Nineteen | Ethan
Nineteen
Ethan
I’d spent Tuesday morning in a closed-door meeting with Regina and Garrett as I gave them the update on Cora’s surprise visit. Garrett was looking into options for requesting a paternity test while I tried to do the math to see if there was any fucking way that I could be the father, to begin with. The more we talked about the situation, the more I wished that I would have just given in and paid her off when she first demanded it. Not that it would have earned me any bonus points with Eva. If anything, it would have been the final nail in the coffin of our non-existent relationship.
I figured it was also best to disclose my meeting yesterday at Hyde and Wilson before they somehow found out on their own. Regina was going to reach out to their Director of Human Resources to see if our legal team could set up a meeting with theirs to discuss a course of action. Granted, there was little that either side could talk about at this point, but it was good to know what resources we had if we needed them.
Regina excused herself to make a quick phone call, leaving Garrett and me alone in the boardroom.
“How’s Eva working out?” Garrett asked, trying to break the silence that had filled the room.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t had much time to sit down and work with her, and she was out of the office for a little while when she got sick. Regina and Kate have helped her get set up on a few things, but overall, she seems like she’s just teaching herself the ropes.”
“I’m sure things will level out soon,” he assured me as he held his pen between his two index fingers and looked at it. “Aside from the work stuff, how are things with Eva?”
I looked up at him, wondering how he knew anything had happened between us.
“Mom told me you were in love. I just assumed it was with her since your productivity has gone to shit since she started working here,” he replied with a laugh, noticing the confused look I had on my face when he asked.
“Of course she did.” I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to my brother, who had a shit-eating grin on his face. “What’s so damn funny?” I asked, feeling my lips turning up into a smile.
“Nothing, I just never thought I would see the day.”
“When I fell in love or when I started slacking at work?” I teased.
“Both.” He pulled his head back and laughed, setting the pen down on the table.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Now I see why some men stay bachelors their entire life.”
“Relationships take time and hard work. There’s no way around that. But when you find the right person, it no longer feels like work. You end up going out of your way to do things to make the other person happy, and sometimes, it means temporarily sacrificing your own happiness.”
“That sounds terrible,” I joked, trying to keep from acknowledging that I knew exactly what he was talking about because that was what I wanted to do for Eva.
“You joke about it now, but when you’re tossing and turning at night because you can’t sleep and can’t eat—it won’t be so funny then.”
“I think my DNA is missing whatever gene is responsible for all of that. Apparently, you got yours from mom, and I inherited all the terrible traits from dad.”
I saw the anger flash across Garrett’s face and almost immediately regretted bringing our dad up. It wasn’t an easy subject for either of us to talk about, but he always flew off the handle first. I waited for him to go into a long lecture about what a terrible person our father was for cheating on our mom, but he didn’t. For the first time, he stayed calm and didn’t react to it.
“You’re nothing like dad.”
His words stunned me as I looked at him, waiting for him to take them back.
“Seriously, Ethan. You’re nothing like him.” He shook his head and looked out the window. “Dad was selfish and never bothered to worry about making anyone happy other than himself. He constantly cheated on Mom, and when she would call him on his bullshit, he would apologize and beg her for another chance. When that stopped working, he started manipulating her and threatened to take us away from her. You know Mom would do anything for her boys. Even if that meant staying married to him longer than she should have.”
I felt the nausea rise as I thought back to my childhood and the fights that I remembered my parents having. The constant yelling and screaming. The look of pain on my mom’s face when she would look at me before she went running off to make amends with my dad. I always thought that maybe she wasn’t strong enough to leave him. Now, I understood that she was strong enough to stay with a man that she didn’t love so that she could do what she thought was best for her children.
“Our legal team will handle the shit with Cora, and we’ll get a paternity test. Right now, there’s nothing that you need to do. As far as things with Eva are concerned, if you love her, you should tell her. Find a way to get out of your head and make this work.”
“It’s not that easy,” I replied, remembering the look on her face when she stormed off last night.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s pissed off at me, for one.”
He raised his eyebrows, questioning what I had done this time.
“She was here with me last night when Cora showed up. I hadn’t told her about Cora or the lawsuit because I thought it was best not to talk about it. All Eva saw was that some woman showed up, claiming to be pregnant with my child and accusing me of trying to pay her off instead of doing the right thing. Given that Eva and I didn’t have a relationship outside of work, I can’t blame her for feeling like she’s being treated the same way Cora was.”
“Shit.”
“Yep. And on top of that, we had just talked about how her sister’s husband hired Eva’s ex-fiancé to represent him in a custody battle. The same fiancé who was constantly cheating on Eva.”
“Well, dear brother, that’s some mess you’ve got.”
I leaned back in my chair and laughed.
“Really, that’s all you’ve got? Where’s your brotherly advice when I need it?” I threw my hands up as I tried to play the part of being devasted by his lack of compassion, but the smile gave me away.
“That’s the funny thing about love. No one can give you advice on it. You’re the only person who knows what she means to you and what you’re willing to do for her.” He sighed softly as he adjusted his tie. “But I will say one thing...”
“What’s that?” I chuckled, knowing that he couldn’t ever walk away without getting the last word in.
“Don’t be so afraid of falling in love that you stop it from happening. You deserve to be happy.”
He stood up and checked his watch. “Sorry to leave you in this mess you’ve created for yourself, but I have to run. I’ve got a meeting in thirty minutes,” he said.
I glanced at my phone, mainly to see if Eva had texted or called. Nothing. I had a meeting with Brent in an hour, and I needed to get my head straight before he got there. I gathered my stuff and stood up.
“Thanks for the talk,” I said warmly, reaching out to shake his hand as we reached the door. He grabbed mine and pulled me in for a hug instead.
I couldn’t remember the last time Garrett had hugged me, but I wasn’t about to question it now. Not when everything in my life seemed to be changing at once, and there was only one person I could think of who was to blame. Eva.