The Line That Holds The Kite

by J E McDonald

  “I’m sorry bro, it’s my fault you’re broken-hearted.” My apology is actually sincere for once.

  “Nathan, I’m not made of glass, I’m not going to shatter! I’ll just sleep around for a bit; I’ll get over it!” he grins at me. “Besides, Beth has got legs for days, and a decent set of tits.” He adds. I can’t help but laugh, if this is how he gets over his first love, who am I to judge him?

  “Do you love Ellie?” Jack’s question shocks me. I know he briefly mentioned it before, but to blatantly just ask me.

  “Um, no, I mean, I don’t think so. I don’t really know her yet. How would I know?” I can’t believe I am asking my kid brother for relationship advice. Who am I?

  “Nay, you would just know. Believe me.” He stares at me as I process what he has just said.

  “Well, I mean, I can’t stop thinking about her. I want to be with her all the time. I want to do all kinds of dirty shit to her.” I look down at my hands, I can’t look at Jack. “I’ve only known her for like six weeks though, we have been out twice, So I can’t possibly love her, I hardly know her.” I add, aware it’s the second time I have said I don’t know her. It’s bullshit though, I feel like I’ve always known her.

  “It sounds like you love her to me. And It doesn’t matter how long you have known someone, if you have a connection with them. Some people believe in love at first sight. What is the sex like?” Jack finishes speaking and I stare at him for a few seconds. Taking in everything he has said.

  “I haven’t slept with her yet. I think she’s a virgin; she’s seems so shy and innocent.” I answer.

  “What? You haven’t slept with her? Shit, you must love her! When have you ever waited to have sex!” Jack protests and then laughs out loud.

  “Shut up! I don’t want anyone to hear us! I’ve just told you I think she is still a virgin, so I don’t want to pressure her, and I honestly don’t mind waiting for her, she is amazing, I just like spending time with her.” I whisper.

  “I think you have your answer.” He smiles at me. I sit in shock and silence.

  Holy Shit, I love her.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven – Nathan

  I knock on Ellie’s door and wait; I should have called before I just showed up. I am about to turn and go back to my car when the door swings open.

  “Oh hey, rude and dangerous.” Sienna says from the door way.

  “Is Ellie here?” I ask whilst walking into the room.

  “Why don’t you come in?” she says sarcastically “She is taking a shower, you can wait for her, don’t touch my stuff!” Sienna walks out of the room and I lie down on Ellie’s bed.

  Ten minutes later Ellie walks into the room, hair wet, no makeup on and wearing floral pyjama top and shorts. My heart starts beating a little faster in my chest. She is beautiful.

  “Um, Hi. What are you doing here?” Her pupils dilate slightly with shock and she fidgets uncomfortably. She looks down at her pyjamas and visibly cringes. Is she embarrassed?

  “You are beautiful!” I tell her, she blushes, and I smile. She is so shy.

  “Um, thank you.” She fidgets with her hands and looks at the floor. How does she not know how beautiful she is?

  I get up, cross the room to her, and kiss her. I place both my hands on the sides of her face and deepen the kiss. She eagerly kisses me back and I walk us back towards the bed. Hovering above her, I put my weight on my arms, never detaching my lips from hers.

  After a few minutes we both come up for air. I move to my side on the bed and stroke her perfect face.

  “Will you come to a party with me tonight, and um, my family?” I ask her. Is it too soon to introduce her to my brother and dad?

  “Of course, I will come, what is the party for?” Her excitement erases any worries I had.

  “It’s the opening night of my dad’s hotel, so he’s having a party. We will hardly see him; you can finally meet my brother though.” I tell her, she initially gasps, and I forget she doesn’t know anything about my dad, I don’t exactly talk about him, I despised him up until about two weeks ago.

  “Your dad owns a hotel?” Her eyes widen.

  “He owns a few actually, we won’t stay there long, it’s just to keep up appearances really.” I tell her.

  “Um, are you sure you want to take me? I don’t even know what I would wear for something like that, I don’t think I would fit in.” Ellie fiddles with her hands again, I now know this is something she does when she’s nervous or uncomfortable. I am flabbergasted at her lack of confidence. I take her hands and look into her eyes.

  “Ellie, you are beautiful, perfect. You’re right, you won’t fit in, you will stand out. You will be the most beautiful girl in the room. And I will be proud to have you with me. I don’t understand why you are so insecure.” I am genuinely confused; does she not own a mirror?

  “Nathan, I, I don’t know what to say. I just, I don’t know why you like me? You are, well, you, look at your face! And I’m just me, I’m Plain.” She doesn’t look at me. I lift her chin up so I can look into her pretty blue eyes.

  “To me, you are perfect, and couldn’t be any further from plain. Believe me, you are way too good for me, you will realise that soon enough.” I hope she doesn’t find out that I am a horrible bastard, anytime soon.

  She is about to protest, before she gets any words out, I press my lips to hers, silencing her. I won’t listen to her putting herself down again.

  My perfect girl.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight – Ellie

  Nathan waits in my room as I get changed. He helped me pick out a dress to wear for the event. After basically pulling everything I own out of my wardrobe, we both settled on an emerald green, silk, halter-neck, floor length dress. The green matches his eyes. It was my prom dress when I left school. It is my favourite dress that I own, I brought it with me to America in the hopes I would get to wear it again. I didn’t know; however, I would be wearing it to the opening of a hotel. Neither did I know the hotel would be owned by the family of the boy I am hopelessly falling for. I curl my hair and pin it up, I apply my makeup and slip my feet into Sienna’s gold strappy heels. I give myself a once over and head back to my room. When I enter the room Nathan gasps.

  “Oh god, is it too much? Should I change?” My palms are sweaty, and I am considering telling him I’m too sick to go.

  “Fuck, you look amazing!” Nathan sits up on my bed and fidgets with the crotch of his jeans. I involuntarily look down to where his hands are and feel myself blush.

  “Thank you.” I don’t know what else to say.

  “Let’s go, or we won’t be leaving this room.” Nathan strides towards me, takes my hand and leads me out of the room. I giggle and try to hide the fact that I am having palpitations from his comment.

  Nearly thirty minutes later, Nathan pulls up to what I can only describe as a mansion. It looks like something you would only see on Gossip Girl or the Housewives of Beverley Hills. My stomach drops and I feel like I might be sick. I don’t think I have ever been this nervous in my life.

  The land surrounding the property is all green grass, exotic flowers and trees. There are at-least five expensive looking cars on the drive way. The house is solid grey brick and large white windows. There are stairs that lead up to the double fronted doors of the house and another smaller building set further back from the main house.

  “Nathan, this is where you live?” I can’t hide the shock and awe in my voice.

  “Only recently, I’m not very close to my dad, it’s a long story, I’ll tell you about it another time.” He parks his car next to the other five on the driveway and turns to look at me. “Hey, don’t be nervous, this is just for show, my dad and his wife, they are all about appearances.” He rolls his eyes, trying to reassure me.

  “What if they don’t like me?” I ask his sheepishly.

  “Babe, I really couldn’t give a shit if my dad and his wife like you. I don’t particularly like them. The only opinion which matters to me, is
my brothers, and trust me, he will love you.” Nathan says. I make a mental note to ask what happened with him and his father.

  “Besides, they will all love you as much as I do.” Nathan’s face turns an unflattering shade of grey and he practically jumps out of the car. I process his words and sit in utter shock.

  Did he just say he loves me?

  After what seems like eons, Nathan opens my car door and helps me down out of his car. He chooses not to mention his awkward confession, so I don’t mention it either. My heart is beating so fast in my chest, I don’t think I could string a sentence together anyway.

  We walk into his living room where his family are gathered together on the sofas. The room goes silent and they all stare at us. After a few seconds a boy who is the image of Nathan gestures for me to sit on the sofa next to him. He must be his brother Jack. I oblige and sit with him. The girl sitting on the opposite sofa with a toddler, I’m guessing Matthew, is beautiful. She seems really young; did he say he had a sister?

  “Hey, I’m Casey, it is nice to meet you.” American accent, so she can’t be his sister. Wait, is she his stepmother? She looks far too young. As I am dismissing the thought, an older man with green eyes like Nathan and a strong jawline walks into the room, he places his hand on Casey’s shoulder and smiles a broad smile.

  He walks over to me with his hand outstretched for me to shake it.

  “Hi, you must be Ellie. It is lovely to meet you, I am Nathan’s Father, you can call me Michael.” His English accent is strong, and his handshake is stronger. He oozes money and confidence. I am suddenly more nervous than I was before.

  “Thank you, sir; it is lovely to meet you all too and thank you for inviting me into your home and, um, event.” My voice comes out shakier than I would like, I silently curse my nerves.

  “Please, just Michael. Nathan didn’t mention you was from London too, it’s a nice surprise. How did you meet?” Do you know each other from back home?” the sudden caution in his voice unsettles me.

  “Um, no, we met at Columbia, we have a class together. We are from different parts of London.” I am thankful that my voice comes out more confident this time. Would it be a bad thing if I met him back home?

  “Oh wonderful! What is your major? Do you enjoy Columbia?” Michael probes me with more questions and I start to grow uneasy, I feel like I am under a spotlight.

  “Dad, Jesus, lay off with question time, she is nervous enough.” I am grateful for Jack’s interruption.

  “Would you like a drink? Jack asks me.

  “I’m okay, thank you.” I smile at him. I like Jack instantly. He has the same mannerisms as Nathan.

  As Jack gets up and walks towards the door, Nathan walks back into the living room. My jaw drops and my mouth goes bone dry. I should have accepted that drink.

  Nathan is wearing a black tuxedo and smart dress shoes. He looks incredible. Sienna’s words come back into my head “I would climb that like a tree.” I shake my head at my crude thoughts. What is wrong with me?

  “Are you okay? You look a little flushed, have they been nice to you?” Nathan sits next to me and strokes the back of his hand over my cheek. I look up at him through my eyelashes and bite my bottom lip. His pupils dilate and he swallows.

  “Woah, don’t look at me like that, or I will drag you upstairs.” He whispers to me. I blush again.

  “Yes, your family are lovely. I guess I’m just a little hot and bothered. You could have warned me you were wearing that.” I say shyly, looking him up and down.

  “Ellie, I had to get a cold shower before I got changed, the way that dress clings to your curves.” his voice trails off as he drags his eyes down my body. I squirm a little next to him. He looks back up at my face and smirks.

  Could he possibly know what I’m thinking?

  What effect his words have on my body?

  God, I hope not.

  Jack renters the room and pulls us out of our moment. He is now dressed in a similar tux to Nathan and looks just as handsome. He is also with a very pretty brunette.

  “Everyone, Beth. Beth, Everyone.” He says waving his hands. I stifle a giggle at his casual introduction.

  “Hey, it’s nice to meet you, appreciate the invite.” The girl says in a thick New York accent. She is very confident in herself and strides into the room like she owns it. I don’t think I will like her. Nathan tenses next to me; somehow, I know he is thinking the same as me. He doesn’t like her. He puts his hand on my thigh.

  “Are we leaving?” he addresses his father, annoyance in his tone.

  Yeah, he definitely doesn’t like her.

  *

  We have been at the hotel opening for two hours, drinking glasses of expensive champagne and being introduced to dozens of people. It is very extravagant. There is a jazz band playing in the background and dancers dotted around the hall dressed in diamanté leotards and tights with skyscraper heels. Every woman in this place stares at Nathan. I can’t say that I blame them, he looks like James bond in that tux. I also want to throw my drink at them, jealousy getting the best of me. My head is starting to spin.

  Everyone comments how beautiful I am, and how much of an attractive couple we are. The compliments make me uncomfortable and uneasy. We haven’t said that we are a couple yet, technically we are only dating. Sensing my unease, Nathan keeps hold of my hand most of the night.

  The sixth photographer of the night approaches and asks for a photo of Mr Crane and his sons for another magazine I have never heard of.

  “Have we played happy families for long enough now? I want to take Ellie home, she’s exhausted.” Nathan says to his father. I feel my heart sink, is he bored of me? Why does he want to get rid of me?

  “Yes, you can leave, I appreciate you making the effort.” Michael says to his son. Their conversations seem tense, I wonder what happened between them.

  “Are you ready to leave? I’ve had enough of these pretentious gobshites.” Nathan says into my ear.

  “Have I done something wrong? You told your father you wanted to take me home.” I hate how needy I sound.

  “What? No! You’ve been amazing, putting up with all these snobs! I want to take you home, to my house. I want you to stay with me, I mean, if you want to?” Nathan asks and I silently curse myself for jumping to conclusions. I am always so quick to put myself down.

  “Yeah, I want to stay with you.” I shock myself for genuinely wanting to stay with him. If something happens between us. I wouldn’t regret it.

  “Okay, let me just tell Jack we are leaving and then we can go.” Nathan kisses my cheek and walks over to where Jack is standing with Beth. They exchange words and Nathan walks back over to me. Followed closely by Jack and Beth.

  “They are going to come home with us, Jack has had enough of these people too.” He laughs and takes my hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine – Nathan

  Once the limousine pulls up at my dad’s house, the relief washes over me. The charade I have had to put on all night, pretending Michael Crane is father of the year, was exhausting. I can now spend the rest of the night with my perfect girl, brother and wannabe Blair Waldorf. I don’t particularly like the girl, but Jack seems to enjoy her company, so I keep my opinions to myself.

  “Shall I order food? Do you guys want to watch a movie?” Jack asks.

  “Yeah, okay, we will just get changed and be back down. I need to get out of this penguin suit.” I tell Jack as I lead Ellie upstairs to my bedroom.

  When we get into my room I shrug out of the jacket and loosen the bow tie at my throat. I feel like an absolute twat in this suit. I walk over to my dresser and pull out two t-shirts and two pairs of jogger bottoms, I hand a set to Ellie.

  “Oh, thank you, I forgot I didn’t bring anything with me.” Ellie seems relieved, to my disappointment. I’d rather she slept naked.

  “I’d rather you slept naked, but its only early days, I suppose.” I say in jest, her pupils dilate, and I chuckle. “I’m joking, chill.”
I hold my hands up and she visibly relaxes. Yeah, she is definitely a virgin. All mine.

  “You can change in the bathroom, it’s just through that door there.” I point to the en suite bathroom. I stare at her perfect little arse as she walks away, it’s like a peach.

  A few minutes later, she comes out of the bathroom, she is wearing my t-shirt and bottoms which are way too big for her, and she has taken her hair down, the loose curls falling around her shoulders. She has removed her makeup and is barefoot.

  She is absolutely beautiful.

  “Shall we go back downstairs?” Please say no, please say no.

  “Yes, they will be waiting to start the movie.” Ellie crosses the room to me and takes my hand in hers.

  I hide my disappointment and head downstairs.

  *

  Jack makes us sit through three hours of ‘The Lord of The Rings’. Three. Fucking. Hours!

  I lost interest after the first forty-five minutes. I watch Ellie for the majority of it. Blair talks through the whole thing, Jack shushes her repeatedly, not even trying to disguise his annoyance in her, I stifle my giggles. Ellie must know what I am thinking because her silent giggles match mine. Ever-so often I feel her shake against my side. After the last slice of pizza is eaten and the film seems like it is coming to an end, I nudge Ellie and ask her if she wants to go to bed. She nods her head and I practically leap off the couch. Thank Fuck!

  “You two going to bed already? the film isn’t finished yet.” Jack asks, the desperation for us to stay in his voice and eyes. I have to stop myself from laughing and simply nod my head, not trusting my words. You make your bed kid…