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Chapter 8 - Lily: Let’s Have Fun
The car ride was quiet the entire way home. I kept stealing glances at Ethan. His eyes stayed glued on the road. His shoulders were filled with noticeable tension. His jaw was locked in place, and his knuckles were white.
I wanted to ask about the tension between him and his sister. I knew why he and Grayson were on opposite sides. It had to do with Jade. It was funny how most problems going on in people’s lives had her right in the middle of them.
Ethan came to a stop in his driveway.
“Home sweet home,” he mumbled. He reached in the back for his bag the same time I reached for mine.
I pulled away, sitting back in my seat. “Sorry.”
Ethan grabbed the things from the back and tossed me my bag. He reached for the door, ready to leave the car.
“Is everything okay?” It was a dumb question to ask. Of course everything was not okay.
His warm brown eyes pierced into my eyes. They were as beautiful as I remembered, but they were also hollow. There was no emotion behind them. It was like he was there but not really there at the same time.
“Yes,” he clipped. “I will see you tomorrow.”
“It didn’t seem fine at the practice. I know it must be hard between you and Jade. With your mother passing and—”
“What part of don’t ask or talk about my personal life did you not get, Lillian?”
I winced. I hadn’t meant to make him angry. I was only trying to help.
“I thought maybe you would want to talk to someone about it.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “If I wanted to talk to someone, it would most definitely not be you. We aren’t friends, Lily. You are my employee, and I am your boss. Got it?”
I bit down on my lip.
“Got it,” I mumbled before I opened the car door and got out.
I didn’t even bother with saying goodbye. This wasn’t the Ethan that had captured my heart when I was years old. Whoever this person was, he was cold, distant, and a class-A asshole. I didn’t like him.
I walked all the way to my front door without looking back. As I fumbled my way to the keys, I felt the weight of his gaze on me, but I didn’t dare look at him. Once I was in the safety of my home, I let out a relieved sigh and braved a peek outside.
He was gone.
As far as first days go, that wasn’t so terrible. I had only broken one rule, and to be fair, I didn’t even break it intentionally. Tomorrow would be a new day and a fresh start.
I was wrong. I was so wrong.
Who even made that stupid quote anyway? Tomorrow was not a fresh start, or a new day or whatever those enlightenment posts said. I had hoped for sunshine but all I got was one big shit storm.
Ethan was like an ogre the whole day. But unlike Shrek who was grumpy and sarcastic in an endearing and funny way, Ethan was just plain grumpy and volatile.
The slightest thing set him off. I had to tiptoe around him, which was extremely hard seeing as I was the only employee he had.
I handed him a blue pen instead of a black pen to write out a prescription for a patient, and he threw the biggest tantrum. I had to go into the bathroom to practice my breathing exercise to help me cope. He had a short fuse and so did I, which made It very difficult to be patient with him.
I would never tell him this but I nicknamed him Earthquake Ethan. Why? Because when things were calm you would think you were safe and there was no danger in sight. Then boom! Destruction. Despair. Damage beyond repair.
Okay, maybe I was being a little dramatic but honestly working with Ethan started to feel like an extreme sport.
His foul mood carried on for the entire week. It was only on Friday that he seemed to calm. His earth shattering bursts had turned into soft tremors.
The day at the practice was horrible and the drives from work to home were awkward and silent. He wanted no small talk. It seemed that even breathing pissed him off.
