Ellie stared into the girl's eyes, which were identical to her own. Flashbacks from the movie 'The Parent Trap' were reeling through her mind. She stood there another second, deciding on playing the role of Hallie. She would be the girl in denial, the girl who pretended there was nothing between her and the complete stranger who looked so much like herself.
She graced a smile onto her face and approached the girl, ignoring the golden-brown leaves that she loved so much that were falling all around her.
"Hi," she said, batting her large, crystal-blue eyes and dark feathery lashes.
Emma smiled unsurely. This girl was a mirror image of herself. "Hi," she said back, stopping as the other girl approached her. The girls' hand was extended towards her and she shook it hesitantly and instantly felt the shivers run down her spine. Ellie felt it too, though she would be damned if she ever admitted it.
"I'm Ellie," Ellie said, placing her most charming, paparazzi-worthy smile on and wished the girl would stop looking so shell-shocked.
"Emma," Emma replied. "You're not from around here are you?" Emma didn't know what made her say it, but she had. There was just something so refreshingly un-Manhattan about her that screamed tourist. She had tanned skin that only years on a beach could perfect and just the way her hair sat in unrulely yet tamed waves made Emma believe she wasn't native. And the fact that she was wearing a short jean skirt that made her vulnerable to the bitter autumn New York wind only confirmed her suspicions.
Ellie smiled. "How can you tell?"
Emma grinned back, glad to know that her instincts had panned out. "I'm a Manhattan girl, we can always tell."
Ellie smiled shyly, suddenly uncomfortable under Emma's prying eyes. There was something about Emma that made Ellie feel that she couldn't lie to her. And that scared her. Her whole life had been built around lies, the armour and walls she had put up to protect herself. And to think that the walls she had spent the past sixteen years perfecting could be crumbled by one look from an identical stranger made her want to vomit.
"Do you have anywhere to be? … Because I'd really like to talk." Ellie mentally hit herself. There it was, the word-vomit, straight out of her mouth and into Emma's ears before she had time to take it back.
Emma's sceptical look softened and she nodded. "I'd like that. I know this great little coffee shop down just down the block. We could get lattes and sit in the park," Emma offered, a look on her face that suggested her idea was about to be rejected.
Ellie hesitated, then smiled genuinely. Not one of the fake, phoney smiles she put on for publicity, but an actual honest-to-God smile. "That sounds awesome."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXRyan sighed, sitting down on the couch and hating the silence. He wished Emma were back; she always kept life interesting and him on his toes. The thought of phoning her and asking to come home crossed his mind, but he instantly rejected it. Emma was like him in the way that she never liked to talk about how she felt. She just needed time by herself to brood, and Ryan would give that to her.
Dialling the numbers on the phone, he listened to the ring and for the sound of the voice on the other end.
"Hello?" the female voice answered.
Ryan smiled. It was so good to hear her voice. "Hey Kirsten."
"Ryan!" Her quiet voice immediately perked up. "How's it going? How's Emma?"
"Em's fine, so is everything else. I just wanted to check in." He couldn't see her, but he knew she was smiling.
"I heard from Jimmy yesterday," Kirsten said in what she hoped was a nonchalant tone but swallowing hard.
"Oh ya? How is he?" He kept his tone light and unsuspecting. He knew where this conversation was going.
"He's good … He talked to Marissa about three days ago," Kirsten said, clearing her throat. Ryan remained silent and tried to ignore the tugging at his heart at the sound of her name. "Marissa sent Ellie to live with him."
Ryan coughed to cover the curse word that escaped his lips. "Where?" he quietly spit out. "Why?"
Kirsten sighed. "Apparently Ellie was just too much to handle for Marissa. Ellie was into too many bad things and …"
Ryan finished her sentence, "She shipped our daughter off for someone else to handle. Typical."
Kirsten tried not to see too much into the fact that he called Ellie 'our daughter' and not 'her daughter' or 'my daughter'. She couldn't quite figure out what he meant. "Ryan, Jimmy wouldn't tell me where he and Ellie were living. He just said that Marissa wanted a quiet life for Ellie, to downplay everything the poor kid's been through," Kirsten said.
"Why didn't she send her to me? I'm her father!" Ryan shook his head, unable to comprehend the fact that his daughter was too much for Marissa to handle and that she pawned her off to live with her grandfather instead of her father.
"Ryan as far as Ellie's concerned she has no idea that she has a father who loves her and an identical twin sister in Manhattan. To tell her now that she kept an amazing family from her for sixteen years would only damage Marissa's relationship with Ellie more," Kirsten bartered.
Ryan sighed, knowing she was right. " I know. It's just … God I love Ellie. She's my daughter. And just thinking about her into all the things that Marissa was into makes me sick. I just want to help her, rescue her."
Kirsten smiled; Ryan never could resist a damsel in distress. And the fact that he was admitting it just went to show how much he had changed. "I know Ryan. I know. But Jimmy assures me that he and Ellie are going to pull through, that they're going to make it."
"Did he say when Ellie was going to live with him?" Ryan asked, running his fingers through his hair.
"When I talked to him yesterday he said her flight left LAX at 4pm. She should be with him now; wherever he is."
Ryan paused, then said, "Did he say how Marissa was?" then flinched. He wanted desperately to know, to know that she was doing great and that she was happy. If only he could talk to her himself.
"He said she was ok; struggling with the fact that she was about to ship Ellie off, but doing ok considering," Kirsten said, relaying the information Jimmy had given her about Marissa. "He also said she misses Emma …" Kirsten hesitated and wondered to tell her son the rest of what Marissa said to Jimmy. "And you."
Ryan gulped. Not a day went by that he didn't think about Marissa and Ellie and the life they could have had as a family with Emma. He missed her more than life itself and wanted her back. But he had let that part of his life go and moved on, or so he told himself to get through the day. "I miss her too," he said quietly.
Kirsten smiled sadly. She knew that Ryan and Marissa loved each other so much and the fact that they weren't together was a shame. They always had been one of those couples that would always be a couple not matter what.
"Well I have to run Ry. I'm making Sandy a roast and he's going to get mad if my full attention isn't on it and it ruin it. But you should come here this weekend. It's been at least a month since we last saw you. You should come home," Kirsten laughed.
Ryan laughed with her. "I'll ask Em and let you know. Tell everyone I say hi."
"Will do. And say hi to Emma. We love you Ryan."
"We love you too."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEllie and Emma sat in an awkward silence on a bench in the middle of Central Park, sipping their warm lattes in an attempt to warm themselves from the chilly wind.
"So when's your birthday?" Ellie asked to break the silence.
Emma swallowed what was left in her mouth turned her eyes to Ellie. "August 7th," Emma said.
Ellie stuttered on the gulp of latte that was in her mouth, regaining the air back to her lungs by coughing. "Mine too," she sputtered.
Emma gawked at her. "Seriously? … Let's play five questions. I'll go first."
Ellie nodded, adjusting her skirt and wishing she had worn something warmer.
"Where do you live?"
"Los Angeles," Ellie answered automatically and with pride. She adored telling people that.
Emma looked impressed. "What are your parents names?"
Ellie hesitated. Part of the deal she had made with her mother was that she wouldn't tell anyone she was the daughter of Marissa Cooper. It was telling people that that had gotten her into some trouble in the first place. But again, she felt like she couldn't lie to Emma and decided to tell her the truth. "It's only me and my mom, Marissa Cooper." Ellie paused and waited for the inevitable gasp. And sure enough, it came.
"Your mom's Marissa Cooper? The famous model slash actress Marissa Cooper?" Emma gawked.
Ellie smiled. "The one and only."
Emma smiled in appreciation and moved on to the next question. "What about your dad?"
"Walked out on my mom when he found out she was pregnant," Ellie answered nonchalantly. She hated talking about her father, or lack-there-of.
Emma gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry. Why are you in Manhattan?"
Ellie hesitated again. She also wasn't supposed to go around telling everybody why she was in New York. "I got into a bit of trouble back home and my mom wanted me to get out of the city," she said. And there was the word-vomit again.
"Last question, then it's my turn," Ellie grinned coyly. She was just as interested in Emma as Emma was in her.
"Who are you staying with?" Emma asked.
"My grandfather … My turn," Ellie said excitedly. "Have you lived in Manhattan your whole life?"
Emma smiled. She, just like Ellie, loved to brag about where she lived. "Yes."
"Awesome," Ellie said. "Do you live with your parents?"
"My dad. My mom left right after she had me," Emma said sadly.
Ellie gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. My dad adores me and I love it being just the two of us," Emma replied.
Ellie nodded solemnly. "Do you ever wish you had a mother?"
"Sometimes," Emma replied. "Mostly when it's girly stuff like guys that I don't like to talk to my dad about," she smiled.
Ellie grinned. "Next question … what's your favourite dessert?"
Emma hesitated, brow furrowed in concentration. "I'd have to say ice cream cake. But it has to have chocolate flakes on top," Emma laughed.
"Seriously?" Ellie asked, awe-struck. "That's my favourite dessert too!"
Emma let her mouth fall open. "Strange."
"No kidding. Ok last question," Ellie said, dipping her head and thinking. "What's your favourite colour?"
"Ooh good one," Emma said. "It's defiantly a tie between tealy-turquoise and pink."
Ellie laughed, then said quietly, "Mine too."
Emma and Ellie sat in silence, both comprehending that fact that they were so much alike. It was scary. With the golden-brown leaves falling all around them, they fell into a comfortable silence and allowed the sound of the crunching leaves to fill the holes in their lives.