Addicted To Greed (23 page)

“So what you are trying to say it that if that is what my sister is
suffering from post-natal depression, that she would put Broody
at risk, in which I very much doubt. What are the likely risks?”

“Neglect, frustration, anger, or a mixture of all of them!”

“This is nonsense, there’s
no way on this planet that my sister
would put Broody at risk, he doesn’t get neglected in any shape
or form, quite the opposite, he is always well fed, washed and
put into fresh clothes daily, entertained and most of all loved and
cherished, maybe you’re not listening to me, it’s not Broody I
am worried about it is my sister!”

“I understand what you are saying to me Destiny, but it’s
my job
to look out for the welfare of both mother and baby and I believe
that Broody is not at risk here, however it is my job to ask such
questions in order to eliminate them. I’d very much like to talk
with Ella about how she’s feeling and offer her the right support
or medication that may help her.”

“Well I am glad we’ve
both established that Broody isn’t at any
risk, because if I thought for one moment he was you’d be the
first person I’d be informing. Ella dotes on Broody, as do I, my
biggest concern it for my sister’s well being, however getting
her to talk may be your biggest challenge, good luck.”

It was agreed that Destiny would take Broody out for the
afternoon so the midwife and Ella could have some space.

Destiny
couldn’t help feeling disloyal to Ella, the last thing she
wanted was for her to be scrutinized as a mother, as this would
break her sisters heart and she knew how much she loved
Broody, however Broody wasn’t the issue here. Still she trusted
the midwife with all this and had a feeling there would be a
good outcome.

Destiny took Broody off see Santa Clause, in his grotto, at the
local Victoria House, they queued over an hour to see him,
luckily it was inside on the ground floor of the building and they
didn’t freeze their butts off, what made it special was that
Broody seemed mesmerised by the old man and wouldn’t take
his eyes off him. Destiny recalled Broody letting out a number
of wonderful baby sounds and held onto his small wrapped
present until he drifted into a deep contented sleep.
Destiny arrived home with Broody just after four in the
afternoon and to her surprise Ella was standing on a chair
dressing the Christmas tree turning round to greet them both
with a huge beaming smile. Destiny noticed Ella was no longer
in her dressing gown and that she had applied a little makeup.

Wow what had happened in the few hours while she was away?
Destiny thought but never dared say aloud.
Broody was still in a deep sleep and Ella asked gently, “Destiny,
please sit down, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Destiny sat down a little apprehensive, dreading what it maybe,
was she in trouble? Did the midwife spill the beans to Ella? She
tried to act as though everything was normal and asked
innocently, “What’s eating you up?”

“You may of noticed that I haven’t been quite myself recently
and today I told the mid wife how I have been feeling, it’s been
really hard to explain my feelings as I doubted anyone would
understand, let alone listen, it all started when Broody was born
and Ian left, I began to feel isolated and lonely, so much so I
thought every day was a chore just to wake up, and get through
the day. It’s like I have this really deep feeling of
worthlessness.”

Ella stopped and began to weep slightly. Destiny automatically
put her arms around her elder sister cradling her head.

“It’s
ok, you don’t need to tell me if it upsets you, I understand.”
“Talking makes me feel better, there’s so much locked up inside,
it’s been this way for a long time now and I need how to learn
how to let it go. I remember being so happy and carefree before
I met Ian, he was the love of my life and I’ll never understand
how he could have walked out on me and beautiful Broody. All
this time I’ve been spent racking my brains on what I could have
done, I somehow managed to convince myself it was all my
fault and began to blame myself for him leaving and then I
began to hate myself, I wanted to punish myself, no one else just
me and I began to obsess on how I could do this, by
withdrawing from all the things I liked and well I think you
know the rest Destiny, don’t you?”

“Y
eah I guess, I have been really worried about you, but I
wasn’t sure what was going on with you, I just saw you not
wanting to do anything anymore.”

“That’s an understatement I didn’t even want to get out of bed,
the only time I did was to feed, change or bath Broody, he’s the
only thing that’s kept me going through all of this, having
another little life to look after, completely reliant on me and it’s
made me realise I can’t do this to myself any longer. The mid
wife mentioned counseling and maybe some anti depressants to
get through this. I’m willing to try both.”

“Well I am glad to hear it,
not that you’ve been feeling the way
you have because that’s really terrible, but because you’ve
recognised that you maybe need a little help on the way to
recovery.”
“There’s another thing I need to tell you little sis, I don’t know
what I’d of done if it wasn’t for you and I am sincerely thankful
for this.”

Destiny bit on her lip to hold back her tears, she knew finally
that Ella’s was going to be ok and get through this, because she
wanted to.

“Let’s celebrate, how about we go to Frankie and Bennies?”
“You read my mind Destiny.”

Several months passed and Destiny felt it was time to move
back home, her mother would often quiz her about her time at
Ella’s, if everything was ok? How Ella was managing as a single
parent? How Broody was? And so on, it was their secret that
Ella needed a little help to get through. Their father came down
off his high horse after their Christmas get together and found
himself bonding with his first grandchild; it became hard to tear
them apart at times. He setup a monthly allowance for Ella and
Broody, very generous, they would never go without anything
they needed and would be able to live comfortably, when Ella
went back to work at the wedding boutique, providing she
wanted to go back to work, he would support her either way.

♣

Here Destiny was several years later sitting waiting for her older
sister, She was already over 15 minutes late and texted Destiny
to let her know she would be a further 10 minutes. Destiny sat
and waited patiently admiring the cool yet fresh ambience of this
new little restaurant, with its Moroccan red glossy tiled floors
and spiral staircase, its fresh thick cream patterned voiles
hanging up delicately at each little window and the smell of
fresh bread been stone baked behind the service counter. The
scent alone was making her really hungry, but since her date
with Spencer her appetite was not how it used to be, it was more
suppressed to say the least.
Was she in love? Is this how love
made you feel?
Constant little butterflies fluttering round in the
depths of her stomach? Food was her greatest love and right
now she didn’t love it. Glancing over the menu, she decided to
order a white wine spritzer; hopefully this will give her appetite
a boost.

Since Ella’s ordeal she had been off anti depressan
ts for over six
months now, there were no more signs of struggle on her face
and she seemed a lot happier in general. The first thing Destiny
noticed as she entered the restaurant was her confident walk,
being 5 feet 11 inches, it was hard to miss especially if she wore
heels. Ella looked amazing, her slender figure had returned after
dropping the baby weight and what struck Destiny the most was
her long black locks of hair and chiseled high cheekbones, she
looked absolutely stunning and that long gone smile had
returned. Destiny noticed she got the restaurants entire heads
turning,
that’s my sister
she thought and she was so proud of
her, she just didn’t know how much.
“Where’s Broody? I have him the coolest ever soother from the
Disney outlet!”

“He’s with Mrs Walsh, she insisted I enjoy myself alone with
you, and besides she can’t resist him, she finds him adorable.”
“Ah, lovely Mrs Walsh, well I guess we all share the same
opinion of the little guy.”
“I couldn’t resist this charming little outfit also, its Winnie the
pooh matching jersey with joggers and booties.”

“Oh my god that’s so cute Destiny, thanks. Now
tell me all
about your hot date, I’ve got the whole afternoon off, I’m all
ears!”

“His name
s Spencer Pratt, he’s a freshman at St John’s!”
Ella burst out laughing and couldn’t keep a straight face.
“His second names Pratt, what a funny surname!”
“I know it sounds funny, it took a while for me to get used to it.”
“Exactly how long? I thought this was your first date?

“Well officially it was my
first date, however since I started St
John’s, I have secretly held a crush, his name had me laughing
too when I first heard it, however I am passed that now!”

“Sounds serious c’mon spill the beans
. I wanna her
everything!”
The waiter approached them; Ella ordered them two white wine
spritzers.

“No not serious, not yet anyway, we have another date
tomorrow night.”
“So where did he take you?”
“You’re not gonna believe this he took me sailing on his father’s
yacht.”
“Wow! You luck thing, how extravagant, I don’t suppose he has
a brother around my age?”

With this they both broke into a fit of laughter, Destiny could
always rely on Ella to slice the atmosphere with her wicked
sense of humor.

“Yeah he has his names James but he’s a little too young for
you!”
“How old are we talking?”
“Sixteen, although I hear he’s reaching his seventeenth birthday
next month.”
“What a shame a few years older and that would have been
fun!”

The waiter approached them both again; they ordered another
two white wine spritzers.
At this rate Destiny could imagine herself in bed by tea time.
It’s funny because whenever they both got together, they could
polish off more than several bottles of wine and still manage to
make their separate journeys home safely.

“So c’mon where’s he taking you tomorrow?”
“It’s a surprise, and I have no idea but he did hint that I will
need a spare set of clothes!”
“Sounds ominous, no other clues?”
“Not yet but I’m working on it!”

“Well it seems he’s keep
ing you on your feet, I wish I had some
luck with the opposite sex at the moment, I think I am ready to
start dating again!”

“Really, wow that’s great, is there anyone in particular you’ve
got in mind?”

“There’s
a guy, but I am not sure if he’s interested, he’s
currently installing our air conditioning at work, he seems a little
quiet and shy, I’ve tried to build up small talk with him and he
responds really well, however whenever I mention anything
personal, he changes the subject.”

Destiny couldn’t belie
ve the way her sister eyes were lighting
up and sensed that she was very keen to get to know this guy,
maybe a little too keen.
“Have you considered playing it cool, giving him the cold
shoulder, see if this gets his attention?”

“No I haven’t, maybe I’ve been a little too friendly towards
him!”

Destiny could see the realisation of what she had just said sink
in on her sister’s face and then Ella smirked, one of her old
devious smirks.

Destiny soon realised that Ella was back to her old tricks, in the
male department, in which she was happy about, but a little
concerned, she worried Ella wore her heart on her sleeve and
usually got burnt as a result of this,
but who was she to say
anything, what did she know?
It’s not like she had any real
experience with men to offer any real practical advice, however
she did know one thing most men didn’t liked to be chased by
the opposite sex as most men liked to be considered the hunters.
She couldn’t say this for all men, as she was sure that they were
exceptions to the rule. She just wanted to make Ella think
before she acted.

“
One thing I have learnt with men especially is to keep a little
part of me back, until I feel the times right, especially with
Spencer and it seems to be working so far, although it’s early
days yet!”

“The problem with me D
estiny is I’m just too friendly for my
own good, especially to men I find attractive, I wish I could
learn how to restrain myself like you, but you know what it’s
like when you start opening up to a man, I just let it all out and I
know it’s something I need to work on, they don’t need to know
my whole life story on the first date do they?”

“No, or even before the first date for that matter.”

They both broke out into more laughter, there was nothing like
real honesty between them, they kept nothing back with each
other, it had was always been this way since Destiny could
remember, except the incident with the mid wife, that she still
had her reservations about to some degree, however if she
hadn’t intervened Ella wouldn’t of got the help and support she
really needed and maybe she wouldn’t be here now looking the
way she did or talking the way she was, she was definitely back
to her own self and Destiny was so proud of her.

They finished off the afternoon sharing a calzone pizza; it was
delicious, followed by strong Italian coffee, heading for the
shopping center for a little retail therapy. Destiny was desperate
to find something for her date tomorrow night and Ella wanted
to find a sophisticated outfit for work to woo the air
conditioning guy.

Ella agreed that she was going to play it cool, see if this caught
his attention.

Destiny wished her sister all the luck in the world, hoping that
she had given Ella some good advice after all, however only
time would tell.
Ella promised Destiny that she would let her know if there were
any developments on that front. As they parted with their many
shopping bags they agreed that they would meet up Eldorado’s
next Friday night.