Chapter Fifty Ella
Chapter Fifty
Ella
I entered the apartment to Zola screeching and jumping, while Katy stumbled down the hallway at her noise. Ethan stood nearby, grinning at Zola’s excitement.
‘What is it?’ Katy moaned. ‘It’s too early, Zola! Sssshhh!’
Zola screamed again, jumping up and down. ‘We have an investor! The launch is back on!’
I smiled, knowing Jimmy must have emailed the board.
‘Shut up!’ Katy bellowed, but still joining Zola in a dance party. ‘Ella?’ Katy beckoned me. ‘This is good news, we’ll get paid!’ She screamed again, in joyful realisation of how much this would benefit us financially too.
I laughed. ‘I know. I know! I met Jimmy this morning,’ I admitted, noticing their jumps had suddenly halted.
‘You met Jimmy?’ Zola looked shocked, as if I had been keeping it a secret.
‘Did you meet him for breakfast?’ Katy asked, still giggling, completely hyper from the news. ‘Did he give you Jimmy’s special link sausage?’ She began thrusting up and down, while Ethan stood rigid as fuck.
I walked over to the sofa and sat down. ‘No, I met him by chance, while I was out for my run. It was nice. He told me about the investors, and I said we should go for it.’
Ethan nodded. ‘He’s called a meeting; the investor is joining us today to sign the paperwork.’
I beamed, overwhelmed – happy and ecstatic that we made it, but also sad it was ending.
‘I should go,’ Ethan said, lifting his bicycle helmet from the countertop and strapping it on. ‘I just wanted to deliver the news.’
Zola blushed as he passed her. ‘See you,’ he called out. She waved back.
My two friends sat down beside me, ready to hear the Jimmy chat. I called out, ‘Ethan, who is the investor anyway?’
He turned his head. ‘Khan Enterprise.’
My heart froze. I felt dizzy.
I heard the lift doors close, and I looked to my friends, who seemed even more gobsmacked than I was.
‘He doesn’t mean Philip Khan, does he?’ Katy asked.
I pulled out my phone and began frantically texting Philip.
Ella: TELL ME YOU ARE NOT THE INVESTOR!!!!!
Philip: You’re welcome?
Ella: No, you’re not welcome, Philip! This has fuck all to do with you??
I paused, waiting for a reply, but nothing.
Zola pulled my phone from my hand. ‘OK, think for a second, yeah? He is doing us a favour.’
I shook my head, feeling all my emotions build. ‘He has to involve himself again, though. He will take credit for this brilliant app we’ve created, Zo. I know he will. I wanted this for me! I had to do this for me, for us! Not for fucking Philip Khan.’
I felt Katy’s hand rub my back. ‘Maybe he is doing it because he feels bad he ruined it in the first place?’
I sank my head in my hands, worrying about having both Philip and Jimmy in the same meeting room together.
Would they swap stories? Jimmy will think I’m bat shit crazy when he finds out about this one, I thought.
My heart raced. I wanted the app to launch, but really wished it could be done without Philip’s help.
‘This isn’t the end of the world, Ella,’ Zola said, keeping me calm.
I paced, debating whether to call Philip or Jimmy, weighing the pros and cons.
At once, our three phones pinged and we leapt towards them. It was an email from Flirtify.
We can confirm that the launch of Stars and Swipes will go ahead on Thursday, with grateful thanks to Khan Enterprise for investing in our product.
We look forward to seeing you all at the Four Seasons, ready to celebrate.
Congratulations to all involved in this project, especially the creators, Zola, Ella and Katy.
All at Flirtify have enjoyed working alongside these three Glaswegian ladies and hope to collaborate again.
Sincerely yours,
Jimmy Link.
My shoulders slumped. Philip was involved, but our app would launch, and I really hoped it could change the American dating scene. But the launch was now tarnished with Philip Khan’s unasked-for investment.
Jimmy: The deal is done! I have so much paperwork to read over, but I’m glad I got to see you this morning. You will always be my first thought as the sun breaks x
I read his message over and over, clutching my phone. This cunt was smoother than Rabbie Burns. He did something to me anytime I thought about him, and it scared me. I didn’t want to lead him on or complicate things.
Ella: Glad I saw you too x
It was simple – maybe too simple. My mind was a blur, my heart heavy with confusion and longing.
By one, I got productive – chasing vendor emails and ensuring our launch stayed on track. I couldn’t handle another setback, so I got to work properly, while Zola searched Skyscanner for the cheapest way home.
Around five, the lift door pinged open, and I stretched my neck out to see a huge bunch of flowers arrive, swamping Otis, the doorman.
‘Jesus!’ I laughed. ‘Who are they for?’ I sat up, placing the laptop to the side.
‘Miss Ella,’ he raised a brow, with a kind smirk. ‘My shift just ended, so I thought I’d pop up with them.’ He passed me the flowers and grinned.
‘That was kind of you,’ I said, sniffing the vast array of flowers. ‘Want a drink or something to eat? You must be cold at that door all day.’ I put the flowers on the table and stood.
Otis leaned forward. ‘No, ma’am. It’s an honour.’ He smiled. ‘I was brought up in the roughest neighbourhood in this city. I feel grateful every damn day standing at that door. Hell, I hadn’t even seen a building this grand till I got here.’ He pointed to the floor and laughed.
‘Do you miss it?’ I asked. ‘Your old neighbourhood?’
Otis looked shocked, as if I’d asked a trick question. ‘Every damn day, but it ain’t like this. My life is better here, but you can never take away your past; you feel it in your soul. When someone asks me where I’m from, I say the Bronx, as proudly as I can. It shaped me, Miss Ella, you know?’
I grinned. ‘I get it,’ I said, thinking how much I missed home – the fresh cold air, the banter, the nightlife, the accents.
‘I’ll go now, but you enjoy those gorgeous flowers, now. There’s a message inside too.’ He waved and entered the lift.
I leaned over the flowers again, lifting the card-sized envelope, wondering if Jimmy had sent them after our early morning run. There was so much tension which remained between us, so much love. I knew I could feel it.
I ripped open the envelope and unfolded a letter. As my eyes scanned down the writing, my heart picked up the pace.
Dear Pilates,
I know you are probably reading this, wondering why I haven’t come up and said what I’m about to say to your face, but the truth is – you won’t allow me to!
That’s not a criticism, it’s one of the things I adore about you.
I know you’re already aware that I invested in the app, and it’s not by any means a play on you, but perhaps an apology for destroying something you worked so hard on.
I also know this doesn’t make what I did any better, but I am trying.
I’m sorry that I have hurt you, Ella. I moved on far too quickly, my ego was hurt, and I acted out of character.
But I know I want you, no one else, ever. We have enjoyed so many amazing memories together, so many inside jokes, and I can’t let any of that go. You opened up to me, let your guard down – finally – and I didn’t appreciate that. But now I do.
Please don’t be angry at the investment. I am trying to make things right. (And hopefully make some money out of it, if it’s as good as you promised.)
I’ll look forward to seeing you at the launch.
Always yours,
Philip
I scrunched up the letter, then let it drop to the floor.
I felt my face grow warm as I tried to hold back the tears.
I wasn’t sure why he kept pushing this. I let out a sob, remembering how we met, those first meetings, the first time we had sex; he was practically removing dust from my vagina, it had been so long.
He made me glow again, made me feel sexy, until he didn’t.
Slowly but surely, everything else piled up and I became less of a priority for Philip.
I seemed to be the only one pouring everything into our relationship at the end, and he would simply waltz in when he felt like it and control exactly what we did and when we did it.
But I didn’t feel like that with Jimmy. He pushed me to be better, encouraged me to grow.
He asked me things, remembered what I liked and what I didn’t.
I couldn’t help but think that maybe I was destined to meet Jimmy, just for a short time, to remind myself of the good men out there, to show me how love is supposed to feel.
I curled up on the sofa and sobbed, full of sadness, for the two men I had to lose to get myself back.