Eat.

I was in my room straightening my hair when it occurred to me, did Brian have a new girlfriend already? I mean, it’s been about a year since his last one but did he already move on? I bit my lip, what if he was bringing her over to spend the day with us? He did say something about a she, didn’t he? Maybe I was overreacting, maybe his girlfriend would be nice and happy and a good person, kind of like Val and Lily. I smiled to myself, this could be great, I could get another friend. But then again, she could be rude and cheat on Brian behind his back while he was head over heels for her and then she would probably make him stop talking to me all together. I was scared, what if she didn’t like me? Maybe I should stop worrying, she’s probably a great girl, let’s just hope that’s she’s of age.

“Ellie! Brian’s here!”

“Coming!” I yelled, straightening the last strands of hair when I bounce down the stairs towards the front door.

“Hold it young lady, aren’t you going to eat breakfast?”

“Brian’s taking me out to eat breakfast.” I assured. Even though I wasn't going to eat. I thought to myself

“Okay, bring me back something.”

“No promises.” I smiled, closing the door behind me and walking towards Brian’s car. It wasn’t until I sat in the car when I noticed that his sister was in a car seat in the back sleeping soundly. I looked at Brian and laughed, “You brought your sister?”

He shrugged, “I thought it would be a fun experience, plus she was hungry and I think she’s probably tired of eating eggs all the time.”

“I know I would be. So where are we headed?”

“Well, since you ate, I figured that it would be less of a bill for me to pay,” I rolled my eyes, “And I’m pretty hungry and so is Mac so we’re actually going out to eat, with your company of course.”

“Good ol’ Brian, always looking to save a penny.” I laughed, patting his back as he backed out of my driveway

“I’m not old.” He grumbled



When we arrived to the restaurant, it was full and loud and I wished I left just as fast that I agreed to come here.

“Hi,” The hostess says, with an overly enthusiastic smile on her face, “Three?”

“Yes please.” Brian smiles politely

“Name?”

“Haner.”

“It should be about twenty minutes.”

“Thank you,” He replied before turning his attention to me, “Ellie can you hold McKenna for a minute?”

“Yeah sure,” I smiled, taking the sleeping child in my arms and I bounced her up and down as I tried to keep her asleep, “She’s a lot bigger than the last time I saw her.”

“Yeah, that’s why I told you to carry her, I was getting tired.”

“You held her for three minutes.”

“It’s a lot.”

“What’s the point of lifting weights if you can’t carry a twenty pound baby?”

“She isn’t a baby.”

“You’re right, you are.” I smirked

“I’m getting real tired of you, Parker.” He scowls at me playfully, pulling me down on the waiting bench

Minutes passed by and eventually I was getting sleepier and sleepier, I didn’t get much sleep last night considering that my “boyfriend” decided to call me at midnight and scream at me in a drunken fit. I did my best to ignore him, but to be honest, it was hard to, all the things he was screaming at me...I just couldn’t help but to cry. I laid my head against Brian’s shoulder and felt his head on mine, I was tired. I was lucky that McKenna didn’t squirm too much when she was awake, all she was doing was playing with the sunglasses that hung on my neck.

“It’s really nice to see a young couple like you two still together.” An elderly woman said next to me

“Oh we’re not-”

“No no! I understand, taking care of a child is hard enough,” She interrupted me, “But staying in love with the man you had a child with, that is the real challenge.”

I felt Brian’s lips on my hair, chuckling. He obviously thought it was funny that this old woman thought that we were a couple, I thought it was embarrassing. For Christ’s sake, she doesn’t even look anything like me!

It felt like years when the hostess finally called us over and sat us down. I wasn’t going to lie, I was starving but my weight is more important to me right now than eating. The waitress came over and ordered our drinks and asked if we were ready to order food. Brian agreed and I played with Mac as he ordered for him and his sister.

“Ellie?” He called, looking at me expectantly

“Nothing for me, thank you.” I smiled politely, making Brian’s eyebrow raise up in concern

“I’ll be right back with those drinks.” The waitress, Jacky, assured

“So can I ask you something?” Brian asked me after the waitress had left

“What’s up?”

“What did you eat for breakfast today?”

“Pancakes and eggs,” I lied, shrugging and acting normal, “Same old, same old.”

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why is it that you ‘really didn’t want to be in the house’ today?”

I sighed, I knew that this conversation was going to come up eventually, “Promise you won’t make a scene?”

“I’m not promising anything.” He growled, tightening his fist so hard that his knuckles were white.

I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go as planned.