Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Ethan
I drank myself into oblivion after Aubrey decided to leave and passed out on the couch. My sister had no right to bring up Sophia. Now, Aubrey knew a piece of my past I wanted to keep secret. She said she didn’t need to know about her, but I knew damn well her curiosity at some point would get the best of her, and she’d start asking questions. I hurt her feelings with what I said, which bothered me—another reason I could no longer continue seeing her. I was getting too close, and everything I had fought to keep buried inside me was starting to emerge.
I opened my eyes as the sun beat through the living room windows, blinding me and making the pounding headache I had intensify. I rolled off the couch and stumbled up the stairs to my bedroom. I reeked of alcohol, and it was making me sick. Stumbling into the bathroom, I turned on the shower, stripped out of my clothes, and stood under the warm water, placing my hands on the tiled wall for support. I hadn’t been this hungover in years. But that wasn’t what I was thinking about as I kicked back several glasses of scotch. I drank to stop thinking about her and to stop thinking about the pained look on her face after our conversation.
The day had come and gone. I attended a few parties my friends were throwing in honor of Labor Day and then strolled in around midnight. I thought that staying out all day would help me get my mind off of Aubrey. But it didn’t. Even the numerous women hanging all over me and trying to get me to fuck them didn’t take my mind off of her.
I awoke feeling like I had been hit by a truck. Another night, another nightmare, and a bad mood took hold of me. I stumbled out of bed, showered, dressed, and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Ethan.” Ingrid smiled as she poured me a cup of fresh coffee.
“Morning,” I mumbled.
“Uh-oh,” she spoke.
She always knew by the look on my face what type of mood I was in.
“Don’t ask me any questions. Not today, Ingrid. I’m in no mood.”
“I can tell. So I won’t ask.”
“Pour the coffee into my travel mug. I need to get to the office.”
“What about breakfast?”
“I don’t want any breakfast.” I scowled.
After taking my travel mug from Ingrid, I grabbed my briefcase and headed towards the door.
“Have a good day, Ethan!” she shouted sarcastically.
“It won’t be!” I snapped.
Climbing into the limo, I slammed the door shut. Harry turned around and looked at me.
“I suppose it’s not a good morning.”
“Just drive.” I pulled out my phone.
I heard him sigh as he pulled away from the curb and drove me to the office.
“Holly!” I shouted as I passed her desk. “In my office, now!”
She followed me inside and shut the door.
“Good morning, sir.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed as I turned around and looked at her.
“Actually, it’s not a good morning, and I don’t want you ever to assume it is. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” She gulped as she took a seat across from my desk.
“I want the last six months of financial reports on my desk in an hour. Also, I want you to get the product development team up here for a meeting at noon.”
“Yes, Mr. Klein. Anything else?”
“Go to the bakery down the street and get me one of their lemon poppy seed muffins.”
“I’m on it, sir. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“Are you quitting?” I arched my brow.
“No. I’m pregnant. I just thought you should know.”
“Pregnant? Are you serious? Is that going to prevent you from doing your job here at Klein Technology?”
“No. It won’t affect it at all.”
“I hope not. Because if it does, I’ll have to fire you and find someone who I can trust won’t be getting pregnant any time soon.”
“I understand. You don’t have to worry.”
“Good. Now get out of here and get my muffin and reports.”
She nodded her head as she got up from her chair and timidly walked out of my office. Fuck. Why the hell did she have to go and get pregnant? It was in my best interest to start looking for another assistant ASAP.
Pulling out my phone, I brought up Dr. Perry’s number. Maybe it was time I gave her a call to try and get to the bottom of these damn nightmares. I hated the thought of sitting in her office again like I did all those years ago.
“Dr. Perry’s office. How can I help you?”
“It’s Ethan Klein, and I need to see Dr. Perry.”
“When were you looking to meet with her?” she asked.
“Today, if possible.”
“She’s completely booked for the rest of the week, but I can squeeze you in next week.”
“Next week isn’t good. I need to see her as soon as possible.”
“I can put you on the cancellation list and give you a call if someone cancels.”
I let out a long, hard sigh.
“Fine.”
I ended the call and leaned back in my chair. As I was pondering the idea of taking a vacation, Holly walked in with my muffin.
“Here you go, sir. I’ll go pull up those reports now, and I’ve already scheduled your meeting with the product development team.”
“Good. You may leave.”
My phone rang as I was eating my muffin and drinking my coffee.
“Ethan Klein.”
“Mr. Klein, it’s Amanda from Dr. Perry’s office. We just had a cancellation for three o’clock. Shall I put you in?”
“Yes. Three o’clock will be fine.”
“We’ll see you then.”
Noon had approached, and I headed to the conference room to meet with my product development team.
“Good, you’re all here.” I took a seat at the head of the table.
“Why the urgent meeting, Ethan?” Rob asked.
“Did you know that there are over four hundred and forty thousand people in New York alone that are visually impaired?”
“Umm. No. I didn’t know that,” Rob spoke.
“And over two hundred and eight million worldwide.”
“Interesting,” Terrence spoke as he stroked his chin. “So what does that have to do with Klein Technology?”
“I want us to develop an app, not just an ordinary one. This app we design will have the ability to scan an entire indoor area and tell the person the layout of the space, guiding them in the direction they need to go and alerting them of objects that are in the way of their path.”
“Apple already has something like that.”
“But it’s not suitable for the visually impaired person. It’s not voice-over compatible. This app would be, and it would also store previous routes, which could be very useful in hotels, malls, and other large buildings.”
“I don’t know, Ethan,” Rob spoke.
“You don’t know?” I glared at him. “You will make it work. I’ve already started the coding.” I threw the paper in my hand down on the table. “Look it over and go from there. This can be done. I know it can. Think of how much Apple would pay for something like this. They can’t do it, but we can. And as a little incentive to get your asses in gear on this, once it’s complete, I will throw in a ten-thousand-dollar bonus to each of you for your hard work.”
“Are you serious?” Terrence asked in shock.
“Dead serious. Now get to work. I want an update in three days. If you have to work all night on this, do it. I want this done quickly.”
“May I ask why this is so important to you?” Rob asked.
“It’s just something that I think visually impaired people need to make their lives a little easier.”
Rob laughed. “Since when do you care about blind people, Ethan?”
I shot him a look from across the room.
“I have a friend who is completely blind. That concludes this meeting. Now get out of here and get to work.” I looked at my watch. “I have to leave for an appointment.”