“Hi, Mom,” Alexander said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Hi, sweetie, how are you?”
“I’m doing great. This is my girlfriend, Ella.” He gestured toward me.
She looked at me and then smiled. “Nice to meet you, Ella.”
I couldn’t tell if she liked me. Moms were hard to read when it came to their baby boys. His dad said hi to me and kept reading his book that was in his lap.
“Dad, don’t be rude. Put the book away,” Alexander said.
He put the book away and took a sip of his coffee. Alexander and I sat down on the couch, and then everyone started talking. They were asking him about his businesses.
“May I have a word with you, dear?” his mom asked me.
“Of course.” I followed his mom into another area of their house, and she stopped me in my tracks.
“I want to know what your intentions are with my son.”
“I care about him deeply. He is a wonderful man.” Wow, this woman didn’t waste any time, did she?
“Yes, he is, but he is also a wealthy man. I can’t have him dating just a regular old Jane. How much to get you to stop seeing my son? What will it be?” she asked, pulling her checkbook off the counter like she was prepared for this encounter tonight.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but no amount of money is going to force me to stop seeing your son.” My hands were thrown on my hips, and my cheeks reddened. Was she really trying to pay me off? I wondered how many other girlfriends she found out about and tried to do this with? The nerve.
I walked away and returned to Alexander’s side. “Honey, not to be rude, but I’m not feeling well,” I said to Alexander.
“Oh no. Okay, we are going to go. It was nice catching up with you guys.”
“It was nice to meet you, Ella,” his mom and dad said in unison as we were walking out the door.
They didn’t even give me a chance. Their minds were already made up before they even met me. Not fair, not at all.
The entire car ride back to his house, I didn’t say a word. It was going to be my little secret. It would break his heart to know his mom tried to pay me off. No way was I going to be the one totell him. In the back of my mind, the same question kept coming up. How many others had she done this to?
When we finally made it to the house, I gave him a kiss and headed straight for my bedroom. I wanted to be alone. Tonight did not go well. I was nervous, but I had thought they would at least give me a chance to show I was worthy of their son. Instead, they just tried to give me money. No amount of money they could offer would make me stop seeing him. But now I wondered if it was going to work out. Would they do this every time I came around? Was I ready to put up with that? The only thing tonight did was give me doubts that I was worthy.
Chapter Eighteen
ELLA
I woke up to an array of sunshine hitting my face. Today, I was going home. I packed up my suitcase before I headed down for breakfast.
“Good morning, Ella. I made pancakes, sausage, and eggs,” the housekeeper told me as she handed me a plate. It smelled divine.
A couple of minutes later, Alexander showed up.
“Good morning, babe. How did you sleep?”
“Okay.”
“Are you feeling any better?”
“I’m feeling fine. Ready to be home,” I replied.
“Well, the plane is ready as soon as we finish breakfast. You will be home in just a little while,” he said with a smile.
“Are you going to come back with me?”