The Leap Year Proposal

Chapter Fourteen

Ellie

Tuesday 4 February

Ellie was frantically trying to finish off the brochure she had been pulling together with the heads of the other departments, ready to go to the proofreader tonight. If she didn’t manage it, there wouldn’t be enough time to have it all checked properly before it went to the printer’s.

She was meeting Scott at Caprese, their favourite Italian restaurant. They hadn’t been out much recently, but she had insisted. She wanted to ask him to take a few days off work, including the twenty-ninth of February, and she didn’t intend to do it by phone or text. She wasn’t taking no for an answer.

When she arrived at the restaurant there were only four other diners and no sign of Scott. She was already five minutes late, as she’d left later than intended, and had had to put a spurt on and speedwalk there, particularly since the rain was coming down in torrents. So her temperament wasn’t improved by the fact she was soaking wet. The February weather was shaping up to be just as horrible as January’s.

The waiter, Luca, whom she knew because they had once been frequent diners here, showed her to a table by the window, and more importantly the radiator, lit a candle in the centre of the table and left her two menus.

Whilst she waited for Scott, she perused the menu and ordered herself a Bellini. Why not? Quarter past six. He was supposed to be meeting her here at six. She checked her phone. Nothing. She texted him, asking how long before he would be there. Rather than opt for something she knew she loved, she chose involtini for starters but stuck with her old faithful Bolognese alla ragù for her main course . She’d wait for Scott to arrive before ordering though. She checked her phone again.

By half past six, she was seriously unimpressed. She called him but it rang out, so she left a voicemail, then ordered her starter. The two breadsticks she’d nibbled on hadn’t quite filled her up. What was keeping him? Eventually, she called him again. Straight to voicemail. Now she was beginning to worry. Should she stay in the restaurant or go home and make some calls? She would look a right clingy mare if she called his friends after his only being ‘missing’ for half an hour. He couldn’t have forgotten. She had reminded him only this morning. She called his house– no answer.

Ellie ate her starter but had no appetite for it. She couldn’t even drive to Scott’s house to see if he was all right, as she’d drunk that Bellini. Finally admitting to herself that Scott wasn’t coming, she asked Luca for the bill. His concerned expression had her almost in tears.

From the taxi, she called Chloe and burst into noisy sobs when she answered the phone, then tried to pull herself together in case her sister was worried something had happened to her.

‘It’s Scott.’

‘Has he been in an accident? Is he OK?’

‘No. I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I can’t get hold of him and we were to meet at Caprese, and I waited for more than half an hour but he hasn’t turned up, and I’ve texted him and he hasn’t replied, and I’ve phoned him and left a voicemail and phoned him again and it didn’t even ring…’ Ellie paused for breath. Her chest was tight, as if she were having a heart attack.

‘Slow down, slow down,’ Chloe said. ‘Where are you now?’

‘I’m on the way home.’ She hiccoughed.

‘Do you want to come here? Or I can be at yours in five minutes.’

‘Would you mind coming here? I don’t want Rosie seeing me in this state.’ She hiccoughed again.

‘She’s in bed, but that’s fine. Mitchell can look after her. I’ll meet you at the flat.’

‘Or shall I get the taxi to swing past yours? I’m not far away.’

‘No, I’ll bring the car. It’ll make it easier for getting back.’

‘Thanks, Chloe. I appreciate it.’

Ellie put her phone back in her bag and sat back in her seat. Where the hell was Scott?

By the time the taxi reached Ellie’s flat, Chloe’s car was pulling into a parking space. Ellie paid the driver and hurried over to Chloe, who stepped out of the car and hugged her.

‘You OK?’

‘Not sure.’ Ellie continued to hug Chloe then drew back and said, ‘I’ve just had an idea. Can you drive me to Scott’s flat? I’d have driven myself, but I’ve had a Bellini.’

‘Sure. Get in.’

As they drove the sixteen miles to Livingston, Chloe tried to reassure her. ‘Maybe he’s been held up at work.’

When Ellie remained silent, Chloe continued. ‘Why don’t you call Caprese to check if he has turned up?’

Ellie scowled. ‘I think he’s made me look enough of a prat for one night, thanks. I don’t need anyone else to know my boyfriend is still AWOL.’

Chloe sighed. ‘Fair point.’

Even though she obviously didn’t want anything bad to have happened to Scott, Ellie was furious as she had never been stood up before. Why would he not turn up? If he had a meeting that ran late or if he had to go and be wined and dined by some pharmaceutical company, why not text or ring her? Anyway, he worked at the university. They mainly kept office hours, so the latter scenarios were unlikely, although he could occasionally get so caught up in his research that he forgot the time.

No, she was sure he would be home, but why not answer her calls and how could he have forgotten when she’d texted him to remind him only that morning? Come to think of it, had he actually replied to confirm? She’d been so busy working on the brochure, it hadn’t occurred to her to double-check.

She explained her thought process to Chloe and checked her phone. He hadn’t replied. However, he had said yes a few days before when she’d initially asked him. Now she felt a bit of an idiot. Maybe he was delayed at work, or had something else on and had forgotten, but it still didn’t explain why he hadn’t answered her text that morning or her calls or texts that night. Unless he’d left his phone at home. He was forever doing that.

She divulged her thoughts to Chloe, who asked if she wanted them to turn around. Ellie felt silly having dragged her sister out of her home and away from her husband on a cold winter’s night and even more foolish for making her drive out to Livingston, but well, they were here now, and Scott’s house was only two streets away, so they’d be as well to go and check.

Ellie showed Chloe which way to go, then as they approached Scott’s house, she noted his car in the drive. There was also another car, one she didn’t recognise. Ellie’s brow creased in puzzlement and she shot Chloe a look. Who was he with? She wasn’t the jealous type, but she’d just made an idiot of herself, sitting in a restaurant waiting for him to turn up. She had a right to know why he hadn’t appeared. And if he was home, which seemed likely as the lights were on, the blinds partially drawn, then he’d have his mobile with him.

‘So he is home.’ Confusion swirled in Ellie’s stomach as dread and uncertainty vied for supremacy within her. ‘Why didn’t he answer his bloody phone then?’ she muttered almost to herself. ‘Asshole. He made me look a right prat.’ She jerked the car door open. ‘Wait till I give him a piece of–’

As if sensing her whirling emotions, Chloe undid her seat belt and hauled her back in just as she was about to step out. ‘I’ll go. You stay here and think things through. Don’t do anything rash in the heat of the moment, Els.’

‘You’re not going to ring the bell, are you?’ Ellie was horrified.

‘No, not yet. I’m just going to scope the place out.’

‘What are you, a cat burglar?’ Her defence mechanism was kicking in– making light of things when there was a serious problem. ‘Watch you don’t fall,’ Ellie whispered as Chloe slithered her way across the icy road. ‘I’m not fit to take you to A instead, she’d discovered her boyfriend had been cheating on her. What an anti-climax.

When they arrived at Chloe’s, Ellie slumped in a chair in the kitchen whilst Chloe went into the living room to talk to Mitchell. Ellie heard their whispering voices, then the sound of feet on the stairs. It seemed Mitchell was making himself scarce.

Chloe returned soon afterwards and put the kettle on, then prepared their cups and a plate of chocolate Hobnobs, essential comfort food, before putting everything on a tray and carrying it through to the living room.

Ellie followed her and sank into the sofa. Wordlessly, Chloe handed her a cup of tea, which Ellie took gratefully. She was still trying to gather her thoughts. This couldn’t be happening to her. Was this denial? No, she’d been through that when she’d deluded herself he’d either left his mobile phone at home or was working late. Had her subconscious somehow known something was amiss? Was in fact her intent to propose spurred on by a warning signal in her head telling her something was seriously wrong in their relationship? Was the fact she would rather have been without him than not take their relationship to the next level an indicator they weren’t meant to be together anyway? A moot point now, of course.

The questions tumbled one after the other into her mind, jostling for position. Nope, she still couldn’t get her head around it. Sure, recently they hadn’t had many nights out together, but they’d still seen each other twice a week, still joking and laughing together, still making love.

God, had he been sleeping with that other woman whilst he was with her? Then she chastised herself for her stupidity. Of course he had. Did that mean she’d have to get tested for STDs? Their only contraception in the past six years had been the pill, because she’d assumed, wrongly it turned out, that as a couple they no longer needed to use condoms, since they’d only be sleeping with each other. The tears welled up again and soon her whole body was heaving and she was emitting low, pitiful mewling noises like a scared newborn kitten. What should she do now?

Chloe held Ellie to her. ‘Shh. You’ll be OK. He doesn’t deserve you. You’re strong, stronger than you think. You will get through this.’

As her sister stroked her hair, she calmed down, steeled with a new resolve. She would not let him get the better of her. She would sleep on it then figure out how to end their relationship officially, because of course he had no inkling she’d been to his house tonight, or that she’d seen him kissing the blonde.

Had she always known their love wasn’t the real thing? It certainly had never been the way Chloe was with Mitchell. Scott was more aloof, cold some would say, but she had put that down to him being scientific, more clinical, not emotional. Boffins weren’t like normal people, were they? And they’d had a lot in common, their love for extreme sports just one example, although, in retrospect, had he taken up the extreme sports after meeting her? She couldn’t quite recall.

‘Sorry, Chloe.’

‘Don’t be sorry. I’m only glad I was here for you.’

Ellie sighed. ‘What did Mitchell say?’

‘I didn’t tell him. I just said something had happened and I’d fill him in later, but we needed the room.’

Ellie shook her head as if trying to eradicate the scene she’d witnessed earlier. ‘Can you tell Mitchell for me? I don’t think I’m up to putting it all into words at the minute.’

‘I’ll tell him in the morning. Let’s put on something with superheroes in it and chill for a bit. Here, I’ll get you a blanket. If you want to drift off on the sofa, you can crash there. The spare room is made up too. Mitchell said he’d see to that before he went to bed.’

‘Thanks, Chloe, you’re the best. I love you.’

‘I love you too. Now, Spiderman or Batman?’

‘Definitely Batman, with Christian Bale. The Dark Knight .’

Ellie snuggled into the couch with Chloe at one end and her at the other, sipping her tea and chewing on a Hobnob, although it tasted like sawdust in her mouth given the evening’s events. As she dedicated part of her attention to the film, she found herself appreciating just how wonderful her family were. They had always been close, but right now she wondered where she would be without them.