A Bucket List for Ella

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

            I came home from my walk feeling slightly better.  Yet the feeling of guilt about Liam was still weighing on my shoulders.

            I felt kind of bad having squandered the rest of my day away, because it was already five o’clock.  Not knowing what to do with myself, I made a cup of tea and decided to study, something I hadn’t done, but probably should have, in quite awhile.  I had fallen behind in school, but I needed to pass all my courses this semester to keep going.

            After poring over my notes for no more than a half hour, I couldn’t take the guilt anymore.  First of all, I needed to find Liam and tell him what had happened.  Then I needed to talk to Nico and see if I needed him as a shoulder to cry on, or not at all.

            But first, Melanie’s.

            I locked my apartment door behind me and trudged down the hall to the elevator.  I stepped inside.  Elevators, no matter where they were, now brought back bad memories.  I held my breath the whole ride to Mel’s floor, where I stepped out and gulped in the precious air of the world outside the elevator. 

            As I walked down the hall toward Melanie’s apartment, a feeling of anxiety washed over me.  Melanie had a daughter.  And I thought I had known her so well.  I was finding things out about her that I never thought possible.

            I knocked on Mel’s door, three short knocks, and waited for someone to answer.  I investigated the carpet beneath my feet and the wallpaper to my left while waiting for an answer.  After a few moments, I heard footsteps coming towards the door.  The door swung open in front of me, revealing Melanie’s smiling face.

            “Hey Ella,” she said, almost apprehensively.

            “I know you didn’t text me to come over, but I have to talk to Liam tonight, so I figured I’d just stop by quickly now to say hi and then be on my way,” I explained.

            “Alright, sure, that sounds fine.  Come on in.  Austin will be happy to meet you.  As will Hallie, of course.”

            “Great,” I replied, producing as much of a smile as was humanly possible from someone who felt the way I did.

            “Austin’s just in the washroom.  But here’s Hallie,” she said, extending her arm in the direction of a smiling child who was probably a year-and-a-half old.  Hallie, just as Mel had said, was gorgeous, with warm caramel eyes and darling copper ringlets.  When she saw me she smiled, a large toothy grin that lit up her eyes, and those of her mother.

            “Hi Hallie,” I said, waving. 

            “Can you say hi?” Melanie prompted Hallie, shooting her a big smile.

            “Hi,” Hallie breathed.

            “She’s adorable,” I told Mel.  I walked over towards Hallie and gave her a little wave.  She reached out towards me, grabbed my finger and started to draw it towards her mouth.

            “And sneaky,” Mel laughed.  She gently grabbed hold of Hallie’s hand and drew it, and my finger, away from the girl’s mouth.

            Moments later, a door opened down the hall, and footsteps started down the hallway.

            I couldn’t see him from where I was standing, but Mel said, “Oh look, here comes Austin now.”