Fighting to Be Free (Fighting to Be Free 1)

“Ellie’s going to come and help me scout out a new apartment. Mine’s coming to the end of its lease and I wanted a second opinion,” I lied smoothly.

“Yeah? You live on your own?” he asked, a little shocked.

I nodded, “Yes sir, I’ve lived on my own for a while now.”

“Really? Well how old are you, Jamie?” he asked, looking at Ellie a little concerned.

“I’m eighteen, Sir.” I smiled reassuringly, showing him that I wasn’t some older guy coming to take advantage of his daughter.

“Oh, I thought you were older. Ok yeah, eighteen’s great,” he said relaxing slightly and leaning back in his chair.

We were quiet for a minute or so as we ate, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable because Ellie kept smiling at me, her eyes telling me I was doing fine with her parents.

“So Michael, I was thinking of inviting the Barrington’s over for dinner one night this week. What do you think?” Ellie’s mom asked, smiling what looked like a fake smile.

“What? Why the hell would you do that?” Ellie gasped, clearly annoyed.

“We’re still friends with the Barrington’s, Ellison. I can invite them for dinner if I want to,” Ruth replied, smiling innocently.

Ellison? Was that Ellie’s full name? It was pretty, but Ellie suited her better.

“For goodness sake mom, can’t you just leave it?” Ellie asked, frowning angrily.

Ok what is this about?

“Ellison, you two need to work it out sooner or later. Susan said that he’s missing you. You two make such an adorable couple, and you need to think of your future,” Ruth stated, her eyes flicking to me as she said thinking about the future.

Wait, adorable couple….. Is she talking about Mark?

“Well Mark’s not part of my future, he’s part of my past. Invite them to dinner if you want, but leave me out of it. Tell me what day they’re coming and I can guarantee I’ll be busy,” Ellie stated, crossing her arms and sitting back in her chair, glaring at her mother.

“Ellison, you will attend a family dinner and you will behave properly,” Ruth snapped, looking at her daughter warningly.

“You know mom, you can push this and push it as far as you want, but Mark and I aren’t getting back together no matter what you or his mom or even he thinks. It’s over, and has been for five weeks. You really need to move on,” Ellie said, shaking her head, snorting slightly.

“You should think about it, Ellison. Mark’s family are so proper, and already set up. Mark’s going to college to be a doctor, you’d be set for life,” Ruth said, looking at her pleadingly. “Think of what he can give you, you’ll never want for anything.”

Ellie closed her eyes, “Mom, you really think I want to be with someone because of what they can give me? What about being happy, or being in love? Doesn’t that count for anything?” she asked.

“Love fades, and you need to think of your future and your children’s futures,” Ruth stated, shrugging, as if this were no big deal what she just said.

Ellie laughed, “So you got with dad because of the money his parents had or because you knew he’d be a successful financial adviser, did you?” Ellie challenged.

“No, I got with your father because I loved him, and it just so happened to work out perfectly. Most people aren’t that lucky. I mean, what do you do, Jamie?” Ruth asked, speaking to me directly for the first time since I came in.

Wow, this woman is nasty.

I opened my mouth to tell them I was a mechanic, but Ellie cut me off. “It doesn’t matter what he does for a living, Mom. Stop being like this! If you’re trying to make him jealous or start an argument over Mark, then it’s not going to work. Jamie and I are friends, but even if we were more it wouldn’t matter what the hell he did. Things in life don’t revolve around money and possessions you know,” Ellie growled. She stood up and shot me a pleading look. “Are you done eating Jamie, because I’m ready to go.”

I nodded and stood up, “Thanks for the breakfast, and it was nice to meet you,” I said uncomfortably, making Michael laugh.

“You can come back another time and witness another domestic, ok?” he teased, smiling broadly and holding out a hand to me.

I shook his hand and laughed, “Yeah this was……fun,” I joked, making him laugh too.

He slapped me on the shoulder grinning. Ok he liked me, score one for that, but her mom had a serious problem with me, hopefully it was just because she wanted Ellie to be with Mark. Ellie went to the counter and grabbed her purse, before signalling to me that she was ready to go.

I looked her over, she would be cold without a jacket or something, mind you she could always have my sweater if she got cold. “You might want a sweater, Ellie. It’s gonna be cold today, apparently.”

“Oh, ok well I’ll just grab one then.” She turned and skipped off to the stairs, leaving me standing there with her parents. Oh God, kill me now. Michael snickered and grabbed the empty plates from the table, heading over to the sink.

“Come on Kelsey, let’s go style your hair,” Ruth said, heading out of the room without looking at me again. The little girl followed behind her, smiling at me shyly on the way past.

“Don’t take anything Ruth say’s personally, she wanted Ellie to get back with her ex-boyfriend. It won’t happen though, she likes you too much,” Michael said winking at me.