Chapter five

Ethan's POV 

Dressed in a blue ensemble and black flat soles. Her hair falls over her shoulders in untangled waves. Face bereft of too much make up. Just the appropriate kind for aligning deals with important people. 

She looks the same as I always see her. 

"Sophia?" 

She rises to her feet. Her hands tapping at her sides. She curtseys. "Sir." 

I look at my mother. "What is my Marketing manager doing here, mom? Don't tell me she is..." 

"The one I've chosen for you? Of course, she is." 

I gasp. 

"Now, why don't you two get to know each other while I see what Justine has pulled from underneath her sleeves." 

With mom gone, I just stand there looking at the convertible ceiling boards. Then I remember that it is my house, and I decide to make myself comfortable. I cannot be the uncomfortable one here. Let Sophia suffer the uneasy feeling that this situation brings. 

I sit in a couch and stretch my legs over a glass center table. Sophia sits down as well. 

And we are looking at each other. 

"Where is Simmons?" 

"He went upstairs." 

I frown. "That does not sound polite." 

"He went upstairs, sir." 

I nod. "Better." 

She slides her palms over her thighs. Yes. Feeling nervous now? 

"Sir. I know how this might look to you. But, please understand t-that this was not my idea. I-I just got a call from your mother that I better get myself here." 

"Look, I don't like you sitting in my house for this reason, but it's her treat. So let's humor my mother for some goddamn hours here, okay?" 

I get up abruptly and take the spiral staircase, looking for Simmons. I find him in the second living room. 

He's engrossed in his laptop. 

"Saw her, did you?" I ask him, getting his attention. 

"The lady downstairs?" 

"Her name is Sophia. And she's my Marketing manager." 

"Nice name. Nice body, too." 

"She's the one my mom wants me to get married to. Obviously." 

He looks at me. Puts his gadget aside. "Take a goddamn seat, Ethan." 

I sit beside my lawyer. He interlocks his fingers. "What the hell are you saying, Ethan?" 

"The call? The flight? Was all for the reason of matchmaking. Seems like while we were on our way, Mom sent the other jet out to get her from the office. Or she chartered. Apparently, my skills for getting a woman are pretty wack." 

He scoffs unbelievably. "That can't be right. Just because you don't have the time for romance doesn't mean you suck at flirting." 

"I don't flirt, Boyd. You should give it another name." 

"It's a synonym, Ethan. I can't remember its twin. You need a drink?" 

"I'd love one right now," I tell him. 

Boyd gets up and goes to ransack the bar at the end of the living room. He takes a bottle of Pernod and two glass cups. Brings them over and pours a shot each. 

The poison burns my throat like the way tears sting when they get into the eyes. 

"What are you going to do about it?" Simmons asks me. 

I give him a look. "You don't get it, do you?" 

"Get what?" 

"Why I'm telling you all of this," I say. 

"Why are you telling me all of this?" he says. 

"Because I need another thinking head, Boyd." 

"Ahh. I see where this is going." 

"Trust me, Boyd. It shouldn't even go far if we can just think up something." 

"What are you proposing? Turn her down?" 

"I don't want my mother picking out women for me to get married to. I'm not a chick." 

"I know you aren't. But, you want me to disrupt your mom's plan, that I cannot do, Mr. Ethan." 

"Why not? She doesn't have to know." 

"In the long run. She's a smart woman, Ethan. I don't want to get in her bad books." 

I scoff and shake my head. "Now he's worried about my mom." I sip from my cup. We sit in silence for a while. Justine comes up and tells us that the table has been set. 

"What did she tell you when you saw her?" Simmons asks when Justine leaves. 

"That we'll have lunch then talk about it after," I tell him. 

"So let's have lunch. I'm famished anyway." 

"And after lunch?" 

"You get to know her." 

"I don't like the way you are taking this, Boyd. You're my lawyer. It's your job to protect my rights and privileges. And right now, I feel like my rights are being thwarted." 

"It is," he agrees. "But this is very personal." Boyd rises to his feet. "Hopefully, for you, you might find something bad in her that'll chase both you and your mother away." 

"I'm already running, man. It's my mother that's still trying to walk tall." 

"Nice pun." 

"Thanks." 

We go down to the dining hall. Mom and Sophia are already seated. As I'm about to take my seat at the head of the table, Mom points to the chair beside Sophia. 

"You sit beside our guest, Ethan." 

I quickly exchange a glance with Boyd. He shakes his head. So I don't argue with mom, but reluctantly sit beside Sophia. 

I finish my food first and mom asks if I need more. I tell her that I don't crave for more food. 

"Well, stay close. I'll need you to show Sophia around the house. 

"Why?" 

"Because she'll be staying here for a couple of days," my mother reveals. "And so shall you." 

I am tempted to smile at my mother's words. It sounds like something that I might refuse to do. What the hell. Maybe I am being much of a boy here. Listening to everything that my mother had to say, and not having to take a stand. 

Even though I am the one making most of the money, and fitting the place with all the technology and all the toys money can buy. If there is any rule that I should be submissive here, then that rule is a big flaw. 

So I look at my mother, then at Sophia, and say, "Avoid me if you really want to keep your job."