Strictly Professional

25: Athens

ELLE

My mother was never an emotional person. My whole life, I've seen her cry once. She didn't cry when my grandpa die. She didn't cry when her marriage fell apart. She only cried when we couldn't find my sister one day when she didn't come home from school. Those tears were the only ones I've seen her shed, and they were tears of happiness once my sister returned home a few hours later. But now, hearing her cry over the phone for something I was unaware of was the worst feeling in the world.

"Mum, why are you crying? What's happening?" I asked in pure panic. Niall couldn't understand what I was saying, but he could sense something was wrong by the tone of my voice.

"Nora, your aunt. She-she's in the hospital." My mother choked out, my heart dropping to my stomach in an instant. I looked at Niall wide eyed, a confused and worried look on his face.

"What happened?"

"She had a stroke. The doctors- the doctors said she might not make it. Please come home." My mother pleaded. I was in pure shock. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was having a hard time believing this was real. I felt completely unable to have any sort of emotion, the shock being too much.

"I'll try mama. I'll be there as soon as possible. I love you."

"I love you Nora." She shakily spoke before I hurriedly ended the call. Frantically, I put my phone back in my bag and got my skirt from the floor.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Niall's soothing tone broke me out of my stressed state. I turned to him, concern written all over his face as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I-I need to go home." I quickly spoke, trying to get my skirt back up while still sitting.

"Okay, I'll drive you." He nodded, picking his jeans from the floor and put them on as well. But he completely misread what I meant.

"No, I mean back to Greece. I have to go to Athens." I clarified, my hands shaking while I tried to button my shirt, making the task almost seem impossible. Seeing my struggle, he gripped both my wrists to stop me.

"Why? Tell me sunshine." He questioned, pulling my hands away completely. He took over what I was trying to do, glancing up at me as he waited for me to continue.

"My aunt's in the hospital. I have to go see her." I briefly explained, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm down.

"Is she okay?" I know his question didn't mean any harm, but it triggered the realisation that she wasn't. Inevitably tearing up, I shook my head at him. And he surprised me by engulfing me in a hug, pushing my head to rest on his chest.

"Take a deep breath. Everything's gonna be okay." His warm embrace was my breaking point. I let the tears fall, quietly sobbing into his chest. But he let me, and that was oddly a relief. I felt one of his arms unwrap from around me, the sound of him speaking a second later making me look up to find him on the phone.

"Tara, get me two tickets on the next flight to Athens." He abruptly spoke. I recognised the name of his assistant and I looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, that will work. Book it and send me the passes." He instructed her before ending the call.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting you to where you need to be. The flight's in six hours, so we have to go and pack." He went to break the embrace but I pulled him back in before he could.

"No, I can't make you do that. I'll figure it out on my own. I have some savings and I-"

"Stop Ellie. You're not making me do anything. I wanna help you." He cupped my face, looking directly into my eyes to reassure me. I didn't want him to spend his money and mess up his schedule to come with me, but truth was I really needed him by my side. The fact that he could tell and offered instantly had my heart bursting out of my chest.