Charming Mr Stewart

24. Whimsical Elle

Elle stared at the dividing wall, unable to concentrate on the task at hand: Jared and Tess's wedding album. Every time she sat there trying to get some work done, she couldn't help but think about Dean, about why he wasn't replying to any of her messages or returning her calls.

It was past midday, and she had barely touched the photos. The silence of the office annoyed her. Usually Bonnie would have the radio on out the front. Since their return from Sydney, it had been awkward between the two. Bonnie was now off for a week, and so Elle found herself completely and utterly left alone with her thoughts.

She rose from her seat, grabbed her keys and locked up the office with a 'Be Back Soon' sign rashly written on paper and tacked up on the door. She didn't know what she was doing, but getting away from her loneliness and a broken heart sounded like a fantastic idea. Wally waved at her from across the diner and she waved back as she started walking down the street.

She obsessed over the moment she let Dean drive off a fortnight ago. She had now resorted to calling him if only to hear his voice in the voicemail. Creepy, she knew, but she missed him more than she thought possible. She kept walking, trying not to think about the empty driveway at Harry's. She'd hurt him, and she had little right to expect him back at the drop of a hat.

She continued walking down the road till her mind went blank and the ache in her heart travelled somewhere near her feet. Then she turned around and started back. Sweat sleeking her t-shirt, the sun blaring down on her.

It was almost five in the evening when she walked past Connie and Cal's and saw Wally wave her way once again. She waved back before slipping into her empty office.

The door behind her opened and in walked Wally. "Someone came looking for you and left this." He handed a piece of paper to Elle. "You okay?" Elle nodded and dropped on the sofa. "You look sad, and he looked sad."

"Who?" she asked, desperately hoping it was Dean.

Wally looked at the note. "I don't know his name."

"Thank you, Wally."

"Wear sunscreen next time. You're getting burnt out there." He nodded, stepping out the door. "Goodnight, Ellie."

Elle waited till the door closed firmly behind Wally before she unfolded the paper and glanced at it in the dying daylight, immediately spotting the name Lachlan at the bottom. Her heart sank and with it, the chances that Dean had found his way back to Armidale.

The handwriting was messy, and Elle struggled to read. She read and re-read the note, utterly amazed that Lachlan was going to propose to Bonnie and soon. He wanted Elle to help choose an engagement ring.

Elle felt a stab of jealousy, and anger coursed through her, and for a brief moment, pure hate for Bonnie. There she was, trying to start a relationship and miserably failing, while Bonnie was about to be proposed to by a totally smitten man who, despite knowing about her flaws, thought it was the best thing for them.

Unexpectedly, her job felt like a curse. Was she now going to cover a wedding she knew was doomed to begin with? Elle looked out onto the darkening street, to Connie and Cal's and the town suddenly had no meaning. And just as easily as she'd settled there, she decided it was no longer home. She'd lost a lot of dreams, perhaps dreams she had no right to. She picked up her phone and dialled home.

"It's me."

"We were thinking you forgot us," her dad joked.

"I want to come home, dad."

"No one is stopping you."

"I don't mean visit, dad."

There was a slight pause. "You and Maya okay?"