Chapter 13 #2
I know he has a point. A lot of companies have been eyeing Natalie, especially after the three years she spent fixing this company.
When she first sent her resumes to different companies on my arrival, I reached out to those companies and warned them off.
But I know that if she truly wanted to, she could’ve found new employment.
She’s smart enough to know that, and she has enough knowledge of this industry to know where she’s needed.
I don’t know why she didn’t do it, but I know I have played the role of a villain in her life far too many times. Why did she sleep with me again? Her taste still lingers on my tongue, a haunting sweetness I can’t forget.
Why sleep with me when she hates me so much? Why not tell me what I did to her? Why not get her revenge on me?
Why—?
Losing her is unfathomable.
Returning to my desk, I pick up the resignation letter. I can’t accept this. Tucking it in my pocket, I grab my jacket. “I need to get some air.”
He steps back, letting me leave. My keys in my hand, I don’t know where I’m going, but I just know I need to get out of this place.
Of all the places I expected to end up, home wasn’t one of them.
My mother is gardening when I pull up to the curb, her slender hands working with the roses. She looks up with a surprised smile. “Ethan!”
Reluctantly, I get out of the car. “Mom.”
She removes her sun hat and waits for me to cover the distance between us before leaning up and kissing my cheek. “I was just thinking about you. Come in. Your father went out with Roland. It’s just me at home today. Have lunch with me.”
Her arm wrapped around mine as we walk inside offers a level of comfort I didn’t know I was seeking.
“Let me go wash up and tell Sylvia to put lunch on the table.”
I watch her leave before sitting down at the table, the familiar surroundings bringing a temporary peace to my troubled mind.
By the time she returns, she’s changed into a more comfortable outfit, a flowing floral dress, her makeup refreshed. The table has been set with a light lunch: sandwiches, a crisp salad, and freshly squeezed orange peach juice.
“So.” She sits across from me. “What’s wrong?”
I blink. “Why would you think anything is?—”
Her eyes turn gentle. “Because you came home, sweetheart. When things go wrong, a child will always find their way home. And out of all my children, you are the most independent of them all. You so rarely come to me.”
I pour her a glass of the juice, then one for myself. “Nothing is wrong. I just wanted to come home for lunch.”
She smiles at me, that quiet, inscrutable smile of hers. “Very well. How’s Natalie?”
I take my time in replying. “Fine. She’s fine.”
“I saw the photographs of the two of you. You two make a fine couple. I’m glad you found her.”
“What photographs?” I ask, puzzled.
She studies me for a moment before getting up to retrieve a magazine. “You two attended an event in Chicago. You were photographed on the red carpet.”
I suddenly remember. With everything going on, it slipped my mind.
My mother pushes the open magazine before me, and I see Natalie and I standing together, my arm around her waist. She’s facing the camera, her eyes wide as I kiss her cheek.
The next one is of her with her hands on my chest as she argues with me, but I’m smiling down at her.
I stare at the two of us. “I forgot about these.”
“She must be really special for you to let down your guard around her.”
“She is,” I say quietly after a few moments.
My voice is tired, and my mother covers my hand with hers. “She’s a nice girl, Ethan. You’ve chosen well.”
I look up at her, but whatever I was going to say doesn’t come out. Instead something else slips out.
“She doesn’t want me.”
My mother’s expression doesn’t change. “Why do you think that?”
I push the magazine away, not wanting to see those pictures anymore. “I hurt her. A long time ago, I hurt her, and I didn’t realize how bad.”
“Did you apologize?”
An incredulous laugh leaves my lips. “I think we are past the age where a simple apology can fix everything, Mother.”
“Don’t underestimate how much damage an apology can undo. Especially if you mean it.”
I pick up one of the sandwiches and put it on my plate, simply staring at it. “I don’t think an apology is what will fix this situation. Like I said, I didn’t realize the extent of the damage my actions caused.”
“Do you love this girl?” My mother’s sudden question has me looking up. When I don’t answer, she raises a brow. “It’s a yes or no question. Do you love her?”
“I want her.”
“That’s not the same thing. You can want a lot of things, Ethan,” she says calmly, sipping her juice.
“She’s not an object you can possess. Love is different from want.
You need to figure out how you truly feel for this girl before you decide to move forward.
People aren’t toys. They are not businesses.
They cannot be manipulated. Especially not people you love.
Matters of the heart are different, Ethan. They have to be dealt with delicately.”
“She’s the only woman I want.” I reach into my pocket and bring out a small box. “I got this three years ago.”
My mother’s eyes widen, and she takes the box from me, opening it.
“An engagement ring,” she breathes, shock in her eyes. “You?—”
“Natalie makes me feel alive. When I’m in her presence, I relax.
She makes me smile. She makes me want to focus on her rather than my work.
I feel like a different person when I’m around her.
” I tell my mother what I have never told anybody.
“Five years ago when I first met her, I didn’t have the best intentions.
But there was something about her that always stood out to me.
I looked forward to spending time with her, and the time we spent together was important to me.
It took me two years to realize she is the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
So I got this ring. I used the jewels from Grandmother’s ring. ”
“And you had it engraved,” my mother whispers. “Honey, did you tell her?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. I didn’t want to drive her away.”
“From the way things seem to be going, you might want to tell her what you told me.”
I put the ring away. “She won’t believe me. No matter what I say, she doesn’t believe me. She thinks I’m trying to hurt her.”
“And how are you expecting to resolve this?” My mother watches me. “I don’t suggest avoiding her. If there are misunderstandings between the two of you, it is up to you to clear them. Showing her the ring might help her realize you’re serious about her.”
I shake my head. “She won’t react well to that. Not yet. First, I have to see her. ”
“So go.”
I wish it was that easy.
I don’t know how to face Natalie yet. But I do know that Lucas is going to pay for what he did to her. I don’t care what his reasons were.
He put his hands on her.
All these years, I’ve ignored him and his steady rise in the business world, but not anymore. I’m going to make him regret ever laying hands on my woman.
I don’t go straight to the office.
Instead, I head to Staten Island, to the restaurant La Savante.
It’s late afternoon, and the lunch rush is winding down when I arrive.
“I’m looking for Sarah Brown,” I tell the receptionist. “She works here.”
“Ethan?” A familiar voice has me looking to my right, and I see a tall man with sandy hair and grey eyes approach me. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“Alex.” I shake his hand, surprised to see my old classmate. Alex Hunter and I attended the same high school and college, and we remained in touch till he moved to Australia for a few years.
“Do you work here?” I ask.
He laughs. “Just bought the restaurant a few months ago. I expanded and opened a branch here. Don’t tell me you’re here for lunch?”
I give him a brief smile. “No. I came to meet one of your sous-chefs. Speaking of?—”
I see Sarah approach me from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel and glaring at me, her pink hair a stark contrast against the white of her chef’s uniform. “I have a bone to pick with you, Ethan Wilder. The fucking nerve?—”
“Miss Brown.” Alex’s voice is sharp, and I see Sarah glance at him, bristling.
“He’s not a customer, Mr. Hunter. He’s here to see me.”
“You’re still in your workplace, and Ethan’s a friend.”
I see Sarah muster up the most disgusted look she can manage. “Of course you two are friends. Birds of a fucking flock?—”
“Miss Brown!”
“Fine!” She shoots a dirty look towards Alex before storming out.
“She’s your employee, right?” I ask dubiously.
Alex doesn’t give me an answer, and I go after Sarah.
She’s standing outside a short distance from the restaurant under a tree, trying to light up the cigarette clenched between her teeth. I can see the strain between her eyes.
“How is Natalie?”
She takes a puff of the cigarette before lowering it from her mouth. “How do you think? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. We slept together.”
She stares at me. “You couldn’t keep it in your pants for a few more weeks?”
As always, her crude manner of speaking makes me scoff. “She was the one who wanted to sleep with me. She said it would mean nothing.”
“And I’m sure you were just a poor, innocent bystander, right?” Sarah drawls sarcastically. “So helpless against her?—”
“I wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip me by?—”
“That there is your problem.” She drills her finger in my chest. “It’s all about opportunity with you. She’s not some business deal that you have to manipulate and control to get your way. She needed time?—”
“Natalie is not some fragile little bird!” I bare my teeth at the pink-haired woman before me. “She doesn’t need protecting and coddling. She wanted to sleep with me, and she’s an adult.”
“Look at you trying to justify?—”