Chapter 9 #2
The harsh tone of her mobile rang from the pocket of her skirt, and Ellie whispered an apology to Mrs Jedd before turning away. Relief flooded through her as she silently thanked the person ringing her. Saved by the bell, or the ringtone.
‘I’ll catch you again later and we can finish our conversation,’ Mrs Jedd called after her.
‘Okay, great.’ Glancing behind her, Ellie waved towards her neighbour and looked down at her phone.
Great, it was her mum. The last person she was in the mood to talk to right about now – after Mrs Jedd, Miss Cooke and Murray, of course – but if she didn’t answer, she’d only be bombarded with messages and worried voicemails.
It was turning into quite the morning for unwanted conversations. ‘Hi, Mum.’
‘Morning, love. What’s happened?’ She could already hear the panic in her mum, Kathy’s, voice.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I’ve just rung your office and Melissa told me in no uncertain terms that you’re no longer working there!’ The panic had already transformed into indignation.
Ellie’s heart sank as she walked towards the back door.
She hadn’t mentioned her job, or everything that had been going on with Rick for that matter, to her parents.
Not yet. If there was one thing she’d learned growing up, and had it reinforced when she’d moved back home after splitting from Murray, it was to be selective with what to tell her mum, of what to worry her with.
Of course, she would have told her eventually, but in her own time, when she’d got her head around everything that had happened and was happening in her life right now.
‘That’s right. I’m not. I’ve started my own wedding planning business now. ’
‘Your own business? Melissa said you’d parted ways because of a mistake you’d made? Do you really think it’s wise for you to start your own business right now?’ Her mum’s voice rose an octave. ‘Wouldn’t it be best to get a little more experience before you branch out on your own?’
After placing the tub of birdseed on the counter, Ellie closed the door behind her with more restraint than she felt. ‘I’m more than capable of running my own business, Mum. Me and Melissa were partners. I wasn’t beneath her, she wasn’t my boss. We had equal responsibility…’
‘But still…’
‘I can do this, Mum.’ She flicked the kettle on again, she had a feeling even the meagre amount of caffeine a cup of tea would give her would be beneficial to help her survive this phone call. ‘Besides, the mistake was all Melissa’s doing, not mine.’
‘Okay…’
Ellie placed a teabag into her mug. Why couldn’t her mum just believe in her for once?
‘And what does Rick think about this? Does he think it’s a good idea? Does he feel it’s the right time for you to take such a leap of faith?’
‘It’s not a leap of faith. I’ve been working as a wedding planner for years now.
The only difference will be that I’ll be in charge.
Besides, me and Rick aren’t together anymore.
’ She clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes.
Now she’d be in for it. She could almost imagine the look of horror on her mum’s face right about now.
She loved Rick. Ellie often wondered if she loved him more than her own daughter.
No, that wasn’t fair, but her mum definitely thought Rick was more capable than Ellie.
Capable of everything: his job, running a home, heck, likely taking up ice skating if that’s what he’d chosen to do.
Walking into the living room, she sank to the floor in front of the box Rick had left there and placed her mug on the floorboards next to her.
After an audible intake of breath, Kathy was now whistling through her teeth, the unmistakable sound of admonishment. ‘Oh, Eleanor.’
Flaring her nostrils, Ellie gripped the phone tighter in her hand. Why was everything apparently her fault? ‘I didn’t finish things with him. He finished them with me.’
‘Are you sure?’
Picking up her mug, Ellie took a large gulp of tea before answering. ‘Oh, I’m sure, Mum. It’s a long story and I’ll tell you all about it when we’ve both got the time.’
Silence.
‘Mum, are you still there?’ Pulling her mobile away from her ear, she looked at the screen. Yep, the call was still connected. Her mum was likely trying her best to think of a way to word her next sentence more tactfully than outright blaming her daughter for Rick leaving.
‘I’m still here, love. I’ll pack a bag and come pick you up. We can have you home by the end of the day.’ Kathy’s voice was decisive.
‘No, there’s no need for that. I’m fine. I wanted it too. It was the right time for the relationship to end. We both knew it had run its course.’ She paused, suddenly unsure if she was digging herself further into a hole or not. ‘What I mean is, I’m glad he’s gone.’
‘Just come home for a few days, that’s all I’m asking. You know—’
‘No, Mum. I’ve got a wedding to plan. The first wedding under my own business. I’m not coming home. I don’t need to.’ She lowered her mug back to the floor and picked at the Sellotape holding the lid closed on the box.
‘You know how you were when you and Murray broke up. I just think it would be better if you came home for a bit. I can look after you…’
‘No, I don’t need looking after. I’m staying here.
’ Ellie pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn’t meant to sound so against the idea, but she was.
Things had been different after she and Murray had finished.
She had been different. She’d been young, and she’d had her heart broken.
Yes, it would take her a while to adjust now that her and Rick’s relationship was over, but she hadn’t had her heart broken.
Nothing of the sort. In fact, for the most part, she felt relief.
‘Oh, I don’t know…’ Her mum’s voice trailed off.
‘Honestly, I’m fine. I’m better than fine. Rick leaving was a good thing.’ Tucking the mobile between her shoulder and ear, Ellie tugged at the Sellotape again, a loud rip filling the room as she pulled it off.
‘You know I worry about you, Eleanor.’
‘I know. And thank you, but you really don’t need to.
I’m fine.’ Ellie lifted the flaps of the cardboard box and frowned.
So much for the assumption Rick had returned some kitchen bits, the box was stuffed full of photographs by the looks of things.
Photo wallets and paperwork. She picked up the first photo wallet and frowned as a piece of paper fell to the floor.
Picking it up, she read the carefully scripted note in Rick’s handwriting: There were always three people in our relationship.
Frowning, Ellie turned the rectangle of paper over, half-expecting an explanation to be written on the back. Nothing.
Three people in the relationship? What was that supposed to mean? Was he referring to Lisa? Had their affair been going on even longer than she suspected? For years? Since before she’d felt things change?
‘Eleanor? Am I keeping you from something? Are you upset? I can ask your father to run me over now.’ Kathy’s voice wavered before becoming muffled as though she’d covered the mouthpiece with her hand to speak to her dad in the background.
‘What? No, no, Mum. I’ve just got something I need to do. Sorry. I’ll ring you back.’ Ending the call before the inevitable protests, Ellie placed her mobile face down on the floorboards before turning back to the note.