Emery's POV:

I rose from my seat in the restaurant and rolled my shoulders, stretching my neck to each side. It seemed like the more time passed, the more sore my neck and shoulders were becoming. That and sitting in one place while I played put tension in my shoulders where there already was tension because I got in a fight with Tyler before I came to work.

I was trying so hard to be patient with him. When he found out his parents were splitting, it broke his heart and he started spiraling, it was how we ended up where we were at and I wanted to be patient with him because I knew it wasn't easy but damn, at some point life had to go on. I couldn't spend my entire life supporting him, it was breaking me down to try to pay for everything for both of us while he tried to pick himself up. I felt horrible for even asking it of him when I knew he was hurting but I couldn't go on like this forever.

I knew he was hurting and struggling since his parents weren't even trying to keep things amiable in the family. They were both trying to force their kids to pick a side, force everyone else to pick a side. Neither were being reasonable and Tyler, being the oldest, was put on the spot, all of his siblings looking to him for the answer of how to handle it. I lost count of the number of times he tried to mediate between his parents to at least get them to not break the family more than it was already broken but they wouldn't see reason and every time he tried and failed, it brought him further down into this rut he was in.

Then to make matters worse, his mom called towards the end of our fight, which probably meant that he'd been on the phone for hours after I left and was even more upset now.

I wanted to be patient with him, I wanted to give him the time he needed but it had been a year and a half of this and I was losing my mind working as much as I was and hardly ever sleeping, hardly ever even eating enough because I just didn't have the time to eat. I tried to tell him I loved him but I couldn't go on like this, at some point I needed a small ounce of self-care or I would really lose my mind. Of course it didn't go well, it never went well. He always got defensive and tonight wasn't any different.

"Great night tonight, Em," David said.

Ha, maybe here it was but I'm not looking forward to going home.

"Thanks. You too," I replied with a smile.

I picked up the tip jar and glanced inside. It wasn't as bad as sometimes but it definitely wasn't great. I sighed and reached in to pull it out to count and split with David when a hundred landed inside. I frowned in confusion then glanced up. I narrowed my eyes at the arrogant man before me and handed the tip jar to David, refusing to break the eye contact. I was so done with men being pricks to me tonight.

"All yours tonight," I offered.

"Em, I can't take it al-" he started.

"Yes, you can," I interrupted.

I broke eye contact only so I could walk away from Milo. I ignored his calls and walked through the double doors leading to the kitchen then through another set of doors, taking me to my locker where my jacket and purse were. My life was a disaster right now and the last thing I needed was a stuck-up prick making me feel worse. I opened the locker and pulled out my belongings.

"Miss Barner," I heard from behind me.

"You're not allowed back here," I snapped, slamming the locker closed and heading for the exit.

"Miss Barner, I--" he began.

"No." I turned and found him closer than I anticipated. "You," I poked him roughly in the chest with my clutch. "Don't get to say anything, or stalk me at my workplace, or come back here like you own the place. I don't want anything to do with whatever you're trying to do. Find someone else."

"I can't," he answered, his boastful tone less abrasive than before. "I can't find someone else. I spent the afternoon looking for someone else and no one is as good as you."

"Don't try to butter me up," I snapped, stepping back and narrowing my eyes at him.

"I don't butter up," he claimed, his annoying tone returning. "I'm not the kind of person that wastes time. I wouldn't waste my time coming here to apologize if—"

"Is that what you think you're doing?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Emery," he took a deep breath as if to calm himself. "I apologize. Social tact is not one of my skills, that's what Owen is for. I'm good at business, not people."

"Could've fooled me," I retorted with an eye roll.

"I'm here," he said, his tone a little harder. "To tell you I'm sorry for the way I behaved. This event is important to me and my company and I lost one of the best cellists currently living. In the process of brooding over that loss, I almost lost another," he implied, angling his head towards me.

"Now I know you're just spewing nonsense," I said, surprised that he was being as nice as he was after the way he talked to me before.

"I'm not," he said, his voice getting harder and more impatient. "Trust me, humbling myself in front of people is not something I make a habit of. I can only ask your forgiveness and help so many times. I swear I will be more... amiable... at our future meetings."

I glared at him more intensely than I thought possible as I processed his words. My eyes drifted to the side as I considered what he was saying. "I'm not even sure what this all entails," I finally admitted, turning my gaze to his.

"Then come tomorrow, and we will work through the details," he offered, his voice bordering on hopeful.

"I'm not going to come back to your pretentious building just to be treated lik—"

"You won't. I just spent the last two hours listening to you play and I..." he trailed off and sighed. "I was so lost in your music I forgot to eat or drink. All I could do was listen to you. I'm not going to keep asking you, it's up to you now. Come at ten tomorrow morning and work through the specifics with us, play for a bigger crowd then distracted couples out on dates," he tempted. "I can tell you want more than this. Come tomorrow and make your passion a livable reality."

He didn't give me more time to react, he just turned on his heels and went out through the door we came through. I stared at the swinging doors and sighed in frustration. He pissed me off but... This could be my way out of everything that was so hard right now. It could be the way to my dream and out of the many jobs, half of which I hated. I hated making decisions and I was so exhausted I was on the brink of tears so instead of making the decision, I pulled out my phone and called the one person I could always count on- my best friend, Gwen.

"I just want to say before I say anything else that you know I love you," Gwen answered after a few rings. "But what the fuck is wrong with you?? Do you know what time it is?? You better either be bleeding or calling to tell me you dumped that dead weight boyfriend of yours."

"Neither," I sighed. Stupid, how could I not think of the time? It was almost one in the morning and she had to work at five in the morning. I was just so tired I didn't even think about. Real nice, Em. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking. My head is spinning, I just really need your advice."

"Okay," she sighed. "Hold on, let my crabby ass wake up for a second," she said. I could hear some rustling and I could tell she was sitting up when she spoke again. "What's up?"

"You remember that super rude businessman that wanted me to play the cello for that charity thing?" I asked, making my way to the door.

"Uh huh, the prick that insulted your clothes," she said.

"Well he showed up again tonight and sort of apologized and sort of asked me to come back in and work through details," I explained.

"Okay," she yawned. "So what? Do you want to try again or not?"

"I don't know, that's why I called you," I admitted.

"Babe I can't tell you what to do," she sighed. "You have to do what's best for you. My take is that I will support you no matter what you choose and I don't think anything you choose is the wrong thing. That aside, do you want my brutal honesty?"

"Always," I said, stepping outside and smiling and waving at Richard as I walked over to give him a side-hug. "Goodnight, tell Jenny I said hi," I said, covering the microphone with my hand.

"Goodnight, Em, be careful going home," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before I started to the bus stop.

"I think you should do it," Gwen said simply. "I think that no matter where you go, no matter what you do, you will always have to deal with undesirable managers and bosses because unfortunately that's just life. I think especially because you're going to be a musician that's going to be the case, I mean, they can be pretty harsh but I think your dream is way more important to you than having to put up with this jackass for, what? Three months? Isn't that you said that's when the charity is?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"So ask yourself if three months of an annoying boss is worth taking a chance that might set off your career for life," she said. "As long as he doesn't cross the line by putting you down or acting like Pierre, then I think it's worth a shot. I mean, babe, you put up with Pierre, why can't you put up with this guy? Is he really worse than the piece of shit that flirts with you and stares at your boobs all day? Is he really so bad he can't just be your new Pierre?"

That's fair. I did put up with Pierre, I could put up with Milo.

"Thank you," I said, stepping onto the bus. "You're right. I think I'm just too exhausted to process information," I admitted, sinking into a seat.

"Can't imagine why," she said flatly. Damn, I hadn't even told her about the fight with Tyler yet and she was already ready to kick his ass.

"I'm going to let you get back to sleep," I said. "I'm really sorry I woke you up."

"Don't be sorry, babe," she yawned. "You know I'm crabby as fuck when I'm woken up. I'm just glad you're okay... Right? You're okay?"

Was I okay? I didn't know. I had a big decision to make and even thinking about going home to Tyler made me want to cry in frustration but also made me feel guilty for not wanting to help him through this hard time and on top of that I was so tired I wanted to cry just from exhaustion. "I'm okay," I said.

I wasn't sure if it was true but at this point I was damn good at making it sound like it was.

A/N:

EDIT: This is a sample only. If you want to read the rest, I have the full book on Patreon, link in my bio ❤️

Heyyy loves! To those of you that celebrate it- Happy Halloween! This story already hit 5k reads, WOW! Thank you!! Let me know what you thought of this chapter ❤

Well we got a little bit of backstory on Tyler and why Emery is putting up with him, what'd you guys think?

Emery and Milo not getting along is actually really fun to write #sorrynotsorry

How'd you think Milo did?

And Emery's best friend, Gwen, has entered the chat- first impressions?

Okay but was anyone else sad to read the last two paragraphs with Em so tired like 😭

See you next week loves! ❤