Thank you to the lovely azulastar for your review.
The next chapter is where things take a darker turn. I've actually spent the last two hours going through it and rewriting everything because it's one of the most important parts and I want it to be perfect. I'm also in the process of making some edits to chapter one as well because I think I got a little too eager and posted it before it was ready.
Anyway on with the story. Please let me know what you think, feedback really helps especially when I'm making edits.
Chapter Two
Ella's eyes flickered slowly open, bright sunlight hitting her face. Ugh, she'd forgotten to shut the curtains when she'd finally made it home. In fact, she looked down, she hadn't even managed to get out of her clothes. Sitting up she tried to suppress the urge to be sick. She and Ashley had really made a mistake with that fourth bottle of wine. Blinking into the light, eyes barely open, she put her left hand over to her bedside table to grab her phone. What time was it? Please let her not be late for work.
Her hand continued to search her bedside table but to no avail. Shit. She must have left her mobile at Ashley's last night. Hardly surprising considering how much they'd both drunk. She'd have to call Ashley later and see when a good time to pick it up was. Hopefully she wouldn't send it to school with Hanna. She didn't think she could face the humiliation of one of her students, who also happened to be one of her daughter's best friend's, knowing what a state she'd gotten into the night before.
Double checking she ran her hand along the bedside table again, praying that she was mistaken and she'd just missed it on her first search. No. Of course she would never be that lucky. But then again it would help if she could actually open her eyes properly. She stumbled towards the curtains, tugging them shut, and then went back to her bed. Already thinking about the coffee she was going to make herself on this inspection she noticed something she hadn't before. A letter sitting on her bedside table.
Ella looked at it in confusion. Then she recognised the handwriting. She nearly tore the piece of paper up there and then but her eyes fell on the name the letter was addressed to. Her jaw dropped. She began to read it.
As she reached the end her legs gave way below her and she collapsed onto the floor.
"Ella?"
Ashley's voice suddenly rang out through her apartment. "Ella are you okay? I did knock but no one answered. Was the front door supposed to be open or did you forget to shut it last night? God I feel rough. You left your phone behind, I wanted to drop it in before work."
Footsteps came towards her and Ella looked up from her position on the floor just as Ashley walked into her bedroom.
Ashley looked at Ella's pale tear stained face and she felt her heart drop. "Are you okay?" The redhead moved carefully across the carpet and as close to the brunette as she felt appropriate. She realised that there was a piece of paper clutched in Ella's hand, and although the last thing she wanted to do was pry, her instincts told her she needed to see whatever was written on it.
She held her hand out. "May I?"
Ella shook her head fiercely.
"But it is whatever's on that piece of paper that's upset you isn't it?"
A small shrug.
"Ella if you don't want me to read it that's totally okay, but can you at least give me some indication as to what's written? You're upset, and I can't help you if I don't understand."
Ella could hear the concern in her friends voice. The last thing she wanted to do was to hand over the letter to her. Like she hadn't been humiliated enough. But whoever had sent her this copy of it probably had others, so it wasn't like Ashley wouldn't end up seeing it eventually, whether she wanted her to or not. She held the damp letter out for Ashley to take. "Here." Her voice was broken. Half from crying, half from the hangover. Ashley delicately took the piece of paper and began to read. Some words were now pretty smudged from Ella's tears, but she could still easily read what was written.
Dear A,
I did what you asked of me.
Before we talk about the new task, can you please do me a favour. Next time you need someone to screw around with a chubby, unattractive mother of two, either find some other mug or do it yourself. Because I'm not doing it again. Three weeks in I told you I was done.
Oh and just for the record, I don't appreciate being blackmailed.
You want a debrief? Here's your fucking debrief. I have never had to do something so disgusting in my life. I spent hours in the shower after I first had to screw her. I brushed my teeth over and over again to try and get rid of her taste. That and the taste of bile from all the puking I did once she'd left. But there's no scrubbing brush for your mind. Every time I shut my eyes I still see every scar, every wrinkle, every stretch mark. No wonder her husband went off with someone else. Someone that actually knows what she's doing in bed and without gross saggy old lady tits probably.
Is that enough of a debrief for you? Or do you want me to point out the fact that $250,000 and an all expenses paid trip wasn't worth having to wake up next to that every morning. And there's no money in the world that would make up for having to touch her. All of which I fucking told you months ago. Even offered you the money back to pay some other silly bugger. Guess no one else wanted her either.
I deserve extra compensation just for having to listen to all the fucking whining. "Do you really love me Zach?" "How can you find someone like me attractive?" And then there was the hours of my life that were wasted having to listen to her tell me all of her deepest darkest secrets.
Which by the way if you want to use you're going to have to pay me for. I didn't go through all of that shit not to get more than a couple of hundred lousy grand for it. I want at least $50,000 for every secret I pass on and be grateful I'm not asking for more.
I guess I should thank you for eventually getting the fat bitch out of my life though. Nice idea, using the redhead's daughter. Shame you wouldn't let me do her instead. Hell, I'd pay you for that pleasure.
I know what you want me to do next but I'm going to need serious money and a proper job description. No mucking about this time. I want the full story, not half of it. I'm not making the mistake or trusting you twice. And if you think you can blackmail me into sticking to a job like that again you are very wrong. Next time when I say three weeks in I want it to stop. It stops.
That's the deal. More money and a get out of jail free card.
If you're still interested in my services let me know.
Zack
By the time she reached the end of the letter Ashley couldn't understand how Ella hadn't been sick. Quite frankly she wanted to be. Sitting down on the floor next to her, she gently pulled her into a hug.
Ella's crying became louder, Ashley held on tighter. Both women unsure what else to do as they let the words from the letter sink in.
AE - AE - AE
It was over twenty minutes later that Ella's stomach finally gave out and she threw up. All over herself, all over the floor, and all over Ashley. Trying to fight her own gag reflex that wasn't strong at the best of times let alone after all of the wine they'd drunk the night before, Ashley turned to her friend. "It's better out than in, but we need to get you cleaned up sweetheart." Her voice was gentle, barely above a whisper.
Silence.
For a moment she didn't think that Ella had even heard her speak.
Then Ella looked down at herself and then back up at Ashley who had mysteriously managed to end up covered in just as much, if not more of Ella's stomach contents than Ella had herself. "I'm so sorry."
Ashley, one arm still around Ella's shoulders, shook her head. "Don't even worry about it. After reading that letter I'm surprised I didn't…" Ella had started to cry heavily again and Ashley held her a little tighter. "Shhhh it's okay. Look we'll deal with the letter in a minute, but I can tell you from experience you're not going to feel any better about anything while you're sitting in a pile of your own sick."
"I don't think I can stand."
Ella's voice was so weak Ashley could hardly hear her. The brunette spoke without even looking at her. Ashley wasn't sure whether it was the effort of moving her head to the side that was stopping her, or the sheer humiliation of the situation.
"I'll help you. Just put your arm around my waist. That's it. Like that." They'd only made it two steps when Ella's legs nearly went from under her again. Ashley wished she'd started working out at the gym when she said she would rather than just eating more salad. "Come on sweetheart, I need you to be strong for me. Just for a minute. Just until we get you to the bathroom. That's it, one foot in front of the other. There we go." How they managed to get there Ashley wasn't sure, but they did. After starting a hot bubbly bath running (she hoped the bottle of blue liquid she took off the side was bubble bath) she turned back to Ella.
"Are you going to be okay to get yourself in from here?"
Ella nodded firmly but Ashley wasn't convinced. There was no way she was going to argue with her though. She was about to turn to leave when Ella's right hand moved as she went to try and tuck some loose hair behind her ears. Her arm got halfway up and then fell back onto her lap.
"Ella, you're in shock. You're in shock, and you're exhausted. You've hardly had any sleep and you've been sitting crying for over an hour. So much so that you've been sick. You have no strength left. Please let me help you."
Ella didn't acknowledge she'd even spoken. Apprehensively Ashley stepped forward. No movement. She took that as a yes. Slowly she knelt down in front of her. Ella's eyes were hollow and she didn't seem aware of anything happening around her, but the moment Ashley reached for her shirt panic filled her previously lifeless eyes and she pulled herself back. They both looked at each other for a moment and the words from the letter flashed before both of their eyes. Ashley gave a soft sigh and balanced herself on the edge of the bath.
Tears were still falling down Ella's face. She could hardly feel her arms, let alone use numb fingers to unbutton her shirt. But that didn't mean that she could let Ashley do it. A warm hand touched hers. "I get it El, I really do."
"No. You don't."
Ashley didn't know what to say to that so remained silent for a while. Eventually after nearly ten minutes in which neither of them had spoken she tried again. "Ella I really need you to let me help you. You need to get back into your bed but we have to get the sick off you first. Come on. Let me undress you and help you into the bath and then you can wash while I go and find you some pyjamas. I'm going to need to find me some clean clothes too" she added, smiling softly and signalling down at her own sticky clothes.
"They won't fit you. They'll be too big."
Ashley's heart broke a little and she squeezed the hand she still hadn't let go of. "Ella, I… I wish I could magically make that letter go away, or at least make you not believe a word of the spiteful lies that evil man wrote. But I can't. I get that. And I also know that all you want to do right now is curl up in a hole and never let anyone see you again. The last thing you want is to have to let me undress you at a time you feel most vulnerable and self conscious about the way you look. But I'm not going to judge you, and you shouldn't be ashamed of your body. When I look at you all I see is a Mom, just like me. We all have scars, and more stretch marks and wrinkles than we want to admit. And that's totally okay. We wouldn't have our beautiful children without them, and those precious babies of ours are worth every mark we have."
Ella still wouldn't look at her.
"I'm not going to do anything you don't feel comfortable with. If it takes us sitting in here all day until you feel ready then…" an idea struck her. "Actually if we're going to sit here all day I'm not going to do it in these clothes because if they stay on any longer they're going to become permanently attached to me." She stood up and started to lift her top up from the bottom. "You don't mind do you?"
Ella finally looked up and gave a weak smile. "No, but I know what you're doing."
Ashley smiled gently back and then pulled her top over her head before wriggling out of her jeans. She stood, in her underwear, hoping she didn't look as uncomfortable as she felt. "Washing machine?"
"Kitchen. Right hand side."
"Are you going to let me take your clothes so they can be washed at the same time?"
Ella shook her head and looked away from her again.
"That's fine, we can do two separate washes. I'll be back in a moment."
Ashley padded across the floor in bare feet trying to ignore her own feelings of self consciousness. Clothes thrown into the washing machine and washing machine turned on, she headed back to the bathroom.
Poor Ella, her entire relationship was a hoax. I actually found the letter really difficult to write because I wanted it to be truly haunting, and that meant specific to her but also probably relating to insecurities that a lot of us have. I wanted it to be cruel but I also wanted it to be believable. In some of the earlier versions there was no purpose to it other than to just be foul about our little Ellakins so I changed it to make it more believable. (I hope... at least in line with some of the other stuff that happens on PLL's anyway!)
New episode tomorrow! Or not in the UK because it doesn't appear on Netflix until the early hours of Wednesday so I have to wait until I get back from University. Meaning no internet until after I've seen it to avoid being spoilt. The struggles.
Kisses -C