Hey, you

Chapter 10 - Just friends

'Where did you tell your Dad you were going again?' Will asked as he and Ellie waited patiently outside the front door.

'I told him I was away with Katie doing some Christmas shopping in Oakland,' Ellie replied confidently.

'Oakland? And he bought it?'

'Yeah, he lets me go with her every year... I guess this year I'll do it online instead, trust me... it will be fine,' Ellie assured as Will nodded. He didn't have a lot of confidence in Ellie's reasons for being away from L.A., but if she thought it would work then that was enough for him.

Suddenly the door swung open. 'William! How are you?' asked Will's Mom as she gave him that awkward mom-hug he always dreaded.

'Hi Mom, how are you?' he asked as he entered the house carrying both his and Ellie's luggage.

'And who is this lovely young lady?' Will's Mom asked as she looked past him and towards Ellie.

'This is Ellie, my friend from L.A.' Will smiled back at his Mom, hoping that it wasn't too obvious that he was hiding something, '...Ellie this is my Mom, Julie,' said Will as Julie also gave Ellie an awkward hug to which Ellie didn't really know how to react.

'Hey, it's so nice to meet you!' said Ellie politely with her arms suspended in mid-air as Julie continued to hug her and welcomed her into the house.

'You're house is lovely Mrs. Miller,'

'Oh it's Mrs. Sullivan now... David is my second husband, but please, call me Julie, dear...'

Will left their bags in the hallway and followed his Mom into the kitchen. There was a gorgeous smell of cakes being baked to which Ellie's face lit up with excitement when she saw the pristine cupcakes that were sitting on the kitchen side.

'Wow, it smells amazing in here,' said Ellie as Will approached the cakes.

'Yep, that's Mom's signature cupcakes...' said Will, clearly building up an appetite. 'Any family event they're there; weddings, christenings, birthdays. But to be honest, I don't think she'll ever beat the ones she did for Grandpa's funeral...'

'Hands off you! They're for tomorrow!' snapped Julie as she lightly slapped Will's hand, much to Ellie's amusement.

'I wasn't going to...' insisted Will in slight disbelief and holding up his arms in surrender. He always found it incredible that his Mom thought that he still had the same bad habits now as the ones he had when he was six. To be fair, he did... he knew he'd be able to salvage at least one later, when no one was looking.

'I'm so glad you could make it, it means the world to your sister!' said Julie cheerfully.

'I wouldn't miss it for the world, Mom,' Will said happily but still with one eye on the cupcakes. It was good to be home, even though he loved living in L.A., there was something nice about being back with his family.

'You know Ellie, your face looks very familiar, have we met before?' Julie asked curiously. Ellie grinned back at her as Will looked at his Mom and slowly shook his head.

'I'm an actor,' Ellie explained. 'You may have seen me on TV, possibly?' she may have only met Julie for the first time not ten minutes ago, but Ellie was quite confident in assuming that she wasn't an Awakening the Undead fanatic.

'Oh wow, an actor in my house? Yeah, it's coming back to me. I think I saw you on a few of the commercials, yeah, that's right... you're on the one for Dolce...'

'Dolce and Gabbana, yeah,' Ellie continued.

Even Will had lost track of all the commercials Ellie had been in. It seemed that every time he switched on the TV or walked down the street, there was Ellie, flaunting another brand's clothing or perfume.