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Emily walked through the married-student complex apprehensively. She looked around her and noticed the hub-hub of activity. There seemed to be something going on in every corner. To her left a young woman was attempting to carry three stacked boxes into her apartment. She tripped on the door jam nearly falling on her face. A man with great biceps and strawberry-blonde hair came up behind her, catching her in the nick of time. The two stood together, laughing at the contents of all three boxes which were strewn on the ground in front of them. “Good thing it was just the linens. I would have been heart broken if our china was in one of those boxes.” The woman bent to clean up the mess followed by her husband. “I told you I would carry that stuff in here, you could have hurt yourself.” The woman smiled up at her husband. “Darling, there is no reason for me not to help, I’ll let you handle the heavy ones while I unpack these. The more we work together, the sooner we will be unpacked and the sooner we can start our new lives together.”
Emily sighed and looked away, reminding herself that it was rude to stare. How she wanted that kind of relationship, one of mutual respect, sharing, kindness, and love. Initially, she thought that she would have that with Nikolas. She sighed as she remembered how that had turned out.
With a sigh, she continued on her way to her new apartment when she was just about run over by a small girl on a tricycle. “Oops,” the little girl said sheepishly.
“Well, hello there.” Emily said as a pair of the bluest eyes she had ever seen looked up at her. “You won’t tell my mommy will you? She told me that I could play out here only if I didn’t bug the other ten-…tena, well I don’t remember the word, but I’m not supposed to bug anyone.” Emily had to hold back her laughter. Emily bent down on one knee to address the child. “It’s tenants, and I won’t say a word to your mommy because you aren’t bugging me.” Emily was rewarded with a thousand-watt smile and couldn’t resist asking, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Madison and I’m four” the little girl said proudly, holding up five fingers. Emily found herself smiling again. “Well Madison, I’m Emily. It’s nice to meet you. Where do you live?” Madison looked around and pointed. “Over there somewhere I think. It’s apartment 2220. Mommy made me memorize the number in case I got lost, then I could tell someone and they could help me. Mommy thinks of everything.”
Emily smiled. Apparently she did. “Well, Madison it looks like we are going to be neighbors. I am on my way to apartment 2222. Want to go over there together?” Emily could have sworn that she saw relief on the little girl’s face. So, it looked like Emily had spared her having to ask for help. Emily stood and adjusted the bag she was carrying over her shoulder and consulted her map of the grounds. “Come on Madison, this way.” Emily and Madison started on their way, Madison riding ahead then coming back hurrying Emily along. As they rounded the last corner, Emily heard a somewhat frantic voice calling “Madison? Madison, where are you?” Madison perked up. “I’m over here mommy!” came the four-year old voice.
From the other direction a tall woman with Madison’s eyes came running. When she saw Emily with her daughter she said, “I thought I told you not to bother anyone.”
Madison looked from her mother to Emily. “But mommy, I wasn’t bothering anyone. Emily even said I wasn’t bothering her.” At that, Madison’s mother looked up and questioningly met Emily’s eyes. Emily held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Emily Bowen-Quartermaine. I ran into Madison here a little ways down the path.” Madison’s mother shot a look to her daughter that said “Later.” “Hi, I’m Clair Peterson, Madison’s mother. I really do apologize if she was a bother.”
Madison was about to protest when Emily came to the rescue. “Actually, Ms. Peterson, Madison was just showing me how to get over here. It seems we are going to be neighbors, temporarily, at least.” Emily gave Madison a sly glance and a wink and watched as her mother visibly relaxed.
“Please call me Clair. It’s good to meet a neighbor. Temporary, you say?” Clair looked disappointed at the prospect of making a friend then just as quickly losing her again. Emily merely nodded. “Well, it’s a long story, but who knows.” Clair nodded. “It’s just this way. They are nice apartments, and yours is right next door to ours.”
“Great, well, it looks like we will be seeing a lot of each other. What are you studying here? I’m in the communications program with an emphasis on advertising, transfering in for my last three semesters.” Emily was baffled by Clair’s expression and waited for her response.
Clair shook her head. “Wow, I guess they really do have a method to these housing assignments. I’m in the same program, transferring in from Wascatchu Community College in Manitoba.” Emily too, was dumbfounded. How could this be, here she had met the perfect neighbor and potential study partner and she was in the wrong place. She laughed and said, “yeah, I guess they do.” She looked up and noticed the number on the door. “Here we are, apartment 2222. I guess I should go in and find out what awaits me. Apparently my husband has already arrived.” Clair laughed, “Oh that’s your husband. Such a handsome one, and so serious.”
Emily merely nodded at Clair’s description. Something was definitely up, to avoid being rude or looking stupid Emily said, “Yeah, he’s definitely serious. I’ll see you around.” She looked up and saw Madison playing on her front porch. “Bye Madison, thanks for the help finding the place.” Madison looked up and cheerfully replied, “Bye, Emily! See you soon.”
<Inside apartment 2222>
Renaldo had been sitting in one of the chairs that furnished the apartment. Had he heard the little girl next door say Emily? The sound of the doorknob turning verified his suspicion as he braced himself for Emily to enter.
The door opened and Emily stepped into the apartment. Her gaze started at the staircase to the left of the door and slowly moved around the room taking in the half bath, the small kitchen and finally landing on Renaldo. Shock and anger coursed through her veins. She hadn’t expected this in her wildest dreams. In fact, she had expected to see Nikolas there, throw him out and get to her nice studio. Her heart sunk as the implications of Jason’s hand in this deception sunk in. To avoid drawing unnecessary attention to herself or the apartment she kept her voice level, however it was still full of venom. “Renaldo? How could you? How could you let Jason suck you into this? You of all people? You knew how important this move was to me, how much I wanted to do it alone!” Her voice was rising and she had to pause to control it. “How did Jason do it? Do his connections even reach into the world of academia? I won’t stand for this. It must be fixed now! I want to go with my original plan. I want my studio! I don’t need or want a bodyguard. Especially you.” Finally the tears came.
Renaldo sat motionless in the chair, his face completely
void of any emotion. Inside his heart was breaking. He had
betrayed the one person he had least wanted to hurt. Now the friendship
they had worked so hard to build was in jeopardy. “Emily, there
is nothing I can do to change the situation. We are stuck here for the
next year. If you try and change our living arrangement your admission
will be revoked.” Renaldo watched as Emily’s expression turned cold
and his heart sank as he heard her words. “I thought we were friends?
More than that, even, confidants. How could you be a party to this?”
Emily opened her bag and found the cell phone and dialed a number.
<Port Charles, Jason’s Penthouse>
Jason and Carly were watching a video from the most recent in a long line of potential DJ’s when the phone rang. Carly sighed, “Why does this always happen?” She stood and hit the pause button on the remote as she answered the phone. “Yeah…Emily, oh no, Emily, what’s wrong?…What are you talking about?…Yeah he’s right here…No Em, I didn’t know anything about it…What? Renaldo is there…Alright, let me put him on, but I want to talk to you when you are done…Alright, tomorrow then…Here he is.” Carly took the phone and handed it to Jason. She covered the mouthpiece and said, “What have you done? Emily is hysterical.”
Jason had been expecting the phone call, but he hadn’t expected Carly to answer the phone. Now he would have to explain to her too. He sighed. He knew this was the only way that Emily’s safety would be guaranteed. It may have been a little devious of him to make her actually live with Renaldo, but he could see no other way. Jennifer, his contact assured him that once she put the paperwork through there would be no going back. Either Emily stayed there or she came home, either way Jason was determined to protect her. Jennifer had even said she would find a suitable neighbor for Emily, preferably one in the same field so they could study together.
Jason took the phone from Carly, ignoring the look on her face. “Hi Em-, Emily, calm down…” Jason took the phone away from his ear and waited for the tirade to pass. When he heard silence he put the phone back to his ear and tried again. “Emily, please let me explain…I’m sorry, there is nothing I can do…Emily I can’t use my influence, I only had one favor to call in…I truly think this is best…I’m sorry you feel that way” Jason heard a click on the other end, followed by the dial tone. He hung up the phone and looked to Carly. Right away he knew that she wasn’t going to be any easier to convince than Emily that this was the best thing for Emily’s safety.
Outside, Tommy, one of Jason’s men, listened carefully.
He counted his blessings that Johnny had requested a night off. Now
he had something to report to Franco - Emily was not alone up at Penn State.
Jason had out smarted them again.
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