46 Phone calls

I left Brian and Sarina's in my Uher and checked my phone again. Looking at the last texts from Ethan.

-Like a date?-

-Yes-

Shit. I had totally forgotten about that message. Fuck me. I needed to clarify things between us ASAP.

My phone starts ringing and speak of the devil it's Ethan.

"Hello, Ethan. Your ears must have been ringing." I chuckle awkwardly.

"Thinking about me?" He smiled through the phone with the tone of his voice.

"Well, yes. I was. I had some stuff happen at work today so I couldn't respond until now." I start. "I think I should.."

"Let me say this first. I'm sorry, I jumped ahead of myself. I answered that without giving you any consideration to how you might have reservations about me because of our past. I can't deny I still care about you, but I'm happy to go out just as friends. I'd rather that than nothing." He states, making my hesitant heart beat faster again.

"Just as friends?" I clarify.

"Yes. Just friends." He says firmly.

"I guess that would be alright then. However, I realized I needed to clarify something with you." I say, sounding awkward.

"What's that?" He asked sounding curious.

"I'm in a relationship already." I get out.

"Oh." He sounds deflated. "With who?"

"Jackson, he confessed he'd always cared for me and well ..." I start and Ethan huffs out a pained sound. He takes in a shuddering breath and I can hear him hold it before letting it out again.

"Well, I'm happy for you. As long as you're happy. Maybe he can join us on Friday? I wouldn't mind meeting the guy I have heard so much about." He says casually.

Surprise fills me. "Really? I mean, he's out of the country on business right now, so that wouldn't work but when he comes back to town..."

"Oh yeah, of course. So um, did you still want to go to dinner on Friday? I don't want to cause any problems between you two." He sounds sincere and I mull it over for a few seconds.

"I don't see why not. It shouldn't be a problem." I finally tell him.

"Great. Then I'm going to let you go for now. I'll talk to you before Friday. Have a good night Mel."

"Alright. Thank you, Ethan. Good night."

We hang up and I suddenly feel much lighter. He seemed to have been hurt at first but he genuinely seems to want to be friends again. Otherwise why would he have wanted to meet Jackson and still be willing to go to dinner? Ethan was always a good guy and friend before, so I know he's being sincere. That's a relief.

I sigh getting up to go and wash my face so I can get ready for bed. My phone goes off and it's from Jackson.

-what are you wearing my beautiful woman?-

I giggle, -pajamas-

-prove it. Send me a picture-

I flip the covers off and get into a cute pose of me showing off my sleepwear and send it to him.

My phone rings, "hello?" I answer it seductively.

"Have I told you how fucking sexy you are and how much I miss you?" Jackson's voice comes rolling over the speaker.

"You did this morning, but you can always tell me again." I breathe into the phone. He always has a way of making my heart flutter.

"You are fucking sexy and I miss you so much, my Lita." He says huskily through the phone.

"And I miss you too. How was your day?" I ask him.

"It went well. So far negotiations are going in our favor. Talking with the councils to explain things and gain the approval is exhausting though. That's why I'm here though. I meet with them, pay the fees and meet with the council lawyers that help us work our way through all the legal steps. It's a lot of pompous red tape and fine lines we have to navigate but it's what we have to do."

"You have to pay fees before anything is even confirmed?" I question as I'm not knowledgeable about the UK's laws and legal steps one would have to take there.

"For certain things yes. We will be utilizing an older building that has historical value, never mind the fact that it's been neglected and needs repairs." He lets out an irritated huff. "That's the way it is sometimes though. How was your day?"

I sigh, "Interesting and came close to disaster but ..." I pause for dramatic effect, "I do believe I have what I need now to never have to deal with a certain diseased coworker of mine. If she tries anything that is."

"What happened?" Jackson asks sounding more alert than before.

I go ahead and give him all the details of Sybils attempt at sabotaging me and my department's team. He's quiet on his end when I finish.

"Jackson? Are you still there? "

"I am. Apparently my warning wasn't good enough." Jackson growls through the phone.

"Don't do anything yet. It'll be much more satisfying if things play out the way I am hoping they will." I ask, knowing he wants to destroy her.

"I will wait. So if you were taking care of this all-day, that means you missed your appointment with the Dr." He sounds annoyed which isn't fair. I had a valid reason to miss it at that time.

"I may have missed it at it's scheduled time, but I did get to see him. I had dinner with him and Sarina." I tell him how he agreed to do the initial session there at the house but I would have to make it to my appointments after that.

"That was kind of him. So how did this session go?" Jackson seemed intrigued.

"It went well I guess. I explained about my parents, my only friend and escape being you, how I felt when you disappeared and then a broad explanation of my life up till now." I sigh. "He mainly just let me talk until we got to talking about Ethan."

"Really? Why is that?" Jackson's tone is confused and I take in a deep breath before I do as Brian suggested.

"Because... I didn't have the opportunity to tell you yet, but I ran into him by chance last night."

It's quiet on the other line before I hear him let out an surprised, "Oh you did?"

"Yes, I went to dinner at Fearings last night and sat at the bar to eat. I had just ordered when he was seated right next to me. We both were a little surprised to say the least."

"Uh huh. Go on. " He sounds a little tense but I can understand now that I've talked with Brian.

"Yes. We had a polite how are you, how ya been, conversation."

"Did you now?" I can feel the intensity coming through the phone.

"Yes, and I told him about you being back in my life."

I hear a loaded breath being released from his side. "Oh? He knew about me to begin with?"

"Uh yeah." I say as it was a matter of fact. "He was surprised but glad to know I had some one that was so important to me back in my life."

"Really. So you told him we're together?" He inquired.

"Yes. He even said he'd like to meet you." I inform him.

"Hmmm .. okay, how would that happen?" He chuckles as if saying it rhetorically.

"Um ... Because we exchanged numbers. He wanted to get together and catch up more." I add, a little anxiety starting to build up in me.

"Is he seeing or dating anyone?"

I draw out my answer, "Noo."

"Uh huh. And he wants to get together and catch up?" He sounds a little irritated now.

"Yes. He invited us both out this Friday, but I told him that you were not able to join us because of work."

"It sounds like you plan on going with him on Friday." His quick and terse statement tells me he's not thrilled at the fact.

"Well, I did tell him that it shouldn't be a problem. However, it's sounding like I was wrong in the assumption." I reply, pursing my lips. He does trust me right?

"I wish you had spoken to me first before just accepting. Especially since I'm not there. I've never met him before and he is your ex who you expressed the strongest emotional ties to." Jackson says firmly.

"Do you not trust me?" I clip back.

"Melita..." He groans, "It's not you that I don't trust, it's him that I don't trust. I mean, he's your ex who's single and you said it yourself that you two only broke up because he couldn't deal with your insecurities back then. He probably sees you for who you are now and may try to get back into your good graces." 

I scoff, "And who am I now?"

"A beautiful, well accomplished, confident woman. I mean, who wouldn't want you?" 

His words pour a little water on the flames of irritation that have started to flare up.

"I'm sure you're the only one who sees me that way. He said that we would be getting together as just friends anyways." I huff, but then recall how Ethan had said more than once that I looked great. Of course, that was before I made it clear that I was with Jackson. Ethan has always been respectful, so it shouldn't be a problem now.

"Yes. Well, he may have said that but it still rubs me the wrong way since I'm not there." He grumbles into the phone.

I guess my fire was an oil one, because the flames grew right back after his last words. "So what? Do you want me to cancel the dinner?" I spit back. "Would that make you happy?"

"Yes it would, but it's obvious that it's going to upset you. So go ahead." He grits out. "Like I said, it's not you I don't trust, it's him." 

"So you don't trust my judgement on who I spend my time with when you're not around?" I seethe.

"Do not put words into my mouth, Melita. I never said anything close to that." I can hear the anger growing in Jackson's voice. "You know what. Forget it. Go ahead and go. Forget I said anything. I'm going to bed before either of us say anything we might regret. Good night Melita." 

Then the line goes silent and I look at my phone and see he's hung up. Angry that he hung up, I toss my phone onto the bed and let out a muffled yell into my pillow.

How dare he just hang up on me like that?! 

He wants to act like that?! FINE!