Heather was present during dinner. She looked a little too dressed up for a simple dinner but when Ethan walked in, I knew the reason. They were going out to eat. They were going on a date. She didn’t want to stay for long as they had reservations.
I could feel Ethan’s eyes on me ever so often and it was hard to ignore what happened a few hours ago whenever we looked at each other. I could still feel his lips on my neck and the warm hug which was too good to pull out of.
Ethan looked as if he was about to say something to me but I didn’t give him a chance to as I spoke. “Have fun on your date.”
“Thanks,” Heather said before grabbing Ethan’s hand and dragging him out the door into their waiting car. We bid them goodbye.
The whole dinner I was distracted. My mind kept replaying our hug and his kisses on my neck and our almost kiss.
Soon Mr. and Mrs. Jenson started talking about Ethan and Heather and their wedding.
An unknown emotion burned in my heart but I didn’t give a name to it. I didn’t want to acknowledge it. Heather was the right girl for him. She was someone who matched his status. They were a perfect couple.
To take my mind off of them, I decided to spend the rest of the evening talking to Keith. I wasn’t going to break my friendship with him just because of Ethan.
We talked about a lot of things but even he couldn’t take my mind off of it once he asked me what happened after he left.
We spent a good two hours just talking about stuff and each others lives.
***
It was two days after Ethan and Heather’s date. I woke up at six and made coffee for myself and sat on the couch where I found a morning newspaper.
What caught my attention was Ethan was on the front page with a big picture of him and Heather kissing on what I realized was their date. I instantly started reading the news.
Ethan? Noel? Evans,? heir? to? tycoon? Peter? Evans’? multi billion? dollar? business? was? spotted? at? a? five? star? restaurant? on? a? dinner? date? with? his? girlfriend? of? six? months,? Heather? Ainsley.
They? looked? quite? cozy? and? were? caught? locking? lips? many? times.? Friends? of? the much loved couple? claim? that? they? are? very? serious? about? each? other? and? a? wedding? might? be? on? the? cards? soon.
Fans? of? both? are? delighted? at? the? news? and? many? fan? clubs? across? all? social? media? platforms? are? hyped? about? the? upcoming? rumored? wedding.
After? their? date,? we? asked? Heather? if? she? sees? a? future? with? him? to? which? she? was quoted? as? saying, “We? love? each? other? but? we? don’t? want? to? rush? things.? It’s? highly? unlikely? that? we’ll? get? married? anytime? soon.? I’m? too? young? for? that.? For? now,? we? only? want? to? enjoy? being? with? each? other.”
This? hasn’t? deterred? fans? from? hoping? that? they? will? get? hitched? soon.
Although? Ethan? maintained? that? it’s? too? early? for? this? and? he? would? not? like? to? get? married? for? another? five? years? or? so,? we? really? do? hope? this? lovely? couple? are? made? for? each? other? and –
The newspaper was snatched from me and I looked up to see Ethan himself.
“Hey, I was reading that.”
“Well, you could’ve asked me rather than being creepy and reading about us in a misleading newspaper.”
“Fine. Are you and Heather getting married?”
“Hmm,” he pretended to think about it. “And why would you like to know?”
“No reason, just curious.” I said, giving a nonchalant shrug.
“What if I say yes?”
“Then I’ll say I’m happy for the both of you.”
“And if I say no?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
I swallowed. “Then I’ll say I hope you do get married someday.”
“With whom?”
“Heather, of course.”
He smirked at me.
“You know what? I just realized I don’t care at all. So I’m going to go take a shower and be busy in my room all morning and afternoon so don’t come banging on my door accusing me of ignoring you because I never did that.”
I got up with my empty mug in hand. Putting it in the sink, I made my way out of the kitchen.
“You know, someday I’m going to find out what you do in your room for that long,” Ethan said.
“Good luck with that.”
***
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Where are you going all dressed up like that?” I asked with wide eyes as I saw Olivia with a nice knee length purple dress.
Olivia blushed. Yes, blushed. “Um, just hanging out with Tristan.”
“What? When did you two start dating?” I asked. Did I miss a few lifetimes for this to happen?
“We’re not dating, Julie. We’re just hanging out together after which we’ll have dinner.”
“That sounds like a date to me. What did he do to you? Don’t you absolutely hate him?”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t hate him.” I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, fine I used to hate him but that was before I knew how great a person he is. He’s really nice.”
Thinking of it, I did notice how less I see of Olivia these days. So he was the one she was spending most of her time with.
“When did this happen?”
“From the time you had that stupid game with Ethan.”
“Have you two, uh… kissed yet?”
“What? No, we haven’t. Now I have to go. I’ll talk to you later and tell you everything about this? date, whether you want to listen or not.”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
***
Almost an hour later after Olivia left for her date, Samara came up to my room and informed me that there was someone waiting for me downstairs and that they wanted to meet me.
The first person I thought of was Juliet. What if Juliet was here and knew I was pretending to be her?
I was so scared to go down and face the person waiting for me. I honestly didn’t know what I would do if it was Juliet.
I cautiously made my way into the living room. When I saw a mop of blonde hair, I sighed in relief. It was a man.
I made my way around him and was pretty shocked to find it was Vince, Juliet’s ex-boyfriend.
“What’re doing here?” I asked him before realizing I sounded too rude. I didn’t apologize though, because I was sure Juliet wouldn’t do something like that, especially to a person who cheated on her right after taking her virginity.
“Good evening to you too, love,” he said, throwing a charming smile my way that I was sure would’ve melted my heart if I hadn’t know what kind of a person he was.
“Don’t call me that,” I warned, crossing my arms over my chest for added effect.
“Oh, come on sweetheart. Don’t be like that.” He neared me.
I sighed dramatically as if showing how much annoying he was being.
“What do you want?”
Vince took a few more steps towards me but I didn’t step back. I couldn’t let him intimidate me like that because Juliet never gets intimidated by? anyone.?”Well, I’m here to pick up my lovely girlfriend for dinner.”
“Well, your lovely? ex-girlfriend? has no desire to ruin her evening by having dinner with you,” I said in the same tone he did.
“What has happened to you? Wasn’t it you who wanted to buy me so badly two years ago. Now I’m willingly wanting to be yours. Again. So why are you playing hard to get?”
“Two years ago you did something that made me open my eyes and see the real you. And that’s when I decided I no longer wanted such an ugly thing in my life.”
I thought I said a little too much. But I he deserved it. I tried to imagine myself in Juliet’s place and how I would feel and what I would say. And then the words flowed freely from my mouth. I was pretty sure Juliet would do the same thing to him.
We heard footsteps and turned to see Ethan descend down the stairs. His eyes were fixated on me and he had a hard look on his face.
Once at the bottom of the stairs, Ethan finally turned his eyes towards Vince and acknowledged him.
“Vince.”
“Ethan.” He sneered.