Chapter 28 #2
Ellie stared at her, every instinct in her body telling her to shut this down immediately and end it…get her out. But Audrey had already come this far, and something told Ellie she wasn’t going to leave quickly or quietly.
“Make it quick,” Ellie said, folding her arms. “I have a school to run.”
“I’m here about Alba.”
Of course she was.
Ellie felt that protectiveness settling into place. “I’m not discussing Alba with you.” Ellie moved towards the door and nodded down the corridor. “You can leave.”
“If you’re involved with her, then you should know exactly what you’re dealing with.”
Ellie slowly turned back. “I said—”
“She lies.” Audrey took a step closer. “She twists things and plays the victim when it suits her. I lived with her, Ellie. Christ, I even married the weirdo. I know exactly what she’s like behind closed doors.”
Ellie’s temper sparked, but she wouldn’t give this woman the satisfaction of seeing her like that. Audrey would play on it, and Ellie couldn’t risk her twisting it to suit her own narrative. “Do you now?”
“She’ll make you feel like you’re the centre of her world,” she continued, her eyes locked on Ellie’s. “Like you’re the only person who’s ever understood her. And then the second you don’t fit into whatever version of reality she’s created in her head…she turns.”
Ellie’s hands curled into fists at her sides. “Stop!”
“She’s already caused enough disruption just by being here, Ellie. Staff are talking, and people are uncomfortable. And you, of all people, should be setting an example, rather than fucking her.”
“That’s enough.” Ellie’s voice cut through the room. She stepped forward, closing the space between them, her composure barely hanging on. “How dare you walk into my school and start criticising a member of my staff based on your personal grievances?”
Audrey laughed and threw her hands up. “I’m trying to help you!”
“No,” Ellie snapped. “You’re trying to control a situation and a woman that no longer belongs to you.
” Ellie watched on as that landed. “I don’t know what you think you’re achieving by being here, but let me make something very clear.
” She stepped closer. “I’m not interested in your opinion of Alba. ”
Audrey’s jaw clenched. “Well, you should be.”
“I’m not finished.” Ellie shoved her hands in the pockets of her pants and cleared her throat. “Whatever happened between the two of you is not something you get to drag into this building. Not today. Not ever.”
Audrey laughed again, but Ellie knew she’d hit a nerve the moment she’d disregarded anything she’d said. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Believe me, I do.” She rounded her desk and calmly took a seat. “And even if I didn’t, it still wouldn’t be any of your business.”
Audrey glared at her as though she was trying to find a crack or a weakness in Ellie. Perhaps something she could use against her, but she didn’t find it, because Ellie didn’t give her one.
“Now, you can leave of your own accord, or I can have you escorted out.”
The room held still for a moment, and then Audrey scoffed, shaking her head as she turned for the door. “This won’t end well.”
Ellie watched her go, waiting until the door at the end of the corridor had closed behind her, before she exhaled a calming breath and braced her hands against the edge of her desk.
Her pulse was racing, and her chest felt tight, but underneath all of it…there was no doubt. Audrey had come here to push Ellie away from Alba, but all she’d managed was to push Ellie even closer.
What a piece of work.
Ellie hadn’t moved since Audrey had left some ten minutes ago.
Her hands remained braced against the desk, her breath was still a little uneven, and the room felt deathly quiet now.
Her pulse hadn’t quite settled yet, but she knew it came from the sheer audacity of Audrey coming in here as though she had any right to.
And then for her to say those things about Alba…
Ellie slowly pushed herself upright and ran a hand through her hair. Nothing she’d said mattered because Ellie knew what was real. She knew what Alba meant to her. Audrey could criticise Alba until she was blue in the face, but Ellie would still have the same response.
The door opened, and Ellie’s head shot up instantly, a smile settling on her lips. “Alba, hi.”
Ellie’s smile quickly faded when she noticed the look on Alba’s face. She didn’t seem like herself at all. Her shoulders were tense, her posture was rigid, and her hands were shaking at her sides.
“Hey.” Ellie moved around the desk. “What’s—”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry?” Ellie stopped and frowned. “For what?”
Alba didn’t meet her eyes, and that was the first real sign that something was off.
“I didn’t know she was coming. I swear to you, Ellie. I had no idea she’d turn up like that. I tried to stop her at the entrance; I told her not to—”
Ellie closed the distance between them. Whatever was running through Alba’s mind…none of this was necessary. An apology wasn’t necessary. “Alba, stop.” Alba did, but she still wouldn’t look at Ellie. “You don’t need to apologise for anything.”
“She came here because of me. Because of us.” Alba’s breath caught when Ellie took her hand. “And now she’s dragged you into it.”
“I’m already in it. And I chose that.”
Alba shook her head, a defeat settling in her pretty brown eyes. “That’s not fair to you.”
“No.” Something in Ellie snapped at that. “Don’t do that.” Ellie stepped closer, a hand settling on Alba’s waist, hoping it would ground her. “You don’t get to decide what’s fair for me. I make that choice.”
When Ellie searched her face, she saw it. The fear in Alba’s eyes, the tremble of her lip…and a look beneath it all that told Ellie she’d already made a decision about something. “I don’t want this to blow back on you. Not with everything else you’ve got going on right now.”
Eloise. Of course.
“I can handle it,” Ellie said, lifting a hand and brushing her thumb beneath Alba’s eye. “Trust me, I can.”
“Ellie.” Alba gently pulled her hand back and regarded her with a weak smile. “I think I should step back.”
“I…what?” Ellie stared at her, waiting for the rest of it…for some kind of explanation, but it didn’t come. “Alba, what exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying—” Alba exhaled a shaky breath as her voice broke. She surely didn’t want to end this…to leave Ellie like this? “I’m saying I don’t want to make your life harder than it already is.”
“You’re not.”
Alba scoffed. “I am.”
“You’re not,” Ellie repeated, her tone firmer this time. “But do you hear yourself right now? You’re trying to walk away from something good because it might be…difficult?”
“It’s not just difficult, Ellie.”
“Then what is it?” Ellie pushed. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re letting her win.”
Alba flinched as that landed between them. “I’m not doing this because of her.”
“Then why are you doing it?” If Alba was walking away from this, then Ellie needed to understand why. Because hell would freeze over before Audrey fucking Seddon got her way. “Please, talk to me.”
Alba looked away again, her shoulders sagging. “I don’t think I can do this right now.”
Ellie took both of Alba’s hands and brought them to her lips.
She placed a kiss on her knuckles, swallowed down the lump in her throat, and whispered, “Look at me.” Alba shook her head but eventually looked up at Ellie.
“I’m not asking you to have this all figured out.
I’m not asking you to be fearless or unaffected by any of this, but please, don’t push me away because you think you’re protecting me. ”
“I’m sorry.” Alba pressed herself to Ellie and buried her face in her neck. “I can’t do this to you. I can’t risk Audrey making your life hell. I’d never forgive myself.”
Ellie lowered a kiss to Alba’s hair and sighed. “That’s not for you to decide. I make the choice when it comes to what I want.” Ellie drew back and lifted Alba’s chin. “Because really, all I want is you.”
The words hung between them, simple, clear, and uncomplicated…but Alba’s expression didn’t settle. Not in the way Ellie needed it to, anyway. “I know.”
“So, what do we do about this?” Ellie asked as she lifted a brow. “I can understand why you’re worried, but I’m not stepping away from any of it, Alba. I’m not losing someone I care so deeply about because of a bitchy ex-wife.”
“I just…I need some space to think, okay?”
Ellie chose not to argue or push this time. She could see that Alba was already halfway gone. Not physically, but emotionally. She was protecting herself, she was protecting Ellie, and she was clearly bracing for whatever Audrey had up her sleeve next.
Ellie let her hand fall away slowly. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”
It was the last thing she wanted to say, but it was the only thing she could offer. Because as Alba nodded and turned for the door, she couldn’t ignore the feeling that something had just shifted between them…in a way she wasn’t sure she could fix.