A week went by, and Will and Jasmine were finally learning to get along. They had talked a few times without arguing about how idiotic each other and they shared a piece of toast only a couple of days ago. Progress was definitely being made between the two. Unfortunately, only five days were left in the dream town of Miami before travelling back to the rainy climates of the UK, and these final days left were precious. Things definitely had to get done.
“Ellie, Jasmine, Will!” Caroline called upstairs to the lazy teens, “Breakfast is ready!”
Ellie and Will made their way down stairs, slowly, sluggishly and tiredly. Even though it was 10:30AM, they were both still in their pyjamas and couldn’t stop yawning.
“Did you have a late night last night or something?” Ellie’s Dad questioned, looking at the terrible two in confusion. Ellie was never tired in the morning.
“We had a sleepover,” Will laughed, staring at Ellie’s frizzy, un-brushed hair.
“Don’t laugh at me, Will.” Ellie grinned, “I know I look terrible in the morning,”
Will smiled, “I think you look fine,”
“Whatever,” Ellie laughed sitting down at the dining table.
Caroline placed breakfast down in front of them, “Bon appetite.” The plates were filled with bright colours from yellows to greens and from browns to reds. It was a full English breakfast, and surprise crossed both Ellie and Will’s faces.
Ellie’s shocked face soon brightened up. She hadn’t had a English Breakfast since the last half term holiday from school, and she felt extremely happy when she noticed her parents had gone to the trouble of making her one that morning. No wonder they wanted them to come down after putting hard work into cooking an eye-catching breakfast.
“I love you guys so much,” Ellie said, chomping on a sausage.
“We love you too,” Ellie’s Father, Joe said, hugging his wife Caroline.
“I’ve got to say Caroline; this is one incredible Full English.” Will smiled, nodding his head with approval.
“Aw, thank you, Will.” Caroline smiled back. “I try my best.”
Minutes later, Jasmine entered the dining room. Her eyes remained half shut and she walked like a zombie. She looked even more tired than Ellie and Will who arrived in the dining room just over five minutes ago.
“Would you like a coffee, Jas?” Joe asked, laughing at her facial expression which was un-moveable.
“That would be amazing, thank you.” Jasmine replied as a mumble.
“How about you two, would you both like a coffee?” Joe questioned, “Sorry for not asking beforehand.”
“No thanks,” They both said, before looking at each other and chuckling.
“I’m fine with this lovely fresh orange juice, thanks” Ellie smiled,
“Okay, one coffee coming up” Joe finally said before leaving the dining room.
Jasmine sat down the table and started scoffing in toast, even though she was shattered her appetite hadn’t reduced at all.
“You’re so attractive in the morning,” Ellie laughed, scanning Jasmine’s whole worn-out face.
“I know,” Jasmine replied waving her hand at her sister in a sassy motion.
After breakfast was eaten and the plates were cleared, Ellie, Will and Jasmine got sent up stairs to get dressed. It was already 11:03 in the morning by this time and Joe and Caroline had planned the day before to leave for the beach at 11:00.
“Don’t be long,” Joe ordered, glancing at his watch.
“I’ll be as fast as I can,” Jasmine replied, pacing up the stairs.
Will was ready in ten minutes, fully dressed and cleaned; he could have had a shower if he knew how long Ellie and Jasmine would take. When he was sat waiting down stairs in the living room, Jasmine and Ellie were only half done and still upstairs styling their hair and coating their skin with makeup.
“God, you girls take so long.” Will called upstairs with a moan,
“I want to look nice, you know.” Ellie said as she sat straightening her hair up in their bedroom.
Ellie was wearing a blue and white sailor styled short sleeved t-shirt and some denim blue shorts with red and blue chunky sandals as she learnt from the past week it is too hot for long sleeves and jeans. While Will was wearing a white Hollister shirt and Hawaiian styled swimming trunks, planning on going in the sea.
When Ellie finished straightening her hair, she placed a straw sun hat on her head. She coated her lashes with mascara, and painted her lips with pink lip gloss. Will walked up the stairs and peeked his head into the room where she stood in front of the mirror.
“You look perfect,” Will sighed, “Now are you ready?”
“Oh gee, thank you cheesy boyfriend. What a lovely way to finish a sentence.” Ellie giggled,
“You’re welcome,” Will grinned,
“And yeah, I’m ready.” Ellie finally answered slipping her makeup bag into a draw before closing it and heading over to where Will stood. “By the way,” She started, walking past him on the landing. “You’re looking pretty hot today”
Will looked down at the floor and blushed, before following her down the stairs.
“Guys, it’s twenty to twelve. The day is almost over!” Caroline stressed,
“Sorry, Mum.” Ellie apologized,
“That’s okay, can we leave now?” Karen said.
Jasmine ran down the stairs and yelled, “Yes! Yes we can,”
Joe picked up his car keys for the car he rented, and they waited for him in the front room to exit the kitchen.
But suddenly, there was a startling knock at the door.
“Why is someone knocking on the door?” Caroline cocked an eyebrow confused, “We’re on holiday...Why would we have visitors?”
“I’ll open it,” Jasmine said, walking towards the door.
They all stood with their eyes fixed on the door, confused by who would knock on. This is a holiday villa, why would someone knock on the door unless they were lost? Ellie asked herself.
Jasmine opened the tall oak door slowly and to her astonishment she sees a tall man in a black suit. She was unable to see his eyes as he wore black sunglasses, and even when he took them off, to her his face remained unrecognisable.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“Is my son here?” The man questioned,
“I don’t know,” Jasmine raised an eyebrow, “Who’s your son?”
“William Smith,” He answered.
“Hmm, William Smith, let me think.” Jasmine placed her index finger on her chin pretending to think,
“Just let me in,” The man said pushing past Jasmine.
“Hey,” Jasmine yelled as he pushed her back, “I didn’t say you could come in!”
“Oh my god,” Will’s eyes widened, “Why are you here?!”
“Your Mother told me where you were, I guess she’s just too loyal to me,” The man was Will’s Father. He looked angry and extremely scary. His eyebrows knitted together and his eyes were blood shot and looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. “You are coming home with me, Will. And you are never seeing this girl and her family ever again!” Will’s Father, Harry, dragged Will towards the front door. “Our plane leaves in an hour”
“But Dad, you can’t do that!” Will yelled,
“Oh yes I can, you are my son. Not theirs!” His Father yelled back.
“He may not be our son,” Caroline started, “But he sure feels like family.”
“I am not staying here for a commentary” Harry said still trying to get Will to leave with him, but Will fought back. Ellie screamed causing everyone to become silent, and all eyes were on her.
“Just tell me this,” Her deep blue eyes started to water, “What’s your problem with me?” She asked.
“Will’s grades are going down the hill,” Harry stated,
“Aren’t you the one who wanted Will to help me with mine?” Ellie questioned.
“Yes, but I never expected this...” Harry answered, shrugging his shoulders.
“This?” Ellie cried, “I have never seen your son so happy!”
“I don’t care; I want my son to do well in life.” Harry snapped,
“Is that all you care about?” Ellie asked in tears.
“What?” Harry replied,
“All you seem to care about is the money and the amazing job. Well you know what comes along with that? You get a wife, a family and the most amazing feeling of all, happiness.” Ellie said with a big sigh at the end, before wiping a tear from her cheek.
“I don’t want to stay here any longer,” Harry said grabbing Will’s arm, “Get in the car, son”
“But...”
“Now,”
Ellie stared at Will, his beautiful blue eyes watered and he looked back at her. But he left, as he was scared of the consequences if he didn’t. Ellie’s heart smashed into a million pieces.
Harry frowned at them, “Sorry from any inconvenience.” He walked towards the door.
Ellie lashed out, “Sorry for any inconvenience!?” She sprang towards him, but Joe and Caroline, her worried parents, held her back.
He shut the door with a loud slam, and Ellie broke down, falling to her knees. She fell to the carpet with clenched fists and she squeezed the fur of the carpet in anger and sadness. She cried and cried and her cheeks were almost filled with wet, black mascara.
Her Mum ran her fingers through Ellie’s hair and sat beside her, “Don’t worry” She whispered in her ear. “Everything’s going to be okay,”
“How do you know?” Ellie questioned, “What if it isn’t?”
“It will be, trust me. Harry will realise what he’s done to you both, and he will let it be, sweetie.” Her Mum explained,
“I hope you’re right,” Ellie looked up at her anxious Mother with a blank face.
Caroline wiped the mascara off her daughter’s cheeks; “I know I am.” She smiled down at her. “Now stop the crying, and let’s have a wonderful day.”
“You are right, I’m sorry.” Ellie mumbled quietly,
“No need to apologize, sweetie. Go upstairs and sort out your makeup, and then come down and we can go out and get our nails done with Jasmine or something, okay?” Caroline smiled.
“Okay,” Ellie smiled back, standing up on to her feet. She hugged her Mother tightly, and once she let go she glanced at Jasmine and her Father. They shot her a reassuring smile, and she half-smiled back, nodding her head up and down.
* * *
An hour later, Joe dropped all three girls off at a cute little Nail Salon in the heart of Miami.
“I’ll pick you guys up in about an hour,” Joe said waving to them,
“Ok, see you later” Caroline waved back.
Joe drove off, and Caroline, Ellie and Jasmine strolled into the Salon, unsure of what to expect. The walls were an almost unbearable bright shade of pink, and the ceiling was mirrored, so you could look up and see your nails from above. The desk stood at the left corner of the room, and a tall blonde haired woman stood behind it with a bright and happy smile.
“Hello, welcome to Glamorous; would you like to make an appointment?” She said in a strong Miami accent,
“Are there again gaps around...?” Caroline looked down at her watch, “Now?”
The young woman looked down at white piece of paper with dates and times on, her gaze scrolled through the times and before Karen could react the blonde haired woman’s head shot up. “You’re in luck!” She smiled, “We have three gaps right now,”
“Perfect! We’ll take them,” Caroline smiled, “How much will that be?”
“Nails for three?” The young woman questioned,
“Yes,” Caroline answered.
“$60 please,” She smiled,
Caroline got out the cash she had received from the ATM half an hour earlier, she passed the young woman $60 and she dropped it into her register and pointed them to where they had to sit. Although the pink walls were quite blinding, the chairs were soft leopard print and looked rather cosy. It seemed like a bonus, and because there was no television to watch anywhere in the salon, the pink walls were a huge distraction.
“Thank you,” Ellie and Jasmine smiled before walking over to the seats where three pretty women sat.
One had shoulder length bleach blonde hair and cute round brown eyes, another had long wavy brown hair with brown sparkly eyes, and the other had puffy pink hair, and she had small, oval shaped, blue eyes.
“Hello,” The pink haired one said to Ellie, “My name is Marissa; I will be doing your nails today.”
“Hey, Marissa,” Ellie smiled, “My name is Ellie.”
“What a pretty name, Ellie.” Marissa chirped,
“Thank you, so is yours.” Ellie blushed.
“Thank you. Any ideas on what design you would like on your nails?” Marissa asked,
“I was thinking light, ocean blue with a black leopard print?” Ellie suggested.
“Sounds gorgeous,” Marissa smiled,
“Is that okay with you?” Ellie questioned.
“Of course,” Marissa replied cheerfully, “Let me just get the stencils and polishes.”
Ellie looked over at Jasmine, and Jasmine gave her thumbs up. Jasmine was with the bleach blonde haired woman and she had already got going, painting her nails. It looked like she was getting a French Manicure, which was very beautiful.
40 minutes had gone by and Marissa had kept Ellie from sitting in silence awkwardly and instead used her extraordinary social skills which were awfully good. She must have had done this job for an extremely long time to know what to talk about for a full 40 – almost 50 – minutes.
“All done,” Marissa announced, “They may be still wet, so don’t touch anything. Just blow on them.”
Ellie raised her hands into the air, “Wow, they’re perfect” She said with a smile lit up on her face.
“I know. I love your style!” Marissa replied.
Ellie blew on her nails, until they finally became dry. She heard a beep from outside the shop; her Father was waiting in the car impatiently.
“Thank you so much, Marissa!” Ellie said standing up from the chair,
“No problem, come again” Marissa replied as Ellie pulled Jasmine and her Mum out of the Nail salon.
They got into the car and all attention was on their nails. None of them could keep their eyes off of them.
“Let’s look at your nails, girls.” Joe said, and they all raised their palms forward, showing off the polish. “Very nice, where would you like to go now?”
“Can we go home?” Ellie began to frown,
“Sure, honey.” Mike replied.
Ellie was thinking of Will, he was most probably still on the plane home back to the UK. Ellie wanted to cry, but she held back the tears by keep her head up straight and clenching her teeth together tightly. Don’t be a wimp. Ellie thought to herself while she nodded her head. She looked down at her nails and smiled. Well I wouldn’t have got my nails done so beautifully like I have if Will hadn’t been taken home. She laughed to herself, looking on the Brightside of things.
“What are you laughing at?” Jasmine questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
“Nothing,” Ellie replied, shaking her head.
They arrived home, and Ellie ran up to her room as quick as she could. Will’s things were still there, all piled up on top of the suitcase. She smelt his worn jumper; his gorgeous fragrance still remained on it, seeping through the knitting. She pulled the jumper over her head, and she lay down on the bed scrunched up into a tiny ball. Minutes later, she fell fast asleep after the crazy day she just experienced. The jumper was extremely comfortable, and she just couldn’t help falling asleep in it – it felt like home, or like being wrapped warmly in Will’s long, warm, cosy arms. It was comfier than the covers on the bed, and that was enough for her to pass out almost suddenly
Check out the gif in the right side bar of Ellie's Father, Joe! Much loveX - Ellie :-)