Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alba had spent the last thirty minutes pacing in the hallway, stuck between hiding away and rushing around to Ellie’s. She knew she’d had a moment in her office earlier, that red mist descending before she could stop it, but now…now she just wanted to be in Ellie’s arms.
She eyed the front door again. She’d opened it earlier to collect food from a delivery driver, food she hadn’t bothered to touch, and now she was considering opening it again…Colin in tow as they hurried towards Ellie’s place.
Alba heard her phone buzz again on the kitchen counter.
It would be another message she didn’t need or want to read.
She already knew the tone and the words…
the intent. Audrey always made sure Alba knew exactly what she was saying.
She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled in a shaky breath through her nose, her fingers curling against the banister as she stopped and tried to gather herself and her thoughts.
This was relentless. Vicious, too. Each message seemed to be harsher than the last as Audrey twisted and warped things, turning something that had felt so right and so good into something ugly and suffocating.
You ruin everything you touch. She’ll see it soon enough. People always do.
“Stop,” Alba whispered into her painfully silent hallway.
Part of her believed what Audrey was saying, because this was how it always went.
She would find something good to focus on, and then it all unravelled.
She would put her all into friendships and relationships…
and then she would always find herself back here, alone, pacing and wondering what the point was anymore.
Her throat constricted as she pressed a hand to her mouth and tears slipped freely down her face. She hadn’t cried like this in a long time. Not from a place of fear that sat deep within her and told her to run before she got hurt. Before Ellie got hurt.
The thought of Ellie…God, that made it worse.
Alba sobbed, her shoulders shaking as she wiped at her face. Stepping away had been the right thing to do, hadn’t it? Forcing space and protecting Ellie from all of this. From Audrey and the whispers. From…
Alba froze when there was a loud knock, her heart jumping into her throat as her gaze snapped towards the front door. No, no, no. If that was Audrey…no, Alba couldn’t think like that. If she did, she would be out of the back door and scaling the fence before she’d had the chance to knock again.
And then another knock came, much softer this time, and Alba knew exactly who it was.
She swallowed and moved towards the door, every step she took feeling heavier. She didn’t need to check or ask who it was…her body knew Ellie was standing on the other side. She was certain of it. Her hand hovered over the handle for a second, then she took a deep breath and opened it.
“H-hi.” Ellie stood there, her hair out of place, searching Alba’s face. “I know you don’t want to see me, but I had to try. I couldn’t sit at home knowing I could fix this.”
“Ellie, I—” Alba hadn’t even realised she was crying again until Ellie stepped closer, her hands lifting and settling against her cheeks.
“What’s happened now?” Ellie’s touch was grounding, but Alba’s chest still ached when she leaned into it. “Hey, come on.”
“I’m fine.” Alba shook her head and stepped back, dragging the sleeve of her hoodie across her face. “You shouldn’t be here.”
It didn’t matter how much she’d wanted to see Ellie, and it didn’t matter how much she wished she would stay. She still shouldn’t be here. It was only going to make everything harder than it needed to be.
But Ellie stepped inside anyway, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. “I’m exactly where I should be.”
“You’re not listening to me.” Alba turned away from her as she tried to pull herself together.
Falling apart in front of Ellie Hamilton just wasn’t what she had in mind this evening.
“This is exactly what I was talking about earlier. This…this is what happens. She doesn’t stop, Ellie. She won’t stop.”
Ellie moved closer and took Alba’s hand. “I don’t care.”
Alba turned back to her, frustration beginning to bleed through her tears. “You don’t understand—”
“No,” Ellie cut in. “You don’t understand.”
That stopped Alba completely. Ellie stepped closer again, closing the gap between them, her eyes trained on Alba’s…refusing to let her look away. “I’m not going anywhere. Not because of her or because of what people may say. And definitely not because you’ve decided that this is too much for me.”
Alba’s breath hitched. “Ellie.”
“No. You’re not pushing me away and calling it protection. That’s not how this works.”
“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Alba whispered. “I’m trying to fix everything before it gets any worse.”
“And I’m telling you that I’m staying throughout this.”
Alba gazed back at Ellie, feeling a little steadier now. She didn’t want Ellie to think she just didn’t want to be with her anymore, but she did want Ellie to understand what she was potentially getting herself into. “I don’t want to be the reason your life gets turned upside down.”
“Hey.” Ellie leaned in and ghosted her lips over Alba’s. She melted into it instantly, her legs unsteady. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” Ellie lifted her hand and brushed her knuckles gently against Alba’s cheek, wiping away a single tear. “I’m not scared of this.”
Alba’s breath trembled. “You should be.”
“Well, I’m not.” Ellie smiled, but it was laced with sadness. Alba never wanted to be the reason for that. “But I am scared of losing you.”
That broke through everything else Alba was feeling, her eyes filling with tears again. “Ellie…”
Ellie drew her thumb over Alba’s bottom lip and smiled. “I’m falling in love with you, Alba.”
The words landed between them, and Alba stilled completely. Her heart stopped, then slammed back into motion far harder than before. “W-what?”
Ellie held her gaze. “I didn’t plan for it, and I didn’t expect it. But it’s happening, and I’m so very happy that you are my fresh start.”
Alba’s throat squeezed, emotion threatening to flood her all over again. Tears fell freely, but they were different tears this time. Though she still felt a wariness surrounding Audrey and whatever she was capable of, deep down…she felt happy.
“Alba, it’s not for you to decide what I do or don’t walk away from,” Ellie continued softly. “Not when I’m standing here telling you exactly how I feel.”
Alba’s chest rose and fell unevenly, her entire body caught between everything she’d told herself she needed to do…and this. Ellie. Because she was standing right in front of Alba, choosing her. “I’m just scared.”
“I know.”
Before Alba could talk herself into protecting one or both of them again, she said, “But I don’t want to lose you either.”
“Then don’t.”
It was simple, clear, and precisely the kind of thing Alba wasn’t used to.
She pressed her forehead to Ellie’s chest when everything inside of her finally gave way.
Because here, with Ellie, she didn’t have to run.
She didn’t have to fight for a love that was unhealthy for her.
Here…she could just exist with the one woman she ached to spend forever with.
“I’m falling in love with you, too.”
Ellie stood at Alba’s kitchen island, one hand braced against the counter, the other gripping her phone tight.
The second Alba had disappeared upstairs, muttering something about needing a minute to herself, Ellie had stepped into the kitchen and decided she was going to make a call.
Because this, whatever the hell was going on, was not going to continue.
She lifted her phone and pressed the call button.
Ellie was done with Audrey trying to ruin Alba’s life.
The moment the call connected, Ellie pinched the bridge of her nose. “Margaret, it’s Ellie.”
Considering her pulse was still pounding furiously, she spoke with a surprising calm.
Then again, this was Margaret she was speaking to.
They’d had a professional relationship that had spanned over two decades.
Calm was quite often the effect she had.
Ellie had leaned on her more times than she could count.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Margaret said lightly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I need to raise a complaint.” Ellie lowered her gaze to the counter as she gathered her thoughts. “A…formal one.”
The shift on the other end of the line was immediate. “Alright. Talk to me.”
Ellie straightened, but her grip on her phone tightened as she leaned back against the adjacent counter.
She wasn’t being dramatic, and she wasn’t blowing this out of proportion.
Alba was genuinely haunted by the woman, and Ellie…
well, she wouldn’t have anyone strolling into her office without being invited inside first. “It’s regarding Audrey Seddon. ”
“Lord. What’s she done now?”
Well, that certainly made this conversation easier. It seemed Margaret had already had a run-in with Alba’s ex-wife. Though, really, Ellie wasn’t surprised. Women like Audrey didn’t pick and choose which side of themselves to show to the outside world. They were just that disgusting in general.
“She attended Park Haven this morning without an appointment and without authorisation from me.”
Margaret cleared her throat. “That’s…a concern.”
“Oh, it gets worse.”
She laid it all out. Everything. From Audrey arriving and the visitor lanyard, to the conversation and the comments she’d made about Alba…about her character and her professionalism, delivered as though they were facts and Ellie was just supposed to accept them without question.
Ellie’s voice didn’t rise, nor did it falter, but there was a steeliness to it now. “You know the school I run. I don’t appreciate her walking into my office during school hours, unannounced.”
“I’m sorry, Ellie. Her behaviour is unacceptable.”