Four years ago, Ellie (Elisabeth) was dumped because she was pregnant. However, with the help of her best friend, the feisty Angie and her family, she overcomes the obstacles and decides to keep the baby.
But what happens when Dean, Amber's father...
"Two more minutes and I would have been out the door", Dean said as Ellie appeared beside him.
"Is this the new way of greeting someone?" Ellie said, doing little to hide her annoyance at his behaviour.
"Sorry", Dean stood up, gave her a brief hug before pulling a chair for her to sit opposite him.
As she was placing her bag on the chair beside her, Ellie spied Matthew's white Discovery pulling away from the curb, driving away.
Did he see me with Dean? She wondered. What do you care, her conscience told her, you're about to give Dean a second chance, remember? Right Dean, not Matthew, she chastised herself.
"Where were you? And who was that in the car?" he asked straight away.
"I was in a meeting with Matthew for an article about an art gallery", Ellie replied.
"Matthew, huh, you call clients by their names now?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Well, it turns out that Matthew is also a friend, okay? And we do not have clients as such, they are more contacts or acquaintances. Anyway, are you planning on making this meeting an interrogatory on my job, or are we going to discuss what we are here for?" Ellie leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. It would be fair to say that she was now fairly annoyed, if not angry.
"Yeah, let's get to the point. I've got to go in a few minutes", he said, checking his Rolex. "Did you decide whether you will be my girlfriend or not?" he took out his phone and started texting.
The fact that he was barely paying attention to her truly irritated Ellie, and it required a lot of patience on her part not to snap at him.
"Yes, I have decided to give you a second chance." She said, looking at his hair since he was still looking down at his phone.
This made him look up at her, and smile. He took her hand swiftly and said, "Really, Elle, you'll give me a second chance?"
Strangely, hearing him calling her Elle did not provoke the army of butterflies to erupt in her stomach the way it used to before.
"Yes, I just said that!" she said instead, rolling her eyes to heaven in exasperation.
"I want to meet her soon", he said, looking at her with a gleam of hope in his eyes. "When can I meet her?"
"I don't know. When are you free to come home?" Ellie asked, expecting him to say tomorrow or even this afternoon.
But what she did not expect was for him to say was: "Wait a minute, let me check my schedule." And ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly what he did.
"Well on Monday and Tuesday I have a conference up in Boston," he read off his phone, "on Wednesday I have golf. Is Thursday good for you at... one in the afternoon?" he asked, lifting his eyes to look at her expectantly.
Ellie felt as though she was making an appointment with the doctor and not her "boyfriend" for him to meet his own daughter after four years away from her.
It shouldn't be like this! She thought to herself, he should have been more eager to see his daughter.
Matthew talks about Amber with more enthusiasm than that, her sub-conscience reproached her.
Stop thinking about Matthew! She mentally shook her head before nodding at Dean as he waited for her answer.
How can golf be more important than Amber, his daughter? She thought again.
Elisabeth Rose Anderson, are you sure you're not making a mistake? Her sub-conscience questioned her.
That was the million-dollar question to which Ellie did not have the answer.
"Right, so I'll see you on Thursday then", Dean said, getting ready to leave.
Ellie stood and followed him, half expecting him to offer a ride back to the gallery where she left her car.
However, she was surprised when he stopped in front of a brand new orange Aventador, turned to her and said, "Well, thanks for accepting to give me a chance and... I'll see you Thursday."
They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, Ellie waiting for him to offer her a ride, him waiting for her to go.
Finally, he nodded his head before unlocking the car, got in and drove off with a small wave at Ellie.
She stood there for a while longer, registering what just happened. Did he just leave me there? She wondered. How rude! Ellie, my dear, you just made a big mistake.
With a sigh, she hailed a cab to the gallery.
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What did you think of Dean's attitude?
Do you think it's going to change over time?
Also, this chapter is dedicated to @natashmolusi, you are the very first one to comment. Made my day!! Thank you!!
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