Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, Ellie\'s villa ~

Brian entered the living room with two glasses of white wine.

He placed them on the table and sat next to Emma on the sofa.

Ever since the call from JoAnna, Emma didn\'t say a single word. She is staring into space and barely moving.

Brian didn\'t ask what happened. He heard everything while Emma spoke with JoAnna on the phone: four women who are interested in Charlie confronted Emma and spilled red wine on her dress. Emma is upset because Charlie paid for the dress and she does not know how to face him. And he heard Emma ask JoAnna several times not to tell Charlie what happened.

Brian is vexed. Why should Charlie not know what happened? If Charlie was by Emma\'s side, this would not happen, and Emma would not be upset. Brian can\'t understand why is Emma protecting Charlie? Why is she concerned about hurting his feelings when it\'s obvious that all this is his fault? If not for Charlie, Emma would not even go to that damned party!

The more Brian thought about it, the more upset he was getting.

Emma told Brian that she is with Charlie and that between the two of them can\'t be anything more than a friendship, and he said that he is OK with that. But is he? Of course, not. How can he be OK leaving Emma with a man who is causing her a heartache?

"Hey, I got you a drink.", Brian reminded Emma. He knows that the white wine is her favorite, Sauvignon blanc.

Emma glanced at the glass in front of her and remembered Charlie\'s warning: "…never trust premade or already open drinks… especially if someone is giving you one…"

She sighed. That might be true in the world where Charlie lives, but her world is simpler. In Emma\'s world, people don\'t try to drug her with every beverage that comes her way. She wondered if she is good enough to be by Charlie\'s side. Can she move from her world to his? Emma wanted to because of Charlie and she thought that she can, but after tonight, she is not sure.

She took the glass and downed it.

Brian observed her and shook his head slightly. He never saw her that upset. He swapped glasses, taking the empty one for himself and pushing the full one in front of Emma.

Emma glanced at Brian and gave him a grateful smile before focusing on a random spot on the carpet and drifting away in her thoughts.

Emma didn\'t think about the party, or about the ruined dress, or about the fact that she foolishly ran away on an impulse… But why did she call Brian? Now she regrets that rash decision and she hopes that Brian does not get any ideas that she is interested in getting back with him, because her heart belongs to Charlie.

Emma thought that it\'s for the best to thank Brian for his kindness and call a cab to go home. Staying here with him is not a good idea.

"You don\'t need to go through this.", Brian\'s voice pulled Emma out of her thoughts.

Emma turned to look at him. "What?"

"This! Why are you torturing yourself over a guy you barely know?"

Emma thought about Brian\'s question and split it into two: Is she torturing herself? Does she know Charlie?

She does not feel tortured. She feels guilty because the dress is ruined, because she ran away, and because she is sitting next to Brian instead of being with Charlie. Tonight is a mess... She made so many mistakes, one after another. She reminded herself to go home after they finish with this topic so that she does not make another mistake.

Does she know Charlie? She knows that he is kind, and funny, and smart, and tonight he was… amazing. Charlie did everything right. The one who did wrong was Emma. She came up with the idea to leave him alone so that he can talk to people, and she didn\'t think how that implies that she will be by herself as well, and she ended up exposed to attacks. As much as she was confident that she can handle whatever is coming her way, she was wrong. She didn\'t expect that Miss Davis will spill the drink on the dress, and if it\'s from anyone else it would not be so upsetting, but this dress was from the most perfect man Emma ever met… and now it\'s ruined. She escaped because by staying by Charlie\'s side she can see how imperfect she is.

Emma was startled when Brian held her hand in his. The touch was unexpected, almost foreign, and she jerked her hand away.

"Sorry, I would appreciate if you don\'t touch me right now.", she gave a clumsy excuse.

"Emma, he does not deserve you.", Brian said angrily.

He was upset because of her reaction. They held hands before, and they kissed as well. Why is she treating him like a stranger?

"That is not up to you to decide.", Emma responded.

Brian opened his mouth to say something, but they heard the doorbell.

\'Who can be this late?\', Brian wondered, but he had a hunch that someone came for Emma.

"I will see who it is.", Brian said and walked away. He told the maid who approached the door that he will take care of it.

Brian frowned when he saw Charlie at the door. And Charlie frowned in return.

"I came to see Emma.", Charlie told Brian while swallowing all the bad thoughts that came into his mind. Why did Emma go to Brian? Out of all the people, why Brian? Charlie did his best not to think about it.

"She does not want to see you.", Brian smugly said.

"I need to talk to her."

Brian sneered. "Didn\'t you hear me? She does NOT want to see you, or talk to you, or have anything to do with you!"

Charlie exhaled while feeling that his temper is rising. "I want to hear that from Emma."

Brian narrowed his eyes. "I will not let you hurt her again."

"I don\'t want to hurt her. I want to talk to her."

"What is the difference? Go back to your party. You are not welcome here.", Brian was closing the door, and Charlie blocked it with his arm.

"I came to see Emma, and I\'m not leaving until I talk to her.", Charlie growled at Brian.

"You can wait on the street as much as you want. If you are on the property, I will call the police."

"Brian… Step away, please.", Emma\'s voice came from behind Brian.

Brian frowned and took a step to the side. He will be a gentleman in front of Emma because he does not want her to think badly of him, but he has no intention to leave Emma and Charlie by themselves.

"Emma…", Charlie looked at Emma and he was not sure what to say. He can see that she is clutching the dress where the red stain starts, and that she is sad, and it\'s all because of what happened, but what is he supposed to say? "I\'m sorry."

Emma looked at Charlie and her heart cracked a little. This perfect man came after her and he is apologizing, and she is torn between happiness that he cares about her and the feeling that she is not worthy of him.

"Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong.", Emma said.

"I\'m sorry that you are upset. I\'m sorry for not being able to prevent what happened…"

Brian\'s snort interrupted Charlie.

Charlie frowned and did his best to adjust his mood and ignore Brian.

"Can we talk in private? Please?", Charlie asked Emma.

Emma nodded in agreement.

Charlie extended his arm toward Emma, palm up and she placed her hand in his. He grasped her hand and pulled her toward him.

Charlie felt an immense relief knowing that Emma accepted to talk to him. He is not out of the game. He still has a place in Emma\'s heart, and he is determined to keep it.

Charlie removed his suit jacket and draped it around Emma\'s shoulders before putting his arm around Emma\'s waist and pulling her close to him. He smiled when he felt that she leaned onto him.

Brian was standing at the open door and watched dejectedly after Emma who was walking away with Charlie toward his car.

"Where are we going?", Emma asked Charlie.

"To a place where we can talk undisturbed.", Charlie answered. "After that I will drop you off wherever you want. I promise."

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