Chapter 5

"Aleth! Language, girl…" Emily cautioned.

Alethia was staring at him with an undaunted gaze that seemed to challenge him. Gosh, he looked different that night, more so because he was dashing in black denim over a plain white T-shirt and dress pants. His blue eyes were deep and beautiful. His nose pointed out sharply, and he smiled in such a way that made her forget what the hell she was doing there. She could perceive the rich fragrance oozing from his body, making his masculinity relatively present. With all senses beaten out of her, she wanted nothing more than to touch him.

"So, you're real?" Alethia said, absent-mindedly.

"Aleth!"

Alethia grabbed herself back from obliviousness immediately. She swallowed hard and tried to calm herself, and that reality relayed that the man standing in front of her wasn't the man she could satisfy her desires with. He was to be her stepfather.

How the hell did this happen?

Alethia stared at her mother for a while, demanding an answer from her, though she hadn't put her question in words. She looked at Ethan and for some reason, probably because of the little smile dancing on his face, hated him for the moment.

"What game are you playing?" She demanded daringly.

Ethan recoiled, squeezing his brows. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you're excused young man. Now answer my fucking question."

"Aleth! That's enough!"

"Mom, stay out of this."

"Hey…" Emily dragged Alethia a bit by her shoulder. "I won't have you talk to him that way."

Alethia chuckled. "This is so unbelievable. Mom, you mean this is the best you could do?"

"What the hell is your problem young woman?"

"Of course, you don't want to know." She turned and left the restaurant in a hurry.

Alethia had just opened the door to the passenger seat when her mother dragged her back.

"What's wrong with you, Aleth? You promised you'd be modest."

"Not until I realize you're about to get married to a younger guy."

"Ethan is 34…"

"And you're 41!"

"He loves me. That's all that matters."

Alethia snorted. "So much justification for your fucking carnal desires."

"Aleth! Watch it!"

Alethia sighed heavily. "I understand, Mom. You need a man, and I could understand if you want to have sex with a younger guy. But getting married to him? That's just out of the option."

"You seem to have forgotten that this is my life."

Alethia chuckled. "No, mom. Not when you're bringing him as my fucking stepdad."

Emily took a moment to inhale deeply. Fighting with Alethia didn't seem like the right thing to do

She'd known that Alethia's approval wouldn't come as easier as she might want it, so she'd been ready to fight for it anyway. She drew closer to her hoping that with the little space between them so small it could pass through the eye of a needle, she'd be able to understand her better.

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to make you go through this, but I fell in love…"

Alethia chuckled in disbelief.

"I know, honey. I know this is hard to believe. But Ethan and I are in love. He loves me, and you'll see that if you just give him the chance."

The situation was ridiculous, to begin with. Why did it have to be this Ethan? It could have been any other Ethan and Alethia wouldn't have had any problem, even if he were to be twenty years younger than her mother. But how could she accept this Ethan as her stepdad?

Her mother was already at the point of tears, and Alethia already felt an emotional blackmail. But if it meant anything that her mother was in love, Alethia thought she should at least respect her feelings.

"Mom, I promise you he's going to hurt you."

Emily drew her nose up. "No, honey. Ethan loves me."

"Why must it be him? It could be anyone else."

"You don't understand, baby. I'm in love with him. We do not have control over love, do we?"

Alethia sighed deeply, almost resigning. If she had control over her feelings, she wouldn't be this subjective about Ethan. But how was she supposed to live under the same roof with him, knowing he was close by but he belonged to someone else? They didn't have more time to get to know each other or to get to find out what they could feel for each other. And now that time was ready to permit such, he had to come in as her stepdad. That already defined the line between them -- a line that could never be crossed.

Alethia tried not to show her hurt, but her heart was shattering within. Somehow she felt she already lost someone she never had in the first place. It seemed unfair to her that she wasn't given the slightest chance to breed her feelings to fullness, and Ethan never got to know what she felt for him. It was obvious now that he would never get to find out, because she would never be able to express herself to him.

"Can we go back inside now?" Emily supplicated.

Alethia looked keenly at her mother. Of all women in the world, why did she have to be her love rival? But Ethan wasn't hers, and the sooner she realizes this, the earlier Alethia felt she'd be able to move on.

"Okay, Mom."

Emily heaved a sigh. "Thank you, baby."

They moved back into the restaurant. Ethan rose agitatedly on seeing them. He watched Alethia's face more closely, and though he was the only one that knew, his heart was pounding hard in his chest. He wouldn't have imagined in a million ways that Alethia would be Emily's daughter. Their encounter had been brief, but Alethia had left a lasting impression on him that he couldn't stop himself from thinking about her afterward.

'This is going to be hard,' he said to himself.

Emily approached him quickly and took his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry, honey. Alethia was under a lot of stress, I hope you understand…"

Ethan smiled. He looked briefly at Alethia and nodded. "It's fine."

"Hi," he said, offering Alethia a hand.

Alethia looked into his eyes and chuckled. "Jerk," she mumbled, then took his hand

Ethan smiled. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"I'm sorry if I don't feel the same way…"

Emily laughed awkwardly and separated their hands. "Why don't we sit and eat?"

"That's a good idea," Alethia said.

Ethan ignored her and rather signaled the waiter to bring what he'd ordered before Emily and Alethia arrived. They were served with ribeye steak. The tender and juicy ribeye steak had a perfect garlicky crust, served with a side of mascarpone mashed potatoes. Alethia loved the presentation, but for the same reason he couldn't stop hating Ethan at the moment, she hated that he'd decided her choice for her that night.

He sighed exasperatedly and leaned back in the chair, staring at Ethan.

Ethan hesitated, wondering what was running through her small skull. He couldn't place his hands on what he had done wrong to Alethia. They had had a blissful first encounter, and if that meant anything, she should be happy to see him again...

He got dragged out of his thoughts when the clattering sounds of Emily's cutleries dropped onto the floor. That was when Ethan realized that she'd been in a conversation with Alethia, and it hasn't been a pleasant one.

"There's nothing wrong with this, okay?" Emily said.

"How can he just decide for me?"

"You love steak, Alethia."

Alethia shrugged. "Well, not tonight, Mom."

"It's fine," Ethan said. Both women looked at him at their frustrating moments, making Ethan nervous. He quickly added, "She can make her own choice."

"No, honey…"

Alethia snorted. "Come on, mum…" She hated the way her mother called Ethan so dearly even with the age gap between them.

"It's fine, she can make her choice." He looked outright at Alethia. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Alethia didn't expect him to apologize. It was confronting and it made her feel weird, but she brushed it off as soon as it made her sluggish.

"Whatever." She said and turned to the waiter. "I'd like creamy chicken roulade with spinach and mushroom, please."

"Okay, ma'am." The waiter said. He gathered Alethia's previous order and left with it.

***

Dinner was great, though Alethia wouldn't say. She made do with a glass of red wine while Ethan and her mom cuddled fingers on the large table between them. By the time of day apparent through the expanse of glass, Alethia gathered that midnight was closing in, but it was at that moment that the restaurant began to have more reservations.

She hasn't been on a dinner date before, so she wasn't sure what time of day is preferable for such. This was her first night out, only that it wasn't her dinner date.

She looked at Ethan and wondered what thought she would have had of him if she hadn't met him before now. He'd been great, and she'd felt peace around him. Even now, she could see how gentle of a man he appears to be, and Alethia was sure that any woman would be wet between her legs just with the thought that he was hers…

Alethia shook her mind off the thought of him and sipped from her glass. The wine was sweet enough to soothe her throat, but she had trouble gulping it down. She felt a sudden peak of burns behind her eyes and her heart swelled suit -- she couldn't contain her hurt anymore, but she knew to contain her tears. So she raised her head and drew her nose up. Once she breathed deeply, she told herself that she was fine.

"So, Ethan...what do you do?"

The question was abrupt for both Ethan and Emily and they had to stare at Alethia for a few seconds.

"He's a businessman," Emily said.

"Mom, let the man talk. You don't have to make it obvious that he's just a kid whom you'd have to answer for."

That was it! Alethia seemed to have reached the limit, and Ethan read the mood enough to know that Emily was about to make an outburst, so he laughed out loud, though awkward, and was effective at curbing the situation.

"I'm a businessman."

Emily scoffed. She looked at Alethia for a moment before she turned to face Ethan.

"We'll leave now," she said as she picked up her bag and rose from her seat. "Thank you for dinner."

"I'm not done asking him questions," Alethia antagonized.

"Well, young woman, Ethan didn't come here for you to interrogate him."

"I need to know the basics, at least."

"No! Alethia. You don't need to know anything. And enough with this attitude, I won't condone anymore."

Alethia chuckled. She reclined in the chair and stared straight at Ethan. "I see my mom is doing well to cover for you…" She sat right with her body leaned forward and her hands on the table. "What exactly are you hiding?" She looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, but the man sitting in front of her wasn't bothered.

Why the hell is he smiling?

Alethia quickly drew back to pull herself away from the immediate attraction she felt with the smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, honey. She's just being dramatic." Emily said.

"It's fine," Ethan said, as if whatever Alethia does didn't matter. He glanced at her -- their eyes met and she quickly looked away. He smiled to himself. Her attitude was starting to make him want to spend more time with her. First, he wanted to figure out why she seemed so angry with him. Second, he was getting curious about her. More of why he couldn't wait to move in with them.

Ethan would have had it the other way. He had a mansion that was just enough to house the three of them, but even with that, Emily suggested he move in with them. Her reason was that she didn't want others to think she was in a relationship with him because of his wealth -- but Ethan didn't think that made any more sense than him moving in with her and her daughter.

At first, he was doing it for love. But now there was another reason.

He escorted them to the car, and to spite Alethia more, he kissed Emily through the car window. While at it Alethia looked in their direction and saw that he was looking at her from the side of his eyes. She mouthed:

"Jerk…"

Ethan winked at her and walked to his car.

Emily was feeling drained after the kiss. Alethia could see how red and pale her mother had become within a few seconds, and she pitied her. Even her hands seemed wiggly around the steering, and instead of turning on the ignition, she matched the acceleration, hoping for the car to move when it wasn't alive.

"Are you sure you'll be able to drive?" Alethia asked.

Emily inhaled deeply and let the air puff out of her mouth. "I'm fine," she said.

"That must have felt nice."

Emily flushed again, and it made Alethia mad.

"Please, mom. Stop all this nonsense."

Emily smiled deeply. "I don't know what you're talking about.

Alethia scoffed. She sank herself into the passenger seat and closed her eyes. This time, Emily remembered to turn on the ignition before matching the acceleration.