The Truth About Ellen: A feel-good romantic comedy

by Sarah Louise Smith

  “I can’t live off your money!”

  I didn’t mean to sound angry, but I was a little put out. Did he really think I’d allow him to keep me? We hadn’t known each other long, I couldn’t even contemplate it. Even if I could, what would happen if we split up? I’d be homeless and jobless. I’d been there before and it hadn’t been fun.

  “Please calm down.”

  I took a deep breath. “Sorry. It’s a very kind offer.”

  “You don’t have to give up forever, just a few months.”

  “Life isn’t like that Tom. I need to earn money.”

  He shrugged again. “I’ll cover you.”

  “I can’t let you do that, Tom! You don’t live in the real world.”

  I sounded angrier that I felt. It was a very sweet and generous gesture but I couldn’t accept.

  “Eat your tartlet,” he said, gesturing to my plate. No one had to tell me to eat twice, and I tucked in, enjoying every mouthful despite the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

  “For the record,” he said, as I finished my food and a waiter removed my plate, “I do know what it’s like to struggle for money. My parents weren’t particularly well off when I was a kid. I don’t take anything for granted.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Okay, well will you at least think about it?”

  The waiter arrived with our main course, and I stopped talking and stared at Tom across the table. He smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back. Then I glanced at his plate.

  “Okay, plate envy,” I declared, looking at his langoustine linguini. Then I looked down at my pheasant dish. “Oh, but look at this,” I said, gesturing to my plate.

  “He’s good, isn’t he?”

  I nodded. “Wow, this is just beautiful,” I said, taking my first bite. It melted in my mouth.

  “That’s why he landed the Michelin stars.”

  “This is amazing,” I said, with my mouth full.

  “So going back to the whole quitting your job and moving in with me thing, I thought we could go to France for two or three weeks.”

  “That sounds amazing, but Tom—”

  “Hear me out.”

  I kept eating and let him talk.

  “We could stay in my villa. Go out for day trips. Walk, read, swim. You could look for a job in London when we get back.”

  I pictured Darby, Tammy and Margot sitting at their desks and droning on, day after day. I didn’t love it there, if I was honest. I could just walk away from it all, take a break and then find a new job… it didn’t sound so bad when I imagined it like that.

  But look what happened with Jon.

  “What if you get bored of me? I can’t rely on you financially. I did that before and ended up homeless and jobless when Jon dumped me.”

  “Is that why you’re so insecure?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Will you at least think about it?”

  “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

  Of course I wanted to quit my job and go to France for three weeks, who wouldn’t? But I had to be realistic. I thought Jon-the-bastard wouldn’t ever hurt me once and I’d been proved wrong. And how long would it take me to get back on my feet when we got back? I couldn’t live off Tom forever.

  Plus, we hadn’t known each other that long. Did I know for sure this was the man for me, forever and ever? The part of my mind that was enjoying all the romance told me yes. The sensible part that knew there was still so much to learn about him, told me no. Be cautious.

  After a delicious dessert, much more Prosecco, a quick hug from Jason, a walk home, and some very nice sex, I lay in Tom’s arms and thought about what he’d said.

  A holiday would be amazing, and yes I was pretty fed up and bored working in an office so maybe this was an exciting opportunity to take a break and then make some sort of career change. But something niggled at me, something made me feel that it was too soon to rely on him in such a huge way.

  I sighed and turned to look at him lying next to me, sleeping and naked, and realised that right this moment, all I wanted was another romp about in the bed. So I woke him up.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sunday morning, I sat on a chair in Tom’s back garden in his Rolling Stones t-shirt, enjoying the warm morning air. I turned my phone on and saw that I had an email from Gordon’s grandson, Shane. He said his granddad was living in Bath and he was delighted to hear from Gladys and sent his regards back. I was delighted for Gran, and wondered if I should offer to drive her to Bath. Maybe we could stay in a bed and breakfast and she could see Gordon again.

  “Good morning,” Tom said cheerily as he opened the door and came to sit beside me, kissing my head as he passed.

  “Hey,” I said. I told him about Gran and Gordon.

  “That’s such a nice story. They should definitely meet up again.”

  “I can’t wait to tell Gran.”

  “Call her now. I’ll go make us some coffee.”

  Gran’s sounded delighted that Gordon was alive and remembered her.

  “So, if he’s up for it, do you want to go and see him? Sounds like he’s living in Somerset, on his own, not far from Bath.”

  “Oh gosh, I’d love to, but what would I say?”

  “You’d just ask about the last fifty years! There must be lots to talk about.”

  “What if… what if I’m not how he remembers me?”

  “I’m sure you’ve both changed, Grandma.”

  “Well, yes… oh, go on then. Will you come?”

  “Of course! I’d love to.”

  “We could find a nice bed and breakfast and make a weekend of it?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “So how’s it going with your new man?”

  “It’s… wonderful. He told me he loves me.”

  “Ah, that’s lovely. Just be careful. You haven’t known each other long.”

  “I know…”

  “Maybe more lust than love, yet.”

  I smiled at her, hoping I could withhold the blush I knew would creep into my face if she said ‘lust’ again. Lust isn’t a word old people should say to young people. It creeps us out.

  “Where does he live and what’s his house like? Nice?”

  “It’s in Kensington, and it’s huge, Gran.”

  “I bet, very posh. Well, have fun.”

  “I will, and we’ll talk more about Somerset next week, yeah?”

  “Thanks for your help Ellen.”

  “No worries.”

  I hung up as Tom came out with two mugs of coffee. He set them down on a small table and sat opposite me.

  “She wants to meet him.”

  “Of course she does. So are you going to take her?”

  “Yeah, we said we’ll sort something out next week.”

  “I can drive you, if you like, I mean, if you don’t mind me tagging along.”

  “That’d be great, thank you.”

  I took a sip of my coffee.

  “Have you thought about your job, and moving in, and coming to France?”

  “Yes. It all sounds wonderful, and yes of course I’d love to quit my job and go on holiday. It sounds very, very tempting.”

  “But?”

  “I’m just concerned about what happens after France. And I don’t want to be dependent on you financially, ever.”

  “Listen, life’s too short for all this worrying about the future. Sure, we don’t know what might happen and it could all go wrong, but what if it doesn’t? What if this is it, and you and me are going to get that happily ever after?”

  A spark ignited in my chest at his words. “That sounds wonderful…”

  “Sometimes you have to live for today, in this moment, right here, right now.”

  It was getting increasingly hard to resist.

  “You’re being so… well, nice.”

  He shrugged as if it was simple. “I think you’re amazing. I want to help you to do whatever will make you happy.”

  I put my hand on his.
“I think you’re pretty amazing.”

  He smiled. “Enough of the fuzzy love stuff. We found each other. We’re in love. It’s all good. Now we plan a future.”

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  Wow, you are Tom Green and you’re even more kind and considerate and romantic than I ever could have imagined and, wow, I’m scared. Wow, I want to do this and it might be crazy but I think I’m going to agree and quit my job and move in with you. Wow.

  Before I had a chance to even attempt to put these thoughts into words, his phone started ringing on the table between us. “Sorry, hang on a minute.”

  “Hello?”

  I picked up my phone, thinking I’d browse my email again, but I couldn’t concentrate when I heard what Tom was saying.

  “Hey George… Yeah I’m good, how’re you?… Yeah, Jasper called me too… Really? …Nah, not interested… Okay, but why does he want to get together? …You think? …I guess so… Yeah, all else is good, I’ve met someone… yeah thanks mate… Her name is Ellen… How’s Jane? …Cool… You mean take the girls too? …Yeah I suppose we could… I’ll think about it… Okay, cheers mate… Bye.”

  I glanced up, eager to hear what he had to say but he just looked at the phone in his hand for a moment and then put it down. He sat back and sighed.

  “You okay?” I asked, watching his face as he stared out at the grass thoughtfully.

  “George and Alex think it might be fun to meet up with Jasper.”

  A Four Apes reunion? If only for an evening, that sounded good to me. So long as they didn’t become best friends again and Jasper didn’t recognise me when he came to visit Tom, of course. Which he surely wouldn’t.

  “Do you want to go?”

  “I said I’d think about it.”

  “I think it’d be fun for you to go, you know? Catch up with them all together. I’m sure you’ve all grown up, moved on, matured and whatever.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  I squeezed his hand and drank more coffee.

  “Listen, if you’re still feeling concerned about my idea, I could just put a little bit of cash in your bank, so you know you’ve got something fall back on, should you ever want to leave. I don’t want you to feel stuck with me because you’ve got no money or anywhere to go.”

  “No, you don’t need to do that.”

  “So…?”

  “Can I have a while to think about it?”

  “Of course.” He smiled at me and looked up at the sky, then rested his head back and closed his eyes. I watched him sitting there and thought about what he’d said about living life in the moment. Was I crazy to even be deliberating about this? So maybe one day he dumps me and I have to find a new home, I’d come back from that before, right?

  My house was on a monthly lease so I could, in theory, give it up quite quickly. Zoe would take Bob in for me while we went to France. If it didn’t work out, worse case she’d probably take me in too.

  I could keep my job and take the train to Milton Keynes. If things went well, then I could look for a job more locally. I could take two weeks off and go to France with him. It was achievable.

  “I’ve thought about it,” I told him.

  He opened his eyes and grinned. “And?”

  “I do want to move in with you.”

  His face lit up and the love he had for me was clear to see. It was overwhelming and my eyes filled up.

  “I’m so happy.”

  “Me too.”

  “Wow.”

  “A few conditions though,” I said firmly.

  “Go on.”

  “I’m going to keep my job. I can get a train from here. I can take two weeks off for the France trip.”

  “Okay. No problem.”

  “You have to let me contribute in some way. I’ll pay rent. I don’t want to live off your money.”

  “Fair enough, although I’m happy to pay for whatever you need.”

  “Lastly…”

  “Yes?”

  “Can I drive your Porsche, even just for a few miles on the motorway?”

  He laughed. “Sure, but for more than a few miles.”

  I leaned forward and put my hands on his knees. “Then you’ve got yourself a deal, Tom Green.”

  He put his hands on mine. “I love you, Ellen Falcon.”

  We spent the day talking about what we’d do in France; Tom said he’d take me into Nice and Monaco, and on a drive through the ‘French Grand Canyon’. His villa was in a village with a beautiful view and we could get fresh bread every day and laze by the pool. It sounded wonderful and I hadn’t had a holiday, excluding the long weekend in Cumbria recently, for years. I was beyond excited by the time we ate our lunch, but rather deflated as I started to think about gathering up my stuff and heading home to Milton Keynes that evening.

  “Stay, call in sick tomorrow.”

  “I need to book some holiday time, remember?”

  “Oh yeah, don’t delay that.”

  “You can come back with me, if you want?”

  “When’s your mattress being delivered?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “All right then. I guess we can bring it up here for the spare room when you move in.”

  “Okay.” There was so much to think about and plan and I was still pretty sure this was the craziest thing I’d ever done but there would be no stopping me now.

  “Truth?”

  “Tom… of course.”

  “I know this is all happening fast but I see a future ahead that I’ve never been so excited about. You and me, this is it.”

  “There’s still so much to learn about each other,” I said quietly, the guilt of what I’d kept from him lingering. Why hadn’t I just said something right at the beginning?

  “We’ve got a life-time to get to know each other.”

  There was something bugging me, something making me worry, but I wasn’t sure what. Tom loved me and he treated me like a princess. I wanted this.

  I packed up my things while Tom took his Austin to a garage nearby. He returned with the Porsche, we packed up his stuff, and then headed up the M1 back to Milton Keynes.

  “Oh, you know when George called earlier?” Tom said as we pulled into my street. “He said we could bring our partners, too. If I agreed to this get-together with Jasper.”

  I was invited? Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow. How I wanted to be there. Please let him decide to go.

  But… what if Jasper remembered me?

  Surely he wouldn’t, I mean, he’d met so many girls, he’d never remember one night with one girl…

  Would he?

  What bugged me the most is that I wanted him to. I wanted him to remember me, yet I had to hope that he didn’t.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Back at work Darby, Tammy and Margot were not particularly interested when I told them I was going on holiday for two weeks, and moving in with the boyfriend I’d not even mentioned until now. I noticed Jamie smiling at me again but this time I didn’t feel anything. I only had eyes for Tom these days.

  Tom booked our Eurotunnel crossing so I had two weeks to get through before our holiday. When we got back, I’d be officially living with him, although he stayed with me in Milton Keynes anyway, so we were kind of already there. While I was working Tom spent most of his days reading and mooching around Milton Keynes. He went shopping for a day, and he drove out to Oxfordshire one day to meet Alex and George – no word about the reunion when he got back and I didn’t like to ask.

  I arranged a busy weekend for us; first, Friday night was dinner with Laura and her husband Mike. They were both very friendly and jolly, we drank a few bottles of wine and Laura managed to keep her cool, although a chat in the ladies’ bathroom demonstrated she was anything but.

  “I can’t believe it’s really him!” she said over, and over.

  Saturday, I took Tom over to Gran’s house.

  “Oh, aren’t you a treat for old eyes,” she said, and he blushed as she hugged him.
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  “Come in, come in,” she gestured to her dining table in the kitchen. “Tea?”

  “Yes please, white no sugar,” Tom told her and sat down. I sat beside him. No hug for me, she was too interested in grabbing the muscular man I’d bought with me. I didn’t blame her. He was pretty darn hot.

  I watched her put sugar in his tea and rolled my eyes without her noticing. She gave us our drinks and pushed the biscuit tin towards me.

  “So, Shane says there’s a nice B&B round the corner from where he lives in Bath,” I told Gran. “He runs a café, and Gordon says he’ll come into town that day and meet us there for lunch.”

  “Oh lovely,” Gran told me. “I can’t wait.”

  “What are you going to say to him?” Tom asked, taking a biscuit.

  “I suppose I’m going to just ask him about what he’s been up to all these years.”

  “I can’t wait to meet him,” I told her.

  “Now, Tom,” said Gran, turning her attention back to him. “Ellen tells me you write rock music?”

  “Rock, pop, yeah.”

  “Well, my neighbour Louisa, she helped me to look you up on the google.”

  Oh, crap. This couldn’t end well.

  “And I saw you singing, back in the 90’s.”

  Tom laughed. “Oh dear.”

  “No, you were very good.”

  “Thank you.”

  I hoped she’d remember not to mention I’d adored Four Apes, and luckily she did. Or, she forgot I liked them at all. Either was a possibility and I didn’t mind which.

  After Gran’s, we popped in on my BFF Zoe, who seemed to like Tom as much as everyone else did, and then Sunday came and I had to take him to the dreaded family lunch. We woke up that morning and Tom was just saying something about how nice it was to meet my friends and soon my parents, when Dad called to say Mum was sick and lunch was cancelled. I don’t mean to sound like a heartless, evil daughter but I was kind of relieved. Tom needed to be in deep, deep, irrevocable love with me before he tasted my mum’s cooking.

  So, we spent the day talking about France and packing up my house.

  The next few days were surreal. I got as much work done as I could, passed some stuff to Margot to work on while I was away, and listened day in and day out to Darby and Tammy witter on about the latest celebrity gossip.