Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

"I am not gonna argue with that," Andrew remarked.

"Good for you Mr.Collins," she smiled in satisfaction. "You should never argue with your wife. Good and sensible husbands don't do that."

Keeping quiet for a while, he said, "Rachael—"

"Hmm?"

"You will always be the boss, my boss and I'll always listen to you no matter what happens. I'll always try to be the best husband for you and I'll always take care of you," he stated.

His sudden sweet words made her blush. "You are already the best."

"Rest for tonight, okay? I'll tell Ben to push the meeting forward. Prepare for it tomorrow morning."

"Alright," she agreed. How could she possibly turn him down when he had just said such sweet words to her? Her heart wouldn't allow her to do it.

…..

[Outside Emma's apartment]

The entire ride to Emma's place, both of them did not talk. In fact, they did not even look at each other.

When the car stopped, Emma grabbed her bag from the back seat. "Thank—" She was about to get down when George grabbed her wrist.

"You are just not my sister's best friend." When she looked at him, he added, "You are more than that."

Pausing for a while, he said, "At the moment, I don't know what is going on with me and between us. I am suddenly feeling things for you which I never have."

"I mean, it's you and me Emma—we are cool people, things aren't supposed to be so complicated between us." She was one of the few people George was very comfortable with, someone he would be himself with, someone he could show his true self to.

Understanding what he was implying too, she nodded. "I know, we probably shouldn't go down that road."

Tightening his grip around her wrist, he frowned, "You don't wanna?"

"You just said—"

"I never said I don't want us to go down that road," he remarked.

"You just said we are cool people and things aren't supposed to be complicated between us." She frowned.

"I said I am trying to figure things out but I never said I don't want it." Without waiting for her reply, he stated, "I can go down any road with you once we both are sure what we want."

Emma pursed her lips and stared at him. She was already very confused with all the new budding feelings and emotions, his words confused her even more.

"So let's think and figure it out together, okay?" He gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I don't know how and when things changed between us, I don't know if things will work out between us but irrespective of what our future holds, I want you to always remember that you are one of the most important people in my life. And I will do anything to find a place in your life."

...

[Collins mansion]

When Rachael came down for dinner, she learned that Elsa wasn't home yet. This made her a little anxious and she quickly called her. Since she was new in town, Rachael was very worried for her.

Before the call could get through, Elsa arrived. She was holding a bouquet of lilies in her hand.

"Throw them away." She instructed one of the helpers before approaching Rachael.

"Hey, you are back. I was kinda getting worried about you."

"I got bored after you left in the morning so I decided to go out for a bit. I went to the mall to buy that cute top I had seen yesterday but ended up bumping into the j*erk Samuel," Elsa sighed. "He annoyed me a lot and my mood was kinda bad so I went for a nice relaxing spa."

"I am sorry I couldn't accompany you." Rachael had promised to show her around but now that she had to work, she didn't really have enough time in her hand.

Taking her heels off, she remarked, "Oh don't worry about that, work is important. I will be here for a while so we can hangout whenever you are free."

Just then the helper came back with a note in her hand. "Madam, this fell out of the bouquet." She gave it to Elsa.

Elsa glanced at the note and scoffed. "What a pathetic loser," she muttered before tossing the note on the table.

"What happened?" Rachael picked up the note and read it.

[Lilies for my Lily~Igor Petrov]

"Who is Igor?" she inquired.

"Samuel's big brother," Elsa answered. "That guy has a serious thing for me. He used to constantly send flowers and gifts when I was in Russia. Who would have thought he would start delivering them here as well."

"He had them delivered here?"

She nodded. "A delivery man was standing outside when I came back. Yuri told me the man had been standing there for a couple of hours as he was supposed to handover the flowers to me and not anyone else."

Helplessly shaking her head, Elsa sighed, "I don't even know how he ended up finding this address."

"You should tell Owen or Andrew about it." Rachael wasn't getting a good feeling from Elsa's stalker.

"I will," Elsa nodded. "They know about Igor already. He has been doing it for years now, it started when I was nineteen."

"Wow—" Rachael was surprised. "So you have been rejecting him all along?"

"You have no idea how many times I have turned him down." Elsa pinched the space between her brows. "The guy is so thick skinned, he gets bolder each time I reject him."

"He sounds very annoying."

"He is very annoying," she scoffed. "Justin hates Igor from all his heart. Once he punched Igor's face because he tried to touch my hand."

Keeping quiet for a while, Rachael exclaimed, "I am sure Justin will do the same if the guy tries to come close to you."

"Will he?" Elsa smiled.

"I feel like he will."

"Maybe—" she shrugged. "And even if he doesn't, who cares? I'll ask your husband to do it."

​ Rachael smiled and was about to say something when Elsa sat beside her. "Okay enough of the things going on in my life, why don't you tell me what's going on between you and Andrew. I mean, how is everything?"

"It's really nice, we are getting along well." As she answered, her lips curled upwards.

"You know Rach—" Elsa grabbed her hand. "I don't know if you have noticed this but Andrew really likes you alot. From a third person perspective, the way he looks at you, the way he behaves when you are around. The guy is totally into you."

"Do you have any idea how many times he has already called me asking about you?" She added. "He constantly keeps reminding me to take care of his beloved wife."

Rachael smiled and did not say anything. The fact that he was trying to look after her even though he was far away, made her feel very touched.

It had just been a day since he had left and she was already missing him. But there was nothing she could do but patiently wait for him to come back.

…..