CinderEll

Chapter Three ~ Stairs

The next day Ell got up again at five AM, got ready for her day and prepared for the same old routine she would follow.

Tending to the garden, cleaning the guests rooms, responding to customer enquires and more.

She was bone tired after having worked non-stop and very hard for the past few weeks in preparation for their new guests arrival. She hadn't had a day off since high school and she had to admit it was started to wreck havoc on her body and soul.

To top of all this off she simply hadn't been able to get to sleep after the others days events because the woman she had met in the gardens alluring eyes had kept her wide awake the entire night.

Ell sighed as she rubbed at her eyes and resigned herself to getting through the day one step at a time.

As she made her way down to the indoor garden in the lobby of the hotel, she thought dreamily again about the woman she had met there. She had been taller than Ell, with dark brown wavy hair tied up into a tight pony tail, and eyes that Ell couldn't seam to quite forget.

As she was walking towards the garden Ell stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a sudden high-pitched scream.

She quickly looked around for the danger and when she spotted it, she knew what she had to do. She started running faster than she had ever run before, not caring about the people looking at her, or the fact that she would probably hurt herself, she just ran. When she finally reach her destination, she looked up and opened her arms preparing to catch the falling figure that had climbed to the top of the stairs and onto the outer side of the railing.

With baited breath the small crowd of staff and guests watched, frozen to the spot as Ell caught the child and fell onto her back, making sure to clutch the girls head to her chest so she wouldn't be hurt from the impact.

Ell hadn't had the wind knocked out of her so severely since she'd been bullied at school. You know that feeling when you hit your back straight onto a hard floor and it feels like you can't breath or move or do anything. Like the world has frozen around you and your about to be frozen with it.

Ell didn't allow that feeling to linger though, she pushed through it, say herself up and pulled the girl in her arms away so she could get a look at her.

"A-Are you ok sweetie?" She managed, still trying to catch her breath from the fall. The small girls eyes welled up as she began to cry and Ell immediately reacted by pulling her in for a hug, rocking her and whispering words of comfort as she did.

"It's ok, your alright now." She soothed.

Upon hearing footsteps running up to them, Ell looked up to see the woman she had met the other day looking down at her and the child in concern.

"Rose, baby are you ok?!" She asked as she knelt down to run circles on her younger sisters back, when the girl finally pulled away from Ell and made grabby hands at Alexandria, she picked her up and hugged her.

"Alright, let's get a look at you." She said as she pulled her away a little and checked her head.

"Does anything hurt?" Alexandria asked the little girl, who shook her head and cried some more.

"Ok good. Now I know you got a scare, but your alright now and you mustn't ever do anything like that again. If that girl hadn't of been there to catch you, who knows what might have happened."

When the girl started to sob at that, Alexandria did her best to comfort her, giving Ell and apologetic look who was still sitting on the floor, trying to get her breath back.

When the same flustered man from the other day came up to join them, he gently took Rose from Alexandria's arms and comforted her, saying that he'd take her up to see her mum.

Just as soon as he had taken her from Alexandria, she knelt back down and looked at Ell in concern.

"Oh my god are you ok?" She asked her, offering her a hand up.

Ell took it with a shy nod, and when she'd been pulled to her feet and began to wobble on them, a familiar set of hands steadied her.

"That was quite literally the bravest, most amazing thing I've ever seen." She said, causing Ell to look down at her hands and blush.

"You saved my little sisters life just now. Is there anyway that I and my family can repay you for your assistance?" She asked, as she looked at her with her eyes shinning.

Ell's cheeks colouring further as she tried to think of what to say to this gorgeous woman.

"O-Oh no I'm fine. I-I just did what anyone else would have."

Alexandria looked around the room and rose a brow at all the other guest and staff members who had simply frozen and done nothing.

"I beg to differ." She pointed out, but Ell just hit her lip and shook her head.

"R-Really I'm ok. I just hope Rose is alright." She said, recalling the younger girls name.

The woman nodded, her eyes looking Ell up and down as she smiled.

"Well, at least allow me to introduce myself and perhaps I can pay you back for this someday."

"I'm Alexandria, but you can call me Alex." She said with a grin, causing Ells heart to flutter in her chest.

"I-It's nice to meet you Alex, I'm Ell."

Alex grinned at that and nodded.

"Ell, that's a very cute name." She commented, and if Ell's cheeks where not already on fire, they most certainly where now.

"Well Ell, could I walk you to wherever you are going today?"

She offered, to which Ell shyly nodded as they began to walk in the direction of Ell's beloved garden.