Chapter 16
Once enemies now something else
Emma and Trevor now can talk and Trevor explains how he became a single dad and Emma tells him how she was an orphan and grew up in an orphanage and never knew her parents or what happened to them. And how the only one she needs in her life is her cat and career and never wanted kids she doesn't like kids Penny is sleeping as they learn each other's personal pasts now that Emma and Penny had some time to get to know each other Penny starts growing on Emma
The sterile hum of the news studio’s break room was a stark contrast to the whirlwind of secrets churning beneath its polished surface. Emma nursed a lukewarm coffee, the bitter taste a familiar comfort against the gnawing unease that had settled in her gut. Across from her, Trevor, his usual cocky smirk softened into something more introspective, spun a sugar packet between his fingers. The air between them, once thick with professional rivalry, had thinned, replaced by a tentative, almost fragile understanding.
“Penny,” Trevor began, his voice lower than usual, “she… she’s the reason I do all this.” He gestured vaguely, encompassing the relentless news cycle, the cutthroat competition, the endless pursuit of the next big story. “Her mother, Sarah, she was… she was everything. This amazing woman, so full of life. We were so happy.” He paused, swallowing hard. “Then Penny came along. A beautiful, perfect girl. But Sarah… she didn’t make it. Complications. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers, a sharp, decisive sound in the quiet room. “Gone.”
Emma listened, her gaze fixed on the swirling cream in her coffee. She’d always projected an image of fierce independence, a woman who needed no one, who thrived in the solitary pursuit of her career. The truth, however, was a landscape of unspoken grief. “I know what it’s like,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “To be… alone.” She didn’t elaborate on the sterile, echoing halls of the orphanage, the revolving door of temporary guardians, the ache of never knowing where she came from. It was a story she rarely shared, a raw nerve she kept tightly guarded. “I learned early on that you can only rely on yourself. And maybe your cat.” A faint smile touched her lips at the thought of her own aloof feline, Mittens, who offered a silent, judgmental companionship she wouldn’t trade for anything.
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