by S. K. Lessly
“Nope,” Ethan answered, cutting into my thoughts. “That day, he rummaged through his old boxing stuff and brought out a pair of old boxing gloves and pads. He then started showing me how to throw a punch, the proper stance, and skills to defend myself. Man, we practiced every night when he got home from work. After we ate dinner, of course.”
“Ah, well that explains the boxing stuff I used to see lying around in the garage.” I remembered I would ask my dad what they were doing in the garage and he just told me, “Man Stuff.”
“Well, besides the other stuff I mentioned, yeah. I was determined to learn and he was determined to teach me how to protect his daughter. The skills your father taught me all those years back had saved my life, on many occasions I might add. If it wasn’t for him…” Ethan trailed off and glanced at his empty glass. He reached for the bottle and poured himself more wine with a faraway look prominent on his face as if he was stuck in the past.
Wanting to remove the pained look on his face, I chuckled lightly and admitted, “I just find that so hard to believe he would teach you how to properly defend me. My father was always a non-violent guy. Preaching against violence and here he was teaching you how to box.” I shook my head.
Ethan shrugged his shoulders and finally brought his troubled dark eyes to me. “I don’t know what to say. I guess he felt sorry for me always getting jumped. They never would fight me one on one. It was always two or more of them coming after me.”
“I remember that, which was strange. Clint never said much to you or me when he was by himself. He’d sneer at me and say messed up things, but he never approached me unless he had one or both of his boys with him.”
“That’s because he’s a coward. You know he tried me one time, before your dad taught me how to defend myself. I got a few good punches on him and put him on his back a few times. Clint didn’t like that, and he got Jerry and Steve to jump in. After that day, they never got me one on one, again.”
“Is that why you walked into the classroom and knocked Jerry on his ass?”
Ethan looked at my quizzically, his head tilted in a way I was beginning to find adorable. “You really don’t remember, do you?”
I shook my head. “No. Should I?”
“Yeah, you should. I was heading to gym class, when I walked past your class. There was a sub there; Mr. Skumis wasn’t there that day. Jerry was sitting behind you throwing paper balls at you at first. He then graduated to throwing pens, pencils, erasers, shit like that. I looked over at the sub who was clearly out of her league. She said something to him but he didn’t stop. The class was laughing, and you were just sitting there. Finally, you got up and moved and that’s when he took it too far.”
Just then, I remembered. “He pulled my hair to make me sit back down.”
Ethan nodded. “I couldn’t just stand there and let that happen. I walked in there just as the silly sub was calling the front office. I walked up to him and told him to let you go. He laughed and I think he said something like, ‘what are you going to do about it.’ I believe I hesitated and looked in your eyes. You seemed so helpless and scared and that pissed me off even more, so I punched him dead in his face then kept punching until he started whining for me to stop.”
I smiled shyly. “You made him apologize to me in front of the whole class. I remember that part. I guess I forgot the other part.”
Ethan went on. “What you don’t know was what happened next. I knew I was in trouble, so I decided to go find the others and knock the shit out of them too.”
My eyes were wider than the salad plate the waitress placed in front of me. “Seriously?”
Ethan gave me a look before he continued, dishing out salad on my plate first then his. “I figured, why not. If I was going to go down, it was going to be for a very good reason. Clint got it the most. Security had to pull me off him. I was lucky though. When I went for the others, I made them initiate the fights but I finished it. Before I was finished with them, I told them if they messed with you again, I’d kill them.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Sometimes I think about what I went through at that school and it doesn’t compare to what you went through.”
“Yeah, it was bad. But do you know what I enjoyed the most?” He gave me a brilliant smile that caused me to smile back.
“What?”
“Getting the last laugh on them, especially since that was my last day at that school.”
My smile faded slightly. I was hoping he would say he enjoyed our time together but he didn’t.
“Well, of course, I enjoyed hanging with you,” he said quickly.
I nodded and smiled.
An awkward silence fell over the table, which shocked me. We had never been awkward around each other. For the first time, it felt as if we were complete strangers and not close friends. And as I thought about it further, we were complete strangers.
I hadn’t seen Ethan in over a decade. He had changed so much since the last time I had seen him. He looked harder, darker, rougher, not the kindhearted friend that loved science and watching Courage the Cowardly Dog after school.
Instead of enduring awkward silence, we concentrated on the food, piling salad into our mouths and pulling breadsticks apart.
After a few bites of salad, Ethan was the first to break the silence. “So… your mom doesn’t like your fiancé?” he asked.
I looked up from my salad to see his forehead. He wouldn’t look at me.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I told him, forking salad and pushing it in my mouth. I chewed for a bit before I added, “I just think she never got a chance to really know him.”
That earned me his eyes. “Lexie, your mom seems to not trust the guy. That seems to be a big deal. Why hasn’t he gotten to know your family? Does he come around them?”
I squirmed in my chair slightly. It was hard to explain about Lionel and every time I did, it put him in a bad light, undeservingly. I never wanted to sway someone’s opinions based off of me complaining. I’d rather people formulate their own opinion of him.
“Look, Ethan, he’s a successful attorney for a huge law firm in Philly. He doesn’t have time to do much of anything, much less come with me to see my ailing mother. When he did have time, he came with me to visit her.”
“Okay, if that’s the case…” His eyes fell to his plate, putting more salad onto his fork. “Why doesn’t your mom like him? Your mom is pretty easygoing. Well, from what I remember anyway. I’m sure if you were happy with him, she’d be happy. She didn’t look too happy. And what about your dad? Does he like him?”
“My dad has never met him,” I lied, not wanting to address the other things Ethan mentioned, with my eyes now glued to my half-eaten food. The reality was that my father had met Lionel and he hated him. He said that Lionel belittled me; I didn’t agree. I told my dad that Lionel motivated me to better myself. I tried to convince him that the way Lionel handled me was a good thing. My father was no fool. He didn’t buy that, and quite frankly neither did I, but… it was what it was.
Ethan dropped his fork at my lie and I looked up at him. “You’re kidding, Lexie.”
“No, I’m not. Look, Ethan. Things are very different now with my family. My dad doesn’t come home very often, and I haven’t been down there in a while to see him. I just haven’t gotten an opportunity to go.”
“So, let me get this straight, your dad has never met your fiancé, the man you’re supposed to marry. Your mom has met him, but she doesn’t trust him. What the fuck, Lexie?”
“She never said she didn’t trust him,” I contradicted, annoyed. “She said she doesn’t like him. There is a difference. Besides, my mom can barely remember what day it is. I wouldn’t take her words to heart.” It was a low blow. I knew it and felt guilty saying it. But Ethan went on as if I hadn’t spoken blasphemy.
“Bullshit, Lexie,” he called out, the grit in his voice making me jump a bit. “You can’t down play that. Your mom seems to have had that feeling for a l
ong time. I saw it in her eyes. She meant that shit. She doesn’t like him, and she doesn’t trust him.”
Relenting, I rolled my eyes and dropped my fork. “Ethan, you don’t know him, okay? He’s not as bad as my mom lets on.”
“Well look, I’m not the one to judge but the way she was so passionate about it, you should listen.”
“Yeah, well she was also passionate about us getting married and that’s clearly not happening.”
Ethan’s facial expression cleared from all emotion, going from hurt to annoyed to nothing. Gah, I wanted to kick myself for saying that crazy stuff. Here I’ve been trying to avoid that topic and I just brought it out. And the look on Ethan’s face told me just how much I messed up.
I opened my mouth to apologize when he wiped his mouth and stood. “Will you excuse me for a moment?”
“Oh… yeah sure,” I replied. However, Ethan had already walked away from the table.
Great job, Lexie!
Chapter Five
Ethan
“What!” I yelled once I was safely in the men’s restroom. I walked to the urinal and started to relieve myself, waiting for a response in my ear.
The sound of Simon clearing his fucking throat in my ear while I was talking to Lexie had pissed me off. That was all the ass-wipe had been doing since we arrived at the restaurant and I’d had enough. Before I went off at the table in front of the whole restaurant and Lexie, I excused myself and headed to the restroom.
“The object of tonight is not to go down memory lane,” Simon finally said to me. “You should be asking her about the case. We need something to go on, not learn how stupid she is for marrying some idiot her mother doesn’t like.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I finished my business, flushed, adjusted myself back inside my pants and went to wash my hands.
“Ethan, we need more,” Simon added after a beat.
“And what do you think I’m doing?” I responded coldly.
“I know. Okay, I get it, but they want—”
Frustrated with this whole mess, I bit out, “Look, at any moment if you or anyone else thinks you can do better, just let me know. I’m the one that knows her. I’ve grown up with her. I will do this shit my way. You can tell everyone to fuck off if they don’t like it.”
I was getting worked up and I needed to calm down. I needed to stay focused. I was here to do a job, and damn it, I needed to remain on task at all costs.
I was a member of an elite team of ex-military, specifically working for the president of the United States, called Code One. We were the fixers of our government, the cleaners. When they, meaning the president, needed someone to step in and take care of a delicate overseas matter, or find someone of interest in a case against our democracy, we were called in to take care of it. We had the skills and talents to skirt the lines, take care of business, and protect our country from our enemies both foreign and domestic. Which brings me to our present case.
We received Intel that a US citizen was selling key government secrets to one of our top enemies, the Russians. That US citizen happened to be Alexis Stone and I didn’t believe it one fucking bit.
For one, we didn’t have solid evidence she was guilty. A few computer footprints indicating she had hacked into a few government sites in the past was all we had. Which was why I was asked to suddenly reappear in her life.
And for two, Alexis wasn’t capable of cyber espionage and treachery. No matter what anyone said or the sketchy proof they had on her, I knew her. She wasn’t capable of hacking into government sites for money. No fucking way. It didn’t matter the circumstantial evidence. It was just that, circumstantial.
Unfortunately, I was alone in my conclusions. My colleagues believed she was guilty. I had to prove them wrong. The truth of the matter, I knew Lexie. They didn’t.
“Look Ethan, I understand,” Simon stated, cutting into my thoughts. “Seriously. I’m just doing my job.”
A man walked into the bathroom bringing my attention to him. I gave him a hard look and the man quickly went into a stall.
“Yeah, well so am I.” I continued speaking, ignoring the man behind me. “Stay out of my business, Simon. And that goes for whoever else is listening. And stop fucking making crazy noises in my ear or I will throw this shit in the toilet and you can listen to motherfuckers pissing all night.”
The man came out of the stall and gave me a strange look. I bristled, narrowing my eyes on him. “What the hell are you looking at?”
The man raised his hands at me and walked out of the bathroom. My frowned deepened. Nasty fucker. I should haul his ass back in here and beat the fuck out of him until he washed his hands.
I shook my head, grabbed some paper towels, and dried my hands. I exited the bathroom, making sure I didn’t touch the handle with my hands on the way out.
As I walked back to the table, I worked to calm down. Tonight was a complete waste of my time. The only thing Lexie was guilty of was choosing the wrong man. She wasn’t guilty of anything else much less treason. She’d been smart in high school but based off of what she was being accused of, she wasn’t that smart. I’d get to the bottom of this shit and prove I was right. I just had to find a way to get her to open up to me. That was easy; I’d pour on the charm. Chicks loved that shit.
As I approached the table, I gave Alexis the best smile I could muster to hide how much I didn’t want to be here. Admittedly, my bad mood wasn’t because of her and I had to keep telling myself that. I actually enjoyed being with her and seeing her. I never realized how much I had missed her until I saw her in the halls of the high school. I wasn’t exaggerating when I told her she was beautiful. She was. The shape and color of her eyes always blew my mind. The innocence behind them, the desire to be wanted, loved and accepted fed the need to protect her even more.
Every morning when I was a kid, I would rush through getting ready for school so I could look into her beautiful light brown eyes. I used to look for excuses to touch any and every part of her I could—her hair, her arms, and to feel her close to me. I had been obsessed with her at first, just wanting to be near her, then slowly I started to fall in love with her. I had buried those feelings when I moved away and every day since then, I continued to bury my feelings; any feelings that mattered, that is. Now just seeing her stirred something inside me that quite frankly, was not sitting well with me.
She was getting under my skin; the scent of her, her smile, the longing in her eyes she was trying to hide. She and I had history. We had baggage too that we needed to work through, but as Simon said, now wasn’t the time for that. Oh, but I planned on getting to the bottom of it all. I’d learn why she broke me, before I broke her.
***
Alexis
“So, tell me more about your job. What exactly do you do?” Ethan asked me. He had just gotten back from the restroom and sat down in his chair. Our food had arrived while he was gone. I waited for him to come back before I dove into my food. Ethan poured himself another glass of wine before we said grace and ate. Or rather he ate, and I watched with acute fascination.
I had never in my days thought a man eating was sexy. Seeing his forearms flex with the motion and the power in his long fingers was making my mouth dry. I had to take another sip of tea before I could speak.
“Nothing really to tell,” I managed to get out. “I have about ten people working under me. I work for a software developing firm so the people under me support the software and troubleshoot any system issues that come up.”
“When we used to talk about what we wanted to be when we grew up, you never mentioned computers.”
“Yeah, I know. We used to talk about being scientists, right?” I laughed and he smiled.
“What made you go into the business?”
“I don’t know. When you left, science just wasn’t fun for me anymore. Since I didn’t have you to hang out with, I spent my lunch inside the library on the computer. From there, the love of computers grew.” I shrugged and pushed my
plate away from me, suddenly no longer hungry.
“When I got to college, I decided to major in computer engineering. During my first year, I took a course in artificial intelligence and I loved it. It confirmed for me that I had made the right choice in career.”
I went on to talk about all the cool things I’d learned, like how to build a computer from scratch and how to develop various software for gaming and other cool stuff.
As I talked and Ethan ate, I tried not to sound like a nerd. I couldn’t help it though. I found myself getting more and more excited as I talked. When Ethan started looking at me strangely, I stopped talking.
I said, feeling slightly embarrassed, “Sorry. I’m sure I sound like a geek to you.”
“Oh, I’m used to it believe me.” He waved me off then asked, “So you started off doing what before you became a manager?”
“Writing scripts for this web-based company. I did that for about two years before I moved up to the infrastructure team. The following year, I became a director.”
“Whoa, you became a director in what, three years?” His eyebrows rose in disbelief.
I nodded, smiling proudly. “That’s right. My boss had been grooming me to take his position for a long time. As he trained me, I gradually moved up in the ranks. It just so happened one day he got sick and died. The big wigs were frantic. They didn’t know how to replace him. We were in the middle of a huge project, upgrading our servers, among other things.”
“I take it you stepped up and took over?”
“Pretty much, yes. It was on an interim basis, though. The thought was to put me in the position until they could find someone else more qualified. But they quickly learned I was the best person for the job and decided to keep me on. I am the youngest director they have ever had in the IT department.” I smiled.
