Chapter 33
Ethan
“Mr. Hawthorne?” Will’s voice comes on over the intercom.
“Ethan,” I say under my breath. “Yes?”
“Mr. Farrington’s on his way to see you right now.”
“Okay, Will, it’s fine.”
Will is now well aware of my relationship and has been the soul of discretion, warning me if anyone is on their way to my office, whether or not my girlfriend is with me.
Bonnie’s not even in the office right now, as she’s having lunch with the girls. Which tells me that Jordan has told Sabrina what he saw on Friday, and Bonnie is getting serious grilling.
I take a bite of the club sandwich she made me. Bonnie hates cooking, so when we’re together, I either prepare the meals or we order in, so it makes it all that more special that she did this.
Jordan comes into my office, smiling like the cat that got the cream.
“Ethan! My main man. How the hell are you, you fucking horn dog?” The instant he sees what I’m doing, the smile wipes off his face.
“Fuck me, Ethan. You’re eating in your office. At your fucking desk. And it doesn’t look like a dungeon in here. What the hell, where are your glasses!”
“Sit down before you get a stroke, man.”
He sits, or rather, his knees buckle, and he lands in the opposite chair. I put another sandwich on a plain letter-size paper and push it across the desk toward him.
“I can’t believe this, man. I’ve known you for five years, and this has never happened.”
“Where do you want to start?” I ask, referring to the third degree I know he has in store for me.
“Obviously, I came here to discuss what the fuck’s going on with Bonnie, but here you are, literally slobbering all over your desk in broad daylight.”
I tell him about my procedure. His shock is palpable as he listens intently. Jordan didn’t know of my PTSD or the cause for it, which is why I also never told him that there was a procedure that could reverse my cone dystrophy. Because if I'd told him that, he would have hounded me to get the cure and never understood why I wasn’t interested in doing it.
“I had no idea there was a procedure to help your vision, Ethan. How long have you known about it?”
“A while. Maybe for about five or six years now. I just wasn’t interested in it before.”
Jordan whistles. “What changed your mind all of a sudden?”
“Would you believe me if I said it was Bonnie?”
“Is it me, or is it suddenly warm in here?” Jordan takes off his jacket. He really means it. I feel almost sorry for him. A few weeks ago, he was still pleading with me to cut Bonnie some slack.
“It’s the shock. And we haven’t even got to the good part yet,” I joke.
“Make me understand, Ethan. Last week, you were still at each other’s throats during the brainstorming meeting.”
Ah, that was fun. Bonnie picked up a few security issues and wanted to propose a new firewall, so we’d called a team meeting for her to pitch her proposal to the group. As usual, I questioned her the most intensely and concluded that she needed to rewrite the entire program while the others felt I was being unnecessarily difficult. Her eyes had shot me daggers, her cheeks aflame.
I’d relented in the end, offering to help with the weak areas, and Jordan actually looked like he was proud of me at the time for suggesting it. We’d re-written the program later that night in my office. Naked.
“I love her, Jordan.”
“Excuse me? Since fucking when? You guys hate each other,” he almost shouts.
“Hate is a strong word, man. A little dislike at the start, maybe…”
“But I didn’t think you were attracted to her. Sabrina thought you might be at some point, but I made her see the folly in that. So, imagine my shock on Friday. I mean, she’s not even—”
“What?” I know what he means to say. “Blonde? Like I give a fuck. She’s Bonnie, and that’s all that matters.”
My taste previously ran exclusively to blondes, because I never strayed since Clarissa, and as with everything else, I was tightly controlled with the women I chose to spend time with.
But I didn’t choose Bonnie. She chose me, and now, I’ve never wanted or needed anything as much as do her.
Jordan scoffs. “Well, Ethan. You’ve always had an eye for gold. But where does this leave Acercraft?”
I shrug.
“Ethan, Bonnie is literally a national treasure. Senior partner material. Mike, Sajid, Frank, Jane Smith, and all the other partners will have your head for laying a finger on her. I know they wouldn’t want to lose her as an employee. I know I don’t want to lose her because I doubt we could find a replacement.”
I’m a selfish bastard. “She’s my girlfriend. We’ll have to let the chips fall where they may at Acercraft.”
“You’re serious about this!”
“Can you not tell how much impact that woman has had in my life and what she means to me? Bonnie completes me. You expect me to give that up?”
Jordan still looks stunned. He did not expect our relationship, that much is clear. “How long has this been going on for?”
Thinking about it, the alien feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see or think about her started the moment she strutted toward me at the rehearsal dinner in Cancun. It’s overwhelmingly intense now and spreads to engulf my heart in a squeeze that I recognize as love.
“I’d say since last summer, in Cancun,” I answer.
“Jesus! And does she feel the same way?”
“Absolutely,” I confirm.
“Bro, I don’t know that we can bend the rules, even for you and Bonnie.”
“There’s no clause about fraternizing with wives, is there?”
“Whoa, Ethan.” He seems to be recalibrating, momentarily unable to process my words. “Have you even asked her yet?”
Once I figure out a way to ask her without getting punched in the face . I imagine I’ll have to drag her kicking and screaming to the altar. “In good time.”
“So, in the meantime. I'd better speak to Mike, give him the heads up.”
“But I'd say you’ve got a more pressing problem on your hands, Jordan. Xi-Gen. They want her like mad, and she’s not saying no yet.”
“How is that not your problem, too?” he asks.
“Oh, no, it was a problem a few weeks ago, but as my girlfriend, it doesn’t really matter where she works. I'll still have her. And I can’t get involved, remember?”
“You’ll have to. I can’t get involved, either. I wrote a glowing recommendation like you suggested, genius. I can’t suddenly turn around and say she’s crap, now can I? Do you really want a fiancée who’s halfway across the world though?”
Knowing Bonnie, if I mention her not going, that will get her to double down. This, unfortunately, isn’t something I can give her an ultimatum for. If I ask her to marry me, will she think it’s because I don’t want her to leave Acercraft?
“She still has a few days to decline,” I finally say.
"So you have a few days to work some magic," Jordan bites into his sandwich. “Nice. Let me guess, Bonnie made it?”
“You bet.”
He shakes his head, taking another bite. “You fucking dark horse. You could have given me a hint.”
I huff out a laugh. “For the most part, I had no clue myself where we would have ended up. It’s been a hell of a rollercoaster.”
“I can imagine. To say you’re shaken up is the year’s understatement. If anyone could achieve untying the fucking crazy knot that you are, man, it’ll be none other than Bonnie Russo.”