Chapter Fourteen
Ellie glanced at the clock on her phone for the hundredth time.
Any minute now, she reassured herself.
Soon, Alex and Martin would arrive and whisk her away to the airport.
She couldn’t wait. Her suitcase was already waiting in the yard downstairs.
Her hand luggage, a large straw tote that would double as a beach bag, sat on the empty chair beside her, filled to the brim with travel essentials including her passport.
She wished she’d stayed in her room until Alex arrived, but Nanna had wanted her to eat well before the journey. Needless to say, her pile of toast was barely touched; she was too excited to eat.
‘This is ridiculous!’ snapped her mum, thumping down the gossip magazine in her hand. It had only been two days since the awards, but the press had been quick to run with the announcement of Alex’s relationship with her. ‘I can’t believe you’re putting yourself through this. Again!’
‘I’m not.’ There was no point explaining how this situation would be different from the mistakes of her past.
‘Have you seen what they’re saying?’
Ellie glanced across at what her mum had spread out on the kitchen table, rolled her eyes, and went back to playing Scrabble on her phone – she was losing badly, too distracted to concentrate.
‘Then don’t read it. I’m not.’
Her mum karate-chopped the morning paper like it was a stack of wood.
‘Alex King’s mystery woman flaunted her curves in a scarlet dress of her own design at the Olivier Awards.
’ More dramatic gestures followed, Ellie leaning back to avoid a finger in the eye.
‘Alex couldn’t keep his hands off the vivacious brunette, with some sources describing them kissing passionately throughout the night.
’ Her mum collapsed back in her chair, as if she were a lawyer putting in her final closing argument.
‘Ellie, I mean, seriously?’ She shook her head in disbelief, and followed it with a deeply disappointed sigh – the ultimate closing argument of any mother.
Unwilling to be beaten, Ellie held her mother’s stare. ‘I did nothing to be ashamed of.’
‘Good girl,’ said Nanna with a chuckle followed by a wink, which received a scathing look from her mother.
‘I’m off,’ said Mark, tightening the lid on his Thermos of tea ready to make a quick getaway. ‘Have a nice time, Sis.’
‘Thanks.’
Her mum was not to be put off by the lack of support from the rest of her family. She was a dog with a tabloid bone. ‘Flaunting!’ she shrieked. ‘What does that even mean?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ Ellie answered dryly. But she could guess.
‘It’s provocative. Gets the people going,’ said Nanna sagely, and Ellie snorted at her obscure Will Ferrell reference.
‘It’s just the usual nonsense.’ Honestly, she was used to it – albeit on a much smaller scale, and not in the public eye. If you had a large bust and large hips you were immediately sexualised in a provocative way.
You were never pretty – you were a femme fatale.
You were never healthy and strong. You were curvy and vivacious at best, and simply fat and lazy at worst. Despite the fact that she could work twelve hours straight on her feet and lift patients twice her size.
‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this.’ Her mum’s brow was furrowed, a mix of frustration, confusion and worry, as if Ellie wasn’t a thirty-year-old woman entitled to do whatever the hell she pleased, and quite frankly it wasn’t anyone else’s business, including her mother’s.
Still, she didn’t see why she should lie to her family. ‘It’s for the press mainly, and,’ – she’d have to explain it at some point – ‘he’s bought me a flat.’
Her mother’s eyes bulged out of her head. ‘WHAT? You’re prostituting yourself?’
‘No.’ However, Ellie’s next words only made her look worse. ‘It’s a business deal between friends. This just helps take the heat off him. His brother’s marrying his ex-girlfriend, and, well, he wants to show them that he’s happy with someone else.’
There, done.
Nanna and her mum exchanged a concerned look, but of course it was her mum who spoke first. ‘The article says you were kissing each other. Couldn’t take your hands off each other.’ She tapped the paper for dramatic effect. ‘That’s what it says. Right here, in black and white.’
‘It was just a peck, nothing serious. Just for show.’
Nanna raised a snowy eyebrow and Ellie took a sip of her water. A telltale flush crept up her neck. Nothing about that kiss had been casual – she still didn’t understand it.
Nanna placed a hand on her arm. ‘We’re only worried, darlin’. This sounds like you’re playing with fire, and David—’
‘This is not the same!’ she yelled, and her nanna’s hand retreated. Immediately, she apologised. ‘I’m sorry, I know you both mean well. But it’s not the same.’
She’d had a wonderful night at the Olivier Awards. Sure, the press were making comments about her body, but that was to be expected. She would ignore them, and have a magical holiday with Alex.
She was happy. Why did her mother have to spoil everything?
‘And all this time you’ve taken off work, to run away on holiday with him. You’re putting your life on hold, for a man you barely know, and what’s to guarantee he’s going to keep his promise about the flat?’ asked her mum, trying to play good cop for a change.
Ellie pursed her lips at that, and her nanna gave her a look of warning.
How many times had her mother bent over backwards for the men in her life?
And those men hadn’t even offered to buy milk.
Her mum’s relationships had been a hellish merry-go-round of hope and despair, with her kids picking up the pieces of her broken heart every time.
‘Even if he doesn’t buy me a flat, I’m still going to the Bahamas, aren’t I?
That alone would be worth it. It’s not like we’re rolling in money, is it?
’ She suspected her mum already knew about the money troubles with the shop.
She’d also bet that her mum knew she was helping Mark financially.
She’d seen them talking over his business plans the other day, and she’d stepped out of the room again as if it were completely normal, even though Ellie had never been involved in the big decisions before.
It was infuriating that her mother was happy to throw around opinions on stuff that didn’t matter, but was tight-lipped when it came to the fate of their family business.
Her mum paused, her face flaming. ‘But you have to ask yourself. Why did he pick you?’
‘Angela, that’s enough!’ exclaimed Nanna, but it was already far too late.
Regardless of the cold looks from both sides of the table, her mum continued, ‘I’m just making sure she understands the risk. She could be made into a laughing-stock again, and for what? Some man she barely knows.’
Ellie dropped her phone in her bag, stood, and slung it over her shoulder.
She didn’t care if she had to stand outside waiting to be picked up for an hour.
She wouldn’t take another minute of this.
‘David was a coward and an arse. You act like I was to blame for what he did, that I somehow deserved it. Why?’
Her mum became flustered. ‘I just don’t want you to be taken advantage of again—’
‘No. You think that someone like Alex couldn’t possibly want to be with someone like me. I must be a joke, right?’ The white heat of anger and resentment boiled through her veins.
‘She’s not saying that, love,’ said Nanna, reaching for her arm.
Ellie walked towards the door, knocking down her sunglasses from the top of her head to hide the tears that were already threatening to fall.
‘I am not unhealthy. I am not ugly. I am not hideous.’ She swallowed the burning lump in her throat as she opened the door and turned to face them.
‘I am a good person, and I deserve to be happy.’
‘I know that,’ said her mum with a defensive huff.
‘Really?’ she asked, her voice strained. ‘Because you never say it. There always seems to be room for improvement. You’d be pretty, Ellie, if only you lost another twenty pounds. Try this, try that. Starve yourself and then someone might be able to love you, right?’
Her mum looked down miserably at the single boiled egg on her plate. No toast, no butter. A lonely egg in a Morning Sunshine cup. ‘I’m just looking out for you,’ she muttered.
‘Thanks, but I’m a grown woman and I can look after myself. I’m off to eat, drink and wear that skimpy bikini we saw in the shops last week.’ She wanted to live her life, not hate it.
‘Oh God, not the polka dot one!’ gasped her mum, her eyes wide as if an axe-wielding clown had entered the kitchen.
Ellie had admired one in a shop window – and her mother had lamented for ten minutes about how they both could never wear such a thing. Ellie had ordered it online that same night.
‘Shut up, Angela,’ Nanna practically growled across the table at her.
Ellie pushed the door fully open. ‘Right, I’m off to the Bahamas. Did I tell you? We’re flying Business.’
She flicked her hair as she walked away, but her nerves were brittle and her chest tight.
Mark must have heard her yelling because he popped his head through the shop doorway as she stomped down the stairs. ‘All right?’
‘Yeah,’ she said with little enthusiasm.
‘Ignore her.’
She nodded.
‘Have a good time.’
‘Thanks.’
He closed the door and went back into the shop.
Typical brother, she thought with a roll of her eyes, and went out into the yard. Her phone buzzed. It was Alex:
Just coming down your road.
Ellie squealed, grabbed her giant suitcase and wheeled it towards the yard gate. She was swinging the gate open as Martin’s cab pulled up outside.
Alex jumped out, grabbed her case and hauled it into the cab, not moaning once about the weight of it – unlike Mark, who’d cursed her packing down each flight of stairs. Then, like a gentleman, Alex waved her inside first.
‘Oh, you’re spoiling me!’ she exclaimed, as she spotted a little Harrods bag on the floor filled with chocolates, two flutes and a bottle of Moet with a branded freezer jacket to keep it cool.
Alex crawled back into the cab and his big body filled the limited space as he settled beside her on the back seat. ‘Martin helped.’
‘Of course he did. What would you do without him? All right, Martin?’ she called out in greeting, buckling her seat belt.
Martin chuckled and waved from the front. ‘Yes, love. You got your passport? Hannah was convinced she’d forgotten hers halfway to the airport. Almost had to turn around until she realised it was in her coat pocket, silly pickle.’
‘I’ve got it.’ She waved her passport at him for confirmation and he pulled away.
‘He checked me for mine too,’ said Alex and chuckled. He reached for the champagne and popped the cork. ‘I didn’t have it. Left it in the hotel safe. We had to go back – sorry, that’s why I’m a bit late.’
Ellie held out the glasses for him to pour, and said loudly, ‘Thank you, Martin. You’re a life saver.’
They toasted each other and took a sip.
‘So, when do you go back to work?’ Alex asked conversationally.
Relief and the fizz of champagne flooded her veins.
They were back to their easy friendship, despite the drama of the awards and their heated kiss.
At least, Alex was; she found herself unable to stop staring at his sultry mouth as he took another sip of his drink, and watching the bob of his throat as he swallowed the liquid.
Staring at him was a habit she really needed to break.
Like now… What did he say? Oh, work, yes!
‘Well, I’ve plenty of unused holiday, so I’ve booked a bit of time off after too. Just to have a think about my next steps and get over any jet lag.’ Ellie sipped her bubbly and sank into the leather seat with a happy wiggle, her fight with her mum already fading into a distant memory.
‘That sounds like a good idea. It’s a long trip, what with the connecting flight and the boat.’
Ellie almost choked on her perfectly chilled champagne. ‘I’m sorry, what?’
She really should have paid more attention to the details.
But she’d spent all of her spare time on sewing her award show and summer outfits.
She’d made nearly everything from scratch, with only a few exceptions – like the scandalous teeny-weeny-not-yellow-but-blue-polka-dot-bikini.
She suspected she would never be brave enough to wear it, but she’d packed it anyway.
There were always her usual one-pieces if she felt shy, and she had plenty of beach kaftans and throws to cover up with.
Alex’s voice brought her head back from the inside of her suitcase to the hunk beside her.
‘Yeah, sorry. The house is in Exuma, it’s an archipelago of cays and islands about thirty-five miles from Nassau.
We’ve a connecting flight, but it’s less than an hour.
’ He gave her a sheepish look, as if he was sorry his luxury holiday home was such a ball-ache to get to.
‘Then we’ll take the boat to my parents’ house, which is only another forty minutes, and it’s a scenic journey – you get to see the smaller islands, stingrays, turtles, that sort of thing. ’
‘Seriously, that sounds amazing. And that’s just the journey there? Brilliant!’
Alex winced. ‘You might feel differently when you meet my family.’
It was Ellie’s turn to cringe – she shouldn’t be so excited for something that Alex was going to find so hard.
‘It will be fine, I promise.’ She offered her glass, and he tapped it gently with his own.
She only prayed that they wouldn’t let each other down, because right now she was really out of her depth.