She listened to every word carefully, and replied after a pause, "I am thankful to Brett and you for saving my life. I am so glad I did not die up that mountain, and I got back safe. I will be forever grateful for that." She sighed, "but that still doesn't give you the right to have me followed or invade my privacy, Jake. This is so wrong."
"I agree. I shouldn't have. But I ended up helping you, Emma. I think you should just focus on the good side of it. I missed my flight back to NYC, I was supposed to head back today morning, but the weather is not favorable for air travel until the storm calms. You will most likely be missing your flight too. I know you were heading back tonight." I said in one breathe, I wanted to dodge the apparent insinuation, and I knew I was failing at it, miserably.
Man, could I be any more of a stalker? Just hear yourself, Jacob. You sound ridiculous.
If someone told me a year ago that I would be going to such lengths for a girl, I would have laughed at the offensive joke. But here I was, and well here she was. Emma. She was truly special.1
"Woah! Good job, Sherlock. So, you did stalk me after all? And not only did you stalk, but you have been keeping tabs on me? What right did you have? And what about your girlfriend? I am sure she won't be pleased to know that her boyfriend had other interests too. Does she know you are here with me?" Her nostrils were flaring in anger as she was closing in on me with her sharp words and sharper eyes.
"Girlfriend?"
"Yes, Erica! Does she know that you are a stalker? That you had me followed? And also, that you kissed me, without my permission?" She hissed in a jealous tone.
I was taken aback by her words, something strong was building inside me. "Oh, so now we are back to taking permissions from each other before initiating a kiss?"
"What?"
I know she understood what I meant because it was, she who kissed me off-guard when we met in Corsica.1
"That... was... That was... umm... that was different. You! And I... I was upset and... and hey, you kissed me back, so you can't complain now." She stuttered with difficulty in finding the right words.
She was now flushed, was it anger? Or embarrassment? Or both? Nevertheless, she looked adorable.
"You kissed me back too, baby. Minutes ago, right in that room." A small smirk lifted my lips. She was quiet, looking down at the table. I could see a small blush forming on her already flushed cheeks. I made a score, Jacob one Emma zero.
After a while, I decided to tell her. "And by the way, Erica isn't my girlfriend. She is just a friend I have been hanging out with". I had a victorious grin plastered on my face.
"Ya, tell that to her. She looked way more than a friend."
"Really? Are you feeling jealous, Emma?" My heart warmed to see her affected by my closeness to another girl. It made me happy, very happy.
"Why would I be jealous? Don't think so highly of yourself. She was on your arm all through the week. Anyone would have felt it. Don't you dare deny it and act all innocent. Tell me, are you not sleeping with her?"
I was short of words for a second; I did not want to lie to her. "Well, I did sleep with her. Once though, quite a while back. But I still maintain she isn't my girlfriend. I don't do relationships."1
Her expressions changed as if she was controlling not to explode in front of me. She took a deep breathe attempting to control her emotions.
"Listen, I am sorry. I have no right to form opinions about your personal life. Please ignore whatever I said about Erica. All I want to say is, it wasn't appropriate for you to have me followed."
"Yes, I agree. I am sorry. Trust me, you are the first girl that made me do it. I don't know why, but I do care a lot for you, Emma." My words were sincere. I inched a bit closer to her, and tugged a lose strand of hair behind her ear. Her sharp eyes were now looking at me softly. My fingers feathered her cheeks, before I whispered, "every time I decide to stay away from you, you end up in trouble Emm. It's not my fault that you are a magnet to problems, calling this upon yourself wherever you go". I smiled at her tenderly. I could feel her breathing got uneven. She was looking down at the table and fiddling her fingers again. I loved the way her body reacted whenever I got close. "You left me no choice Emma, I was worried about you, knowing you were out hiking the mountains in the middle of a storm. I was scared."
After a short pause, she cleared her throat and accepted, "thanks, Jake. But you don't need to be on a lookout for
