After Emma opened the door she was immediately met with a handsome, smiling face. She had to do a double-take… it was Mr Thomas. Emma continued to stare at him in confusion, her mouth gaped open slightly.
Mr Thomas too didn't understand what was going on, so he just remained still. He was smiling somewhat confused at Emma, who wasn't inviting him in so he remained standing in the doorway.
Emma suddenly realised that it was indeed Mr Thomas outside her door and hundreds of scenarios explaining why he'd be here run through her mind. She wondered if perhaps he might have come to see her, her cheeks darkened to a magenta hue and she asked, "What are you doing here, Mr Thomas?" She smiled sweetly and awaited his response in anticipation.
"Well-" he began to reply when suddenly Emma's mother spots him from across the hall and walks over to the door to greet him. "Carlson, you're here. Early... Please, come in." She smiled warmly at him. Mr Thomas walked through the door. As Mr Thomas walked past her, Emma noticed he'd been carrying a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates wrapped with a ribbon.
He handed the roses and chocolates to Emma's mother, "Louisa, I brought you these, it's not much but I hope you like them.", they walked over to the dining room together and Emma's mother set the chocolates down and hurriedly went to get a vase to put the roses in.
As if in a trance Emma stayed standing completely still by the open door, her mother called and she snapped out of it. Emma quickly closed and locked the door, she passed the mirror by the entrance of the hall and realised she was not wearing clothes fitting to be seen in by guests.
She internally panicked after realising Mr Thomas had just seen her with a towel around her shoulders with dripping wet hair. Wearing an old white t-shirt with several faded pastel green strips which were around her chest. She was also wearing matching socks which had the same design as the t-shirt, and jeans with rolled-up cuffs that ended halfway down her calves. Although this wasn't the worst outfit to be caught in, it's not high on Emma's list of clothes to wear in front of her crush.
Emma debated whether or not to change, in the end, she ends up hurrying upstairs to change into something more presentable, even though she'd already been caught and seen in something less than glamorous.
She rushed around her closet trying to find something she could wear. She ended up having picked an outfit somewhat more casual than her usual looks so as to not be seen as trying too hard by Mr Thomas. She quickly dressed in a red and blue plaid shirt with a black miniskirt and white thigh-high socks.
As she hurried back downstairs in excitement, happy to be able to see Mr Thomas after hours. Emma wanted him to see her looking and acting her best. However, she didn't think much of the reason why Mr Thomas was here until she came down the stairs and watched Mr Thomas and her Mother share a quick kiss. Emma's excitement instantly drained and she was left standing speechless, not moving the slightest muscle. Lou was sitting on the counter with her legs wrapped around Carly's back whilst he held her waist to pull her closer.
She was still observing them even when they pulled away and stared at each other with loving looks. Emma couldn't help but feel betrayed, even though no one had betrayed her. After all, she hadn't told Lou about her feelings for him, not that that would've been a valid excuse to break them up either.
After a while of watching them act lovey-dovey Emma took a few deep breaths and walked over whilst announcing her presence. This was to make it not seem as though she was a pervert who enjoyed watching people make out.
After hearing Emma call out the couple quickly pulled away and Lou quickly began her work finishing the preparation for dinner. Carly offered a helping hand, but Lou stubbornly refused. After all, how could she possibly ask him to take care of preparing a meal when he was her guest? Especially on his first time coming over to her house. Having been refused access to the kitchen to cook, Carly instead took to watching Louisa as she cooked, looking at her with loving intent.
When she had finished Lou sent Carly to the dining room, whilst she asked Emma to help her gather and carry the plates and utensils to the dining room. Emma carried them single-handedly to the dining room and laid them out gently. Soon Louisa brought out the food and before they had even all sat down, Carly had started praising Louisa to no end.
Not that it was undeserved, Lou's cooking was mouth-wateringly delicious. Even just the smell could tell you how amazing it was, it was most likely the greatest aroma Carly had smelt in his life. Still, Emma didn't enjoy watching her mother smile and blush gently from his compliments. What could Emma do? She loved her mum dearly and wanted happiness for her immensely, but didn't want them to be together all the same. Emma let out a small sigh, there's nothing she could do even if she wanted to.
For a few moments, they were at a standstill, singing each other's praises, and flirting to no end. Until Louisa seemed to remember the purpose of inviting him here and turned to Emma and let go of Carly's hand which she'd taken a few moments ago. As they sat down she began introducing the two of them.
Lou, however, found them both to be somewhat strange today. Emma and Carly would've normally introduced themselves right away when they met new people. No matter, after all, it's not a big issue.
"Emma, this is my boyfriend. The one I told you was coming over." Lou looked from Emma to Carly. "He's called Carly. Carly this is my daughter Emma." Carly and Emma looked at her strangely. They couldn't understand why she was introducing them as though they'd never met before.
"Mum do you… do you not remember that he's one of my teachers?" Emma inquisited. Louisa looked between them and smiled, "What?" After they explained to her a little she suddenly banged her head on the table gently, to hide the subtle redness of her cheeks caused by embarrassment.
"I mean… Carly looked familiar. I just didn't think from where. I didn't put much thought into it." Carly smiled, he took her hand again and squeezed it gently, "Don't worry, it's not a big mistake. It's just something we can laugh over." Louisa smiled gratefully as Carly continued. "I guess that's where Emma gets her airheadedness from." Emma and Louisa turned a brighter shade of red and hmped before focusing on their own meals respectively.
As they were eating, Emma couldn't help but wonder why he choose her mum instead of her. She gathered her courage and asked a general question, "So, why'd you both start going out?" At the same time, she didn't really want to know.
"Well," Lou started, "he's just so terribly kind isn't he?" She sighed and pouted unbelievably. "And he's so pretty isn't he… he's probably even prettier than me." "Oh come on Lou, you know that's not true." Lou sighed dramatically before giving in to her smile, "Yeah, yeah…"
"And I-" if anyone was watching closely they would've seen Carly hesitate and seen his smile waver. However, no one was, so he continued on. "She's kind-hearted and most of all mature." He smiled warmly straight at Lou.
That reminded Emma of something… something from not that long ago…