,” Emma cried.

They sat snuggled up on the couch and watched Brody laugh while he tied the gifts Rebecca wrapped in bows.

~

“So what do you do when you run out of ribbon?” Gordon laughed holding up the empty roll.

“Improvise, like use a scarf or I don’t know socks, whatever you can get your hands on I guess,” Brody laughed as he tided up the bows.

“Wow bows make you happy,” Gordon laughed as he took his tie off and handed it to Brody to use to make a bow.

“I love bows,” Brody said trying to hide his amusement.

“And M&M’s” Gordon laughed as his assistant brought out a bag.

Brody shook his head and bit his cheek as he tried not to laugh but failed miserably, it was a darker deeper laugh, “Yes nothing makes me happier than Bow’s and M&M’s, nothing in this whole world.”

“So we could set you up in a chair with a bowl of M&M’s and a box full of ribbons and that would be good for you?” Gordon laughed.

“Oh it would be like I imagine heaven to be, I could stay cooped up like that for at least two days,” he laughed, and looked at the camera, “Maybe three,” he said and his eyebrow raised.

“Alright so you have a surprise for us tonight Brody, why don’t you tell the audience,” Gordon smiled.

“Tonight we are going to release our title track. All proceeds will go to London’s Child,” Rebecca Hines shared, “And Brody and the boys are going to sing you the title track.”

Emma sat and watched him as he sang. Just like the first time she saw him perform it was like watching a private moment, one that she was part of. Her heart ached when she remembered the night Brody and she had talked about the song and how open he seemed. She was reminded how quickly that changed and how cold he became and she knew she could not go through that again, ever.

“I think I may love him too Emma, on that note I will leave you and go find your father,” Caroline laughed as she took the empty basket and disappeared out the door.

Emma received a text at midnight

-I hope you caught the show. No reading between the lines Princess, I will have you in bows…Brody

- Think deeply Brody Hines of what happened after you opened up to me about that and let this go…Emma

Her phone rang and she ignored it.

-Please Emma I need you …Brody

- The interview was comical, now all your crazy fans know you don’t wear undies The foundation you started with your sister is beautiful and you should be very proud of yourself. Your performance was amazing. Take care .... Emma

-Don’t patronize me…Brody

-I am not, you did great…Emma

-I hope you can see I have been busy Emma this trip has been far from pleasurable…MM

-Brody please, I don’t know how to end this but I can’t do this to me or to you…Emma

-Then don’t Em, just don’t..MM

~

Emma sent Dr. Slain a text message with a few questions.

-Do you work near the office…Mark

-A few blocks away…Emma

-Meet me for lunch? Tell me where you want to meet I have an hour and a half. We can chat…Mark

“Thanks for meeting me,” Emma said as she smiled at Mark Slain.

“No problem, I know you
’re working at a new job and after work you have your daughter to tend to so I can be flexible,” Mark smiled. “So what do you think?”