“I invited her,” Nel said.
“What?” Michelle looked even more shocked than Ethan.
“I invited her. Let her be.”
“It’s- it’s my party,” Michelle said, clearly not wanting to offend Nel.
“Well, I was invited to loads of parties tonight. I suppose I could go to another one…” Nel trailed.
“Oh no!” Michelle said. “Of course, any guest of yours is welcome here.”
With a forced smile, Michelle returned to her friends. Nel threw Ethan an exasperated look before moving away too.
Janet accepted a glass of punch from a passing waiter, grateful for something to do with her hands as she stood awkwardly. Some people threw her curious glances but most just ignored her. Suddenly, a drunken man a little older than Janet appeared before her. He was stumbling and clearly out of his mind. Janet stepped out of his way but he lunged at her.
“Hey Pretty,” he drawled. “Not alone, are you? Where’s your boyfriend?”
Janet edged away, unsure of what to do. “You are alone,” the drunken man stated, laughing. He grabbed for Janet and before she could do anything to defend herself, he was planting a sloppy kiss on her lips. Janet struggled but he was too big and strong. Suddenly, the man was pulled away and Jih Baton was standing over him, looking furious. He roughly guided the man outside the club and instructed the guards to take him away. People were turning to stare at them now as Janet struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Nel was by her side, asking if she was okay and apologizing profusely but Janet didn’t want to hear anything. She wanted to go back to the safe confines of her room. Nel instructed her to wait outside for her so she could collect her things and get her car keys. Janet insisted she could go on her own but Nel was adamant.
Janet stepped outside the heated club. The drunken man had disappeared and Jih Baton never returned after the little episode. She was in the back garden, which was a pretty little place filled with the smell of roses. Janet gulped the fresh air, willing herself not to cry. She had always expected her first kiss to be magical and romantic; not forced upon her by a drunken man. She remembered Marlene’s words when she had told Janet she was stupid for thinking first kisses are supposed to be magical. According to Marlene, Janet had been watching too many fairytales.
She jumped when she realized that someone was standing at a distance and watching her. Ethan Reed’s eyes pierced through Janet, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling as he walked towards her,
“Go away,” Janet said, turning away her face.
Ethan ignored her. “Was that your first kiss?” he asked softly.
“Why do you care?” Janet was furious now.
“Not exactly how you imagined it,” he said, as if stating a fact. He leaned closer.
“What are you doing?” Janet asked her voice shaky. If this was another one of Ethan’s tactics to make her life worse than it already was, she was going to kill him.
“Just be a good girl and hold still and we’ll see if we can create something a touch more romantic,” he whispered, sending shivers down her spine. Before she knew it, he was pulling her closer, his hand slipping around her waist. His other hand guided her face up as he kissed her.
She tried to pull away but his arms held her tight. As his lips moved gently against hers, a strange sensation came over here, rendering her incapable of anything but reciprocating the kiss. His thumb was gently stroking the skin where he held her and she found herself responding as his tongue pushed into her mouth. He deepened the kiss, igniting a desperate need within her which left her startled and gasping. Janet did not know how long he kissed her but it was enough to make her (almost) forget the traumatizing experience with the drunken man.
He pulled away gently, brushing a lose strand of hair out of her eyes. Janet pushed him away, trying to put some distance between them. She was gasping for breath and staring at him shocked.
“You’re an infuriating little serving girl who won’t apologize to me but you deserve a memorable first kiss,” he said, winking and with that, he departed.
Nel hurried out of the club, talking distractedly to a few people. She spotted Janet and rushed towards her, pulling her along. They reached her car and she handed the keys to a man which Janet presumed was her driver. Once they were seated in the car, Nel turned to Janet.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll make sure that man gets what he deserves,” Nel told her.
“It’s not your fault.”
Nel was very interested in Janet’s studies and job and listened attentively as she talked. Janet reflected on how different she was from Ethan and pointed it out, though she did not want to think of Ethan because it made her blush.
“Ethan is immature. I always try to put some sense into him but he doesn’t learn,” Nel said, rolling her eyes.
Janet didn’t respond.
“But,” Nel continued in a would-be-casual tone. “Maybe you can drill some sense into him.”
“Me?”
“Hmm.”
Janet laughed. “He hates me.”
“He listens to you. Hangs on to every word you say. He’s been fuming over everything you said to him for days, George tells me. That’s a good sign. At least he’s thinking about it.”
“Thinking about it to get back at me, yes,” Janet responded.
Nel shrugged. “Just a thought.”
Janet couldn’t get the feeling of Ethan’s lips and touch out of her head. As she went to bed later that night, she reflected on the fact that Ethan was quite a good kisser though she had nothing to compare it with. Still, the way he had made her feel was good. She would maybe even like to kiss him again. Those were her last thoughts as she fell into an uncomfortable sleep.
Chapter 5 – The Tutor
When Ethan entered the Advanced Calculus classroom, he quickly became annoyed. Ethan wasn’t used to struggling with school work so when he found Calculus difficult to comprehend, it bothered him to no end. However, today, it wasn’t calculus that bothered him. It was Janet who was sitting in the front row. He glared at her and turned to Kan and George who had entered with him.
“What’s the serving girl doing here?” he asked.
“She’s been here all along,” Kan said. “She’s taking advanced classes apparently so she’s with the seniors.”
Ethan turned to look at her while she was determinedly avoiding his eye. Flashes of the night before came back to his head. He didn’t know why he had kissed her but seeing her hurt and broken had bothered him. He wanted to see the same, fierce and angry Janet instead of the crying one.
Today, he observed Janet and how she always answered every single question thrown at them by Professor Pakpen. He also seemed to be exceptionally fond of her. Suddenly, an idea struck Ethan. He would ask Janet to tutor him and that way, he’ll be able to figure out how to break this girl who, so far, seemed unbreakable. Happy with the idea, he could barely wait till the class ended. When it did, he threw off his friends and approached Janet, who was chatting with Professor Pakpen. It was too perfect.
Professor Pakpen turned towards him.
“Ethan,” he said. “Working hard, I presume?”
“Yes, sir,” Ethan replied in the good mannered tone he used with grown-ups. “But I just can’t seem to grasp my head around the concept that you taught last week. It’s just so difficult. Maybe if someone smarter could help me…” he trailed off.
Professor Pakpen fell for the trap immediately.
“Janet is my best student. Why don’t you ask her for help?”
Ethan turned to look at her and noticed that she was looking at him through narrowed eyes, trying to figure out what he was doing.
“That’ll be nice, I suppose,” he said, purposefully doubtful.
“Let’s give it a shot,” Professor Pakpen said. “Janet, I’m assigning you as a tutor for Ethan from today. I want regular updates.” He concluded.
Janet opened her mouth to protest but Professor Pakpen was al
ready picking up his books and she thought better of it; what would he think if she refused? He exited the classroom and Ethan turned to her, smirking.
“You did that on purpose,” she said flatly.
“I did, yes. What a smart little serving girl.”
“What do you want, Ethan?” Janet said, sighing.
“I genuinely want your help,” he said, trying to sound sincere.
Janet shook her head. “I’ll help you since Professor Pakpen said so. But don’t you ever try to kiss me again.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, serving girl.” Ethan winked. “When shall we start?”
“I have work today.”
“You mean that thing where you serve at the restaurant?”
“Yes, Ethan. Some of us have to work to get an education.”
“Sounds boring. After your work then.”
“Okay. Be at the library then.”
“The library?”
“Yes.”
“Where is that?”
Janet looked at him incredulously. “Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been to the library...”
“Wait for me outside The Four Stars. I’ll take you there.” Shaking her head, she walked away.
Ethan smirked. Now he’ll find out exactly how to break her. She will be just like everyone else in the university. She will have to bow down to him. The Almighty Janet Price. Ethan chuckled at the thought.
Little did he know what was about to happen. The truth of this ordeal was that Ethan could not get Janet out of his head ever since Aveline spilled coffee on his shirt. The only viable explanation Ethan could find was that he wanted to break Janet and make her apologize. The real reason he couldn’t get her out of his head was far from it. It was also the same reason that had compelled him to kiss her. But more on that later.
Chapter 6 – The Incident
Janet woke up with a burden on her chest. It was as if something kept bothering her but she couldn’t quite place a finger on it. Finally, she figured it was her tutoring session with Ethan that was scheduled this evening. Janet has tutored several students before; younger, classmates, even older. But recent events made her dread this tutoring session.
Besides the fact that Ethan was completely trying to ruin her life by getting his female cronies and fans to bully her, it was also the little kiss incident that took place at Nel’s party. She couldn’t get the feeling of his soft lips on hers, his fingers brushing her cheeks, his tongue pushing into her mouth out of her head.
As the day came to an end and Janet finished her day shift, she became more and more anxious. She would have to face Ethan now. Sighing, she walked down the street where Ethan should be waiting for her. However, Ethan had grown bored of waiting and had been wandering outside The Four Stars. She did not notice him as she exited which amused him. He started following her at a distance. As Janet walked, she aimlessly thought about the errands she had to run after her tutoring session. She was low on groceries so she needed to buy some; she did not want to spend another day eating ready-to-boil noodles. She felt wary when she walked down a patch of street with broken street lights; it was too dark and Janet never took this route after work. She usually headed home once she was done. And rightly so, since a figure appeared out of the dark and started walking towards her. Janet held back, trying to decipher who it was.
“Not lost, are you, my darling?” said a voice, strangely familiar. Suddenly, it came back to her. It was the same man who had kissed her at the club; there was no doubt in that. She tried to walk past him but he stepped in front of her.
“No one to protect you here, little bird,” the man said. “Nel was an old friend of mine. Long before she became big and famous. She refuses to talk to me because apparently, I hurt you.”
“Leave me alone,” Janet said, her voice strangely high pitched.
“Is there a problem?” a voice said, behind Janet.
She turned and was strangely relieved to find Ethan walking towards her. The man saw it too and faltered; his face darkened.
“N-not at all, Mr. Reed,” he stammered. “I was just asking the young lady if she needs help.”
“That’s not what I saw,” Ethan said, his voice deadly.
“N-now now, I wouldn’t do anything after what you did to me for the innocent kiss I gave her,” the man said, pointing towards his eye. For the first time, Janet saw the bruise around it. His arm was also bandaged.
“Good. Now get out of my sight, Charlie. And I never want to see you near this young lady again lest you want another black eye.”
The man called Charlie stumbled away, muttering. Janet was shocked into silence. Had Ethan actually hit him on her behalf? That made her feel strangely touched and angry at the same time. Angry because it wasn’t his place to look out for her when he was simultaneously busy trying to ruin her life. Touched because she didn’t expect him to care about her.
“Thank you,” Janet said quietly.
“I only did it so I wouldn’t have to wait for you at the library,” Ethan said, shrugging. Still, he draped an arm around her shoulder, as though to protect her. Janet thought of slapping it away but he had saved her and she thought she should at least try to be nicer.
“Next time, we’ll work at your café,” he said with finality.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before Janet spoke up. “You-you hit this Charlie man?”
She glanced up at him and saw his jaw tighten but he didn’t respond. When they reached the library, he was back to his infuriating self, taunting every movement she made and every word she spoke.
Janet took out her Advanced Calculus book and started flipping through it, wondering which chapter to start with. “We could start with integral equations but I think that’s a little too advanced… maybe we should backtrack to integration first… that’s a lot simpler… unless of course you want to start with the very basics… linear algebra and the likes… that’s fine with me but it would take an awfully long time so…”
“Janet,” Ethan cut across her random musings. “Can we not study today?”
“Why?” Janet asked, confused. “What else do you want to do?”
“Let’s talk.”
Janet gave him an exasperated look. She didn’t understand him. At times, he was exceptionally infuriating and at other times, he was almost sweet.
“Where are you from?” he continued.
“I thought you did a background check on my life with Pam.”
“That’s true.”
Janet rolled her eyes.
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Anything else you want to do to me?” Ethan asked, suggestively.
Janet rolled her eyes again, shutting the book.
“Why don’t you want to talk to me?”
“Because you’re trying to make my life miserable.”
“It doesn’t seem to affect you, clearly.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re trying.”
“That’s why you don’t want to talk to me?”
“Yes.”
Slowly, Ethan got up from across the table and took a seat next to her. “I’ll tell Michelle and her cronies to stop making your life miserable then. I can’t have my tutor not talk to me.”
“How considerate of you.”
Suddenly, Janet felt Ethan’s hand on her legs as it slowly trailed up. She wanted to push his hand away but something wouldn’t let her. And while she did not want to admit it, she was thinking of their last kiss and how nice his lips had felt on hers. She wouldn’t mind kissing him again. But his hand was trailing up her skirt now and she felt like she couldn’t move. He brought his lips to her ear and whispered. “I don’t want to study today. We can do that later. I want to do something else today.”
Janet turned her face towards him and suddenly, their lips were barely inches apart. His hands were at her inner thigh now and she felt his gentle touch through her panties. It was all so foreign to her that she did not
know how to react. All she knew was a feeling at the pit of her stomach that would only be quenched if he finished what he started. He moved the remaining inches as their lips met in a heated kiss. This time, Janet kissed him back with fervor. It was different from their soft and gentle kiss before. This one was urgent, desperate. When he broke the kiss to suck at her neck, Janet moaned and pulled his hair.
“I want you to come back with me to my house,” he breathed against her neck.
Janet instinctively wanted to say no but she felt safe around Ethan. He had protected her on the streets and he had beaten up the man who kissed her at the club. Ethan could be trusted, she told herself. She heard herself agreeing. Ethan grabbed her hand and they walked outside. Ethan’s driver was waiting with his car. It was a three-minute drive to Ethan’s house. Or mansion, as Janet would prefer to call it. His house was huge, with three different gates. When they entered, Janet noticed the various tree houses, gardens and cocktail bars outside, as well as a small glass hut at a distance. Inside, the floors were marbled and the ceiling was adorned with chandeliers and fancy lights. The corridor was huge, with paintings hung all along the walls. A huge, black staircase led up to the next floor. Janet looked around, awestruck.
“You live here?”
“Yeah,” he glanced down at her. “Why?”
“It’s huge,” she said faintly.
“No one really uses it. Used to. Before we moved to California. Now, it’s mostly empty.”
“That must be lonely.”
Ethan shrugged.
“Not really. My idiot friends are always here. Plus, all of dad’s friends in Georgia use this house for their conferences and meetings. The first floor is all conference and presentation rooms.”
“Wow.”
“Want a tour of the house?”
Janet nodded, too shocked at the extravagance to speak. The ground floor held several banquet and dinner halls. The first floor was indeed conference rooms. The second floor had rooms, bedrooms, guest rooms and children’s play area rooms. The third floor was a humongous library. The top floor had three gyms, a basketball court and an indoor swimming pool.
Romance: Pummel Me: A Boxing Romance Page 34
