Against All Odds (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ellie hopped down from the cab and approached the door of the Sarpong Studios. Straightening her pink T-shirt and fixing visor of her cap behind her, she climbed the three steps and reached for the doorknob.

She walked down the small entryway towards Mr. Sarpong's office, making sure to put a sweet smile on her face amidst her exhaustion.

She stopped in front of the door and glanced at the inscription above the mahogany door. Joseph Sarpong. Ellie sighed and thumped her knuckles softly against the door.

"Mr. Sarpong?" She called.

Hearing a faint reply from inside the office, she immediately turned the door open and entered.

"Did I keep you waiting?" She asked as she approached his desk. Stopping in her tracks, she frowned at Elorm seated in a chair next to Mr. Sarpong. "Elorm?"

Elorm flashed a confident grin at her, lifting his chin and thrusting out his chest. "Yes, Pumpkin. Did you miss me?"

Ellie's eyes drifted to Mr. Sarpong who wore a sheepish smile on his chubby oval face. He was in a blue version of her club T-shirt with his glasses slightly slanted on his flat nose. He shrugged and said, "I guess this is the surprise I was talking about. Elorm will be working with us again. Starting from tomorrow."

"What? Since when?" Ellie smiled and walked towards them. She thought Elorm was no longer willing to come back. What changed?

"I miss the show. And I miss you." Elorm replied with a grin, as if he'd read Ellie's mind.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "I see."

"Alright. I'll leave you guys to catch up. And Ellie," He lifted himself from the brown swivel chair, "You're working with Paula on the party. Make sure everything is set and right for the show."

Paula? Ellie fumed. Why did he have to pair her with that nuisance? She sighed. "Sure." She watched as Mr. Sarpong left the office to the studio. Sitting down in the chair opposite the desk, she tilted her head to look at the amused Elorm.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said as he hand flew to his nape. He gave it a caress and frowned. "You don't look too good, are you okay?"

“Of course. Just something that’s got me thinking for a quite a while now.” She replied.

“What?” he furrowed his brows.

“Never mind. I’ll figure it out myself.” She said and smiled at him. “What’s up with you?” she clapsed her hands on the desk and stared at him.

“Wondering what's got you so tensed up. Tell me about it."

Ellie pursed her lips. "You remember the note the waiter handed me the last time at the restaurant?"

Elorm nodded. "Yes. From your secret admirer, I remember."

"I still haven't found out who sent it. And I keep getting text messages and other gifts from this same person. I'm beginning to freak out!" Ellie caressed her temple.

"Wow..." Elorm chuckled. "But you do have a suspect, don't you? Might be easy then, figuring out who could be going nuts for you."

"It's not funny, Elorm." Ellie frowned. "There's only one person I can think of..."

Elorm lifted his brows and stared at her. "Really? Who?"

Ellie narrowed her eyes and sighed. "Michael."

When she received no reaction from Elorm she looked up at him and shrugged. "He got me a similar bracelet when we were dating." She pointed at the Pandora charm on her wrist.

"I see." Elorm leaned in the chair, "Have you confronted him on that?"

She shook hee head. "Not yet. I'm hoping to do so. I've got no idea what his plans are by sending me stuffs like that."

"You should find out then, although I wouldn't agree with you getting closer to that loser." His face grew grim.

Ellie smiled. "There's nothing to worry about."

"I hope so." He smiled back, "Uhm...Are you doing anything this evening?"

"No. Why?"

"I was wondering..." He began but a phone call interrupted him. He scratched his head as Ellie reached into her purse for her phone.

"Excuse me." She said and answered the call.

Elorm nodded and stared at her as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Yes, Mom."

"How're you doing, Ellie?” Samantha answered, sounding a bit low.

“I’m okay. What about you? You don’t sound very good.”

“Your father... He’s back. And on his way to your hostel. I don’t want you to meet him.”

Ellie's face brightened. Her father was back? Since when? “And why not? You have no idea how much I miss him!”

“You need to stay away from that man, Ellie. He wants to take you away from me!” Samantha growled.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Mom, can you stop this already? You can’t deny a father from seeing his daughter just because of some silly grudge.”

“You need to mind how you talk to me, Missy. And I can’t believe how you still see that cheater as a father.”

Ellie rolled her eyes again. “Bye, Mom. There's no need arguing with you on this. And if Dad's in town, I can't wait to see him!”

"You-"

Ellie grinned and hang up the call. She looked at the nervous Elorm and asked, "What were you saying?"

"Never mind. I'm sure you might be busy." He said and got up from the chair.

Ellie looked at him as he rounded the desk. "You sure?"

Elorm nodded. "I've got to be on my way. I need to rest."

"Okay."

"Did I tell you my team has a got a match with the Black Panthers on Friday?" Elorm smiled.

"Your team?" Ellie lifted herself from the chair.

He smiled. "Yes. The Shield."

“Since when did you start playing basket ball? Who advised you into that?” She asked, furrowing her brows. The Elorm she knew was into soccer and he was a great player. 

“You. I joined to please you, after knowing you’ve got a thing for basketball players.” he grinned.

Stunned, Ellie turned to look at him. “Really?”

He chuckled and stood beside her. “Just look at how you’re blushing!” He brushed his finger against her cheek.  “There’s no harm in trying new sports, right?”

She nodded with a shrug. “I guess. Let me see what you’ve got on Friday.”

“And be prepared to be amazed.” He winked.

“Okay.” She giggled.

Suddenly the smile wiped off from her face and her heart sank. A look of disappointment flashed her face as she reminisced how excited she'd always been each time Michael’s team had a match to play. And cheering for him came easy, knowing he'd never disappoint his fans. The Black Panthers was the school's pride and Michael was their hero. But this time around, Ellie didn't know who to cheer for, The Shield or The Black Panthers?