The Apprentice (Girlxgirl)

Chapter Sixty Five

"What about Japan?"

"I don't think I can handle Japanese food for a long period of time," I replied, frowning at Alex's suggestion.

We had been talking about where we would go, for hours, and we were not having much luck agreeing on it.

"So where do you want to go?"

"Venice?" I suggested.

"Have you ever been?" she asked.

"No, but I've always wanted to."

"Okay. Venice it is then," Alex said, and kissed my cheek. "When will we go?"

"Next week? I need some time to sort out the studio."

"That's perfect," she smiled, "When are you gonna tell Ellie?"

My stomach dropped at the thought of telling Ellie. She had been my best friend for longer than I could remember, and we hadn't gone more than a week without seeing eachother in all that time.

"I'm gonna call her now, see if she'll come home," I said, unlocking my phone.

I called Ellie's number, and she picked up almost immediately.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She said.

"Everything's fine, I was just wondering when you'll be home."

"I'm on my way now, Mark's just gone to work," she replied.

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

I hung up the phone, and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I had no idea how I would tell her. I felt guilty that I wasn't gonna be around to help her out while she was pregnant. I was going to miss so much, too.

Tears filled my eyes, as I continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Hey, what's wrong, baby?"

Alex lay next to me on the bed and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm gonna miss her so much," I said, trying, and failing, to hold back the tears.

"Jay, if this isn't what you want, we don't need to go anywhere. Please, don't cry."

I wiped my eyes, and sat up on the bed, crossing my legs.

"No, I want this. Really, I do. It's just... Ellie's always been there for me, since we first met. I just feel like I'm letting her down, leaving her at such an important time of her life," I explained, trying not to cry again.

"I don't know what to say, baby. You need to talk to her. If you, or her, don't think it's a good time to do this, then we can postpone it. It doesn't have to happen now. Do you want me to leave you guys alone for a bit, when she gets here?" Alex asked, and I shook my head, in response.

"No, please, stay."

"Okay," she smiled sweetly, kissing me softly on the cheek.

A few seconds later, I heard the front door open. I sighed, and ran my hands through my hair.

"Jay, you here?" I heard Ellie's voice say, from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm coming, Ellie," I shouted back, before standing and pulling Alex with me.

I held Alex's hand tightly as we descended the stairs. I was nervous to talk to Ellie. She was in the kitchen.

"Have you been crying?" Ellie asked, as soon as she saw me.

"Ellie, I need to talk to you," I said quietly, beginning to feel emotional again.

Ellie didn't speak, she just nodded, and sat in her usual seat at the dining table. Alex and I sat down, too.

"We've been talking, and we had an idea. I just want to run it by you, before we actually decide what to do," I started.

"Okay... Is this about work?" She asked.

"No... Well, some of it is. It's just... We've been thinking about getting away from here for a while."

Ellie opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but closed it again. She looked sad, and I felt guilty again.

"I don't mean forever, Ellie," I clarified, "we just-"

"For how long?" Ellie interrupted.

"A few months, maybe."

"And where are you going?"

"Venice, I think," I answered.

Ellie looked down at the table for a minute, and I felt uncomfortable. I needed to see some kind of reaction from her. It's like she wasn't even listening.

"Ellie?"

"I think it's a good idea, Jay," she finally answered. I was surprised, and kind of relieved.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You two have been to hell and back, these past few months. You deserve to get away from it all," she said. "Plus, you still have shit loads of money in your bank, and you've just seemed to be pretending it's not there. So now you can use it, and bring back something really expensive from Venice, for me."

Alex and I laughed. I stood up, walked around the table, and hugged Ellie.

"Will you be okay here, without us?" Alex asked, "I mean, with the baby, and work and everything."

"I'll be fine. Rach is gonna be here, and Mark. We can handle work. And I have my first scan tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I'm about ten weeks pregnant, so you've got over six months before I'm gonna need you to babysit," she joked.

"I can't wait to babysit," I smiled.

"So... When do you leave?"

"We haven't booked anything yet, I wanted to talk to you first," I replied. "I guess we should probably get planning everything."

"Yeah, and get a suite, because I'm gonna come visit you before I get too fat to fly," Ellie laughed.

"That would be amazing," Alex said.

We sat in the kitchen for a while, talking about Venice. I knew that I still needed to tell Rachel, and Alex still had to tell Damien. I wasn't sure how he would take it, as they were just getting on good terms again.

"Hey, I'm home!" Rachel's voice yelled from the front door.

"Rach, come here!" Ellie shouted back to her.

"What's up?" Rach asked, looking concerned.

"Me and Alex are going to Venice for a few months," I said.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She asked, and I was shocked. I thought she would be happy, like Ellie was.

"Wha- No, I'm not kidding... Why?"

"She's like a week pregnant, and she's already driving me crazy. You wanna leave me here alone with her, while her hormones take over?" She responded, and we all laughed. "No thanks, love. I'll come with you."

"Yeah, we're not really looking for a third wheel," Alex joked.

Rach stuck her middle finger up at Alex, then walked over and hugged her, before coming to hug me.

"Seriously though, guys, I'm happy for you. You deserve a holiday," she said.

"Let's get it booked then, baby," Alex ordered, and we started to plan the next few months of our lives.