I was determined to give Ethan the silent treatment till I could not anymore. I just did not want my family be a part of this act The less dad knew him the better for us .From outside I could hear dad and our neighbor, Wes chanting. They had been on opposing teams since I was a kid.I plastered a smile on my face before I opened the door. At least dad would be majorly distracted by the game and not have the chance to focus on Ethan. I wore a green jersey, The color of dad’s team. Ethan for some reason had gone with the opposing team. Way to pick sides. I rolled myeyes.“Mia figlia.” dad greeted earnestly and he smiled proudly when he saw my jersey, and then his eyes fell on Ethan’s.“I see you have chosen the losing side.”Billionaire or not, football was something dad took seriously. So did Mr. Wes because he clasped Ethan on the shoulder and pulled the whole six feet of a man under his sweaty arm .“Oh please, we’ve been resting all this time. No one was worth putting energy.“You
I made sure that Ethan was completely out of the house before I showered and went downstairs, I had a busy day... I had sent Lindsey the styles that I had finally settled on and she had chosen from the two I sent. Now I just had to go fabric shopping. Gladice was in the living room dusting the mantel when I finally went down, showered and dressed.“Mrs Gladice, so good to see you back! How are you feeling.”“Very well thank you Mrs. Crowe.”“Oh take it easy with that greeting. “ I chided. “I’m going to be out for a while, I just need to get some supplies for a project.” She nodded.“Breakfast? Before you leave. I saw that the fridge is already stocked with food. Thank you”“Oh it’s nothing. I have chef blood running through my veins.” I winked at her and continued on my way. “And I’ll have breakfast while I’m out. Thank you.”“GideoN!” I called as I made my way to his side of the house and then I remembered what Ethan had said. Gideon was gone.“Mae…” I heard Jace’s voice behind me. H
“Hey, hey.” He whispered, pulling me to the side. “It’s alright. She’s gone. It’s okay...“ He wrapped his hands around me and gave me a comforting squeeze.After a while, I moved out of his grasp, and tried to steady my breathing.“I’m sorry I reacted that way. I am not used to confrontation like that.” “I completely understand.” He said supportively.“You do?”He began nodding but ended up shaking his head side to side.”I have no idea what you’re feeling right now. Confrontation is my jam, I was going to sucker punch her in the face before that guy showed up.” A laugh escaped my mouth and I sniffled. “Do you feel better?”“A little.”“Hi there.” Another woman spoke up next to us. I remembered her standing off to the side when the first woman was yelling. Was she also going to give me a piece of her mind? I steeled myself for trouble. Jace did too because he turned angry eyes on her.She raised her hand in submission. “I just came to find out if you were alright? I’ve met that woman a
“You’re back early.” I uttered like an idiot, my smile fading from my face. God, why did the man have to looks o stunning in a suit.“I had some documents I wanted to get, you look…busy.” He answered staring at Jace’s outfit.“Yeah, I’m just helping out with Mrs. Lindsey dress.“ Jace explained, Ethan’s eyes clouded into an unreadable expression.“I see that. Mae, can I talk to you?”“In private?” I squeaked. Jace already started waddling out of the room.“No you stay.” He told Jace. “You can meet me in my office?” I gave a curt nod. Satisfied, he left.“Can I take this off now? I can feel a pin poking the side of my ass.” Jace groaned, and his backside in search of said pin.“They stay on till I’m done.” I informed him as I made my way out of the room. “Give me a second okay? Don’t do anything, don’t even sit down. Remember there are pins everywhere.” “Mannequin mode, got it.I moved to Ethan’s office and pushed the door open. “Hey…” he murmured, His eyes softening.When he turned fro
For the following weeks, Ethan knew to avoid me, and I made sure that I kept seeing Ethan to a minimum. I was up late and spent most of my day in my room making Lindsey’s dress.The door was always locked, in case he had the bright idea to stop by. A few times, I would hear his footsteps stopping at my door for a while, before he would continue down to his own. Each time I would hold my breath, like it kept me from going to it and opening it to see his face.The only highlight in those weeks, save for watching my dreams for Lindsey’s dress come to life, was spending time with Jace. His easygoing attitude was rubbing off on me and I found that I could relax more in situations I thought were normally stressful.He had helped me pack Lindsey’s heavily beaded dress into a carrier bag and loaded the car with the things I needed.“You know, if this driver thing doesn’t work for you, you can always be my personal assistant. You’re great at that.” I joked as I climbed in with my tools in the
“That went very well if you ask me.” Jace said when I had stayed deathly silent in the car on our way home. “Except for the part where you disappeared into your mind and I had to do the whole compliment thing.”“Oh, I uhh, got distracted.” Maybe I could just not go. I could tell her we were down with the cold that day and decided to stay home.“I noticed. You were not much help when she wanted to pick shoes. I hope my option would not be considered a fashion faux de pas.” He added brightly, failing an attempt at a French accent.“I think both shoes looked great. Either was fine.” If I did the sick thing, and she sent condolences then Ethan would find out that I declined an invite without telling him.“Course you do. Do you mind telling me exactly what is wrong? You know what they say about problems shared.” He wriggled his brows in the mirror.A second opinion would be great. “I would love to attend; I mean my dress, worn by one of the rich people in this state. But…I don’t want Ethan
I was hiding again in the pantry for the third time that day. If mum called me again to ask where I put the soy sauce, I would curl into a ball and disappear. Things were easier before, when dad was still in charge. The restaurant scene was his shmuck anyway, but then he got sick and now we were failing, woefully.My watch flashed, signaling the end of my five-minute hiatus. That was how long I could stay in there without getting bothered. To prove my point, the door handle twisted above my head. When the door did not budge, a voice called out.“Ehh... Mae, is that you? I need to get some flour, we’ve run out.”I sighed, rose from the floor, and unlocked the door. Lisa’s round face came into view. She smiled kindly at me, before hurrying into the pantry. As I walked back to the kitchen, the sound of clanging pots and knives on chop boards grew louder. My mum was yelling at José in Italian again.I was glad I only had to wait tables; a day in the kitchen with my mother would kill me.W
“We don’t have any choice mum. If I can just convince him-““I don’t think YOU should go. I can talk to him man to man.” Miles cut me. I rolled my eyes.“Having three lonely hairs growing out of your chin does not make you a man, Miles.” “I’d like to see you grow them.” he muttered, and I rolled my eyes again.I had spent two days! Two whole freaking days trying to convince mum and Miles that a visit with our new Landlord was due, and an extra day to learn all I could about Mr. Ethan Crowe from the info Miles had grudgingly provided.“I bet most of the shops that have considered going, have been to his office already. I’m going today, okay. No debates, we just have to try, we can’t wait till we get thrown out or have to tell dad about this.” I finished. That was enough to stop their debating.It had been unanimous. There was no need to tell dad about the situation until we were sure there was nothing we could do to stop the destruction of our home and business. I would rather we never