The Coffee Spill |Demi Lovato|

Chapter 24

Written 2015
Revised March 2021

*Ellie's POV*
I'm standing in front of my mirror, holding up different outfits to pack. We're only going for the weekend, so trying to find at most five outfits to bring to Texas with me should not be this hard. I groan, tossing my red sundress and my baby blue sundress on the floor. Demi and I leave tomorrow morning for our flight. Demi's mom and step dad are the only two who know. Demi decided to keep it a secret from Madison, that way she can surprise her. I notice my floral romper on the floor. I pick it up, holding it up in front of me. This I can work with.

My phone rings. I put the romper on the bed so I remember to pack it before walking over to my nightstand. Matt? Why is my boss calling me?

"Hello?" I answer.

"Ellie, it's Matt. Where are you?" He asks. I can hear the noise from the diner through the phone.

"I'm at home, I gave my shift today and tomorrow to Carlos." I explain. Marissa couldn't cover every shift for me, which I understood. Carlos agreed to cover the first two shifts, just so long as Marissa covered the last two.

"He never picked them up in the computer. I'll give you 45 minutes. If you're not here by then I'm going to have to let you go." He says reluctantly. Let me go? Is he serious. I think about telling Demi. How sad she'll be if I have to cancel. Knowing her, she'd most likely cancel, not wanting to go without me. And I know how rare it is she has time to see her family. Without thinking it fully, I respond. "No need to, I quit." Hanging up the phone. I toss my phone on my bed. Did I seriously just quit?

I check my watch. Demi should be here soon. She's picking me up for lunch. Demi has two interviews coming up, one later on tonight, the other tomorrow morning. She's starting to get busier the closer we get to her album release. It's a good thing we're visiting her family when we are. Who knows when she'd have time. I'm just grateful she's able to make time for me.

I hear a knock at my front door. I place the folded romper at the bottom of my luggage. One outfit down. I open the front door, smiling when I see Demi on the other side.

"Hi, Demi." I greet, stepping aside to let her in. She walks into my apartment, giving me a light kiss on the lips. I'll never get used to kissing her. Every kiss is like the first, unique and magical.

"How's packing?" She asks, taking a seat on my couch.

I slump down next to her. "I got one outfit packed." I say, amusingly. Demi knows I'm horrible with decision making.

"I figured you might be struggling." Demi teases. She offers come back with me after lunch to help me pick outfits to pack.

"Listen-" I say getting up from the couch. I walk over to my coat closet by the front door. "This might be a little cheesy, but there was this Lovatic fan page that makes apparel based on your music and such." I say, taking a Victoria secret bag out from the closet. "I asked her to personalize this. You don't have to wear it in public but I thought about you wearing it and I had to get it for you." I say, handing her the bag.

She looks at me, raising an eyebrow. She notices the logo on the bag. "You got me Lovatic lingerie?" She asks.

"No, it's just the only bag that I had." I assure her. She looks disappointed. Did she want Lovatic lingerie? What would it even look like?

She removes the tissue paper, holding the shirt up backwards so all she sees is a blank black shirt. "Babe, it's backwards." She flips it around, revealing the design. It says 'I Fucking Love My Lovatics'. With her signature heart.

"I love it, thank you." She says, putting it back in the bag for safe keeping.

***

"What should I get?" I ask, flipping through the menu. I've never seen a menu have so many pages it needed a three ring binder.

"Personally, I like their chicken Caesar wrap. They use just the right amount of cheese." She says giggling.

"And that amount is?"

"A lot!" She laughs.

I close the menu and place it on the table. "Then the chicken Caesar wrap is what I shall get." We're quiet for a while. "So how did you find this place?"

She takes a sip of her soda before answering. "Marissa and I stumbled upon it a long time ago. I haven't been here since then. They've definitely renovated the place." She says, taking in the atmosphere. "So, was your boss okay with Marissa covering your shifts?" She asks changing the subject. When Demi asked me to go to Texas with her a few days ago, I told her I'd ask Marissa to cover my shifts. We haven't talked about it since, and considering our plans for tomorrow have not changed, she assumes Marissa was able to cover them.

"Yeah, about that..." I say trailing off.