This Time...Maybe - Anderson Family Series Book 2

Chapter 13: Daunting and Disconcerting

Ethan parked his old jeep in front of their house. He decided to go home unannounced. He needed a distraction. He wanted to stay away from Ellie for a while for her quiet and indirect rejection really hurts. Though he still visits her at the cafe, having an unrequited love is somewhat painful especially for someone like him who is currently experiencing it the first time. His heart hurts a painful tugged everytime he sees her and it takes too much effort not to show on his face the status of his aching heart. His mind always venture on that day at the park when he confessed how he feels towards her and his heart will once again weep because of the memory.

He went out of his jeep, took his overnight bag and went inside while yelling.

"Mom!"

His mother Alessa went out of the kitchen, on her hand is a spatula and is wearing an apron. She is clearly in the middle of cooking when her firstborn shouted. At the sight of Ethan, she squealed, rushed towards him and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. For a small woman like his mother, him and his siblings are all wondering how she can manage that feat. After she feels content of their hug, she let go and put her hands on his cheeks and asked.

"What brought you home this early?"

He simply smiled and said. "I just miss you mom, that's all."

His response made Alessa squint her eyes and looked at him intently. In order to prevent himself from blurting out what and how he really feels, he jokingly said.

"Am I not allowed to go home anytime I want?" His statemement made his mother slap him playfully in his arm.

"That is not what I meant and you know that, and I know you will not go home this early for nothing. What is it? You can tell me." Alessa still coaxed him into telling her, he thought of a way on how to divert her attention, to prevent himself from answering and to be away from her scrutiny.

Luck maybe on his side for the front door opened once again revealing his younger brother Ollie, who is wearing a busted lip, and swollen eye. Their mother immediately rushed to get frozen beans from the fridge and put it into Ollie's face, all the while grumbling about her son's choice of recreational activity. All the gushing and fussing of their mother made Ollie roll his eyes which earn a chuckle from him. His action is so controlled so as not to redirect their mother's attention. He quietly slipped out of the room after nodding at Ollie and went upstairs where his room is located. He flopped himself into his bed, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing himself to forget even just for a while the woman with hazel eyes, whose been currently living in his dream may he be awake or asleep.

***

The Anderson family dinner is as always loud, with him and his brothers always bickering. Their parents made sure that they will communicate while eating, where they will ask everyone how their day went, it will start with that simple question and will end up them making fun of each other. The atmosphere is nostalgic for Ethan, especially since he is the eldest, which means he had the longest years of experiencing this type of family dinner.

He was busy listening to Claire and Zach's bickering when his attention was suddenly caught by their father's question.

"So Ethan, are you staying here for good or is this just a long vacation?" The question is simple but he knows that with his father, it is an open-ended one that he needs to elaborate and if he isn't satisfied with your answer a follow up question, or rather, questions will be asked until such time the the topic is far from the initial one he asked.

He weighed on his mind what and how to answer before he spoke.

"No Dad, this is just a vacation. I just want to, you know, get an inspiration and besides I have a project and I want our company to handle the construction."

"Is that so?" Nathan asked, still doubting his reasoning but indulged him anyway by asking. "What kind of building is to be constructed?"

"A new house. A surprise from a husband to his wife." He answered cheerfully, too cheerful for his liking.

"Really?" His father only said and nodded which alerted him for the sudden onslaught of questions that didn't came. He released his breath, one he didn't realized he was holding and said a silent prayer when his father changed the topic.

They continued their meal with constant chatter until they cleaned off everything on the table. He suddenly felt lonesome for he missed times like these where all of them are present and he desires to experience something like this with Ellie.

***

The usual things he used to do when home includes him and his brothers having a good time with their friends. They all agreed to visit the bar they frequented before and planned to meet up with their friends from high school. They drove to the place with him on the wheels and Ollie as his passenger who is frowning non stop, since their mother confiscated the key of his big bike as a punishment to his sin that he is unaware of. While Sean is following them on his own car.

They were immediately let in for the doorman was already informed of their arrival. All of their friends were already there, so they started to mingle with everyone. Liquors of different types flooded as time went by. Since all of them are males and still unattached, many of the females inside the bar are eyeing them flirtatiously. One in particular is giving him a sultry smile, an invitation for a good night under the sheets. He tried to ignore it at first but the woman became bolder as the night went on and he found himself dancing with the said female on the dance floor. With the booze running on his system and with the woman's insistent intention of catching his attention, he let himself taste what she is offering, forgetting for a while the hazel-eyed woman who is constantly residing on his mind and heart.

***

Ethan woke up with a headache and noticed that he is not on his bed when his view became clearer. He is naked as well and is wrapped in a woman's embrace. He started to panic, something that is new to him since this situation is not his first. But a nagging feeling is trying to burst from inside his chest. He swallowed a lump in his throat and slowly removed the woman's arm on top of his chest, careful not to wake her and proceeded to dress. He shouldn't be disturbed by what he did last night but he felt that he cheated on Ellie. The feeling is alarming for they do not have a relationship of sort, but he cannot shake the feeling off of him even until he reached home.

---

Ellie cannot prevent her heart from leaping everytime the door of the cafe opens, expecting the blue-eyed Ethan to enter. But everytime, disappointment will replace the initial excitement she feels for he did not visit her, now for almost a week. Something that she finds daunting and disconcerting.

Although she refuses to acknowledge, she terribly miss him. His smile, his azure eyes and that attention that she calls a nuisance before. Her somber mood is quite difficult to hide, as Mandy had pointed out a few days ago. She had been awfully quiet and always caught staring blankly, a complete opposite on how she had been a week ago.

She's been questioning herself as to why he suddenly disappeared without notice. Her rational side kept telling her that she shouldn't think about it too much or too deeply for he may have a sudden emergency, or maybe busy with work. Too much questions keep popping up on her mind until a sudden realization will come, maybe her being quiet and not answering his question at the park about her liking him as well, brought this sudden absence. Worse of all, maybe he decided to let her be, stop giving her attention and will cease pursuing her. The last part will always make her heart ache like being stabbed a hundred times. This is frequently happening on her inner self since she noticed the absence of his presence, the internal debate and turmoil between her mind and heart which is going in circles as if she is in a merry-go-round.

She took a deep breath to calmed herself and forced herself a friendly smile, one that is already ingrained within herself since the very start of working here at the cafe. Hours quickly passed while working that she temporarily forgot the blue-eyed Ethan. She uttered a simple thank you from the heavens that she so managed it, thankful as well that the cafe is packed, giving an opportunity to divert her attention and to not remember him the past hours. But her luck ran out the moment she went home to her apartment and went to bed. The deafening silence is so loud that melancholy suddenly struck, her that is strong-willed and is used to being alone. She just noticed that tears are running down from her eyes. So she curled herself and cried to sleep. Her last thoughts was that she misses him so much and she regrets not telling him how she really feels, that yes, she likes him too, much more than she wanted to.