IV. LOOKING AT A GOOD MAN, WHO OUGHTA BE THE RIGHT GUY. HE'S GOT THE KIND OF HEART THAT ANY GIRL WOULD DIE FOR. SO HOW COULD I WANT MORE?

Ella laid in bed on Saturday morning, staring at her ceiling fan whirring slowly overhead, and wondered why she'd been foolish enough to risk her happiness for one reckless night with a celebrity. Ella remembered reading an article in People magazine once about a woman who had slept with Steven Tyler, even though she was happily married with two children. She remembered thinking that the woman had been so foolish - to throw away a perfectly good life for one selfless night. How had she gone from being so level-headed to so stupid?
She'd received one text from Harry since they'd parted ways yesterday. He'd texted her two hours later to make sure she'd gotten home okay. Ella had lied and told him that she was home safe and sound, when in reality she was still parked behind the Prince George, her body still shaking with guilt and anxiety. When she'd finally collected herself around five o'clock, she'd texted Eric to tell him she was on her way home from work, and had driven straight home. She'd cleaned the house, gotten dinner ready, and kept quiet most of the night, letting herself suffer in her own mistakes.
Ella pulled herself out of bed and ran a warm bath. She lit one of her favorite lavendar candles, slipped into the water, and began scrolling through her Twitter feed. She paused when she saw Harry's name.

@Harry_Styles
Nights I'll never forget in Indiana. You are incredible - x.

"Ella, your dad just called me," Eric groaned, pushing open the washroom door, "he tried to call your phone. Said it's turned off. Call him back."
Ella glanced at her phone, "My phone's not turned off."
"I don't care. I'm going back to bed."
Ella laughed as she reached for her iPhone and glanced at the screen. No service. Fuck. How had that happened? And how long had it been that way? She restarted her phone and waited, rather impatiently, for it to come back to life. A moment later she glanced at the screen and found five unread text messages - four from Mr. Hannigan and one from her father. Ella felt giddy as she opened the missed messages.


INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
200 miles to Pittsburgh.

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
100 miles to Pittsburgh.

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
Elllaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
Gooooodnight Ms Phelange.

Ella ran her thumbs across the screen as fast as she could to reply.

REPLY: I'm so sorry. My phone lost service somehow. Just got all of your messages.

Within seconds her phone bleeped with an incoming message.

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
Thought you'd forgotten about me.

REPLY: Unlikely.

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
Oh, you. Sleep well?

REPLY: I suppose. You?

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
Not really. Thought you'd forgotten about me and all. Feeling much better now.

REPLY: I lied. I barely slept. Thought you'd forgotten me, as well.

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
Two peas in a pod, yeah? On the way to a radio station now. I have press all morning :( What are your plans?

REPLY: Laundry, cleaning, lawn mowing, etc. Lots of fun. Press sounds exciting!

INCOMING TEXT MESSAGE: MR. HANNIGAN
It's not as bad as I like to think it is. Just rather be elsewhere is all. We've arrived - have to go. Tweeted about you (discreetly). Can't stop thinking about you. Sorry if that's inappropriate.

REPLY: Inappropriate, probably. Welcomed, absolutely. Have a great day :)

Notes

This one is short so I will post two chapters together today :). I'd loovvvve a few more subscribers! Come onnnn!