The Problem with Emerson

06 | The Problem with Exes

THE PROBLEM WITH EXES, in Brie's experience, was that they never wanted to leave you alone.

Brie had finally gotten a call from the clinic, informing her that, miraculously, she did not contract chlamydia from her and Savannah's latest romp in the sheets. There were so many things she still wanted to say to Sav about the whole situation, most not very pleasant. But mostly, she was just relieved at the good news, and Brie resolved to avoid Sav for the rest of her life.

Though that was easier said than done when her ex insisted on texting her repeatedly. She was definitely looking to hook up, Brie was sure, but she always made sure to bring up a good memory of theirs to try to reel her back in.

It was like a game — one Brie did not want to play.

SAVANNAH: hey, whats up?

BRIE: I'm not interested, Savannah

Brie wasn't sure how many times she would have to repeat herself before Savannah got the message.

SAVANNAH: c'mon. we could do that thing we did on our camping trip this summer

Brie rolled her eyes. As much as she had enjoyed their camping trip, Brie knew that sleeping with Sav again would be a bad idea. A very bad idea.

SAVANNAH: just imagine, b.

Brie was imagining. Her relationship with Savannah had been a whirlwind nine months. And that's exactly what it was — a whirlwind.

Brie had met Savannah at the beginning of first year, a week after she had met Erica. The vibe of their relationship had been a step above friendship from the start, but they hadn't started hooking up and eventually dating until the beginning of the second semester.

Savannah was the first girl that Brie had ever allowed herself to admit she was attracted to. Looking back, it was obvious, but getting to know Sav — an out and proud lesbian — had allowed her to come to terms with her bisexuality. Maybe that was why Brie had had such a hard time letting her go. Their relationship had been a huge step for Brie.

But she also couldn't deny that they had issues too.

It wasn't that she thought Sav was a terrible person — because she wasn't terrible, save for the whole chlamydia debacle — but there were parts of her personality that didn't mesh with Brie's. Both headstrong (and maybe more stubborn than they should be), they clashed at the best of times.

The only place they didn't disagree was in the bedroom, which was great, but Brie wanted more from their relationship than just amazing sex. She didn't want to be miserable the rest of the time they spent together.

So, at the end of the summer, Brie broke things off. Though Brie was the one to dump Sav, neither one of them took the breakup well, which was how they had landed themselves back in bed together quite a few times since.

Isla held up a pair of pants. "What do you think about these?"

Brie glanced up from reading Sav's latest text. "I like them," she replied, somewhat disinterested.

Though she wasn't that far along, Isla's baby bump had already popped, which meant that she was in desperate need of new pants. And despite the fact that shopping was the bain of Brie's existence, Isla had insisted she come to the mall with her.

SAVANNAH: we were good together, babe

As Isla browsed the racks of maternity clothes, Brie stared at her phone, wishing she could crumple Savannah's texts up into little balls and then lob them at her head. Without hesitation, she decided to block Sav's number.

"What's got you so worked up, Brianna?"

Brie looked up to see her mother's concerned gaze trained on her. She unclenched her jaw, forcing herself to relax.

"Nothing," Brie replied. "I'm fine."

Isla tsked. "After spending nineteen years with me, you should know by now not to lie to my face, love." She examined a shirt and then put it back on the rack. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but don't pretend that you're alright."

"Fine." Brie crossed her arms. "Savannah keeps trying to convince me to get back together."

"And you don't want to?"

Brie had never been entirely truthful about her breakup with Savannah, so Isla wasn't fully informed about the ins and outs of their relationship.

Brie shook her head. "That's just asking for trouble, and I've done enough of that."

...

Brie stared at the ceiling, laying flat on her back on Emerson's double bed. She had her eyes closed, but she was nowhere near sleep, her mind racing with frustration.

She was well aware that she shouldn't let Savannah get to her, but she couldn't help it. Her phone lay beside her head, switched to silent. She was sick of hearing it ping with every new message and notification. Most weren't even from Savannah, but she was over it.

"Ugh." Brie groaned. "I wish she would just leave me alone!"

Emerson's typing paused. Now that he had a publication deal, he was in the process of doing a round of edits for the first book in his series, one step in the long road to seeing it on sales racks next year. That being said, practically every spare moment he had was spent editing, so if Brie wanted to see him, she had to play second fiddle to his project.

Which she usually didn't mind, as she loved to watch Emerson work, but Erica wasn't available to hear her complain this time, so she really wished that he could give her his full attention.

It was a selfish thought, but Emerson indulged it anyway.

"Savannah is still texting you?" he questioned, turning his chair to face her.

"Not anymore." Brie sat up, dropping her face into her hands. "I finally blocked her number a few hours ago, so now she's resorted to DM'ing me on Instagram."

Emerson grimaced. "It looks like you'll have to block her on everything."

Brie nodded. "Yeah, probably," she agreed. "It just sucks, you know? If she wasn't trying to force things, we could've stayed friends, but now I just want to avoid her forever."

If Brie had any say in the matter, that's exactly what she would do.

"Some people aren't meant to be friends," Emerson said. "Sometimes they're destined to be less; sometimes more."

Brie raised a brow. "Destined?"

"Yeah." Emerson nods. "As in destiny."

Brie rolled her eyes, though she grinned. "Obviously. But I didn't know you believed in destiny."

Emerson shrugged. "I'm a writer. I can't help but fantasize a little."

At that, Emerson returned to his editing and Brie returned to staring at the ceiling. She knew that she should be studying, but she couldn't bring herself to pull her textbook out and open it. On top of Savannah frustrating her, she had entirely lost the motivation to do anything school related, a symptom of the semester being so close to finishing.

She wasn't entirely sure that she believed in destiny. If it was real, why did people have to kiss so many frogs to find the one? Why did she have to keep falling into bed with one of her frogs?

As far as Brie was concerned, destiny was drunk.