Emma heard her cellphone ringing and picked it up from the table. Seeing Coleman's name on the screen made her feel a tinge of guilt. She had completely forgotten to call him when she arrived in Detroit ten hours ago. Knowing him, the next twenty minutes will be spent apologizing for her 'lack of care'. That was the way he described it.  Every time she forgot to tell him something he believed she should have, she got a lecture. "How do you forget the people you care about?" was a classic question Emma could not count how many times she had heard. The real answer to that was "When you're super busy" if she wanted to be honest. Unfortunately, Coleman couldn't handle that level of honesty. He was way too sensitive and would hurt too deeply. 

"Hale." She spoke into the mouthpiece.

"Did you arrive safely?" He asked.

Emma knew that wasn't really a question. It was more like 'so you arrived safely and didn't bother to call me'. Experience had taught her it was easier to apologize in such situations. There was no need to go into a justification argument. Coleman always found a way to emotionally blackmail her into losing.

"I'm sorry. I should have called. I got swarmed with work." She replied.

"From the airport?" He asked.

That was another statement in the guise of a question. He was playing with her head. She felt bad for forgetting to call him but that didn't mean she had to go through emotional torture for it.

"Hale, I'm sorry." It was a firm response specifically given to end that conversation.  

Coleman seemed to get the message. He switched the tone of the conversation almost immediately.

"You set eyes on McDouglas and completely forget about the rest of us." He teased.

"Really, Hale?" 

She couldn't believe he just said that. There was no attraction between her and Caiden whatsoever. The only time she thought about him was when there was work to be done or a heavy bag to be punched. 

"Tell me about it. What color were the fireworks? Were there butterflies instead?" He was beginning to chuckle now.

With the number of times Coleman teased about Caiden, Emma expected to be used to it by now. Somehow, she wasn't. It still found a way to irk her.

"You do know I could cut your tongue off and feed it to Dino." She threatened.

"Oh sure. With me out of the way, there will be one less distraction from your ultimate dream."

"Which is?" She knew Coleman was going to say something silly but she loved to humor him.

"Getting lost in McDouglas' brown eyes, of course." Emma heard him laughing at the other end of the line.

She clenched her hand into a fist and was about to say something in reply when Coleman interrupted her.

"Let me guess. You're clenching your hand into a fist right now. Do you really want to punch me or are you desperately trying to picture McDouglas' face?"

This time, it was Emma's turn to laugh. He was spot on with her gesture and she wondered if he truly knew her that well. What she didn't know was that Coleman Hale was sitting in a car parked in the shadows across the street. Held up to his face were the binoculars which showed him everything going on inside her apartment.

** Dun, dun, dun... What in the world is Coleman Hale doing in Detroit? Any guesses? Vote if you feel this chapter deserves it and share your thoughts in the comments section. I'd love to read what you think. :) **