Authors: MJ Fields
Brody
interrupted, “I will sit in the front she will never see me, the Police are pulling in, get it together there are little eyes watching you now from the window up there,” Brody said and pointed up.
“Thank you so much,” Emma said and hugged him.
She immediately felt odd and turned to Lila and did the same. She wiped her eyes and got back out.
The Police knocked at the door and no one answered. The music was very loud. They opened the door and walked in.
Emma was disgusted and angry. She walked past the Police and started towards the stairs.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Troy asked grabbing her arm.
“Getting my daughter,” Emma said and tried to pull away from his grasp.
“She is asleep!” Troy yelled.
“No she had been awake for awhile now, she ha
s been locked in the bathroom scared out of her mind waiting for me. Now let go of me!” Emma yelled and tried to pull away.
He pushed her down and ran up the stairs.
Before he reached the door the Police apprehended him and brought him outside.
“London i
t’s Mom, open the door baby,” London unlocked the door and Emma walked in and grabbed her in her arms and hugged her tightly as they both cried.
“You are okay baby,” s
he said and wiped her face. “You are going to hide under this towel so none of those weirdo’s see you,” she said and laughed as she put the towel over her head.
She grabbed
London’s phone and hugged her all the way to the car.
They walked out and Emma was giggling with London who was still under the towel, “Hey London you are going to hang out with Lila for a few minutes, if that’s alright with her, so I can go talk to your Dad okay?”
Emma shut the door and turned around.
“You alright Emma?”
Brody asked from the front.
She
jumped and laughed nervously, “Yep I am great, thank you so much for everything tonight, I am very sorry.”
Emma
turned around and stormed up to the house.
The Police had
Troy in hand cuffs reading him his rights.
“Are you happy now Emma?” he yelled.
“I am happy my daughter is safe, not that her father has turned into someone I don’t even recognize. You should be ashamed of yourself,” she said and fought back tears, “Do you need me for anything,” she asked the policewoman.
“We would like to get in contact with you later
, we need your phone number. But right now you should get her home and to sleep,” the officer said.
“
Thank you,” Emma handed them a piece of paper with her name, number, address, London’s full name, and date of birth.
“Get it
together for her and for yourself,” she looked at Troy sadly.
Emma jumped in t
he Limo and London and Lila were laughing.
“What’s so funny in here?” she asked and smiled.
“Well London was just telling me how Troy googled my friend Brody, you remember him right?” she laughed, “Apparently London likes his music and thinks he is very cute. She also thinks he would make a perfect boyfriend for you, although Troy disagreed with her.”
“Well I don’t have time for a boyfriend, and even if I did, he is way
too young. Maybe someday I will date someone my own age and from the same social circle,” Emma laughed and hugged her daughter. “Are you alright London? Do you want to talk about tonight?”
“No Mom not now, alright?” London said with a sweet smile.
“Okay,” Emma said and hugged her tightly.
“Mom
you’re squashing me,” she laughed. “I want Lila to tell me all the famous people she knows.”
“Well you already know that I know Brody, this is actually his car,” she smiled.
“Is it really?” London asked elatedly. “How did you get his car?”
“Well he is my friend and your mom needed to get to you fast and he offered. Wasn’t that nice of him?” Lila asked.
“It was very nice of him,” Emma said and gave her a look, “So tell her more.”
Within ten minutes London was asleep
lying on Emma’s lap.
“What do I do for someone like him as a thank you?” Emma whispered.
“Tell him,” Lila said and tapped on the window.
“Everything alright
?” Brody asked peering into the back.
“Yes, I just want you to know how much
I appreciate your help tonight,” Emma said. “If there is anything I can do for you please let me know.”
“You are
welcome, by the way your daughter looks just like you,” he smiled. “Is she alright?”
“She
is thank you,” Emma said stroking her hair.
“London would love to meet you Brody,” Lila said smirking.
“Alright anytime,” he smiled. “By the way Lila, when is your birthday?”
“In February,
” Lila said.
“How old will you be?” Brody asked.
“Well I will be,” Lila paused, “How old are we Emma?”
“We are thirty five, how can you forget how old you are?” Emma laughed.
“I am not sure,” Lila said raising her eyebrow as she looked at Brody.
The car stopped in front of Lila’s building
. Emma stepped out with London draped around her.
Brody rolled down the window “Goodnight ladies.”
Emma turned and smiled, “Thank you again.”
“Goodnight Brody, by the way when is your birthday and how old are you?” Lila said loudly.
“I will be twenty eight in May,” Brody said and scowled at her.
~
“We just got home an hour ago,” Emma told Lila on the phone.
“How is she?” Lila asked concerned.
“She is well. Right now she is in her room playing.” Emma laughed, “And I am drained.”
“H
ave you talked to the Police, about Troy?” Lila asked.
“I did talk to the Police. They charged him with endangering the welfare of a child Lila. I am so sick to my stomach over it all. Why couldn’t he just be better for her? One night a week I was certain he could handle. I was scared about the three nights, and then he changed it when he was upset.
I guess he has court next week. I should go,” Emma said softly so that London would not hear.
“Come stay with me that
night, I will watch London,” Lila offered.
“Alright, I will t
hank about it,” Emma said.
“Hey I am sending you an email right now of jobs I think you should apply for, just to see
you know,” Lila pushed.
“Thanks I will look them over,” Emma said gratefully.
~
London and Emma spent the next two days school shopping.
London insisted on picking her own clothes out. She was going for retro rock star in the third grade. Emma was very amused by this,
she is her own little spirit, she remembered; at least he had not broken that
. London didn’t ask about her father. She had not seen the Police there that night and Emma was grateful.
The
house was prepared and ready for the crazy school year to begin. Emma lay down and snuggled with London until she fell asleep. When she felt London’s little body startle she knew she had fallen into a deep enough sleep for her to exit the room.
Emma opened her email finally to check out the jobs Lila had mentioned she was sending. She read through a
nd decided to print them out. Her phone rang and it was her mother.
They talked about what had happened while she was in the city and what London had gone through. Her mother was coming up to stay with London while Emma went to court.
“Honey I really wish you would consider moving back here. I don’t mind driving at all but you could have a much stronger support system here. After your divorce and custody hearing are done and you know what is going on I want you to please think about it,” Caroline asked.
“I will, I just
need to get through this first,” Emma said softly.
Emma took the paper from the printer and read over the jobs. All were in the city, a thirty minute train ride from her childhood home in
Tarrytown. Her head was spinning.
I
should just do it. London would have more opportunity living close to the city. She would have family who loved her. There were more jobs available. This is all too much, she thought.
Emma opened up her email again and saw another from Lila. She had told her that Brody had asked how she and her daughter were doi
ng. He also asked for her phone number and email address. His court date was next week for his divorce.
Emma texted Lila.
-Tell him thank you again and good luck...Emma
-Em, I think he like you…Lila
-No I am sure he just feels vested in the situation after the newspapers and taking us to get London, there is a difference, and BTW he is a baby…Em
-Whatever you need to tell yourself…Lila
- Its reality, thank you for the ego boost…Emma
-Weird coincidence that your both g
oing to court next week hu?...Lila
-Yes, coincidence. Leave it alone!!!...Emma
-Sweet dreams Em!!...Lila
-U 2…Emma
Emma spent the rest of the night emailing her resume to every company that Lila had suggested. Her dream was that one would pick her and let her work from home. That way she could still continue parenting the way she wanted to.
~
Emma walked into Lila’s apartment. Caroline was with London and Emma was glad. Not that she did not trust Lila enough to take her up on her offer but this way she would not have to miss school. London didn’t ask where she was going, down deep Emma knew that London was aware it had something to do with her father.
Emma decided to cook dinner for Lila who was supposed to be home at eight. She plugged her iPod into Emma’s system and played some tunes as she danced in the kitchen. One More Night by Maroon 5 was playing as she cleaned up her mess and danced around and sang loudly. When the song ended she heard clapping and turned around to see Lila, Brody, and another guy she didn’t know. Her face burned and she turned off the music and pulled her hair away from her face.
“Sorry,” They all stood smiling, “I made dinner,” she said trying desperately to change the subject focus “Will you be staying?”
W
hy on earth did I just ask that
?
“Great idea,” Lila said. “What do you say guys, a work dinner?”
~
They all sat at the large square dining table, Emma was still trying to recover from the awkwardness earlier. The others talked about Brody’s court date tomorrow. The press had found out about his upcoming court date appearance and Lila was telling them how things would go down. The other man was Brody’s lawyer Mitch, he seemed young to be a lawyer but he was Brody Hines’ lawyer, he must be good.
Emma began to clear the table as Lila and Mitch coordinated tomorrow’s plans and strategies for Brody to walk away unscathed by the divorce.
“Let me help,” Brody said as he grabbed the dirty dishes.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Emma asked while standing at the sink.
“Not particularly, but it will be nice to close this chapter of my life. And you Emma, are you ready for tomorrow?” Brody asked with concern in his eyes.
“Yes, it’ll be nice to know what the next step is for London and I,” she said looking down.
“London is an interesting name. What made you choose it?” Brody asked curiously.
“Well,” she laughed. “Her father and I had planned to go to London for our five year anniversary but could not afford it,” she looked at him feeling perplexed about whether or not he was just making small talk or truly wanted to know, she looked in his eyes, “We spent a lot of money on fertility treatments. Our trip plans changed. I made mention during an argument about money that the little one growing in my belly was way better than ten trips to London. It kind of stuck,” she laughed.
He smiled, “That is wonderful.”
“Ya, I think so too,” she said and smiled as she put the leftover food in the refrigerator.
“So you like Maroon 5?” Brody asked trying not to laugh.
Emma smiled, “I guess so.”
“May I see your iPod?” he asked taking it off the counter.
“Sure help yourself,” Emma said cynically.
“Lots of Kids Bop,” Brody said and the way he pronounced the P in Bop made her laugh.