Extinguished

~35~ Reject

Ellie's POV

It's after 7:00pm, and we're starting to settle in for the evening. For my first shift back, it's gone well.

Megan and I had a domestic violence call earlier. A woman hit her husband in the face with a bat, and he was messed up. Other than that, there hasn't been much going on.

I'm missing my baby. I forgot how painful it is to be away from them when they're little. I'm proud of myself though. I've only called Julia 4 times. I know, I know, but I've wanted to call 40 times. So, I'll just pretend that calling 4 times in the last 10 hours isn't psychotic.

I'm cleaning the rig, just trying to keep my mind off of how lonely I am for Sasha, when my phone rings.

"Ms. Freeman, this is Principal Monroe. I'm sorry to be calling so late, especially since school hours have been over for quite some time."

It's never good when I hear this man's voice.

"It's no problem, what can I do for you, sir?" I ask, dreading what's coming next.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of a Mr. Taylor Preston signing your son's detention slip today. He isn't on Liam's guardian list, so I wanted to make sure you had given consent for Mr. Preston to sign."

"I was aware. But thank you so much for letting me know. Real quick though, I'm working so I haven't had a chance to talk to Liam yet....Why did he get detention again?" I ask, trying to play it cool.

"Texting in class. This was his 6th detention in a month. With that high of an amount, we require a parental signature," he sneers. This man is a jerk.

"I understand, thank you. I'll have a chat with him tomorrow when I see him. Thanks so much for letting me know."

I hang up before I can hear him prattle on about how bad of a mom I am.

I'm furious. Not only does Taylor sign the slip behind my back, but he doesn't even tell me about it? Just because we share a daughter, doesn't mean he can overstep with my son.

I try to calm down before I start screaming at him in front of everybody. Once I decide I'm under control, I head over to where he's playing cards with his guys. As soon as he sees me, he chuckles and says "that didn't take long," as he puts his cards down. "I'm out, guys, imma bout to get my ass handed to me."

I don't say anything as he comes up to me, and motions for me to follow him to his office. I go in first and he shuts the door behind him. He sighs loudly as he goes to his desk, and sits on top of it.

"All right, let me have it," he says as he smiles a little and waits for me to start yelling.

"I don't care that you went to his school, but don't you think I should have known about it? What the heck is wrong with you?!?" I ask, already about to start yelling.

"He explained to me what happened, and I knew that he didn't deserve to get in trouble. I thought I'd help him out this once." His smug demeanor is REALLY making me snappy.

"UM HELLO?!? WHERE DO YOU GET OFF GETTING TO DECIDE IF HE DESERVES TO BE IN TROUBLE OR NOT?"

He smiles and shakes his head. "Can I speak now?"

I don't say anything; I'm too mad. Instead, I just wait—Wait for him to explain himself.

"He was texting Julia. He was worried about his sister. His feelings have been hurt, because he thinks we didn't trust him enough to have Sasha stay with him and Alex," he says, his voice showing how much Liam's gesture meant to him.

I sigh quietly, understanding now. Most of my anger evaporates immediately.

"That still didn't give you the right to do all of this behind my back," I say, still angry with him.

"I know, I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I was missing Sasha, and his gesture just meant a lot to me. I let my guard down," he says, gazing into my eyes, willing me to forgive him.

I don't say anything, I just shake my head.

"You're as miserable as I am, aren't you?" He asks, coming closer to me.

I start to cry. I miss my baby so much. I don't want to be here. I want to be with her.

He pulls me into his arms, and before I know it, he's kissing me. Hard. Passionately. He's kissing me just like the first time we kissed. If I don't stop this now, I don't know how I'll ever stop. He's never touched me, not ever, unless he was 100 percent sure that I was ok with it. I'm not ok with this.

I pull away from him hard. Before I realize what I'm doing, I've hauled my arm back, and I'm smacking him across the face as hard as I can.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but don't you ever do that to me again."

The smack to his cheek stung. His face immediately crumples up in pain. But I think my reaction is what hurt the worst. I hit him. I rejected him. I've wanted to kiss him for months now. It finally happened, and I reacted. Badly.

I immediately regret it, but my pride gets in the way. I should have apologized. I should have kissed him again—But I don't. Instead I give him one more hard look, and then turn around and walk out.

As I turn the corner I look back at him. He's rubbing his cheek, and looking down at the ground. I've just crushed him. I don't know if there's any coming back from this.