The Ugly Stepsister

by Avril Sabine

  “Ellie-”

  “I made avoiding him a talent. He’s only ever there on weekends. And I’m never home then.”

  “You were today.”

  Ellie shrugged. “That was a mistake. I thought they’d get the message if there were no lights on. Seems like most of them are too thick to realise the party was cancelled.”

  “I guess it’s no longer cancelled. You left the front door open.”

  “I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could kick them out. There’s nothing worth stealing. The TV is on the way out, the sofa probably should have gone to the tip years ago and not a single piece of cutlery or crockery matches. I locked my room. Hopefully that’ll keep them out. But just in case, I brought my schoolbag and laptop.”

  “You shouldn’t have to-”

  Ellie pressed her fingers to Tom’s lips. “Stop right there. This is my choice. Remember? It’s the price I pay to run my own life. And I’ve been running it since I was thirteen. I’m not about to give that up.” Not to mention someone had to look out for her mum. There was no one else to do it. But she doubted Tom would accept that reason.

  Tom pulled her fingers away from his lips and linked his through them. “You’re crazy.”

  Ellie tried to grin. “Lisbeth crazy?”

  “Nah. Maybe Lizzie crazy though.” He pulled her close, pressing her head against his chest. “You’ll stay at my place every weekend.”

  “What about when you have swim meets?”

  “Sam will be there. He only goes along to them if I beg him.”

  Ellie pulled back so she could meet his eyes. “Is this the same person who threatened to call the police if I didn’t leave.” She couldn’t resist smiling.

  “That was because Frankie’s bride was at my place. I don’t mind having you about.” His lips met hers and the conversation was forgotten. He eventually pulled back slightly. “Ready to go? Or are we going to sit on the side of the road all night?”

  Ellie laughed softly. “These bucket seats are killing me. Probably time to go. Beside’s you’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

  “Do you want to come too?”

  “Ahh… well, who’s going with you?”

  “Mum.”

  “No.” The word burst from her.

  Tom laughed. “Chicken.”

  “Oh definitely. Your mum scares the hell out of me.”

  Tom shook his head. “You’ll stand up to a complete bastard like Scott yet you shake at the thought of spending a day in my mother’s company.”

  “Yep.”

  “And you call my brother odd.”

  “Shh. That’s a state secret. No one but you and Lauren knows I’m odd.”

  “Good thing I get along with odd people then.”

  Ellie smiled, reaching out to rest her hand on Tom’s thigh. “Yeah, good thing.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ellie stretched, rolling over in the bed. When she tried to see what time it was, a post it note was in the way. She reached out, removing it from the alarm clock. Nearly nine. No wonder she felt so well rested. She looked at the note.

  ‘It was difficult to drag myself out of bed when you had yourself draped all over me. Sam volunteered to make you breakfast and do the hospital delivery. And right now, you’re smiling in your sleep. Hope it’s an interesting dream. Tom.’

  Ellie smiled, climbing out of bed to put the note in her handbag. Her dreams had been interesting and Tom had featured in every one of them. Not that she was going to tell him that. She planned to leave him guessing.

  Once she’d used the bathroom, she looked around for Sam. He wasn’t anywhere downstairs. She heard a noise upstairs and decided to check up there for him. When she reached the upstairs lounge room, she paused and looked around. There was no one. Then she heard a noise in one of the kitchen cupboards. Ellie smiled, striding towards the sound. She smothered a scream when Gregory stood up.

  “Have you come to help? Don’t know where Sam is.” Gregory pointed to the sink with his knife. “Wash your hands and julienne those carrots for me.” He pushed a cutting board with four carrots towards her and pulled a knife from the cutting block, tucking it under the edge of her cutting board.

  Ellie washed her hands and looked at the carrots. She grabbed the peeler Gregory handed her and gratefully began to peel them. She looked over to see what he was doing. She watched as he threw different seasonings as well as feta cheese, mayonnaise and other things she didn’t recognise into a bowl and mixed them together. He was spreading the mixture over salmon fillets, that sat in a baking tray, by the time she’d peeled all the carrots. He sprinkled them with what looked like breadcrumbs then popped them in the oven.

  Without a word, Gregory wiped off his hands and took one of the carrots and began chopping it on the board in front of him. Ellie managed to follow as far as turning the carrots into similar length rectangular chunks. Slicing them thinner looked beyond her capabilities. So she continued to trim them into rectangles and let Gregory finish turning them into thin strips.

  She watched as he sliced through the carrots, making it look like he could have done it with his eyes closed. They were scraped off his board into a bowl. He shoved a colander at her and threw a handful of other vegetables into it.

  “Wash them well.”

  Bemused, Ellie followed orders. She moved the colander back and forth under the tap a few times before she turned it off and shook them dry. She didn’t know if she was doing the job correctly, but how hard could it be to wash vegetables? There were no heat sources involved so that was always a good start. She blinked as the colander was taken from her and the vegetables dumped onto Gregory’s cutting board.

  “Tablecloth is in the first drawer of the set of drawers closest to the dining room. Set the table for three.” Gregory gestured with his knife again.

  Ellie took out the ivory coloured tablecloth from the drawer and shook it out over the table. She tried to remember how Tom had set the table, wishing she’d paid more attention. But the food was what had taken up most of her interest.

  “Not very talkative, are you?”

  Ellie glanced back at Gregory.

  “Serviettes are in the next drawer down. Don’t worry about the rings.”

  “What are you cooking?” Ellie couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “Feta crusted salmon served with fresh vegetables. I thought I should give it a test run before I let them serve it in the restaurant.”

  “Ahh… okay. Probably a good plan.” What restaurant? She considered asking, but words failed her. Where was Sam? Ellie put three serviettes on the table, folding them into triangles. Next she added cutlery, leaving the knife, fork and spoon bundled together on each serviette. She didn’t think it looked right, but it was better than not giving anyone cutlery.

  “How long have you been dating Tom?”

  “Ahh… a little while.”

  Gregory smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s not really any of my business. As long as you’re over the age of consent. You are, aren’t you?”

  “Ahh… yeah.”

  “It’s sixteen in Queensland.”

  “I know.”

  “You didn’t sound so sure a moment ago.”

  Ellie rarely felt embarrassed, no matter who she was talking with or what the conversation was. But right now she wanted the floor to become Swiss cheese so she could disappear down a hole. She couldn’t believe she was standing here having this conversation with her boyfriend’s father. What was next? Safe sex? No way was she listening to that conversation. She’d already had that talk with her mum and it hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as this discussion.

  “Are you staying for dinner tonight?”

  “Yeah.” Ellie nodded. “If that’s okay.”

  “Tom’s welcome to invite who he wants. I just need to know how many I’m cooking for. Otherwise someone’s going to end up hungry.” He smiled.

  Ellie nodded. “That makes sense.” Finally, a safe topic.

&
nbsp; “Are you staying all weekend?”

  “Ahh…” what did she say to that? Where was Sam? She was going to kill him when she found him.

  “Let me know when you figure it out. I’ll be making all the meals this weekend.”

  “Tom said he’s taking her home after dinner Sunday night.”

  Ellie spun and could have raced over to Sam and kissed him. Right before she killed him that was. Noticing his hair was damp, she made a mental note to check the pool first in future. “I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.”

  Gregory laughed. “Five minutes before the food is ready to go on the table. As always he has perfect timing.”

  “I wanted a swim.”

  “Well now you can take out three plates and help me clear up the mess on the kitchen benches.” Gregory rinsed off dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher.

  “It must be tough when you’ve got to cook at home. No kitchen help at your beck and call.” Sam grinned as he threw the scraps in the bin.

  “Be nice or I won’t let you try my new recipe,” Gregory warned.

  Ellie couldn’t help smiling at the way they interacted. She wished her father was just as approachable. Within minutes, the food was on the table and Ellie’s mouth watered as she sat in her seat.

  “Presentation?” Gregory looked towards Sam.

  He eyed his plate. “Good colour mix with the vegetables. I like the texture of the salmon.”

  “It smells mouth watering. Are we going to eat or just admire it?” Ellie asked.

  Gregory grinned. “Go ahead. This is a working meal for me.”

  Ellie picked up her fork. “This is breakfast for me.” She had a mouthful of the salmon and closed her eyes as she ate it. When she opened her eyes, it was to find both Gregory and Sam staring at her. “What?”

  “We’re waiting on a verdict,” Gregory said.

  “Oh.” She glanced at Sam. Maybe that’s where he got his habit of staring at people from. Although Greogry’s stare wasn’t creepy, it just made her feel uncomfortable. Maybe Sam’s stare wouldn’t be so bad as he got older and didn’t look so young. “It’s nearly as good as pancakes, vanilla ice cream and maple syrup.”

  “What?” Gregory frowned.

  Sam laughed. “It’s her favourite meal.”

  “That’s a dessert.”

  Ellie shook her head in disagreement. “Nope. Definitely a meal.” She pointed to her plate with her fork. “And this would have to be up there pretty close to first place.” She had another mouthful.

  “How close?” Gregory asked.

  Ellie looked at her plate thoughtfully. “If I could only pick one meal, I’d still have to go for the pancakes. But if I had an option of having seconds, I’d have firsts of this.”

  Gregory looked over to Sam. “Should I be worried that comment actually made sense to me?”

  Sam nodded. “Absolutely.”

  “Last time I give my opinion.” Ellie continued to eat her meal while Gregory and Sam started to discuss the food in minute detail. They became as involved in the discussion as she’d seen her father and Pamela involved in discussions over the latest news headlines. She enjoyed listening to them so much that when she finished eating, she sat back and watched.

  Sam suddenly fell silent, turning towards her. “We’re not boring you, are we?”

  Ellie shook her head. “Not at all. Which surprises me since I can’t think of anything more boring than cooking.”

  “Boring?” Gregory looked as stunned as someone who’d been told a bolt of lightening had struck their house and it was now a smouldering ruin.

  “I have a tendency to set kitchens on fire.”

  “There’s a fire extinguisher in the cupboard under the sink and one in the bottom drawer near the dining room,” Gregory said.

  “You have two?” Ellie stared at him.

  “Of course. Some meals actually call for being set alight.”

  Ellie grinned. “And to think I’ve only ever gotten into trouble for setting food on fire.”

  “What was the first thing you set on fire?” Sam asked.

  “Custard.”

  Sam and Gregory both echoed her word, disbelief on their faces.

  Gregory shook his head. “How on earth did you set custard on fire?”

  “I turned the stove up too high because it was taking so long to cook and then I got a text from a friend and had to reply. She sent one back and I forgot all about the custard as we kept sending messages to each other. Next thing I knew the girl cooking near me was screaming and there were flames coming out of the saucepan. I popped the lid on the saucepan and turned the element off but she still kept shrieking like a siren. At least I’ve always put my fires out.”

  Gregory shook his head again. “Custard.”

  Ellie nodded. “Yeah, but it didn’t actually look like custard when I had to clean the saucepan. They ended up throwing it out. It wouldn’t come clean. I had to replace it.” She grinned. “So I took the one from home since it never got used.”

  “What do you eat if you never use a saucepan?” Gregory asked.

  Sam shuddered. “You don’t want to know. She might as well eat cardboard.”

  Ellie grinned. “Why do you think I love coming over here? I absolutely adore the food you cook.” Her grin faded. “But I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get my pancakes for breakfast.”

  Sam laughed. “I’ll make them for you later, when you’re ready for your lunch. A very late lunch.”

  “Excellent.”

  Sam pushed away from the table. “Do you want to go and play a game or something?”

  Ellie nodded. “Sure, why not?” She picked up her plate, carrying it to the kitchen. Sam did the same. As soon as they’d rinsed and stacked them in the dishwasher, they headed downstairs.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The next few hours passed quickly as Ellie practiced dying spectacularly. In the end, she dropped the controller on her lap and shook her head. “I think I’m better in the kitchen then I am at this game.”

  “That’s a scary thought.”

  Ellie laughed. “Isn’t it just? Now if only there was cooking involved. All the enemies would probably be barbequed. Then I’d win the game for sure.”

  “No doubt.”

  “I never thought to ask last night. What time does Tom get home?”

  “Around six.”

  “That’s ages away.”

  Sam stared at her for a few minutes. “Tom told me you had a legitimate reason for coming home with me that first weekend and I’m not to hassle you about it. Lauren said something similar.”

  “Is this your way of hassling me or are you telling me you’re not going to hassle me?”

  Sam shook his head. “I won’t hassle. This is the last time I’ll bring it up. But I do want to know. You wanted to know why I didn’t ask you when you were first here. It was nice having a female actually talk to me and not act as if I didn’t exist. I didn’t want to scare you away when I was enjoying having you around.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s sad and pathetic.” Sam shrugged. “But I’m sort of used to being that so it doesn’t really bother me. I just can’t work out why you came home with me. You’re kind of popular. In an odd sort of way. Everyone seems to know you and says hello to you, well, everyone that counts that is. Yet you don’t seem to really hang out with any of them. Just Lauren. I mean, you don’t ignore them and you do things with them, but you seem like you don’t really care if you’re a part of their group or not. I’m not making sense, am I?”

  Ellie smiled slightly. “You are. Just. I’ll think about telling you. Or better yet, I’ll think about letting Lauren tell you. It’s not something I tell everyone. Lauren and Tom are the only ones who know the whole story. Well, Tom knows most of the story, Lauren knows every little detail. But she won’t be telling you every little detail if I let her tell you. Just the highlights.”

  “Okay.” Sam nodded. “Do
you want me to make you lunch or should I do the delivery first?”

  “I’m not hungry yet. That food your father cooked might have sat light, but it’s very filling.”

  “I’ll tell him that. He’ll like hearing that comment. Unless you wanted to tell him.”

  “Nah, it’s okay. You can tell him. Do you mind if I use your computer while you’re gone? I was thinking of catching up with emails.” She considered getting her laptop out, but then she’d have to ask about accessing their internet. It seemed easier to use Sam’s computer.

  “You can use mine if you want, but Tom won’t mind if you use his laptop.”

  “Thanks.” Ellie grinned. “I didn’t even think of it. I’ll use his.”

  Sam turned off the playstation. “I’ll make lunch when I’m back. Any messages for your mother?”

  Ellie shook her head. “Not really. Oh and don’t be offended if she calls you a geek when you tell her your name.”

  “Is that what you told her I was?”

  “Not exactly. Heather was trying to find out where I was staying and I said your name and then she wanted to know if you were my boyfriend and it all got a little complicated.”

  “I don’t mind if you think that.”

  Ellie laughed. “You’re odd and a little geeky but you’re also really nice.”

  “And that makes me feel so much better when you say the last comment with a tone of surprise.”

  “Now I’m the one making a mess of explaining things. Maybe you better go before I completely insult you, which is the opposite of what I’m trying to do.”

  “Okay. Thank you, I guess.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to go quite that far. My compliment left a lot to be desired.” Ellie rose to her feet. “Besides, I’m the one who should be saying thanks. For going to see my mum for me. Did Tom tell you which pub Mum’s friend will be at with her drinks?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded. “I was a little surprised when Tom asked me, but I did some research online. Did you know-”

  Ellie held up her hand to stop him. “Please. I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

  Sam nodded. “That’s okay.” He headed for his room.