Entangled (Phoenix 1)

CHAPTER 18

After a two-hour journey, the three of them were gathered in front of McGuire's house in Seopol. Justin was nervously standing next to James, while Emily appeared to be on the verge of marching through the door.

After a few seconds, Emily rang the doorbell, but there was no response from the other side. She rang five to six times repeatedly and then kicked the door in frustration since there was no response from the other end.

"Relax, Emily. What has gotten into you today? Back there on the road, you would have made the car crash." James exclaimed.

"Your two faces are enough to make my head explode." Emily glared at them.

James wanted to retaliate, but he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. He had a hunch that something was off about his colleague-cum-friend today, but he chose to confront her later. Foremost, finding Fiona was more important.

"You can smash our heads later on once I have seen Fiona," Justin stated.

"I will take you up on that offer after I open the door," Emily told them. She took a bobby pin from her hair and unlocked the door, allowing them to enter.

"Every time I am with you, you get scarier," James stated when he saw how Emily smartly yet sneakily opened the door lock.

"Good. That was my intention." She winked.

This made James's heart flutter. There was always something about her that always drew him in closer.

"Fiona!" Justin called out his wife's name loudly when they entered the home, but there was no sign of her.

"Please don't tell me she is not here." He said it out loud in frustration.

"She is here, Justin. She may have gone out for a while." Emily stated while making herself comfortable on the couch.

After two minutes, when she saw none of the two boys followed, she looked behind to find them standing awkwardly.

"Geez! Make yourself at home, ugly faces. Sit and relax." Emily stated while closing her eyes.

"How the hell do you come up with new words to insult us every time?" James locked his gaze on her. "And for the record, my face is quite lovely." He went towards her and sat beside her, leaving a foot of distance between them.

"It is an art," Emily told him smugly and then saw Justin slowly go to sit on the small seat, deep in thought.

Even though she is not a fan of him, she decided to say something not expected by either of them.

"Justin, don't worry. Fiona is here, and she will, sadly, forgive you. Knowing her, she will do it right away. She always does. And you seem like a good person, so you better prove that to her."

"Did you just call me a good person?" Justin stared up at her, his eyes wide with surprise.

"That's what you get from my entire statement?" Emily raised her eyebrows.

"No, I heard every word, and I hope you are right. But it is not every day when you hear the infamous Emily Martin calling a guy, A Good Person." He told her with a smile.

"Don't get used to it. You can call it my moment of tiredness." She stated.

"Isn't it a moment of weakness?" James cut her off while attempting to correct her.

"Not with me. And remember that you imply anything weak about me, and you will not see the end of the day." Emily glared at him, intending for every word to be true.

Before James could respond further, the door opened, causing all three of them to rise up from their seats. Relief washed over them as they saw Fiona, who was carrying two bags of groceries.

Whereas Fiona was concerned, she was dumbfounded when she spotted Justin and James. She had a strong feeling that Emily would have shown up here but didn't expect the same from James and Justin. Even though, briefly, it did cross her mind that Justin might insist Emily to let him tag along, but she was confident that Emily wouldn't have allowed it. Unfortunately, she was mistaken once again, just as she had been regarding this marriage.

She gave each of them a careful glance, attempting to come up with something to say to them. But she was blank.

Point blank, nothing to say.

James looked genuinely relieved to see her and offered her a reassuring smile to her, but Emily appeared way too fidgety and was ready to drag Fiona away to have a word with her.

However, she didn't know what to make of Justin's expression when she saw it. To a third person, it may seem that he was at ease seeing her, but after the conversation that she heard, she didn't want to jump to any conclusion and give herself false hope.

"Fiona..." Justin began, but she averted her gaze.

Her reaction was clear to Justin that she had no desire to talk to him.

Fiona was about to leave but then stopped. "You guys shouldn't have come here. But, since you all are already here, make yourself at home. Emily will show you around, and you can ask her if you need anything."

Fiona moved forward to go to the kitchen but was stopped by James.

"Fiona, wait a minute. Look, I know Justin screwed up...." But she interrupted him.

"Please, James. Not right now. Thank you for coming here; I appreciate it. I really do, but please. I might sound like the rudest and the worst person on this planet, but I am sure I can take the liberty of getting a pass here. I like to believe that I can take a break for a day." Fiona did look tired.

Dark rings surrounded her eyes.

"Of course, Fiona. You deserve it more than anyone in this world. But please know that we all care about you." James gave her a small smile of reassurance, to which she nodded with her smile.

In this short amount of time, James has shown more compassion to her than Justin has. She valued his friendship more than anything else.

She then looked at Emily, sighed, and headed towards the kitchen.

As soon as Fiona was out of sight, Emily mumbled, "Shit."