Page 10 of Black Wave

“Right, sorry. I believe your parents are here, seated by the window overlooking the water. I’ll take you to them. Right this way, Mr. Martinez.”

“Perfect. My Emma loves looking at the water, don’t you, love?”

I nod, acknowledging his comment. Keep it up for another day, I think to myself.

The hostess doesn’t spare me a glance, and I enjoy the invisibility. She walks off, and we follow. I keep my head down while Julian drags me in my too-high heels. She stops at the table where his parents are seated and places two additional menus on the empty seats that belong to us before leaving. Julian pulls my chair out for me, and his mom beams with her delusional smile. His father looks at me dismissively as Julian sits across from him. I smile politely at his parents, waiting for this night to end.

The food looks fantastic, but I can’t taste anything. I sit there and wonder when it will happen, constantly envisioning my new life and the happiness I long for away from this monster. I feel a squeeze in my hands. I look up and see Julian with an assessing stare.

“Are you okay, Emma? You look…” He stops, waving his hand around as if trying to find the correct word. “Preoccupied,” he says and tilts his head to the side as if he can read further into my thoughts.

I look at him and then at his parents, who have similar expressions, except his father is staring at me with disgust.

I gulp, attempting to find my words under such scrutiny. “I apologize. I am just so excited to be finishing school and graduating tomorrow.”

His mom smiles at me. His dad spares a glance at his son and picks up the rest of his drink, lifting his hand upward, indicating he needs another to the waiter passing by.

“Have you thought about what you will do after graduation, Emma?” His mother takes a long swig of her wine and winks at me.

I feel Julian squeeze my hand under the table, and I wince at the pain. “Um, no, not really.” I look over at Julian and shrug. “The jury is still out, but I hope to have an idea soon.”

His mother looks at her son. “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure Julian will be happy to have you around more.”

She beams up at her son, and he gives her his megawatt smile. “Maybe,” she continues, “we will have a wedding soon? Hmm?”

I shift in my seat awkwardly.Over my dead body.

“Maybe, Mom.” Julian grabs my hand and brings it to his lips. “You never know what can happen overnight.”

I tense at his words, wondering what he means by that. I find that with Julian, there is always a hidden meaning to his words. My palms sweat as I think about just one more day, and this will all be over. I will be away from him.

“Emma?”

I hear his mom calling my name, and I shake away the thoughts that his words provoked. “Yes, Mrs. Martinez?”

“Are you okay, dear? You look pale all of a sudden.”

His dad looks at his son, and I catch an upturn of his lip as he speaks. “Julian, maybe you should take Emma home, huh?”

I hear the rattling of ice cubes in Julian’s drink as he finishes the last of his whisky. “I think that is a good idea, Dad. She has a big day tomorrow.”

With that, he helps me to my feet, and we make our way out of the restaurant and to his car. The driver exits his door and holds the rear passenger door open, swiftly closing it behind Julian. We sit in silence that stretches out as we drive back to my house. Julian doesn’t speak to me. I look out the window and count down the minutes to freedom. As we turn down the street that leads to my house, I notice a bunch of lights and a policeman who stops us mid-way. Julian’s window rolls down as an officer puts his head near to speak with us.

“What’s going on, officer?”

The officer acknowledges Julian and points his finger at the lights. “Sorry, Mr. Martinez, we can’t let anyone down there. There’s been an explosion, and we are actively trying to extinguish the fire.”

I sit up and look where he's pointing, feeling dread. “What number did you say the house that caught fire is?”Please, God, no. Please, no, I chant to myself, hoping my greatest fear didn’t come true.

“Oh, it’s number 1322. The Taylor house,” the officer states nonchalantly.

My stomach drops out as I realize he is talking aboutmyhouse. I rip open the door—by some miracle, it is unlocked–and I run down the street.

“Wait, miss, stop. You can’t go down there.”

I hear the fading voice of the police officer as I throw my heels off and run toward my home. I stop, blending in withthe surrounding crowd gathered around the chaos. My house is destroyed. My life is destroyed.

“Mom, Dad, Evie?” I scream out, my hand shaking, cradling my face. Julian catches up to me and grabs hold of me.