Being Ellie Aniston

Ch. 9 ~ Dinner

I was replying to tweets while laying on my bed when my mom walked in. As soon as I saw her and thought that I had her attention, I decided to ask her the questions that had been haunting me for the past few hours.

But before I had the chance to speak, she did, "Your dad wants you to come over. I guess Angelina took all of the kids out and he wants to have some kind of daddy daughter bonding time with you."

I groaned. The last thing I wanted to do was go hang out with my dad with all of these unanswered questions. I decided to just talk to her once I got back. I wasn't really in the position to blow off my dad after "vandalizing" his property.

"Okay." I replied, sitting up.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Of course she could tell I was upset. She always knew.

"I just need to talk to you when I get back, okay?"

Mom smiled sympathetically, "Of course. You know that you can talk to me about anything."

"Okay. Let's just get over there."

We headed downstairs, and I noticed that the dining room had been dimmed and the table was set and candle lit. Well, at least I would be out of the way for their romantic dinner.

~
My mom sat in the car and watched me walk up to the front porch to knock on the door. My dad answered pretty quickly, and he waved goodbye to my mom he held the door open for me.

"Hey Ellie. Thanks for coming."

"Yep."

He sighed, "I thought that maybe you might want to talk a little more. I'm still your dad."

I glared at him and changed the subject. "So what are we doing?"

"I thought we could go out to eat at one of your favorite restaurant."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering why he would assume he knew what my favorite restaurant was.

"Maggiano's."

"Well, that is one of my favorites."

"Let's get going."

I didn't think that there was much else to say, so I just followed him out to his Lamborghini and got into the passenger seat. Part of me wanted to talk to him about what I had witnessed today, but I just couldn't see myself opening up to him like I would have when I was a little girl.

I just stared out the window listening to the radio. When "Fight Song" came on, I had to resist the temptation to start singing as loudly as I could manage. If I was with my mom or Jade or Bailee, there wouldn't be any hesitation. Over the years, my dad had become more and more of a stranger to me. I pretended not to care, but it was killing me on the inside.

~

The hostess almost fainted when she saw us. It isn't every day that Brad Pitt and Ellie Aniston-Pitt come to the restaurant you're working at.

We were seated at a table for two next to a window, which gave me an excuse to avoid to much eye contact. I could just say that I was enjoying the view of the city.

I looked over the menu, trying to find something that would be at least somewhat healthy. I decided on just getting a house salad, when it occurred to me that all I had eaten today was salad and toast. Whatever. It didn't matter. My dad didn't even know I was working on a new movie, and hopefully he wouldn't ask why I wasn't eating a huge meal.

When the waitress came back to take our orders, my dad looked a little surprised at what I was eating. He got this shrimp scampi thing. Once the waitress left, I was debating on whether or not I should pull out my phone. Temptation took over, and I found myself scrolling through Instagram.

"It's rude to be on your phone at the table."

Without thinking, I replied, "It's rude to cheat on your wife."

"That was ten years ago, Ellie. I'm sorry for what I did but it's over now. Your mom and I are both happy with our lives."

"Well what about me?" I asked him, setting my phone down and looking at him straight in the eyes.

"What about you? You're famous and worth millions at fifteen. You need to move on."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You don't understand. None of that means anything when you don't have a real family."

It finally seemed as though I had gotten  my point across. His face sort of loosened up. "I'm sorry if it seems like I don't care about you. But let me tell you that I do. If you ever need anything, you know you can just call."

"You're busy with your perfect wife and your perfect kids and your perfect life." I breathed, "but I'll let you know if I ever do need anything. It's just easier to talk to my mom since she's been there for me my entire life."

"You're mom is an amazing person-" He began, only to be interrupted by me.

"If she was so amazing, why wasn't she good enough for you?" My temper was getting out of control again.

"Ellie, sometimes people just realize they aren't meant to be together anymore. When you're older, maybe you'll understand."

"I'm fifteen years old. Don't act like I'm a little kid who can't handle the truth. I know that there was something better in Angelina that my mom just didn't have. And that's alright because my mom deserves so much better than you."

I went back into my phone, pissed off. It did feel good to just get these things off of my chest.

"Put that down right now."

I ignored him, still angry.

"Now Ellie."

I continued ignoring him.

"Dang it Ellie! Look at me when I talk to you!"

The room quieted down, his anger resonating throughout it.

I got up and pushed my chair in, determined to go home. All I need to do was get a cab.

I made it down to the lobby, only to turn around and see my dad right behind me.