Elijah and his crush

The offer of a lifetime

Emily walked in to the office the following day. She sat anxiously in the waiting room, staring blankly at the slow ticking clock. But was broken out of her trance when she heard her name being called in by a lady she assumed was the secretary.

She was lead into an office and sat down, thanking the lady for showing her in. The man sitting in front of her, probably in his late 40's smiled at her. Relief washed over her worrying about what was about to be said.
"Well well well, Emily Branford. How did you feel your interview went yesterday?" He asked, shuffling some document and putting them in the filing cabinet underneath his desk. Emily frowned inside. What was this, a parents evening? But she covered that up with a smile.
"Thankyou for asking um sir. I tried my best and hope you can see the potential I have" she smiled up at him, rehearsing what Elijah had told her to say. She looked down, not able to look the man in the eye, could he not just get this rejection over and done with?
"Well, I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, but we are unable to offer you the writing position" Those words hit Emily like a ton of bricks. Although she knew she had a very slim chance, the man in front of her confirming everything was just too much. Tears welled up but she refused to let them fall and was determined so walk out of this office with a little pride. She gathered her things and got up with a smile plastered on her face.
"Thankyou for your time" she said, lifting up her bag, but before she could go anywhere.
"Wait" the man said. "I haven't finished yet" he said, ushering her to sit back down.
"No, we cannot offer you the job. But you have a talent and are still young. Nothing a bit of training won't fix. Emily kept listening wandering what he was going to say next.
"We want to offer you a paid internship at Vogue starting from next week"
Emily almost choked on air. VOGUE. She thought. THE ACTUAL VOGUE. Thats better than any job she's ever even applied for. She finally had the courage to break the silence.
"Oh my Gosh, um, sir, I-I don't know what to say" she stuttered.
"How about: Sure I'll start next week" he laughed holding out his hand for her to shake. Emily got up unable to get the words out.
"Honestly, Thankyou so much, I guess I'll see you here next week!" She said, getting up to leave for the second time.
"Oh wait, Miss Branford. You know the job you applied for, it wasn't in this precise location." He answered. Emily furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Sorry sir, I don't understand"
"The job you applied for is for this company, but you would be working in a different branch"
"Oh that's fine, which branch will I be working for then?"
"Well you would be working in the headquarters for this internship. London"
Emily, yet again, almost choked on air, that's almost 8 hours away, by train let alone by car.
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Elijah popped open the champagne and poured it into one of the glasses that he had laid out on the table. As a surprise, he had made Emily her favourite meal and splurged on her favourite champagne. Although he hadn't heard Emily had gotten any jobs, he knew how intelligent she was. And also how offices flossing just call people in to be rejected.
The door opened and in walked Emily. Elijah grinned at her and got up to greet her.
"Soooo, am I now looking at the knew, hot-shot journalist" he laughed kissing her in the head. Emily couldn't help but smile, but it was impossible knowing what she would have to do. She shook her head and forced a smile on her face.
"They actually offered me and internship to work with for Vogue." She explained, u able to believe it herself.
"Oh my gosh that's amazing! Wellll, I made you hour favourite dinner, and maybe next week we can-
"The job's in London"
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No one spoke for what felt like to longest 1 minute until Elijah finally broke the silence.
"London?"
He sat down trying to comprehend what was happening.
"London" she repeated back, barely able to speak.
"When do you start?" He said, barely being able to look her in the eye.
"Monday. It's a new internship so we all need to be their as soon as possible"
"Well, I'm moving there as well then." He said, getting up to go and pack a bag. But Emily ran to stop him.
"WAIT ELIJAH" she said blocking the door to the bedroom. "No, you're not, your staying here and starting that job" she yelled stubbornly.
"What? No, I'm coming with you"
"NO! This is one of the best and most hardest jobs to get and you spent weeks preparing for the exams and now you're going to throw it away!" She said throwing her arms up in the process. But when she looked at Elijahs face, her eyes softened.
"All I'm saying is. I'm not going to be the reason to hold you back" she defiantly finished.
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It was Sunday. The afternoon Emily was due to leave. And although he didn't want to show it. Elijah was in a state. He thought of the result of the year, the rest of his life! No Emily. But no, he had to be strong for Emily. He helped unload the last box along with her best friend Alana while Emily gave back her keys to the apartment complex.
"So, how you holding up?" Elijah looked up and saw that it was Alana looking at him with concerned eyes.
"Could be doing a lot better" he laughed half-heartedly, trying to hold back the tears. She came and sat in one of the boxes next to him.
"Look, I know you and Emily's relationship was important but whether you like it or not we have all known each other since year 7!"
"Look, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise how hard it was for you, you've been best friends forever!" He suddenly realised he should have been way more sensitive.
"No! That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, that you two met randomly, barely remembering each other, by fluke. Who's to say that's not gonna happen again" Elijah smiled at the first time he'd seen Emily in the supermarket, wanting how she had dropped from heaven.
His train of thoughts were broken when Emily came outside.
Her and Alana said they're goodbyes before Alana giving them some space.
"I'm gonna miss you so much you don't even understand." She said, throwing herself into a hug.
"And I'm gonna miss this" he said, gripping her tightly.
"Miss what?"
"This" he said, pinching her sides one last time, and hearing her famous giggle.
"I haven't decided whether I'm gonna miss that" she laughed, but still stopping herself from crying.
"Text me when you get there" he said, blowing a kiss at her blushing state.
Emily and Elijah finally broke while she got into the taxi. She waved goodbye while the taxi drove away, way too quickly.
One he knew he was out of site he turned around and fell into the arms of Alana and broke down into tears.
"It's fine, it's all gonna be alright" she said softly. They broke out of their hug before walking into Alanas apartment. "Before you know it, you will he married. You with a high end business course. Emily working writing for her own newspaper. With two kids. One of which, called Alana." Elijah laughed quietly as he silently thought of what life was going to be like in ten years.