Braxton

I click send on the email to my boss as I sigh. My life is a bit of a mess right now. Last week, my mom turned Saturday night dinner into an intervention for grandkids. Yes, I'm serious. My sister is 3 years younger and just got married, so my mom assumes that I need to get on it. Then my car broke down on the way to the hospital on Thursday. I had to call a cab then just leave it until AAA got there to tow it to the shop. To top it all off, I hadn't finished my patient notes for this week, so here I am on my day off finishing them.

I run my hands through my hair and take a few deep breaths. My mind wanders to her. Emily. That was the best sex of my life. Hell the best night of my life. I just wish she hadn't snuck out on me. I was going to ask for her last name and her number because I had been too drunk and stupid to ask the night before, something I never worried about before Emily. I wanted to see her again, not just in a physical way either. Then I woke up to cold sheets and an empty bed.

It's been almost 4 years and I still think about her. I open my eyes and see a swipe of brown hair from across the cafe. It's her, it's really her.

It's almost as if my brain conjured her. I blink twice to make sure I'm hallucinating, hell I haven't been getting enough sleep lately maybe I am.

No, she's real and she's here. She's as beautiful as I remember. Long milk chocolate colored hair and those golden eyes. And there is a little girl on her hip. She's looking at me kinda funny, maybe she's nervous? We haven't seen each other in a while, but I can't place the look.

She starts walking towards me and I give her a little smile, showing her I remember her. When she gets to my booth, I motion her to sit down. She sits down, then repositions the little girl on her lap.

"Hi Emily." She still has that odd expression, but I try to focus on speaking clearly.

"H...Hey Braxton. Umm, I kinda have something to tell you." Something to tell me? I have no idea what she could be talking about.

"Okay, what is it?" My voice is a little shaky in her presence.

"Italian Panini and an order of macaroni and cheese." The guy at the counter calls out this order and looks around.

"Sorry that's mine, I'll be right back." I frown as Emily stands up and holds her hand out for the little girl, who follows her. She grabs the to go bag and walks back to me. The girl looks just like her, it makes me jealous of the man that got to make a child with her. Does that mean she's married? Does she have other kids with him? Rage fills my blood as I think about her belonging to someone else.

"Actually, I have to go, could I maybe get your number and we could go for coffee to talk about it?" She holds out her phone for my number and I add my contact info.

"Thank you, Braxton. I'll set something up soon."

"No problem, should I be worried? About what you have to tell me."

"No...no I don't think so." Her hands are trembling just slightly when she takes her phone back from my outstretched hand.

"Okay, bye Emily."

"Bye." I give her an awkward wave as she walks out the door. That was weird. I didn't expect to see her again and definitely not with her needing to tell me something. I wonder what it is?

I ponder it for another minute, but then realize I need to get to the gym.

Working out always clears my mind, which is definitely what I need right now.

I get to my gym the same time as my buddy Henry, we grew up together and now we don't have as much time to get together, but we go for drinks and work out together. We walk back to the locker room and change, then head to where the hand weights are laid out.

"What's wrong with you? You're acting weird." He knows all about Emily and that night so I figure I should just spill.

"I ran into Emily." His eyes widen slightly and his mouth drops open for just a second.

"And she said she had to tell me something, but then she had to leave, so she took my number and left. Oh, and she had a little girl with her."

"Seriously dude? Emily like the Emily that snuck out of your place?"

"Yeah." My throat suddenly feels like the desert and I swallow.

"Wow."

"Care to meet me for a drink after this?"

"Sure." I can tell from the look in his eyes that he knows I don't want to talk about it, so he let's it go for now.

We lift weight for about 2 hours then take showers in the locker room.

"Meet at the bar around the block?" Henry asks.

"Yeah, you're buying."

"Fine." He grumbles, but we both know I had a shittier day than he did.

We get to the bar and order a bottle of beer each.

"Wanna talk about it or drink about it?" He knows I've gotten drunk because of Emily more than once, but before today I hadn't seen her again. I hadn't seen how gorgeous she looked today. Or how her body looked even better than that night. She is much shorter than my 6'2, probably about 5'4, but she fit perfectly next to me. She is the perfect mix of curves and muscle. And I haven't gotten the image of her naked out of my mind in almost 4 years.

"Drink." He gives me a slight nod and orders us another round.