Chapter 6
ALICIA
I gave him my girl-boss face. My take-no-shit, kick-ass, business face. Even though my eyes wanted to roam down his body, to catalogue where I’d lay my hands to pull him closer.
No. Have some dignity, woman.
Ethan stood frozen before me as if he had been knocked off balance. Good. Taking advantage of the reprieve, I rolled my shoulders back and folded my arms, waiting for his grand speech.
“I’m sorry, ” he blurted. His demeanour calmed immediately post as if he had unloaded some huge revelation. For him, I was sure it was since that was probably the first time he had ever apologised… to anyone.
Silence fell heavily between us as I refused to budge.
Was that it? His remorse was laughable at best. I pitched a sarcastic brow, prepared to wait him out.
Ethan cleared his throat and his dumbstruck expression, finally collecting himself.
“Can I come in?”
“Nope.”
“Did you see the video?”
“Yep.”
“Are you only going to give me one-word answers?”
“Maybe.”
I could see his features spasming from my monotone responses. Despite everything that Ethan said, he had miscalculated one vital piece of information. I knew him.
After being intimate with someone for four years, it’s hard not to learn all their tells, the subtle nuances that made them tick.
And Ethan… By his tone and expression alone, I could tell he was getting frustrated. This was new territory for us. He expected a reaction out of me, which I wasn’t going to give him. Ethan deserved nothing, so I gave him nothing.
“Where have you been?” he said, his tone on the verge of rudeness.
“None of your business.”
“Can you give me more words and actually talk to me?”
“I just gave you four,” I said with a confused frown.
Ethan ran a hand through his hair in irritation. That’s right, boo, get angry. “Alicia… That video…”
“I don’t care about the video,” I said with a straight face, although my insides shrivelled up at the blatant lie—but I powered through. “Ethan, if that’s how you felt about me, you should have ended things ages ago.”
A stagnant pause stretched forth as he processed my uncaring front. Ethan had never seen me so passive, and for once in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
“That’s not how I feel, love.”
“Well, all evidence to the contrary.”
“Alicia, I came here to tell you—”
“I think I’ve heard all I want to hear of what you have to say on the subject, actually, thanks. I’m done now.”
Ethan flinched as if I’d just slapped him—he would have deserved it if I had.
“Well. I guess that’s it, then?” He phrased it as a question, putting out feelers for any change around. Ethan was probably expecting me to beg him to stay or something. Never.
“Yep. That’s it.”
I could see his eye twitching as he shifted to leave. “I’m going now.”
“Bye.” I even managed a finger wave.
“I guess I don’t have to feel guilty anymore…”
That jackass.
“I absolve you of any guilt. You don’t need to have any on my behalf since I don’t feel anything for you anymore. We’re done.”
Ethan practically malfunctioned before me, his panicked eyes cataloguing my professional, plastic smile.
“Done?”
“Yes. That’s what you wanted, no?”
“Ali, about what I said—”
“—Hmm, I don’t have all night to unpack everything you said, Ethan. I’ve already wasted enough time on you.”
“Stop acting like this,” he snapped.
“Like what?”
“Like you don’t care . I know you do ,” he said, desperation seeping into the edges of his voice.
With an eerily straight face, I decided to strike the match and light the fucking fuse. “But Ethan, I don’t care.”
Boom!
“You could have fooled me, Alicia! You ran away for a whole fucking week because you cared so much. Emergency leave? Yeah, I looked you up. You’re not as unfazed as you’re making yourself out to be. Now, let me in so we can sort this shit out.”
The problem with igniting an explosive was the unpredictable shattering effect. I had every intention of blowing him up, but I had unintentionally been caught in the crossfire.
Emergency leave? My Dad had a fucking stroke!
My unrelenting mask seemed to crack around the seams as I lost all rational thought, leaving only anger roaring behind.
Retreating a few steps to my console table, I collected the last gift he had bought me, then proceeded to beat him with it.
“Ah! Fuck! Stop!” Ethan yelled, his arms raised to protect himself from the pink dildo repeatedly launching for his face.
After one final whack, I chucked the toy at his chest. “Now, go and fuck yourself!” I screamed, then slammed the door in his stupid, shocked face.
Barely breathing, I spied through the peephole and watched Ethan silently implode behind the door. My lovely neighbours came to check if everything was alright, and I nearly fucking died when they asked for an autograph as he tried to disguise the dildo beneath his shirt.
The sight had me so close to squealing, but I smothered that bitch down by holding a firm hand over my mouth.
When Ethan finished his celebrity obligations, he went to bang on my door again until Burt laid a hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. After a long minute, Burt managed to steer Ethan towards the elevator.
The showdown I had been dreading actually turned out a lot better than I had expected. I bid him goodbye—even said we were done. That was our four years put to rest with nil room to move forward. It was over, and now, I would surely be able to forget him and move on… right?
I turned for the kitchen, in desperate need of wine, when a knock rang through. After checking, I opened the door to my adorable, middle-aged doorman.
“Thanks for the heads up, Burt. Now, make sure he sends you the other half of the money.”
Burt had messaged me immediately following Ethan’s proposition, asking what I wanted to do. Of course, I couldn’t resist the opportunity.
“But… ah. I was actually going to return the money, Miss Thorne.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Well, you said you had a few things to say to him. Now that it’s done, I thought the ruse was over.”
“Oh, Burt. There is no ruse. You had an arrangement, and you kept to your part. He will too. Keep the money… for Imogen.”
His wife was sick—the type of sick that didn’t get better. He could use the extra funds—deserved them, actually.
Although Burt had a hard time accepting it. “But—”
“No buts. Ethan made that deal. Let him live up to it.”
He looked dazed but gave a shallow nod. “Um… I better get back to work.” I smiled, and his expression softened. “I’m proud of you, kid.”
“Oh, my dear Burt, I wish I could say the same. $50,000 for leverage on me ? You should have asked for $100,000,” I said with a wink before closing the door.
Burt’s deep chuckle lingered behind, giving way to my own.