~~ The misunderstanding ~~

"Good morning, Nancy. Is John in his office? I thought I'd surprise him." Emma flashed her white teeth and emerald green eyes at the receptionist. Her long brown hair was loose around her shoulders.

"Sure, Emma. I won't spoil the surprise"

Emma stopped in front of the door and was surprised to find it closed. She leaned her head closer to the door and heard some gasping sounds. Curiously, she opened the door to John's office and tiptoed in. Her jaw dropped and her eyes took on a haunted look.

He had his back to her and his arms around his secretary. Emma saw John bending over and embracing a tall blond woman. The woman's long slim fingers and well shaped arms were wrapped around him. "Everything will be alright," said John.

She felt numb as the color in her face faded to ash. The blood stopped flowing to her extremities.

Emma relived her childhood. In a flash she remembered everything... her mother crying in the middle of the night... her parents' violent arguments about the other women... her mother's constant silent drinking... and finally, her own screams when she found her mother dead surrounded by pill bottles.

Closing the door firmly but silently behind her, Emma walked out the office building and took the bus home.

*** Three months later ***

Silently, Emma looked up at the tall darkly handsome man before her. Of course John looked as good as ever. His broad shoulders were covered by an impeccably tailored blue blazer, while his slim hips and strong muscular legs were hidden by tan khaki pants. His skin was bronzed from the sun and his short, neatly-cut black hair was brushed back off his face.

She felt her pulse begin to quicken. She scowled in reaction to him and made a fist with her right hand, digging her nails into her palm. She felt like she was in a dream. Had time stopped passing? She raised her other hand up to her throat and gasped at the air.

John's dark gray eyes stared steadily at Emma, causing her to take a step back. Her green eyes darted nervously around the room. How did he find her? Her gaze finally rested on the door. Maybe she could still escape. He took a step closer to Emma and grasped her elbow.

"So, you really are here! We have to talk now. Tell them you're sick and let's get out of here" said John. His hand burned her flesh where he clasped her elbow.

Emma stood up straighter. "I can't leave now. These are my clothing designs and this is a private sale of my work. You were not invited!" Emma paused. "Anyway, I can't afford to close early. Not all of us inherited a family fortune," she said sarcastically. She glanced down at her watch. "I'm closing in an hour. Come back then and we'll talk. I promise."

"No, I'm not letting you out of my sight. No, not this time, not without a good explanation of why you left me." John looked around the room. His eyes spotted the couch which had been pushed off to the side. "I'll sit there and wait until you're finished."

She gulped. Her mind was racing. "Fine, just sit there if you want."

John walked over to the couch and sat down. His eyes hardly left Emma for the entire hour as she helped customers try on and buy one of kind hand painted clothes. The jackets, suits and coats weren't just clothing, but more like works of art. She was doing a brisk trade.

He couldn't believe he had found her. After all this time he had finally found her.

It had been a shock for him to come home three month ago and find Emma had disappeared from his life. She had hardly packed anything. It was like she was fleeing for her life. She hadn't even packed her toothbrush. What was he supposed to think happened to her when she didn't even pack her toothbrush? He had been sure that Emma had been abducted or killed, but the police insisted that it looked like she left voluntarily.

It was hard for him to accept the fact that she had left for good and with hardly a word. It had taken him two months before he realized that she wasn't coming back. After those two months, he hired a private investigator to find her.

It just didn't make sense, and John was a man who liked everything to make sense. He just wanted to know why she had left him. Then he could move on. The message she had left on the answering machine after she had left just hadn't made sense. She kept repeating, "How could you betray me? How could you betray me?"

He had thought that they had the kind of relationship that lasts. Before Emma had disappeared, John had planned to ask her to marry him. He had made reservations for the best table at the Rainbow Room and had picked out an emerald ring that matched her eyes perfectly. How could she have left without an explanation? It just wasn't like her. Things couldn't have been better between them. Or so he thought, until she disappeared. It just didn't make sense.

He remembered how he couldn't get enough of her curvaceous body and how her hair always smelled like roses. Their lovemaking had been filled with passion. Why had she left?

The private detective had called him just this morning to let him know that he had finally found Emma's address. She was living in New Paltz, New York. Immediately, he canceled all of his appointments and drove up.

John watched Emma lock the door on the last customer. She paused at the door. Her shoulders tensed up. Finally, she turned around and asked, "Would you like some coffee or a drink?"

"No, just come sit down and let's talk."

Emma walked over to the couch and sat down beside him. "I'm surprised to see you. What are you doing here?"
"I think that's obvious. I want an explanation from you."

Her face grew hot. "An explanation? I don't need to explain anything. You know what you did," she retorted as she tapped her fingers lightly on the couch.

"That's just it. I don't know what I did wrong. You were wrong to leave without explaining. I thought you were dead." A muscle twitched in his jaw and his eyes clouded over.

"Wrong? What are you talking about? You're the one who cheated on me with your secretary. Couldn't you be a little more original than that, John?" She tightened her hands into fists.

John's gray eyes turned to steel as he reached for her hands and encased them in his own. "You think I was having an affair with my secretary? What in the world made you think that?"

Emma felt her hands relax in his hands. Her face flushed as she felt her hands tingle in his. "Huh? I saw you kissing her the morning I left."

"Kissing Beverly? Why would I kiss Beverly? I loved you. I was going to ask you to marry me."

"I saw you kissing Beverly." She pulled her hand away from him and wrapped her arms around herself.

John walked over to the bar and poured himself a scotch straight up. He drank the shot in one gulp and grimaced slightly. His body tensed up and he turned around. "Beverly got a call that her father had died suddenly. I was holding her to comfort her."

Her face turned ashen and her eyes looked haunted by an inner pain. "No. You're lying to me!"

John walked over to Emma and grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her. "I would never lie to you."

She started to cry. "I just couldn't bear the idea of you sleeping with another woman. I had to leave." John sat down next to her and held her in his arms. He rocked her gently as she cried silent sobs which seemed to rack her body. Her tears didn't stop for fifteen minutes.

Her red rimmed eyes looked into John's. "I thought you were a cheater like my father was. I thought all men were like him." She paused and then sobbed, "How can I make this up to you?"

John got up and walked over to stare out the window. "You know my niece, Kayla?"

She puzzled up her face in concern. "Yes, of course I do. What's the matter with her?

"Her parents have left her in my care for the year. It seems that taking a year long trip around the world was more important to them then raising their daughter," he said sardonically. "I need you to come back to New York and help me take care of her. You're the only one she trusts."

"They abandoned a three year old? How could they?" Emma got up and walked over to John. There was an impenetrable silence for several minutes.

"Of course, I'll go back to New York and help you with Kayla."

John leaned toward her and brushed the tears from her cheeks. She lifted her face up to his and their lips touched. He kissed her hard and deep and then slowly he licked the tears from her face as he gazed into her eyes. He enveloped her in his arms and her soft body melted into his hard one until there wasn't a space left between them. She kissed his neck and put her arms up around his neck. He lifted her up and twirled her around. "I love you."

"And I love you" said Emma.