Chapter Twenty-Four


 

"I thought you would despise me after what I said about Frank," confessed Colin. "It wasn't the most chivalrous move on my part. Being petty about a professional rival's actions, I mean. But I couldn't help saying it at that moment."

They were sitting together at the first place that came to mind when they left Norma's party — a sudden, silent departure that needed no words of agreement from either of them. Now, at a corner table at Harriet's former hangout, they were reliving their past connection in all its imperfection.

"I always wondered why Frank disliked you so," said Em. "How did you know about his feelings for Janet?"

"I saw them together. At a restaurant, a week or so after the debate. His ... gestures ... towards her weren't those of a friend, let's say."

Em rested her cheek on her hand and sighed. "I never realized it, you know. I was completely blind."

"You trusted him," Colin answered. "And he took advantage of it. He's certainly not the first to treat someone that way."

"He was jealous of your success," said Em. "I thought he was just making fun of it because it was so different from his taste in self-help theories...but he really was jealous."

"Who knows? Maybe he thought of me as a romantic rival already," suggested Colin.

Em laughed. "Believe me, he didn't," she answered. "I'm afraid I said some really dreadful things about you to him. I thought you were cold, rude, boorish —"

"I was," he answered. "Towards you, and a great many other people, whenever I felt uncomfortable. My failure to live up to my own philosophy, if you will."

"Yes, but it wasn't as if you really felt that way about them, or about me," said Em. "I let you get the best of me, and lost my temper — and I never let anyone do that. Ever."

"What a novel opening for a relationship," answered Colin, dryly. "I can tell people 'I brought out the worst in her. That's how we knew we were meant to be.'"

Emma laughed — this time, for a new facet of Colin's character, a sense of humor she hadn't before detected. There was so much they hadn't learned about each other yet. It should frighten her, yet it didn't. She knew the most important things about him already, his deepest thoughts and fears, his hidden strengths and talents. He had seen her uglier side, and her moments of honesty. The rest was simply the missing pieces to finish the pictures they had half-assembled in the past.

"You also brought out the good side," she reminded him. "We bring out the best in each other, too. That's what all couples should do."

"Sadly, I think you mostly saw the worst side of me," he reminded her. "But it helped me that you did. You were the one who suggested I learn to control the ... the less likeable version of myself, and use its honest approach to my advantage in turn."

"There was nothing wrong with who you were," said Em, "except that you were so afraid of other people's opinions of you. You were so stiff and uncomfortable — you must have been terribly lonely, you kept so many people away with those barbs."

"Not you, though," he said. "And not Harriet, strangely enough."

"That's because she saw the real you," said Emma. "The night you were her rescuer after Elton and her friends had been ignoring her in this place."

His brow furrowed. "How did you know about that?" he asked. "Did she tell you?"

"I know because I was here. I saw and heard the whole thing. That's what changed my opinion of you a little back then. I watched you, from over in that corner —" Em pointed in the direction of the shadowy table near the bar, then paused as the bar's crowd cleared and she caught sight of a couple seated a table away from it. It was Harriet and Bobby, sitting close together and laughing.

"Look at them," said Emma, smiling with surprise. Colin had seen them too, a smile tugging at his own lips. It was evident from their glances, the way their hands touched every few minutes, that Harriet and Bobby were more than friends. She could see Harriet's blushing smile, and the way Bobby couldn't tear his eyes away from her for more than a second's time.

Harriet caught a glimpse of Em and Colin. She recognized them, waving to them, energetically. So did Bobby, his broad grin far happier than the shy one Em remembered from meeting him before.

She exchanged glances with Colin, seeing the same surprise on his face. They both laughed.

"Bobby finally found his courage," said Em.

"And Harriet found happiness," said Colin. "And on her own, without any help from her would-be love counselors." He met Em's eye. "It looks as if you were right about her."

"We were right about her," Em corrected. "We were partners on that project, remember?" Reaching across, she touched his hand, feeling his fingers interlace with her own. When he leaned towards her, she met his lips halfway, kissing him tenderly in return.

"Now what?" he asked, softly.

"I think it’s the official start of our second project together," she answered. "Only this one will be a little more personal, a long-term arrangement. If you don't mind working closely with me again, Doctor Ferris."

"It would be my pleasure," he answered, kissing her again.