07-11-2025, 06:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-12-2025, 01:28 AM by Emily Shale-Vanders.)
Emily shut the door to Rachel's bedroom. It had been a hell of a day for all of them. She had received Elyse's text and she wasn't surprised. It confirmed what she had been thinking. Emily knew what she had to do now. They just had to keep her going for a bit. Hopefully her plan would work. If it didn't, Emily would be at a loss for what to do next.
Emily went to her room and changed into her exercise clothes before going to their gym. She found Jared there, working through some martial arts movements slowly. He did that when he needed to calm down. Jared was good at hiding his emotions when he needed to, but he was also good at channeling them into something to relax them.
Emily needed something more physical. She went to the punching bag. Jared responded by moving, gripping the bag from the other side as she attacked it. There was nothing tactical about what she did. She just hit the bag - hard and repeatedly. It wasn't enough. She stopped as she began to sob and fell to the ground. The day had been too much. Way too much. Jared was there in a moment, holding her tight and she sobbed into his shoulder. Neither one spoke. Both of them knew that no words were necessary yet. The only thing she needed was to cry.
Emily finished and released Jared, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What happened at work?" Jared asked, going right to the heart of it. He knew what had happened with Rachel, but he knew it had to have been more than that to cause this reaction.
"Someone informed Moscow Police that there was a bomb threat at the building. We got everyone out okay, and they found nothing, but they have no certain date for when it will happen. They don't even know if it's true, but it's credible. They told me they couldn't tell me much more yet, but they're investigating. Staff is working from home as much as possible, and security is going to be increased at the building until we know what's going on. They say they'll keep me informed as much as possible. At least they're taking it seriously."
Jared nodded, and kept silent as she embraced him again. "I'm going to move on with Rachel's treatment...later tonight - I need to not think about these things for awhile." she said breaking the silence.
"I have a distraction. An experiment I want to try," Jared responded, pulling away and wiping tears from her eyes.
She chuckled and gave a wry grin. "Not until after the baby."
Jared chuckled. "Not that kind of experiment.
She laughed. It felt good to laugh. "Alright - what do you have in mind?"
Emily went to her room and changed into her exercise clothes before going to their gym. She found Jared there, working through some martial arts movements slowly. He did that when he needed to calm down. Jared was good at hiding his emotions when he needed to, but he was also good at channeling them into something to relax them.
Emily needed something more physical. She went to the punching bag. Jared responded by moving, gripping the bag from the other side as she attacked it. There was nothing tactical about what she did. She just hit the bag - hard and repeatedly. It wasn't enough. She stopped as she began to sob and fell to the ground. The day had been too much. Way too much. Jared was there in a moment, holding her tight and she sobbed into his shoulder. Neither one spoke. Both of them knew that no words were necessary yet. The only thing she needed was to cry.
Emily finished and released Jared, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What happened at work?" Jared asked, going right to the heart of it. He knew what had happened with Rachel, but he knew it had to have been more than that to cause this reaction.
"Someone informed Moscow Police that there was a bomb threat at the building. We got everyone out okay, and they found nothing, but they have no certain date for when it will happen. They don't even know if it's true, but it's credible. They told me they couldn't tell me much more yet, but they're investigating. Staff is working from home as much as possible, and security is going to be increased at the building until we know what's going on. They say they'll keep me informed as much as possible. At least they're taking it seriously."
Jared nodded, and kept silent as she embraced him again. "I'm going to move on with Rachel's treatment...later tonight - I need to not think about these things for awhile." she said breaking the silence.
"I have a distraction. An experiment I want to try," Jared responded, pulling away and wiping tears from her eyes.
She chuckled and gave a wry grin. "Not until after the baby."
Jared chuckled. "Not that kind of experiment.
She laughed. It felt good to laugh. "Alright - what do you have in mind?"