Page 66 of Emma
Emma nodded slowly, her throat thick with emotion. “Okay.”
“Bye, Emma. I can’t wait for your email.” Freya’s smile grew as she gazed back at Emma, and then she turned and left the corridor.
Emma stood frozen, the space they’d just shared suddenly too quiet and too lonely. She looked down at the clipboard still tucked under her arm and then to the place Freya had just been standing in. Something new was forming in her chest; something tentative and vulnerable and impossibly precious.
It wasn’t everything. But it was a start.
And that was more than Emma ever thought she’d get.
Vanessa glancedup from her laptop the moment she heard the front door close. The thud of Emma’s bag hitting the hallway floor was followed by the soft thump of her trainers being toed off, and then came the familiar sound of her breathing. That subtle shift in energy always came before Emma said a single word. Vanessa closed the lid of her laptop and sat back againstthe cushions on the couch, waiting impatiently for her wife to enter the room.
Emma appeared in the doorway, her cheeks pink from the cold air this evening, her hair pulled up into a loose bun. Her netball hoodie was half-zipped, revealing a tank top likely damp with sweat. When Emma had netball practice, she put her all into it. There was no half-arsed running around, and no poor attempt at finding something for her students to do. If they were potentials for the team, Emma took whatever she could get out of them. She looked tired this evening, but not in the way she had for the last couple of weeks.
Vanessa smiled. “Hi, beautiful.”
Emma didn’t respond immediately. She just crossed the room, dropped onto the couch beside her, and melted into Vanessa’s side. Vanessa let her settle, one arm sliding naturally around Emma’s shoulders.
And then a long, quiet breath left Emma’s body.
“How was today?” Vanessa kissed the top of her head. “Talk to me.”
“I…saw her.”
Vanessa’s hand stilled against Emma’s arm. “Freya?”
Emma nodded, her cheek brushing against Vanessa’s collarbone. “She was leaving the changing rooms after netball. I came out of the office and we just…bumped into each other.”
Vanessa gave her a gentle squeeze. “Did you talk?”
“We did.” Emma pulled back just enough to look up at Vanessa. Her eyes were wide and shining. “Properly. Not teacher to student. Just me and her.”
Vanessa’s heart expanded. God, she hadn’t thought this moment would arrive. “How did it go?”
“I don’t know,” Emma said with a laugh that sounded equal parts overwhelmed and giddy. “It was two minutes in a corridor, but I didn’t feel as nervous as I thought I would.”
“Tell me everything.”
Emma sat up and faced Vanessa, one leg tucked under her. “She was a little quiet at first, but that’s to be expected. She initially called me miss, which again…is something I would expect. Then she mentioned the meeting. Turns out Nia told her I’d be writing to her.”
“How did she seem when she mentioned the meeting?”
“She seemed fine. When I asked if she’d like me to write to her, she was really excited. Way more enthusiastic than I thought she would be, anyway.”
Vanessa beamed a smile. “This is a good start, don’t you think?”
“I do. But here’s the biggest thing. She told me I don’t have to call her Freya, like she’s just a student to me. She wants me to call her Freya in a ‘sister’ voice.” Emma’s voice threatened to betray her as she relayed that piece of information.
Vanessa’s brows lifted. “Wow.” Her response wasn’t much, but she didn’t know what else to say. Freya had really come through for Emma today. “Oh, Emma. This is fantastic!”
“I know.” Emma’s voice cracked again. “I know it’s nothing big, and it doesn’t mean she wants anything more than a polite email from me, but God, Vanessa. It’s the first time she’s looked at me like I’m not just some random woman who has made everything in her life complicated.”
Vanessa took Emma’s hand. “Itissomething big. You didn’t cross a line. You didn’t push. She met you there all on her own.”
Emma nodded as she chewed her bottom lip. Vanessa wished she wouldn’t hold her emotions in, but theywouldspill out when she needed them to. “She laughed, babe. She fully laughed at something I said.”
Vanessa leaned in and pressed their foreheads together. “Of course she did. You’re the funniest softie I know.”
Emma snorted. “I’mnotfunny.”
