Page 49 of The Emerson Effect
It’s Thursday, T-minus five-ish hours until I meet Emerson for the first time. I’m nervous, of course, but it’s a good nervous. It feels more like excitement than anything, but there is a thread of dread floating around inside me.
What if he’s not who he’s portrayed himself to be all these weeks? What if he is, and he doesn’t like me as much as I like him?
As a friend, I mean. Yeah.Friend.
A familiar car whips into the driveway as I load my suitcase into my backseat. High-pitched squeals and shouts make me smile as the doors pop open and Joey, Callie, and Raven climb out of the car. They rush me as one, and we tangle up together in a group hug.
“You guys, I’ll only be gone three-and-a-half days. I’m not going on some months-long sabbatical,” I say, extricating myself from their collectively tight grip.
“We’ll still miss you,” Callie says.
“Are you sure you’re okay going by yourself?” Joey asks before I can respond to her sister’s statement.
“I’ll be fine. Seriously,” I say, meeting her worried gaze with a confidence I don’t entirely feel.
“You don’t really know this guy,” Raven murmurs, ever theoptimist.
But that’s not really true, is it? I know him as well as you can know anyone you’ve been talking to for weeks. Despite my fears about whether or not we’ll be compatible or really even like each other, I don’t feel unsafe with him.
“I’ll be okay. I promise,” I say, meeting each of their gazes. “Besides, I’ve shared my location with all of you, and as soon as I get checked in at The Black Hart, I’ll send you my room number. If you so much as get an inkling that I’m in trouble, you can send in the police to save me because you’ll know exactly where I am at all times.”
“Maybe I should come with you,” Joey says. “I can get a room and be discreet while I follow you around.”
I smile and hug her without responding. Joey would never feel comfortable in a crowded raucous place like the strip in Vegas, and the fact that she’s willing to go there, alone, to watch over me says a lot about how much she loves me.
“I love you, too,” I whisper into her ear before I release her. “Seriously, guys. It’s going to be great. And if it’s not, I’ll have my car. I can just hop behind the wheel and burn rubber to get home as fast as possible. Now, give me all the hugs. I need to get on the road if I’m going to make it to the strip by three.”
I hug Callie and Raven before pulling Joey into my arms again. She’s always lived with high anxiety, but it usually has more to do with herself and being in social situations. I’ve always tried to make sure she didn’t have to worry about me on top of all of that. I’m feeling a bit guilty over making her panic.
“I’m fine,” she mumbles into my hair before she releases me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make this about me.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say, taking both of her hands in mine. “I’m glad you care. I’ll call you as much as I can so you won’t have to worry.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” I say solemnly, then grin. “Now, get your ass back to work before you get fired.”
“I called in sick today,” she says, a hint of mischief in her eyes.
“Too sick to walk down the hall from your bedroom to your office in your p.j.’s?”
“Exactly,” she says, then hugs me one last time before spinning and running to Callie’s car.
I wave at them as they leave, then I check the time on my phone.Shit.I really do need to get on the road. I already double-checked to make sure the oven is off, set the timer on my outdoor lights, programmed my thermostat to seventy-eight degrees, and locked the door. I shut my garage after backing my car out into the driveway, so there’s nothing left to do but go.
I climb in behind the wheel, close the door, and buckle my seatbelt. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, hold it for four seconds, then slowly blow it out, mentally releasing my own worry along with it.
Nodding to myself, I push the button to start the engine, shift into reverse, and back down my driveway. Time to get this weekend started.
With my phone in its holder on the dashboard, I carefully film a few snippets of the road ahead as I make my way up the fifteen freeway into the eastern California desert. I stop in Baker to use the bathroom and grab a soda, so I get a shot of me in front of the world’s tallest thermometer. I film the first casinosI pass at state line, and when I get close enough, I get a shot of Vegas in the distance. A panoramic shot of the crowded strip.
I’ll edit all these snippets together into one BingBang and post it later tonight, and Emerson will do the same. Two perspectives of the same trip without confirming we’re meeting up. The viewers will compare the two and come up with their own conclusions.
As I near The Black Hart Hotel and Casino, my nerves spark to life. This is it. Emerson and I agreed to meet in the lobby so we could check in together. We’re getting separate rooms, of course, but we’re hoping to get ones connected by an interior door so we can comfortably hang out and work on video ideas together.
I park and grab my bags, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves as I enter the casino and follow the signs toward the hotel lobby. The closer I get, the faster my heart races. It feels like my body thinks this is real. That I’m here to meet my online crush so we can get to know each other and actually start dating.
“Calm down, Twila,” I murmur as I turn a corner and…
