Chapter 28

Ella

I can hear my phone ringing which means one thing and one thing only. I’m awake.

“Joe, could you pass me my phone?” I mumble into my pillow. Again, I reach over to his side of the bed and realize that he isn’t there, “Dammit.”

I grab my phone and notice the time, it’s already one in the afternoon!

Why does nobody in this house ever think to wake me up in the mornings. I have a job to do around here.

There’s a note for me.

Good morning, my love. xxx

Aw, I miss him already. As I sit up, I realize that I need to throw up again.

I notice that I have three missed calls, plus a few messages from Cameron telling me to pick up.

Reluctantly I call her back.

“L? Is that you?” Cameron asks.

“Who else is it going to be? You’ve tried to get a hold of me like five times now. What’s wrong?”

“Well, I was skipping work to go out with Mark,” she says, interrupted by my sigh, “And I thought I saw Joe, so I asked Mark, and he said that it could be him because his building is just a few blocks away!”

“Okay, so you saw him, why so many phone calls?” I roll my eyes.

“Well, we watched for a minute and we saw him leaving a jewelry store.”

My eyes widen. What is he planning? An elaborate gift? A surprise proposal? My heart starts racing.

My heart drops.

“What?”

“I don’t know. It could mean anything!” Cameron stutters, I hear the sound of male grumbling in the background, “Shut up!” she hisses away from the phone.

“It’s okay, Cameron, this isn’t your fault. You’re a good friend for telling me what you saw. I’m sure you’re right. It will turn out to be a misunderstanding,” I say, trusting my feelings for Joe and his feelings for me.

“Sure! I mean, it could be anyone, doing anything for all I know!” she laughs awkwardly.

“Go back to your date now if you want. Sorry my life got involved in it.”

“Oh no! I’m happy to get involved!”

“Bye Cam.” I end the call and drop my phone beside me. So many questions are swimming around in my head, and the only person I could ask and get a truthful answer from could possibly be out there right now, being dishonest!

I wonder if Marnie is still here.

* * *

“Hi Ella! I didn’t know you were here!” Marnie shouts from the living room.

As I get to the bottom of the stairs, I realize Marnie is knelt up, leaning on the back of the sofa from the living room, her eyes reaching just above the sofa cushions.

“What made you think that I wouldn’t be here?” I ask, sitting next to her.

“Well, I’ve been awake for hours and I haven’t seen anyone. Daddy isn’t here either.”

“Oh, Marnie! I’m so sorry! That’s awful. We can’t be leaving you on your own like this.”

Marnie shrugs, “You guys are busy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but we shouldn’t put you second to anything. Okay?”

“Alright! Does this mean I can have a puppy?”

“Don’t push it. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”

Her eyes widen and she looks scared, “Are you going to tell me a secret again?”

“What? Marnie are you okay?”

“I don’t like it when you keep secrets from each other.”

“Oh Marnie… I’m so sorry, I’m putting you in the middle of this. I should have told him about the baby straight away. I promise to tell him tonight. Deal?”

“Deal,” she gives me a very gentle hug.

“How’s the baby?” she asks.

“I’m sure it’s fine. It probably looks like a jelly bean right now.”

“What flavor?” she asks, and we laugh together.

“Look Marnie, if your dad or I try to tell you anything else that you think we should be telling each other, just ignore us okay?”

“Okay,” she grins.

“Anyway, I only wanted to ask you about your mother.”

She furrows her brow and shakes her head.

“I don’t want to talk about her. Daddy says if she’s at the door I shouldn’t open it, and if she calls I should hang up the phone. Also that I shouldn’t be answering the phone.”

“But do you know why he would be meeting with her?”

“Nope!” she snaps.

“Okay, I get it. I just told you to stay out of it and I’m putting you in it again.”

At that point Joe storms in. He seems pretty angry, so Marnie and I just stare.

“Gosh, maybe I should go and check on him.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t ask about much right now. He’s probably going to do work and stuff all by himself in his office,” she says. “That’s what he does when he’s mad.”

I’ll make him a coffee and go check on him.

* * *

He barely spoke to me. I still can’t believe that. He just took the coffee and closed the door in my face! And now he’s been in his office for hours and didn’t even say goodnight to Marnie! This is ridiculous.

I knock on the door to his office, barely able to hold myself up. I’m actually a little scared. I don’t want him to yell at me.

“Come in,” he says, sounding a defeated, “It’s open.”

I slowly open the door and step inside where he’s slumped at his desk with his head in his hands.

He looks exhausted and I can’t help but feel bad.

“What’s wrong…?” I ask.

“I’ve just had a rough day,” he says.

“Oh, come on. You’ve been in here for a long time. You owe me a little more than that.”

He sighs heavily and looks up at me, “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

By the looks of it, he’s had the worst day ever.

“I left work early today, I wanted to come back and spend the rest of the day with you and Marnie. But, then I ran into my ex-wife and she was being her usual self, pushing me around and demanding things. I had to talk to her for over an hour to get her off my back! I don’t want her around and I don’t want her in Marnie’s life. She keeps trying to manipulate me and use it against me.”

“Oh Joe, that’s awful!” I hug him from behind and rub his shoulders.

“Oh God that feels so good,” he sighs and collapses onto his desk again, “I’m so sorry that I’ve been like this, I really am. But it’s put me on edge and I didn’t want to take it out on you guys.”

“It’s okay. I can understand that you didn’t want us to see you like this. But we were worried about you! We’re a team now, aren’t we? We’re supposed to help each other through times like this.”

He sits up and turns to me, sighing heavily again, “You’re right.” he stands and holds me close to him, “I should have talked it through with you first. I just don’t like the person that she turns me into.”

“It’s okay, Joe. Don’t worry about it. Just calm down and come and find me if you feel like that again.” I smile at him, and send him off with a kiss on the lips, “I can always make you some of my special coffee and you’ll feel better. I promise.”

He smiles a bit and hugs me tight, kissing me on the forehead.

I begin to think that this can’t be the only thing. I feel like he’s still hiding something. There’s quite a bit I’ve not told him too.

“Hey Joe?” I begin, I’ve got to say it at some point, I know now… I love him and I need to tell him.

“Yes?” he asks.

“I just wanted to say, that I, I love you, Joe.”

“Oh Ella,” he smiles helplessly, like he’s completely forgotten all about the day that he’s just had, “I love you too,” he says, hugging me tightly again.

I’m not just saying this because I feel that I’m losing him. I want him to know how much he means to me.

“I love you Joe, I just wanted you to know that, okay?” I’m starting to cry.

He notices me crying and smiles, wiping my tear away.

“Ella,” he says as he kisses my forehead, “Why don’t you go on up to bed? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay,” I smile. I trust him. I still trust him as I walk up the stairs, alone. I still trust him as I sit at the top of the stairs, listening in like a kid whose parents are fighting.

I hear him pacing around, mumbling something to himself, but I can’t make out what it is.

Then, he pulls out his phone and calls someone, speaking in hushed tones.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he says. I gasp, who could it be?

“I’m willing to discuss it. Tomorrow is fine!” he snaps, “I’m doing this, because of her, okay, Julia?”

He hangs up the phone.

Oh God, he’s calling her now? How long has this been going on? What do they do, meet up while he’s at work and—oh my God, what if he’s not even going to work!

I hear him sigh heavily and I quickly run to bed.

He comes in the room and suddenly seems all smiley again.

“Goodnight,” he says, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I sigh as I roll over in bed, curling up as best I can while cuddling a pillow.

What am I supposed to do?