Chapter 454: Escape
Emily spent the next couple of hours trying unsuccessfully to return to normal life.
Everywhere she turned, someone was either smiling at her or asking to snap pictures with her like she was some celebrity.
The moment she got a few free minutes, she slipped into one of the private staff restrooms and locked the door behind her when no one was looking.
Emily leaned back against the door and exhaled heavily.
“I can’t believe Callan put me through this,” she muttered with a shake of her head.
She took out her phone to see the buzz the news had generated on the internet. Her colleagues had told her she was trending online.
The moment she unlocked the phone, she was surprised to see that she had a couple of missed calls from her Dad.
Only then did she realise that she’d forgotten to turn on the sound and vibration after stepping out of the theatre.
She dialed her father’s line, and the moment the call connected, a smile immediately spread across her face.
“Hello, Dad.”
“I thought you were ignoring my calls because you no longer cared about me now that you got yourself a boyfriend.”
Emily laughed immediately. “Dad!”
“I called three times.”
“I was in surgery.”
“Hm. Surgery? I guess Callan was the patient,” he said dryly.
Her laughter grew louder. “Dad! I’m serious. I just came out of surgery and didn’t have the time to reset my phone’s sound before I was dragged into that. I only just got a moment to myself now.”
On the other end of the line, Damon chuckled softly. “I suppose that’s a reasonable excuse to miss your father’s call.”
“Thank you,” Emily said dryly.
Her father was impossible sometimes.
“So.”
Damon chuckled softly. “So, what?”
“Tell me why you called, Dad. I’m sure you called because you saw the news online. You don’t disapprove, right? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you and you had to find out about it this way.”
Damon said nothing for a moment, then he asked, “How are you?”
The question was simple. But Emily suspected he wasn’t asking merely about her physical wellbeing.
“I’m okay,” she said softly.
“Just okay?”
Her smile softened. “I’m more than okay. I’m happy.”
“Even with the attention this is drawing to you? I thought you didn’t want anyone knowing about you?”
Emily didn’t respond immediately. She thought about Callan.
The banner.
The food vans.
The way he had looked at her and whispered that now everyone knew she was his.
Heat crept into her cheeks immediately.
“It was bound to happen sooner or later, right?” She asked.
Silence greeted her answer. Then she heard her father exhale softly.
“Alright. As long as you are happy, then it’s okay.”
Emily swallowed.
Something about his response made her chest tighten.
“Dad?”
“Hm?”
“You don’t disapprove? You’re not going to ask any questions?”
Damon was quiet for a moment. “Like if you’re sure you want to be with Callan?”
“Of course I am.”
Damon chuckled. “Yeah. That has been obvious for years. He was just very slow in catching up.”
Emily giggled, then paused, “You knew how I felt?”
“Everyone knew how you felt apart from Callan, I guess.”
Emily. “But you never said anything.”
“You didn’t trust me enough to e to me. And I didn’t think there was need for it since you were talking to your mother about it. That was good enough for me.”
Her throat tightened slightly. “I trust you, Dad. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to hate Callan. I didn’t want him to get into trouble with you. And I didn’t want it to affect you and Uncle Hunter’s relationship, or Mom’s and Aunt Delilah’s.”
“If you trusted me, you’d trust me to handle it the way that’s best for everyone. Callan inclusive,” Damon corrected gently.
Emily looked down, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Em. You’re my daughter. My first princess. Your happiness will always be my priority.”
Emily blinked rapidly. “I know.”
“No, you don’t. You have no idea how hard it was watching you all these years. Sending you over to his place for this programme was my last resort in helping you either get over him or fix things with him.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“Dad? You sent me here deliberately?”
“Yes. I did. And I’m glad you both finally worked things out. I want you to be happy, Em. I want you to be in love and happy.”
Her chest warmed. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you more. And if Callan dares blink at anyone else, let me know,” Damon said, and Emily laughed despite herself.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll make sure he can’t see any other girl,” Damon said, and they both laughed.
Then after a moment, his voice became gentler. “You deserve to be happy, sweetheart.”
Her eyes stung unexpectedly. “Dad…”
“And if Callan can make you happy, then that’s all I care about.”
Emily swallowed slowly. “He does.”
The answer came too easily. And hearing herself say it made her smile.
“We do have our differences, but we are working through them. He wants us to attend couple counselling and therapy together.
Damon was quiet for a second.
Then he said, “That’s good. Very good. I like that.”
Emily leaned against the door. “You talked to him already, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“Dad.”
“Maybe.”
Emily laughed. “What did you say?”
“Nothing that should concern you.”
That answer immediately made her suspicious. “You threatened him.”
“I did no such thing.”
Emily raised a brow. “Dad.”
“I merely informed him that I wouldn’t be pleased if he hurt you again.”
Emily groaned. “You threatened him.”
“I educated him.”
She burst out laughing. “Poor Callan.”
“Rich daddy.”
Emily laughed even harder.
Then suddenly there was a knock on the restroom door. “Emily? Are you in there?” Dr Loma called out.
Emily immediately straightened as she looked toward the door. “Oh no.”
Dr Loma had been in the theatre the entire time the whole thing was going on outside. It seemed she’d just caught up with the gist.
Her father heard the panic in her voice immediately. “What happened?”
“They found me,” she whispered. “I was hiding in the restroom. They’re treating me like some celebrity doctor.”
Damon burst out laughing.
Outside the door, Dr Loma called again. “I can hear you in there, Emily. Just so you know, I’m telling everyone on my socials that you’re my BFF. e out here. I need to get a picture.”
Dr Loma sounded entirely too excited. And suddenly, Emily knew with absolute certainty that her day was nowhere near over.
Emily covered her face. “Oh my God.”
Her father was laughing so hard now that she could barely hear him.
“This isn’t funny, Dad.”
“It absolutely is.”
Emily groaned. “Why did Callan have to be so dramatic?”
Damon laughed even harder. “I’ll leave you to get back to your paparazzi. Your Mum is busy with a client. She said to let you know she will call you later to get all the gist.”
Her father hung up before she could say anything else, and she exhaled slowly and braced herself to face Dr Loma.
By the time her shift finally ended a couple of hours later, Emily felt pletely drained.
She changed out of her scrubs and gathered her things, then headed towards the hospital entrance.
She was already smiling because she knew Callan would be waiting outside in the car.
The moment she stepped into the lobby, she groaned when she saw Callan walk in through the main entrance.
The reaction was immediate.
Someone clapped. Then another person joined in. Then within seconds, the entire lobby erupted into applause.
Callan stopped walking and started laughing and waving at everyone as the applause grew louder.
A nurse shouted, “We love you, Mr Quinn!”
Someone else yelled, “Should we expect a food van tomorrow?”
The entire lobby burst into laughter.
Callan placed a hand over his chest dramatically. “I appreciate the support.”
Emily wanted the floor to swallow her as she watched the scene before her.
Callan finally spotted her, and his face lit up instantly.
Somehow, that made the cheering worse.
As he walked toward her, people continued laughing and clapping around them.
When he finally reached her, Emily immediately smacked his arm.
“Ow! What’s that for?”
“Are you an attention junkie?”
Callan looked innocent. “What did I do now?””
“Why didn’t you wait in the car?”
Callan looked genuinely confused by the question. “Why would I?”
“So nobody would see you,” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why should I hide now that everybody already knows that I’m your boyfriend?”
Emily opened her mouth.
Then closed it again.
Unfortunately, he had a point.
Callan smiled and took her bag from her shoulder. “Ready to go?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Without hesitation, he slipped an arm around her shoulders and started walking with her toward the exit.
The moment they stepped outside, Emily breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally.
They had barely gotten into the car when both their phones started ringing at the exact same time.
Emily groaned immediately she saw it was a group video call from Jamal and Mari.
“Oh no.”
Callan chuckled. “I was starting to wonder how long it would take them to see the news and react.”
“They probably just saw it.”
“Probably.”
Emily sighed dramatically as she answered the call.
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