Fighting to Be Free (Fighting to Be Free 1)

She was beaming up at me. “I love you so much, Jamie. Oh God, thank you! This is gonna be awesome!” she cried, gripping the front of my shirt and kissing me fiercely, giggling against my lips.

I pulled back and grinned. “First stop, gift shop. Let’s buy you a zoo t-shirt to cover up that hot little outfit you’re wearing so it doesn’t get ruined.” Her smile widened as I led her towards the entrance.

The day was incredible. Ellie got a tour with one of the keepers while I trailed behind, watching her go inside enclosures and stuff. She got to feed the tigers and cheetahs. She had to bathe and play ball with an elephant. The best part for me by a clear mile was watching her go into the zoo’s nursery and feed an orphaned chimp with a baby bottle. She’d been crying the whole time - it was adorable.

The only dampener on my afternoon was a phone call from Brett. Apparently, Terry had been arrested and as soon as he was discharged from hospital he’d been taken in for questioning in connection to the stolen Mazda he was driving. Thankfully though they hadn’t linked him with any of the other twenty-four cars that had probably all been reported stolen this morning.

Brett told me not to worry, that he would take care of the situation and that he always looked after his boys. Although it kind of dimmed my mood a little at the time, as soon as Ellie was back at my side again my spirits were lifted. She’d finished her tour, so we bought a sandwich and sat on the grass outside of the lion enclosure. I sat there just listening to her gush about it and how this was easily the best birthday she’d ever had - including the one she spent at Disneyland when she was seven.

“So, should I give you’re your gift now?” I offered.

She looked at me with shock evident across her face. “This isn’t my gift?” she asked, waving her hand around at the zoo in example.

I laughed and shook my head, pulling out the palm sized gift box from my pocket. “No. This is your present.” Well, part of it anyway.

She gulped as I held the box out to her. “Jamie, I don’t need you to spend your money on me.”

“I’ll remember that for next year when I’m broke again,” I joked, waving the little box at her.

“Come on, take it. And if you don’t like it then we’ll change it, alright?” She chewed on her lip as she looked at me gratefully before tearing off the silver gift wrap. Her hand hesitated for a second, hovering over the lid of the box. “Open it,” I encouraged.

She smiled and pried open the lid. Her eyes almost immediately filled with tears as her free hand covered her mouth. “Oh, Jamie, it’s….” She shook her head and I started to panic that she didn’t like it.

“You can change it,” I offered.

She made a little whimper sound and shook her head. “Change it, are you crazy? It’s beautiful.

Thank you so much, this must have cost you a fortune,” she whispered, tracing her finger along the line of the silver bracelet I’d bought her. Ellie liked silver, she never wore anything gold.

“You sure?” I searched her eyes for signs that she was lying and trying to spare my feelings. “I don’t mind if you want to-” Her mouth pressed against mine stopping my insecure ramble. I smiled against her lips and pulled her closer to me, just loving the attention from her.

She broke the kiss; her eyes still glazed over with what I was hoping were happy tears. “Put it on for me?” she asked, holding out the box. I smiled and took the bracelet from its pillow, clasping it around her slender wrist. The bracelet was one of those ones with the beads that you collected and added on to it. Her one had only four beads so far, one of them inlayed with a little diamond. I planned on collecting them for her and filling it up as the years passed. She traced her finger over it once it was on. “Oh, Jamie, I love it, thank you,” she cooed.

“You’re very welcome.” I grinned and pulled her to me, making her practically sit in my lap. We just sat there, talking, watching the zoo slowly empty of the people. We stayed for as long as we could before heading back to my place for a couple of hours. I’d booked her favourite Chinese restaurant for tonight but our reservation wasn’t until nine o’clock - I still had the last part of her gift to give to her before dinner.

Once I’d pried myself off of her body, we showered and changed. When she slipped on a little black dress I almost didn’t want to go out, but I somehow managed to keep my hands off of her. On the way to the restaurant I drove a little out of town and stopped next to a deserted field.

“What are we doing here?” she asked, looking around at the nothingness around us.

“Last gift.” I pulled out another envelope from the glove compartment and held it out to her. She frowned and took it, opening it with the curious puppy expression on her face.

I watched her face as she read it over. “I don’t understand, what is this?” she asked, frowning.

“I had a star named after you. I wanted to get you something you could keep. It’s pretty lame,” I admitted, wincing and now wishing I hadn’t done it. I really was turning into one of those romantic saps that the boys all rip the piss out of at the warehouse.

She gasped, looking down at the sheet again. “I love star gazing! I had a telescope when I was a little girl. I used to sit there for hours on end and was always getting into trouble for not being in bed like I was supposed to!” she cried, shocked.

I raised one eyebrow, fighting to keep my expression neutral. “Oh really? I had no idea you liked stars and stuff,” I lied - I seriously loved her sleep-rambles, they gave me a lot of insight into the real Ellie.