Piece by Piece
Summary: Ever since Dr. Charles was shot, Sarah's been falling apart and when she finally shatters, Ethan is there to put back the pieces together.
Sorry for the long wait! Enjoy!
Chapter 4
As Sarah closed the door behind Claudia, she took a moment to compose herself. That was it – she had three kids in her apartment and she had no idea what to do with them. She turned around with a forced smile.
"So… Who's up for dinner?"
"Yeah!"
"Whatever."
The last reply came from Dylan who promptly plopped down on the couch and pulled out his phone and earpieces.
"Okay," she drawled looking at the fourteen-year-old. This will be fun, she thought dismayed.
"Don't mind him," Brian waved theatrically. "He is no fun. So, what's for dinner?" he asked, taking a seat by the dining table as if he had owned the place.
Sarah raised an amused eyebrow. "I ordered pizza," she answered, turning to Max still in his stroller. "Come on, buddy, dinner's ready." She fumbled with the straps and the struggling toddler, who was ready to leave his confines, but she finally managed to free the boy. "Hey there." She held him for the first time and smiled when Max reached for her face with his sloppy hands and gave her a cute giggle. "What am I going to do with you?" she wondered.
Well, as it turned out, there was a lot to do with an eighteen-month-old. And dinner was one of the easier tasks. Cleaning up after was a completely other matter. For starters, it meant a complete change of clothes for Max and the kid was loathe to cooperate. He'd much rather run around the apartment naked and have Sarah chase after him. The little weasel was enjoying that immensely. And so was Brian, who was just standing around laughing his butt off. Dylan just ignored them.
Sarah felt rightfully triumphant as she put the finally clothed toddler on the floor but the feeling quickly turned to dismay as she took in the state of the kitchen area. It was a disaster zone. And to think that it was after a pizza order! She dreaded what was awaiting her.
She didn't have time to dwell on the near future, though, as a loud thud interrupted her thoughts. She turned to the kids with panic rising in her chest. As it turned out in the short seconds she was contemplating her weekend with the kids and all the ways it could go wrong, Max had managed to pull out several books from the lower shelf of her bookcase, among them a huge anatomy book. The kid had strength on him! Although he seemed somewhat scared. She scooped him up, put her book back on the shelf and fished for a book appropriate for him among their stuff.
Disaster averted, she thought to sit for a moment and let Brian chose a movie for the evening. She just closed her eyes when she heard the telltale noise that told her it was time to change Max's diaper. Dylan snickered and Sarah gave him a death glare before turning her attention to Max, who ran up to her. Sarah could swear that he was trying to tell her what had happened.
That kid was more communicative than his fourteen years old brother.
She helped Brian start one of the Avengers movie then picked up Max and started towards her room, deciding on the way that a bath was in order for the kid.
It went surprisingly easy. Easier than getting the other two to get ready for bed.
Finally, everybody was in bed and Sarah was ready to collapse, too. She groaned when she realized that the kitchen was still messy like hell. She sat down on the couch for a moment before cleaning the kitchen…
… the next thing she knew was that it was around 2 a.m. and Dylan was shaking her awake to do something with Max who was wailing in his travel cot. Realizing that she would have probably slept through it if it hadn't been for Dylan, she said something that she probably shouldn't have in the presence of the kid (and she would deny it, would it ever get back to Claudia), then she shot up from the couch to collect the distressed baby.
She didn't know what exactly happened after that but she woke up in the morning, Max peacefully sleeping on her chest.
And if she had thought that the night was a disaster, she had to reevaluate her opinion – chaos was just about to break out. Morning was a blur of trying to wake the kids, making breakfast and sandwiches, realizing that the kids were still asleep, dragging them out of bed and almost begging them to eat something and get dressed – not to mention getting them to wash their teeth – packing everything and getting out of the door just in time not to be late from school.
There was only one thing she had forgotten – Max.
The boy was sitting unfazed in his highchair as she dashed back into the apartment.
Oh, yeah, and she was still wearing her clothes from the previous day.
"Are you kidding me, right?" April looked at Ethan disbelievingly after he had told her about the arrangement with Sarah and the kids.
"No," he replied levelly. "Claudia needed help so I offered her."
"So, you offered her to babysit her kids with Sarah. You're spending an awful lot of time with her lately."
"Are you jealous?" he turned to her surprised as they stopped by the counter. He could see Maggie looking at them with interest and he decided to ignore it.
"Please." He really didn't like the frown on her face. And anyway, what was her problem if she was not jealous. It wasn't as if she was spending the weekend with him. As a matter of fact, she was just about to travel out of town with her brother to visit some family somewhere… without him. "But you should really set your priorities straight." Her voice suddenly irked him.
"You're telling me to set my priorities straight?" April was always high and mighty when it came to her family and, frankly, it was all right. Family was important to her. He respected that. Her sudden outburst regarding his plan to help a friend, though, made him wonder just where his place was in her life. "What about yours, April?"
"There's nothing wrong with mines."
"Of course," Ethan scoffed. "Family first, right?" April nodded with conviction and Ethan sighed tiredly.
"You know what?" April asked, her expression annoyed. "I don't have time for this. I still have to pack. We'll talk when I get back."
"Of course." Ethan nodded, giving up. He knew when there was no point in arguing with April.
"Dr. Reese," Dr. Charles looked at the young woman with surprise as he walked up to the sandwich stand near the hospital. "How are you doing?" he inquired, eyeing the two large cups of coffee she had just grabbed from the counter.
"Dr. Charles, hey." She seemed distracted. "I'm just trying to function."
The man raised an eyebrow. "I thought you're not due back till next Tuesday," he observed as they started to walk after he had also got his coffee.
"Oh, I wasn't at the hospital," Sarah shook her head absentmindedly. "I was running around the playground over there."
"I'm sorry?"
Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, shit," she exclaimed, turning on her heels. "Shit," she repeated as she stopped by a stroller and after downing the content of one of the cups, she started pushing it.
"Dr. Reese, what are you doing?"
"Trying to pretend that I did not just leave the baby here," she winced.
"The baby's with you?"
"Why?"
"Just asking." He shrugged.
"Dr. Charles, I appreciate your concern regarding my mental health but I can assure you that I did not go completely crazy and started stealing babies."
"I'm sorry for insinuating that," he chuckled at her indignant tone. "Guess I'm just surprised at seeing you with that baby."
"Tell me about that. I did not sign up for this." She took a generous gulp from the other cup. Dr. Charles raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"May I ask what you signed up for?"
"Honestly, I had no idea," Sarah admitted. "Definitely not running around on the playground with a toddler. I swear I had at least three heart attack just in the last hour. I don't know how people survive being eighteen months old."
"I guess thanks to the attentive parents. Toddler's waking up," Dr. Charles pointed out bemused.
"Oh, shit," Sarah mumbled then promptly downed the rest of her coffee before reaching for the fussy child. The boy seemed to be content just to sit in Sarah's lap and observe the world around him after she and Dr. Charles had sat down on one of the nearby benches.
Dr. Charles regarded her for a moment. She seemed exhausted and somewhat apprehensive but in a completely different manner than she had been in the last few weeks. She didn't seem tense, she was just uncertain. It was good.
"So, you're spending a lot of time with kids lately," he observed after a little while. "How is Brian, by the way?"
"He is well," Sarah smiled. "He's staying with me as well." Dr. Charles definitely looked intrigued. "And I am having a moody teenager, too. It's fun."
"I am sure it is," the man agreed and looked at Sarah with an expression which he hoped conveyed his interest in the details regarding the boys.
It did.
"Max, here, and Dylan are Brian's brothers. Their mother and Dr. Choi are good friends and when Claudia told us that she can't go to the mandatory team building or something like that because there was nobody to watch the children and it turned out that Ethan was on call this weekend, I thought why not… you know, helping a friend's friend…"
"That is very commendable."
"I just wish I knew what I was doing. I'm really not good with children."
"I beg to differ," Dr. Charles protested, indicating the peacefully sitting boy in her lap.
"You didn't see me in the morning."
"Let me tell you a secret, Sarah. Half the time nobody knows what they are doing."
"That's not very reassuring."
"All I wanted to say that it is okay to err."
Sarah smiled at the reassuring words then Dr. Charles watched as her smile widened. Apparently, she had just noticed a familiar face.
"Hey, baby, look who's there," Sarah cooed to Max and pulled his back to her chest as she talked into his ear. The little boy's face broke into a grin as he noticed the man walking towards him. Dr. Charles, though, was still more interested by the smile on Sarah's face. She was beaming.
Interesting, indeed.
"Dr. Choi," he greeted the man when he reached their bench.
"Dr. Charles. Sarah." He was awfully friendly. "Max, hey buddy." He took the child from Sarah's arms. "Are you having a great time with Sarah?"
"Just alone, Dr. Choi?"
"Just needed a break. And the weather is nice so I thought that my coffee's worth a little walk. I'm glad you're here, too." He addressed the last part to Sarah. "I need a little baby smile."
"Everything's all right?" Sarah asked concerned and Dr. Charles looked on interested.
"Yeah." It felt like the man was brushing them off but neither Sarah, nor he was inclined to push further. He so wanted to, though. "So, any plans for the afternoon?"
"Not really," Sarah shook her head. "It was good for Max to be out and I think Brian would enjoy that, too, but it seems that forecast was right after all," she indicated the quickly darkening skies.
"It actually advised for staying at home," Dr. Charles observed casually. "There will be a lot of snow."
"That's what I was afraid off," Sarah admitted clearly dismayed then looked at her watch. "And that was my break for the day," she let out a huff. Dr. Choi smiled fondly at her. "I have to do some shopping before picking up the boys and have to make something for dinner, too. Come on, Max." She stood up, reaching for the baby. "You can help me plan the dinner. How about that?" Max merrily grinned at her and the men couldn't help but smile with the little boy. "I guess I'll see you around?" Sarah turned to the men.
"She's really good with kids," Dr. Charles observed as Sarah and Max walked away.
"She really is," Dr. Choi agreed.
The kids were out of school by 4 p.m. and, seeing that boxing training had been canceled due a hospital emergency, Sarah came up with the only possible idea that would keep the boys busy until dinner: puppies.
At the vet clinic, Steve was standing by the reception desk, discussing something with Becky when Sarah ushered the kids in.
"Did I miss something?" Steve looked at Sarah with a curious look as the little group swept the snow from their coats and hats.
"Funny," she countered in a flat tone. "I'm babysitting."
"You? Their mom knows about this?"
"You're hilarious." Sarah deadpanned. "Anyway, this is Dylan, Brian and Max. Guys, this is Steve. And I am in desperate need of something to occupy the kids till dinner. So, we came to play with the puppies."
"I can see why. That one absolutely looks interested." Steve pointed at Dylan who did not even lift his glance from his phone.
"Just ignore him, he's no fun."
"You have a strange way of dealing with kids."
"Hey, I'm just glad that I'm dealing in any way." Sarah lifted her hands in defense. Steve laughed out.
"All right. I still have some patients to see but you know the way."
"Thanks."
"Are you a vet?" Brian stopped in front of the tall man, looking up at him inquiringly.
"I am."
"Cool," Brian acknowledged. "So, where are the puppies?"
From the corner of his eye, Steve saw Sarah leave with the kids. He shook his head with an amused smile as he return to his patients, missing in the process as Dylan sauntered back to the waiting room.
Sarah was beyond exhausted. She had no idea how parents were doing it but, from where she stood, parenting was an impossible task. Puppies seemed to have been a great idea as far as Brian was concerned. The kid ran off as soon as he had heard a dog bark and kept himself occupied ever since. Max, however, was a completely other matter. He liked the dogs no matter the size or the age but it didn't take long for him to get tired… too tired as a matter of fact after the eventful day. Poor kid was so exhausted that he didn't even want to sleep. After a while he was just kept wailing. It took Sarah an hour and a battle with the baby-sling but Max was finally calming down, blinking heavily as he was pressed against her chest.
"You should head home now if you don't want to get stuck here," Steve appeared next to her and Sarah blinked up at him surprised. "Snow's getting serious out there."
"Oh, right," Sarah agreed checking the street through the window. It was dark, too.
"Little one's out?" Steve looked at the slumbering baby.
"Hopefully," Sarah sighed, not stopping in her walking up and down.
"You look terrible," Steve observed clearly amused by her predicament. "How did you end up with these kids again?"
"A friend of a friend needed a little help."
"And who made you volunteer?"
"Brian," Sarah smiled, then turned around when something occurred to her. "Where is he anyway?" She looked around. "Brian!" she called out for the boy. "God, I really suck at this."
"Don't worry. This is a fenced area. He can't get out of here."
Sarah gave him an unimpressed look. "He's a kid, not a puppy."
"Just trying to help." Steve raised his hands in defense.
"Sorry," Sarah sighed. She was so tired. "But if you really want to help, help me find Brian... and Dylan. I have no idea where that kid is, either."
"Oh, he is all right," Steve shrugged. "He was helping me out. He seemed really interested, too. He's just finishing up cleaning the exam room."
"Are you sure you had the right kid?"
"Pretty sure. He came in with you. Kid with the phone? Great kid. Really smart."
After a moment disbelief, Sarah shrugged. At least the kid had a good time. That was the point of their visit after all.
"All right," she said. "But I'm still one boy short."
They looked around then. It was getting late so only those dogs were miling around who lived there but Tina had been already rounding them up for dinner.
"Sarah!" Tina called to her from the puppy area and signed for her to go there. "I was just doing the final headcount before closing up when I found this."
Under a pile of contently slumbering puppies there was Brian lying with a huge grin.
"Look! They fell asleep on me!"
"That's kind of cute," Steve shrugged while Sarah only could get out a relieved sigh.
"Hey," Ethan stood by the door, holding a paper bag. "I brought food." His eyes bulged out when, instead of an answer, Sarah actually grabbed him and pulled him into the apartment.
"I'll take that," she said, grabbing the paper beg from his hand without any preamble and made a beeline to the kitchen area. Ethan followed unperturbed. He was beginning to learn that there was a side to Sarah that was endearingly quirky.
He watched on in silence as the kids cheered for the food – Max joining in on the merriment just for the fun of it – then smiled at Sarah when she finally stood next to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Yesterday there was pizza," she started to explain, "but now it was an uprising in the making. Care for some vegetable lasagna?"
Ethan looked at the boys who were wolfing down the fried chicken he had brought then turned back to Sarah and nodded, starting to get out of his coat. "Thank you."
After dinner, Ethan offered to do the dishes while Sarah got the boys ready for bed. He listened with a smile on his face as Brian bickered with the young woman about his choice of movie for the night then looked on impressed as she made him go to have a shower while simultaneously trying to get a fidgety Max into his nightwear.
"I haven't thanked you yet for saving the night." He was drying the dishes when Sarah walked up to him with a lightly slumbering Max on her shoulder. For a moment, all words left him and the only thing that came to his mind was that she looked beautiful with tousled hair and casual clothes (Is that a Led Zeppelin T-shirt on her?) and Max dozing in her arms. It must have been the baby, he quickly decided as he cleared his throat, trying not to sound embarrassed.
"Are you coming, or can we start?" Brian saved the moment by poking his head from the bedroom where they had re-located to watch the movie as Max's traveling cot was sat up in the living room where he was sleeping with Sarah.
"What are you watching?" Ethan asked when Sarah looked at him questioningly.
"Iron Man. Want to join?"
He thought about checking his phone to see whether April had left him a message but he quickly decided against it. It was already Friday night and she was yet to check in that she had arrived safely.
"Loved to."
Sarah gave him a smile then turned to Brian. "You go ahead and start it. I'll put the little one into bed first."
Next morning Sarah was jolted into wakefulness as a heavy weight landed on her. She groaned under the cover as Brian was giggling on top of her.
"What the hell," she cried out as her brain was trying to wake up, too.
"Guardians of the Galaxy is starting," Brian informed her cheerfully.
"It's seven o'clock," Sarah squinted at her phone.
"Exactly."
"Not a morning person, I see." Ethan appeared in her line of sight, wearing a smile that no man should so early in the morning.
"Ethan," Sarah looked at the man surprised. "You're still… Oh," she remembered. Max had woken during the movie and she went to check on him. She had never made back to the others. "I fell asleep on you," she said embarrassed.
"That's okay. I was just leaving when Max woke up again, so I thought I'd try to get him to sleep without waking everybody… So, I stayed here. Hope you don't mind."
"Of course not," she gave him a sleepy smile as Brian got comfortable next to her under the covers.
"Glad to hear." It was his turn to get embarrassed. "Because I'm still stuck."
"What?"
"We are snowed in," it occurred to Brian suddenly and he jumped from under the covers to run to the window. "Cool," he acknowledged the amount of snow on the streets with awe, then ran back to Sarah.
"Why are kids waking up in an ungodly hour just to watch a cartoon that is easily accessible on the internet?" she asked as Ethan walked up to her with a mug of coffee a little later. Sarah accepted it gratefully.
"It's not about the cartoon," Ethan smiled at her.
"I don't understand."
"It's about that," he told her, indicating the peacefully sleeping boy burrowed into her side. "It's about spending time together. You've never done that with your parents?"
"I don't remember much about my father except that it was better not to disturb him when asleep. And I tried to spend as little time with my mother as possible. So, not really…"
"You're doing a great job, you know," he told her as he sat down on the other side of Brian. She would have never thought so before but she'd like to think that she was indeed doing a good job… or a somewhat decent job. She would take that, too.
"Thank you."
"They are having a good time. Obviously, Brian has a crush on you but I can tell that Max adores you as well. And Dylan? I haven't heard that boy talk so much ever since his dad died. He really enjoyed that visit to the vet."
"They are not as bad as I expected. Brian is a sweetheart, of course… and a big goofball. And Dylan is not half as bad actually. He just needs space. And Max is an angel… on speed," she added with a laugh. "A word of advice: never let a toddler loose in the supermarket."
The day went by quickly. Ethan made breakfast then they occupied themselves by playing board games, building a fortress out of pillows and blankets, and playing some music. They had some snacks in the fortress – even Dylan joined them – and Sarah also managed to doze of after lunch.
The afternoon found them sitting on the floor. Ethan was playing with Max – he was building some kind of constructions from colorful building blocks and Max was demolishing them with zeal. Sarah was playing cards with Brian while Dylan was leafing through one of her medical books.
Claudia had checked in earlier and confirmed what they had already expected: her return was postponed due to the weather. Sarah assured her that it was all right and the kids would be well looked after.
"I forgot to ask," Sarah looked up from her cards, "who's taking your shift."
"Will got stuck in the hospital so he offered to cover for me."
"That's nice."
"Sarah?" Brian chimed in. "Can we bake something?"
"What? You got bored beating me?"
Brian grinned and they got to preparing milk-loaf.
They were in the middle of kneading the dough when her phone rang.
"Who is it?" Sarah asked Ethan who was closer to it.
"It says Your crazy girlfriend," Ethan read the name then looked up at Sarah. "She looks like one, too." Sarah could see the smile tucking at his lips.
"Can you take it? She won't give up till I answer. Tell her I'm busy."
She watched as Ethan answered the phone and cringed as an amused and slightly disbelieving look appeared on his face. That was when he offered to put Anna on speaker.
Sarah wanted to shake her head for him not to do that but it was too late. So she went to wash her hands hoping for only one thing: that Anna would not embarrass her completely.
"Hey, girl," Anna's cheery voice came through the speaker as Ethan put the device on the counter next to her. "Who's the hottie with you? He is hot, right? He sounds hot."
Sarah did not dare to look up from washing her hands.
"Was there a reason you called?"
"Nah… just enjoying the fact that you actually answer your phone now." Sarah smiled as Ethan settled back down next to Max. "Oh, wait, there was a reason…" There you go. "I was gonna call to tell you that we're going out… getting wasted and getting tattoos… you know, the usual shit." That was not the usual shit, Sarah rolled her eyes. It was for Ethan's benefit. Why was that damned dough so hard to wash off? "But that's kind of mute now, seeing that we're snowed in and I'm currently naked in bed with my very sexy and… oh, wait, are you naked? Is he naked?"
"You know, what?" Sarah, at a loss and totally mortified, hastily interrupted her while covering Brian's ears with still wet hands. "I am naked. And so is he. And we were in the middle of something so… Bye!" Sarah cringed as the line went dead.
"You're gross," Dylan grimaced.
"I'm sorry for that." Sarah turned to Ethan. "She knows that I have the kids. She's just messing with me."
"That's all right. She sounds…"
"Bat shit crazy?" Sarah supplied and Brian giggled next to her.
"I was going to say intense but that works as well." Ethan smiled.
"All right, let's forget that this conversation ever happened and get back to baking that milk-loaf."
The sweet smell of the baking dough quickly filled the apartment and when they were sitting down by the table – with Max in her lap and the others talking merrily around her – she realized that her life hadn't been this good in a very long time. Even though she was suspended and she got her issues to deal with, she felt happy.
In the evening, after Brian and Dylan turned in to watch a hockey match (Sarah had made a pass on that) in what was currently their room, Sarah appeared in front of Ethan with a pillow and folded blankets in her hands.
"Thank you," he took them then they settled into companionable silence, reclining on the couch.
"I'll never ever will take silence granted again," Sarah smiled. Ethan smiled with her, opening his eyes and looking at her sideways. That was when Sarah's phone began to vibrate. It was Anna. "I love her but I'm going to ignore that."
"Are you and Anna hanging out a lot?"
"We used to. Then we lost touch. But, actually, thanks to you, I rekindled my relationship with my old friends."
"I'm really happy for you."
"Yeah. I forgot how much they meant to me. They are not just my friends… they are my family. A bunch of crazy lunatics."
"They sound fun. And impossible to ignore," he added when the Skype on Sarah's computer came to life.
"All right," Sarah took a deep breath. "I don't know where my headset is so you just have to ignore everything she says."
"She can't be that bad."
"You heard her in the afternoon, right?"
He did. But he also knew the type. Claudia was like that. She was a happy-go-lucky type of person with the complete disability to censor what comes out of her mouth. He suspected that Anna was like that, too. Still, the startled yelp that came from Sarah made him raise an eyebrow.
"Anna," she gulped, half-heartedly shielding her eyes. "Please, tell your boyfriend to dangle his junk somewhere else." A hearty laugh came from the speakers. "That's a nice ass, though." She actually blushed at that. He decided not to ask anything.
There was something humbling how Sarah let herself go in his company. As mortified as she'd been about Anna telling inappropriate things about him, now she seemed to be game without any reservation and she was giving as well as she got.
It was charming.
He stood up to give the women some privacy and went to check on Max. He was peacefully sleeping in his traveling cot and kept doing so even when his phone began to ring. For a moment, he felt annoyed at the disturbance but, when he saw that it was Claudia, he answered it with a warm smile.
"Hey, there," he greeted his friend, walking up to the window, the small space not leaving much room for privacy.
"Hi, handsome," came the woman's cheery voice. "How's it going?"
"It's silent." Just like the world outside. The snow was falling ceaselessly, only a couple of souls braving the elements outside.
"Oh-o, that is never good, my friend."
"Don't worry," Ethan chuckled, noting the lack of cleaning activity in this part of the city. At this rate, he'd be stuck here for some time. "The boys are watching the hockey game and Max's already asleep." It wasn't such a daunting prospect.
"Now, that's great. I've just hung up with Dylan, actually. What I'm really interested in is how it's going with you and Sarah."
"Claudia," Ethan warned her, turning to look at the woman in question.
"No, really," Claudia pressed. "What's up with you two? Are you two hooking up or something?"
"We're just friends," Ethan answered, mustering up all his patience. He loved that woman but she could be insufferable sometimes.
"Yeah, yeah." The dismissal rang loud and clear in her voice. "Let me just rephrase my question then… What the hell is your actual girlfriend doing right now?"
That was a just question, Ethan had to admit. Apart from a text earlier that day, saying that she had arrived safely, April had not contacted him and did not answer her phone, either.
"You have no idea, right?"
"I don't have to know everything she does," Ethan told her and winced at the defensiveness in his voice.
"All right," Claudia sighed at the other end of the line. "Where is Sarah?"
"She's talking with her friend. And before you'd draw any far-reaching conclusions from that, we are in the same room, of course I know what she does."
"Geez, defensive much?" Claudia laughed and Ethan grimaced. "I just wanted to talk to her."
"She's kind of busy being grilled by her friend about things that's none of her business. Just like I am…"
"Great, I want to talk to her then."
"I told you, she is busy."
"I got that. I want to talk with her friend." As if that made any sense. Wait, what?
"What?"
"You heard me. And now, take the phone to her phone."
"She's on Skype."
"Even better."
Sometimes Ethan wondered how that woman had the ability to make him do things he definitely did not want to. That was actually the story of their childhood. There were things he did not want to talk about. Claudia could come up with the craziest ideas… or the most embarrassing ones. Much like the situation he was just walking into.
When he reached Sarah, she looked up at him with a look that begged him to save her from Anna. He gave her an apologetic look.
"Claudia wants to talk to Anna."
"Why?"
"Because she thinks they have a lot in common." Ethan shrugged, sitting down next to her.
"Wow, I did call it. He is hot," Anna's excited voice came through as soon as Ethan got into the range of the camera. "Hello, there!"
"Hi, Anna." Ethan smiled at the other woman.
"That is a very bad idea," Sarah lamented and Ethan gave her a look that told her that he was very well aware of that.
"Are we there?" Claudia inquired through the speaker of the phone.
"Yes, we are there," Ethan told her, placing the phone next to the computer. "Claudia, this is Anna. Anna, this is Claudia. And, just for God's sake, remember that Max is sleeping here."
And with that an endless conversation had started between the two women who had never met before.
"What is happening right now?" Sarah asked dumbfounded as she heard the two women chattering away about her and Ethan as if the two of them weren't even there.
"I'm not sure I want to know," Ethan shook his head. "Do you think the game's still on?"
"I don't know but I'm ready to find out."
They looked at each other then, simultaneously, they shot out of their seats and made their way to Sarah's room, leaving their friends to talk about them in private.
TBC
Thanks for reading!
