Ch-4 Narcissistic Duo

Green Gardens, London

3:30 a.m. 

She was about to ask that question from him when she heard his loud voice," Hey, miss black hoodie , don't move,".

Edith who was not in her senses got confused and turned around to find out why he was saying not to move, but it was too late to get her answer because as soon as she turned around her eyes widened when she saw herself standing at the edge of the peak, in fear she tried to move back but suddenly her foot slipped.

" Ahh" she screamed. 

Ethan who saw her turning around cursed," Idiot," and jumped from the car and walked towards her to help her but then suddenly saw her foot getting slipped making her lose her balance while her scream echoed in the silent surrounding. 

He cursed again," Holy Shit ," and immediately ran towards her and luckily he was not too far from her and was able to grab her hand and pull her back, even  if he got a second late then Edith would have definitely being dead after falling from this beautiful peak and her body would also not be found.

Just as Ethan pulled her back , Edith immediately grabbed his broad shoulder and in reflex he grabbed her waist tightly which made her stand properly but on his feet, But Ethan didn't even move from his place , Edith was wearing her white sneakers but that was nothing for a retired army officer, like him but what is the most awkward part was that because of their standing position both of them chest collide with each other making Ethan face turned red, but because of the alcohol and fear Edith didn't notice that. 

After getting their balance back Ethan looked at her face properly without changing their position, at this moment he could see her face more clearly than before because of the city light reflecting on their faces , he looked at her, small straight nose , bow shaped lips, short lob-cut messy brown hairs , strands coloured in pure diamond color definitely making her look more beautiful , cheeks turned red because of the alcohol , without any makeup which made her look more fresh but what make him go on a trance was her eyes , yes her eyes , hazel brown eyes filled with tears because of the incident that just happened but he didn't notice those tears all he could see was her eyes color , hazel brown eyes, just like his dead wife, just like his kids.

On the other hand, Edith who was still in her drunken state was staring at him with her teary eyes while her heart was pounding 10 times faster than usual after she escaped such a dynamic or dangerous accident and on top of that she was in the arms of such a handsome man who just helped her in escaping her tragic death . She looked at his face carefully , Black messy hairs which probably turned like this when he saved her , straight slim nose, thin lips , grey eyes.

Edith looked at his eyes and said softly," You have beautiful eyes Mr. Handsome," Woking him up from his trance.

If Edith knew she said something like this to a handsome guy in her drunken state, then she would  definitely die from embarrassment.  

Ethan who heard her came back to his senses and shrugged all of his thoughts and said," Hmm, you are safe now , but you are definitely stupid Ms Black hoodie,". After that he leaves her and stands straight. 

Edith also stand properly and said while glaring at him," Stupid ? How mean I just complimented you and you are saying me Stupid,". 

Ethan looked at her and said ," First off all I know I'm handsome but still thanks for the compliment , and you are stupid because when I told you to not move but still you turned around and put your life in danger,". 

Edith pouted and said slowly," That was a mistake, I'm not stupid but still thank you for helping me , byee Mr. Handsome,". After saying that she put her stuff back in her small bag turned around to leave but suddenly stopped in her tracks when Ethan called her. 

Ethan didn't know what has gotten into him that he called her and asked,"  Ms. Black hoodie stop , at least tell me your name , what if you die while going back , there should be someone to tell police about you getting drunk and then die after falling from your bike , by the way nice bike,". 

If James would have been here he would definitely die from shock because Ethan never talked this much until and unless it was his wife or him and his sister, from his childhood Ethan was a few words child , not too talkative ones .

Edith stopped and turned around while saying ," No need to know my name Mr. Handsome , even if I die after getting drunk Police will identify me because of my identity, you know ' famous and beautiful ' ," while saying 'famous and beautiful ' she winked at him with a bright smile which made him stare at her face. 

She again said ,'' If we ever meet again I will definitely tell you my name , I think you don't watch the news or else you will not ask my name , by the way stop being narcissistic you are not that handsome your eyes are just beautiful, goodbye,".

After that she sat on the bike and started it just as she was about to leave. She looked at him and said with a cute smile," Let me tell you a secret , this bike is not mine , I have stolen this from my brother, he will kill me if he came to know that I stole his first love". After saying this she chuckled and drove away from there towards her house. 

Ethan looked at the direction where she just left with her bike he chuckled at her secret and muttered to himself," Stolen ? seriously," after that suddenly some words strike in his head," Stop being narcissistic ". he scoffed and again muttered," I was being narcissistic then what was she doing when she said ' Famous and Beautiful '," while saying this her winking face appeared in his head as his heart skipped a beat for a second. 

He shrugged his face and patted his chest while saying to himself," You are really getting old Ethan, start taking some medicine or else you will die because of getting a heart disease,". 

After that he also sat in his car and drove away from the green garden towards his house. 

----------------------

Next morning ,

At Smith's Villa,

7:00 a.m.

Inside Ethan's room,

Ethan's eyes opened when he heard his kids calling his name from outside the room, after a long time he had a peaceful sleep without having any nightmares and without taking any sleeping pills. This happened because of that Ms. Black hoodie , who made him relax with her talk and forced him to forget about the tragic accident of his wife for one night. Doctors have told him to stop thinking about the accident again and again but whenever he is alone he would always think about that night which became the reason for his Insomnia , but yesterday he slept nicely and because of that he was in a nice mood today. 

He stood up from his bed and opened it for his kids who were smiling at him while wearing their school uniform, his son was little longer than his daughter. His daughter's hair was tied in a cute little two buns while a few strands were hanging on her face. 

Ethan was staring at his daughter's face because he saw something similar in her features with the girl he met yesterday  , he kneeled down and cupped his daughter's chubby face and turned it left and right for a clear view, and yeah he was correct, his daughter's face was slightly similar to the girl he met yesterday, same eyes color, same straight nose but smaller than hers, same bow-shaped lips , only her hair color and hair length were different for her his daughter's hair was long and blonde while Ms. Black hoodie hairs were short, brown even coloured. 

He was shocked at his discovery, so he stood up and walked inside his room and picked up a photo of his wife , he looked carefully at her features and as expected her eyes were hazel brown , same nose as his daughter and that girl , same lips only difference was that their hairs were different and his wife face was slightly longer than the girl he meet. There was a clear difference in both of them but still similarities  were also visible. 

Ethan muttered to himself," What a coincidence !,".

Maria and Louis stared at each other in confusion when they saw the weird behavior of their father, first their father started to stare at Maria scaring her to her wits then suddenly started playing with her face then going inside his room and started to stare at their mother's photo. 

Maria moved forward and put her little chubby hand on Ethan's forehead while she asked him with her cute voice," Daddy , are you Ok ? Are you having a fever?,". 

Ethan came back to his senses when a soft hand touched his head and then he heard her questions , he removed her hand from his forehead and held them in his while saying," I'm fine darling, tell me why were you both calling me ?,". 

Louis replied to his question," Grandpa sent us to call you for breakfast, everyone is already present at the dining table,". 

Ethan nodded and looked at the table watch and yeah he was late today so he just said," Tell your grandpa that I'm coming in 15 min,".

Maria and Louis nodded and ran away from his room. He also walked towards his washroom to freshen up. 

---------------

At the dining table,

Everyone from the family was present at the dining table leaving Grandma Racheal who was admitted at the Wood's hospital for her treatment of Stomach tumor and Ethan who was still in his room.

Grandpa Lucas was sitting on the head chair of the table while both his great-grandchildren Maria and Louis were sitting right and left with him , Ace was also sitting on the ground beside his leg , Jim and Joyce was sitting at the left side of the table with Louis, while James , Lana , and Alice who also came in the morning when she heard her brother and Ethan came back from the trip was sitting at the right side with Maria. 

Ethan also came down in his informal attire, blue joggers and white t-shirt in which his perfect abs were clearly visible and white shoes, and his hair were wet and messy. 

He greeted everyone while taking a seat near his mother," Good morning , everyone , Good morning Grandpa,". 

Grandpa Lucas said while looking at him," Hmm , Good morning, how was your trip ?,". 

Ethan took the juice from the table while saying," We got the project,". 

Grandpa Lucas smiled and said," Great,".

Ethan looked at his grandpa and said," How is Grandma ?,".

Grandpa Lucas took a deep breath and said in a helpless tone,'' Her tumor is getting worse , she is very careless about her medicine and never listens to the doctors and wants to come home,". 

Ethan said in a serious tone," What about the doctors? I heard that she got admitted to Wood's hospital ?,". 

Grandpa looked at him and said," Yes, Edith is finally back in the country and as soon as she came she took the charge of your Grandma's health , she is personally monitoring her, she was the one who  suggest us to admit her, Edith will tell us tomorrow about the treatment plan for your Grandma, but she has already said that your Grandma has to go under a surgery," 

Ethan stopped when he heard the word surgery he said in a serious tone," Surgery ? Does Grandma know about this ? And how many chances are there for her to recover completely ?,".

Grandpa Lucas looked at him and then at Jim while saying ," Racheal doesn't know about the surgery yet and I think you should talk to Edith if you have any question,".

Jim shook his head at his fathers words. He knew what his father was thinking but he didn't say anything. 

Jim looked at his son and James while saying," You both should take a day off today, I will take charge of the company today , you should go and meet your grandma today she was missing you both,". 

Ethan who heard this interrupted," But dad , we have an important meeting,".

Joyce took the side of her husband and said," Meeting can be postponed son, I think your dad is right, you should go and meet your Grandma and can also ask about her condition from Edith,". 

James, who heard all this and saw their weird behavior, whispered to Lana," What happened to them, why are they forcing him,".

Lana whispered back," James I will tell you everything later, many things happened in your absence,".

James looked at her with suspicious eyes and said ," What ?,".

But Lana didn't reply and looked at her brother and said," Bro,I and Alice will also go with you,".

Alice, who was silently eating her breakfast , glared at Lana and said ," We ?,".

Lana held Alice's hand tightly under the table and said with a cute smile ," Yes we ,".

Alice rolled her eyes at Lana but still agreed and said," Yeah , I will also come,".

Ethan narrowed his eyes at his family's weird behaviour , he was not stupid he can sense somthing was wrong but he didn't say anything and agreed to them as he wanted to see what they are up to.

He said," Ok , we will go and meet Grandma after I drop the kids off at school,". 

Grandpa Lucas smiled at his response and said," Great, by the way William has invited us for dinner tonight. We have something to discuss with everyone, and I want everyone to be there, even you two". After saying that he looked at James and Alice. 

Alice and James nodded but Alice already knew the reason for this family gathering Grandpa Lucas was talking about.

Ethan nodded and took out this phone and called his assistant Duke and after  few rings call got the connected and a man's voice said," Good morning Sir,".

Ethan replied," Good morning Duke, I have some work for you ,".

Duke from the other side replied," Yes sir,".

Ethan again said," Postponed every meeting for tomorrow and set a meeting with Dr. Edith Wood and after that take a day off,".

Duke on the other hand was shocked because his boss rarely takes leaves and because of that he was also stuck with him so after listening to his words he excitedly said," Ok sir , give me 15 mins I will set a meeting with Dr. Wood,". After that he hung up immediately.

And right after 15 min he called back, Ethan who was eating his breakfast looked at his phone and picked up the call and put it on speaker as his hands were not free. 

He said," Yes, Duke,". 

Duke said in an apologetic tone," Sorry sir, but Dr. Wood's assistant said that she is on leave today,". 

Ethan looked at his grandfather then at his phone and replied,'' Ok, I will tell you what to do till then cancel all the meetings for today, and take a leave,". After that he hung up and looked at his grandfather and said,'' I think we should just pay a visit to grandma,".

Grandpa Lucas looked at him and said with a smile," No need I will set your meeting with Edith in her house, I will just talk to William , I know she will not reject my request,".

Ethan was speechless at his grandfather's stubbornness but before he could say anything Lucas already dialed his friend's number....