Chapter 19

Ethan

What did I just do?

My heart is still beating wildly remembering the kiss from before.

I don't even know if I can call it a kiss.

My initial intention was to kiss her lips, but I changed my mind at the last moment when I realized what I was doing.

And when my lips touched her soft rosy cheek, this new strange feeling confused me even more.

And the fact that it alone made me feel butterflies, makes me scoff at myself.

What is happening to me?

I pulled my hair screaming internally trying to make sense of these new feelings.

***

It was the next morning and she decided that we aren't going to the office today too.

I'm sure she is enjoying taking rest all day using my health as an excuse.

I can't believe how lazy she is sometimes.

And not to mention her weird jokes, which can ruin anyone's day.

Although she is lazy and all, she is also kind, compassionate and beautiful. She is a complete package with balanced positive and negative traits.

I walked out and saw Lauren in the living room sitting on the couch.

She turned towards me and her face turned into a red shade when her eyes landed on me.

I mentally smirked to myself looking at her reaction which I guess was because of last night's kiss.

I was about to open my mouth to start a conversation when the doorbell rang.

"I'll take it." She said getting up and walking to the door.

Not a minute later she walked back followed by the second most annoying person in the world.

Naturally, the 'first' is Lauren.

I think they both try their best to be the 'first'.

"You didn't die yet?" he asked once his eyes landed on me.

"Sadly, no," Lauren answered Ryan with a tsk.

"Wow..." I trailed off ignoring both of them.

"How did you know about my flu anyway?" I asked Ryan.

"I informed him." Lauren spoke.

"Jokes aside, how are you feeling now?" he asked me seriously, sitting on the couch in front of me.

"Good," I answered him shortly.

"Why did you fall sick all of sudden?" he asked me and Lauren was so ready to answer that question but I beat her.

It's just regular flu. Maybe." I answered him.

"Why am I even asking you. What happened?" he said before turning towards Lauren.

"Apparently, Mr Ethan Kingston overworked himself and was severely dehydrated." Lauren chimed in.

Ryan turned towards me with an 'of course' face.

"Before you start, I realized my mistake and I'll take care of my health from now. So don't start now." I'm not ready to listen to another lecture right now. I've had enough for a lifetime from Lauren.

"Look how smart my boy is," he said to Lauren looking proud.

"And you are proud because?" Lauren asked Ryan.

"He wasn't always this smart before. He got all brains only after he met me." he smirked.

Listening to Ryan, I looked at him ridiculously.

"Yeah. right." She exclaimed rolling her eyes.

"Wait a sec. why am I even talking to you? Last time we met you said my action movies suck and are funny. Remember" He glared at her.

"I- m-me? when did I say that?" Lauren asked him looking confused.

"The same day you showed us your classic fish dance." He said provoking her.

"Firstly, I was drunk that night and secondly, to be frank your action movies are illogical sometimes which makes them funny. You can't blame me." She defended herself.

"You didn't just say that." he warned her.

But she just shrugged her shoulders at him.

I felt like a third wheel listening to their ridiculous banter.

"I hate you." He spoke still glaring at her playfully.

"I know you don't." Lauren said to him with mischievous eyes.

"Such an actor you are." Ryan said to her squinting his eyes.

"Definitely better actor than you. Aren't I?" she said.

The fact that I don't even know what basis they're arguing on, is ridiculous. They are behaving like two annoying kids right now.

"That's it, Lauren Kingston. You ended up on my bad side from now." Ryan said to her.

"Oh. I'm scared." She said sarcastically.

Lauren 1

Ryan 0

They are so dramatic I swear.

"OK, YOU TWO STOP IT NOW!" I interrupted and thank heavens they did.

They both eyed each other before turning towards me.

"I just stopped by to check on you. Now that you're fine, I'll make a move." Ryan said to me.

"Thanks, man." I spoke.

"Take care. There are crazy people here." He said to me giving a side glance at Lauren.

"Ryan." I warned him.

"I don't find anyone around here except you." Lauren said calmly implying Ryan.

"That was your best? Yikes." Ryan said and she just glared at him.

"See you later. Fish dancer." He sang the last part annoying her even more than she already is.

"I swear I'm going to kill him if he calls me that again." He said when he is nearly out of the door.

"Oh, I'm scared." He mocked Lauren mimicking her voice but it just sounded high-pitched.

Ryan 1

Lauren 1

***

"Here." Lauren said placing the bowl on the table.

It is few minutes past noon.

After Ryan left, I went to my study to do some pending work as I'm feeling a lot better now.

"What is this?" I asked her.

"Soup." She answered me shortly sitting on a chair in front of me.

"WHAT? Not this soup again!" I exclaimed.

I've been drinking the same thing since I've fallen sick. By now, I'm sure my whole body is filled with nothing except this god damn SOUP!

I know she doesn't know much about cooking and I'm completely okay with it.

But at least she can order something for us.

"Don't worry. This is the last time you'll drink that. From tomorrow, you can have whatever you want." She trailed off eating her salad.

I tried opposing but I know it will be just a waste of time and energy.

It's not like the soup doesn't taste good or anything. But when you've been drinking the same thing over and over again, you'll eventually get bored of that shit.

With a scowl, I placed the spoonful of soup in my mouth.

I ate two spoons when Lauren walked into the kitchen excusing herself.

I ignored her and focused on drinking the soup.

"Here." I heard Lauren's voice and turned towards it.

I looked down to see another plate of salad.

"For me?" I asked surprised.

Now I know salad is not the tastiest food.

But I'll take anything except the soup right now.

"Yes. Well, salad is healthy. You can have it." she said and I sighed happily.

I didn't even feel this happy even when I won the best businessman award.

"When did you actually start cooking?" she asked me out of blue.

"Why are you asking me?" I voiced my thought.

"Just curious." She shrugged.

"When I'm in high school." Nodding, she continued eating her food.

"What were you like in high school? Were you a 'cool guy' or 'popular guy' or a sportsperson or?" she asked me and I looked up at her.

She stared at me excited waiting for my answer.

I stopped eating and leaned forward placing my elbows on the table.

"What were you like in high school?" I asked her and she stayed silent for a minute before answering.

"Well, you see, I and Alice were like these 'popular rich spoilt brat' type." She said flipping her hair from her shoulder seeming proud.

"Yeah. and I'm the president of the USA." I spoke sarcastically.

Even a child could say she is lying.

"What? You don't believe me? Why?" she said sounding offended.

"Yeah. because you don't seem that type at all." I spoke.

She tried coming up with any other to say but lastly exhaled loudly.

"You're right. We weren't popular nor total nerds neither. We were just average kids I guess." She spoke.

I nodded my heat and was about to answer her question when she opened her mouth again.

"You know, once Alice dragged me to a party along with her in high school. The party was complete chaos with people drinking, dancing and just walking around. Alice was totally drunk at the end of the party and I didn't even touch alcohol because I was scared of my mother. So, I left her for a few moments to went to the restroom and when I returned, she seemed a little dull to me and when I asked her the reason, she said that someone misbehaved with her." I stopped eating and looked up when she stopped talking.

"Then what?" I asked her and she looked surprised.

"You were actually listening to me?" she asked surprise and happiness evident in her tone.

Of course, I was.

"Yeah. why are you surprised?" I asked her.

"It's just, I talk a lot all the time, but nobody actually listens to me. Except one or two maybe."

She sounded somewhat dull saying this.

Although she looked cute, I didn't like the frown on her face. A smile suits her the best.

"Well, you're lucky because I'm a very good listener. You can talk all you want with me. Moreover, 'Lauren' and 'silence' don't fit well in a single sentence."

A soft smile bloomed on her lips lighting up her face.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw that smile on her face.

"So, then what?" I asked trying to stop gawking at her.

She resumed saying the story with a soft smile plastered on her face.

"So, when she said someone was teasing, we searched for him at the party and when she pointed at a boy, I didn't listen to whatever Alice was saying and without thinking twice, I splashed the glass of alcohol on his face with full force."

"Then?" I asked her to continue suddenly intrigued by the story.

"I was so happy that I did something for Alice because it's always her saving me. Just when I'm finally feeling proud, she goes whispering in my ear that the boy she pointed out is not the boy who teased her, but actually the boy's brother. I swear my heart dropped to my stomach looking at the boy's brother's expression."

"Then?" I asked her.

"Then, before he could even clean his face, we literally ran out of the house without looking back and didn't stop running till we reached my home." She spoke and I chuckled listening to her.

Eventually, she joined me in laughing.

"So, now your turn. Answer." She said excitedly.

"Well, I was this cool popular sportsperson type." I answered her using her own options she gave me while asking the question.

Well, I guess my sweet Lauren doesn't even remember her own options. Because she just accepted my answer.

And I smiled to myself staring at the sweet creature sitting in front of me eating her salad.

***

"Ethan." I heard Lauren barging into my study.

I looked up to see her all excited and happy.

My eyebrows knitted when I saw her all excited.

"What?" I asked her and she just grinned at me.

"I'm going out. I'll be back soon." She spoke.

My mind was instantly filled with many questions. And most of them doesn't even make sense like-

Why is she so excited to go out?

Is she meeting someone?

who is she going to meet?

And why is she so excited to meet this someone.

My blood boiled in my veins thinking about all these questions.

"Are you meeting someone?" I asked her calmly.

She thought for a moment before agreeing.

"yes."

She was about to go when I stopped her again.

"Do you mind if I come with you?" I asked her quickly afraid that she will leave soon.

"You want to come with me?" she asked looking surprised.

I wanted to say no but my mouth had another brain of its own.

"Yes." I spoke.

"Sure." She sounded pleased and I couldn't be happier.

***

ACB Dog Day-Care Centre.

I read the letters on the board and frowned.

"This is the someone you wanted to meet?" I asked her and she just gave me a big smile nodding her head all excited.

She didn't waste time before entering in and I just scoffed at myself.

Why did I have to come here?

I should've just let her leave alone without tagging.

I unclenched my jaw and followed her in.

Lauren was talking to some woman when I walked toward her.

"Cami, this is Ethan. my husband. And This is Cami." I said a quick hello to Cami and she did the same.

Lauren introducing me as her husband did something on me.

And also left me wondering, did Lauren ever feel this way when I introduced her as my wife at all those business parties.

"Come." She said bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Are you allergic to dogs or are afraid of them?" she asked me and I muttered a 'no'.

"Good, now let's go. Once you open that door, let me tell you, you'll be surrounded by those angels. Don't scare them and let them love you." she spoke and I just smiled at the way she addressed dogs as angels.

Anyone could say that she loved spending time with pets.

"You never had a pet before?" I asked her and she frowned at the question.

"I always wanted one. But my mother hated having a dog or a cat. Although my father was supportive, he could never win an argument with my mom. So I never could have one." She said slightly sad.

"But my friend used to have a cat when we were children and to say that, the cat hated me would be an understatement. The cat treated me as its mortal enemy. But at the same time, it loved Alice. can you believe it?" She chuckled and I couldn't help but smile.

"But having a dog will be wonderful. Don't you think so? To have someone waiting for you when you return after a long day. To talk to them when you're feeling lonely. To walk with them when you need some fresh air. Or to just even play with them to cheer yourself up." She said dreamily with a small smile.

And I somewhat lost myself looking at her dreamy face.

"Whatever. Here we are." She said pointing to the door.

One..

Two..

Three...

She opened the door and all of them, them meaning dogs or angels in her words, turned towards us at the sound.

Not even a moment later she is fully engulfed by them and she let them by sitting on the floor.

I walked towards her and slowly made myself familiar to them by allowing them to sniff me.

Eventually, they all warmed up to me and I and Lauren got lost in the 'fur' heaven.

Two hours later, we got out of the room with so much difficulty as Lauren didn't want to leave anytime soon.

When we are out, we looked down at our outfits and there is fur all over our clothes.

We stared at each other for a minute before bursting into laughter together dusting off the fur from our clothes.

It was such a good day.

***

Lauren's POV

It was the following day and I just returned home after a long day with all the business meetings.

I didn't fail to realize the way I started calling this penthouse a 'home'.

I never thought these four walls will become my home one day.

And yet here I am.

Calling this a home, felt nice.

It felt good.

It felt right.

I took off my heels and sat on the couch leaning back.

Ethan hasn't returned yet.

He had one last meeting left for today.

I wanted to stay back with him for the meeting, but he urged me to go.

I opposed it but he said that he will come back soon.

So here I am.

I stayed in the same position with closed eyes for a few minutes doing nothing. After a minute, I opened my phone and started scrolling through my social media.

Lately, since that drunk video of mine, I've been getting a lot of attention on social media.

Especially after knowing that I'm a Kingston.

To be frank, the attention is a little overwhelming.

I was walking towards my room to freshen up when the doorbell rang.

Did Ethan finish his meeting early?

Maybe it's someone else.

Maybe Ryan.

I sighed and walked back to open the door.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open to see someone unexpected.

My face transformed into a surprised expression when I looked at the person standing in front of me.

It's Mrs Elena Kingston.

Ethan's mother.

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