available, I’d wish for a fair shot with Emily. I would make her so happy, she would never have a reason for that hopeless look she had on her face when she came to me. If I had her, I would be the luckiest man in the world. You can’t buy that.
I get a text from my driver letting me know he’s outside. I stand up to leave the hotel to find my ride when my eyes register what my mind has dreamt up for weeks. I see her walk through the hotel’s main entrance. I’m certain that it’s her in the revolving doors, and it’s hard for me to breathe. She’s here and she’s walking towards me. I walk towards Emily in utter and complete disbelief. This is a dream, my prayers have been answered and she bloody came to me. Then, suddenly, like in one of my nightmares, she passes by me as though I’m invisible and abruptly makes a sharp right turn and enters one of the waiting elevators. Boom—she vanishes. As soon as the elevator closes I feel lightheaded and I let out the breath I must’ve been holding. Well fuck me, Lucy. Emily, my Emily, is at The Pierre! Maybe they fought? Maybe she left him? Maybe she’s looking for me?
I walk over to reception and try to charm the knickers off the cute Asian bird working behind the desk. “Would you be kind enough to check and see if my friend checked in already?”
She gives me a smile and answers, “Do you know what room your friend is staying in?”
I have no clue but nobody needs to know that. I decide that Louis wouldn’t go through the trouble of coming to see me this morning unless he was trying to avoid me running into Emily this afternoon. And if Emily were my wife, I would have her booked at the best suite this hotel has to offer.
“I believe it’s one of the suites, maybe the Tata Suite or perhaps the Penthouse,” I tell her with a smile that I think women find sexy.
She smiles and blushes, confirming my earlier assessment. She starts typing into her computer before she asks me. “What is your friend’s name?” Another easy one, I think to myself. What would the fucker use?
“Louis Bruel.” I say without hesitation.
The woman looks at me and tells me without missing a beat, “Yes, your friend has arrived. Should I call up and let him know you’re here?” My heart starts beating again. Fate leads the way. Just like she walked into my hotel forty-five days ago, she just walked into my arms once again, and no matter what Louis is trying to pull by having me escorted out of New York and far away from Emily, I will get my chance to see her again. I thank the receptionist and ensure her that I’ll call my friend on his cell to come fetch me.
I dial my chauffeur and cancel my ride. I sit myself down at the café and wait until my heart starts beating regularly again and until I come up with a way to see Emily. If she only knew how I want to run up and see her, but I don’t have a way to make it past security and the elevator attenders know I’ve checked out. But I can wait, I have all the time in the bloody world to let destiny bring us back together again.
I try to keep calm and act busy, check my emails and Instagram accounts repeatedly when I get my first text from Emily, a text that I’ve patiently waited for over forty long days to finally receive.
- Hi William, it’s Emily Bruel from St. Lucia. Please let me know if you’re still in NYC and if you’re available to meet. I have a few things I’d like to discuss with you.-
I start typing quickly before this somehow proves to be a mirage or a figment of my imagination. The first thing I need to make sure is that this is, in fact, real.
-Emily is that really you?-
I wait breathlessly for her response. Who else can it be? Why is she being so formal with me? ‘This is Emily Bruel from St. Lucia’…does she really think I wouldn’t know who she was? Does she really not know that I haven’t thought about anything or anybody but her in the past forty-five days? I can’t even think back to a time where she wasn’t a