Page 47 of Love Me Ever After
Mason: No, they want me to apply.
I watched the three dots jumping as Whit replied.
Whit: Really? You’d be moving here? It would be fantastic to have you on the team permanently! Things haven’t been the same since you’ve gone. I miss you! I have no one to hang out with and persuade to get tattoos, hahahaha!!!!!
My hand instinctively went to my shoulder where the tattoo was. Fuck, that had been a crazy night.
Whit: You should do it! Think of all the fun we could have…
Being in New York again, this time forever, was an opportunity not to be missed. I would be an idiot to turn down the interview. After all, there were no guarantees I’d actually get the job. Christ, I needed a good executive head-hunter to have this conversation with… how ironic…
Mason: Yeah, I’m definitely thinking about it…
Whit: Let me know what you decide, gotta go, Tia’s waiting on me to get lunch with her.
It seemed that the American contingent were keen for me to go back there. I wasn’t so sure how I’d fare with the UK equivalent.
I shoved my ear pods in and clicked on a Spotify playlist. For the rest of the journey, I stared out of the window, trying to clear my mind of all the decisions I had to make. I needed to make a proper pros and cons list, even though I knew deep down there was only one real negative to me leaving. And that would be Ems. Hopefully she’d be there when I got back, this was one night I’d actually be home in time for dinner. We’d made plans to eat together tonight, and I didn’t want to let her down.
Plus, we had things to discuss.
When I put my key in the lock three quarters of an hour later, I could smell something yummy coming from the kitchen. Following my nose, I went to find out what it was. Ems stood at the hob, stirring a pan of what looked like chicken curry.
Sneaking up behind her, I wound my arms around her waist and buried my head in the crook of her neck. “Mmm, that smells delicious.”
Ems laughed and squirmed around in my grasp so she was facing me. “Me or the curry?”
I placed a soft kiss on her lips. “You always smell delicious. And I thought I was cooking tonight?”
“Well, Sara bailed to go and see Noel. She’s staying over at his tonight. I was at a loose end, I figured I’d make a start.”
She turned back to the hob, pressing her arse against my crotch. If she kept that up, we weren’t going to make it to dinner.
“It’s like she doesn’t live here any longer,” I observed. Not that I was too worried. It meant Ems and I had the place to ourselves more often than not. Which gave us plenty of opportunity to do what we wanted, where and when we wanted. At least we wouldn’t get interrupted if things got too hot and heavy on the sofa later. Although given what I had to talk to Ems about, I wasn’t sure things would end like that.
“I think they’re talking about moving in together permanently. Which would mean this place could just be ours.”
I swallowed hard. Here was Ems, talking about the two of us taking on this house together, when I was about to burst that bubble. But if I didn’t broach the subject with her and simply went on to make the decision on my own, what sort of a boyfriend would that make me?
Pulling away from her, I turned to leave the room. “I’m going to go and get changed.” Tugging at my tie, I crossed the kitchen ready to head up the stairs.
“Do you want a beer?”
I figured something stronger would probably work better, but I’d save that for after we’d had the conversation. I might need it. “Sure, that would be great. I won’t be long.”
Taking the stairs to my room two at a time, I discarded my work clothes and grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. As I pulled the shirt over my head, my phone beeped. I glanced at the screen, to see a picture of me, Whit and Tia outside the tattoo studio—the before shot. Whit had written something about me being a coward but having a tat had changed all that. I didn’t want Ems to see the message thread, so decided to leave my phone in my room. I didn’t need any distractions while I talked to Ems about this opportunity. She would be the one who would help me decide either way.
My girlfriend, not a former work colleague.
This conversation wasn’t going to be an easy one.
But I had to have it tonight.
A couple of minutes later, I was back in the kitchen and gulped down a mouthful of beer. “Ems, there’s something we need to talk about.”
22
Ems
