Chapter 14

Just Ask

Outside of the WGPV station Lauren Clark was pacing in frustration while angrily growling into her cell, "Look he's already had me fired. You told me that you'd take care of me. What are you talking about? I did everything that you asked of me! This is not my fault. Don't you dare try to blame this fiasco on me. If things haven't worked out the way you've wanted them to you have no one to blame but yourself. Yourself! Because if this has fallen apart it's fallen apart on your end NOT mine!"

"What do I want? I want MY JOB back damn it! I want MY CAREER back and intact!" Lauren continued pacing, her heels pounding the surface of the gravel. The visual effect left her looking as if she was quite literally hopping mad in the parking lot. "If I do this for you what assurance do I have that I'll a career to go back to once I've done what you've asked? Cambias could easily buy any station that I can find to hire me just to fire me if he wanted to. Hell, he probably wouldn't even have to. He could shut me out of every decent news agency with a few phone calls if he wanted to. I must have been crazy to trust you. If I make him any angrier I'll be lucky if I can get a job in Siberia. I can't believe that you have the nerve to ask me for more help."

The tall blond froze in place to listen to an offer being made to her over the phone and a the frustration apparent on her face, "Yes. I heard you. You know how I feel about her…I'd love to take her down, but what assurance can you possibly give me that things will work out according to your plan? This whole tact is failing miserably. Look, if you can't take control of Cambias Industries I'm screwed…I know…this point I have nowhere else to turn but I'm having a hard time trusting you. All right, all right! What do I have to lose? Just triple my deposit. Remember. If this pans out I expect to have the anchor job you promised. Don't worry. I'll take care of my end. But you just better make sure things work out on yours."

"Ethan, you've missed another call from Zach." Simone entered the bath with Ethan's phone in her hand and shouted, "Stop!"

Ethan was just about to shave his face and he froze, his hand suspended. Looking at her quizzically he raised an eyebrow and waited for her to explain herself.

"Here, let me do this," Simone came forward and handed him the phone with one hand and took the razor with other. Ethan shrugged but he smiled as Simone took a seat on the edge of the vanity and continued, "Would you mind terribly if I asked you not to shave your face for a few days?" Simone asked as she held his chin in her free hand and carefully shaved his neck. Satisfied she leaned back, dropped the razor into the sink. Absently she took a small cloth and ran it under the hot water before rinsing his face and neck. Smiling she softly brushed the back of her hand across the raspy surface of his face.

Ethan noted the wistful expression on her face and waited for an explanation but Simone averted his glances and looked away. Apparently she had no intention of sharing her reason for such a strange request with him.

Drawing Simone closer to him so she was barely sitting on the edge of the sink she was forced to grab onto his shoulders to keep her balance. Catching her eye Ethan whispered, his soft breath brushed the surface of her ear and sent shivers through her. "Something you want to share with me love?"

"Hmmm…." Simone considered her next remark and furrowed her brow. "Well, it's a nice reminder…that I have you all to myself and…" Simone continued with an inspired thought and a grin, "that you aren't going to work tomorrow."

"And?" Ethan could tell from the way she was obviously holding something back. Playful he leaned over and lightly scratched the back of hers shoulder with the scruff of his cheek. Simone purred, wiggled her shoulders and leaned in closer. "Come on love. Tell me."

"Nope. You'll just have to wait." She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder to hide her reddening face. Gathering her courage she sighed and turned her head so that her cheek was resting on his bare chest. Catching his gaze she smiled, "Please. Don't ask. It'll only be for a couple of days." To distract him she tapped on the object in his hand.

Noticing he was still holding the phone Ethan set his curiosity aside. He knew he shouldn't disregard Zach's call. He buried his face into Simone's hair and groaned, "I should really call Zach back right now. You know that he isn't calling to see how we are doing. He has to have something important to tell me."

"Ethan, can I ask you something before you call him back?" Simone pulled away from his embrace and took a better seat on the vanity.

"Of course. You can ask me anything." Ethan replied and as he tried to pull her closer once again.

"Are you sure about that?" Simone inquired as she absently pushed his hands from her waist.

"Simone." Ethan grasped Simone lightly by the waist. He hadn't meant to but he was tickling her, causing her to wriggle and that made Ethan laugh out loud. "Just ask!"

"Ok, if you say so." Simone's warning voice and the fact that she kept pulling away from him should have been a warning but he was too distracted. She knew that Ethan had no idea what he was in for but the door was open and this was as good a time as any. "What made you ask Zach for help? You could have hired a private investigator to look into Lauren. In fact I'm certain that CI has a private detective firm on retainer."

"We do have detectives on retainer. But Zach will do more than investigate." Ethan replied, "Zach will squeeze Lauren Clark until she cracks." Shrugging Ethan released Simone's waist and continued. "I trust him to do what ever needs to be done."

"Ummm…excuse me? You trust Zach?" Simone asked incredulously.

"I trust that he will go after Lauren until he finds out what he wants to know." Ethan answered looking over her shoulder into the mirror and rubbed his cheek with his hand.

"You trust Zach." Simone replied trying to grasp the full extent of what he was saying.

Bringing his attention back to the woman he loved Ethan whispered into her ear, lightly tracing his rough cheek across her velvety one. "Simone…I trust that he will do what has to be done. I trust that he will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this without exposing you to anymore of this nonsense."

"You aren't afraid that he'll betray you?" Simone asked taking his face in her hands so he could look her in the eye. "For all we know he's the one behind Lauren. Ethan he could be the source of all this. What if he just wants you out of Pine Valley and away from Cambias? What if he has his own agenda?"

"Well for one thing, I doubt that Zach would use you just to get to me."

"Ethan. Baby. He used Kendall to get to you." Simone reminded him softly. She looked intently into his eyes while she held his face in her hands as her fingers looped below his ears so she could lightly stroke his cheeks with her thumbs forcing him to look into her eyes.

Ethan froze and looked at Simone. Damn! "Very well. I suppose there would have been a time that Zach would have done anything to manipulate me but I really think he's past that."

"Why?" Simone released Ethan's face and clasped her hands in front of her as she raised an eyebrow, "because he still feels guilty about marrying Kendall to get you to give up Cambias Industries?"

"Because he walked away from CI. Because he hasn't tried to manipulate me since…"

"Since he married Kendall." Simone persisted. "But what if he was just biding his time and waiting for a better opportunity to go after you?"

"How was it that I forgot to take into consideration that you were a journalist before I said you could ask anything?" Ethan laughed softly, he was slightly exasperated but his change of tact wasn't about to alter Simone from the original topic. There was something bothering her and though she sensed that maybe she didn't really want to hear the answer she still felt compelled to ask.

"Ethan, I don't mean to accuse Zach of anything. I'm just curious…" Simone asked softly, "Why do you trust Zach now? I mean, you've admitted that Zach will do anything to get what he wants. He is a master manipulator. Why is it that you no longer believe that he wants you to give up CI? After everything that he's done to you how can you trust him?"

"Look, I didn't want to risk Zach weighing in on this on his own. I'd rather be a part of whatever he plans on doing. In truth I was just so angry that morning that the media coverage about you was leaked that I had acted purely on instinct when I called Zach.

And…" Ethan paused unsure of how to continue.

"And?"

"I think he cares for Kendall and I don't think he's going to attack one of her only friends just to hurt me…"

"Because?"

"He…She…He…He's…" Bloody hell! Why the hell did he ask Zach to help him? Taking a deep breath Ethan tried to explain himself, "It's true I don't think that he would use you to get to me and that I don't think he wants to deliberately hurt me any longer. In part it's because I think he's changed and in part because I think he has a better understanding of who I am and in part because I don't think he'd make a move against me out of the blue like this and use you to do it because he knows that Kendall wouldn't approve…."

"You honestly think that his feelings for Kendall has made a real change in him?" Simone asked tilting her head to look into Ethan's eyes.

"You asked me to let go of my revenge Simone and I did it without really thinking about it because I wanted to be with you. Why is it so hard to believe that Zach's feelings for Kendall could have a similar effect on him?"

"Because I'm not sure that he does have real feelings for her. Are you?"

"I do think that he has real feelings for her."

"And you?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you still have any real feelings for her?"

"I suppose I'll always be grateful to her Simone." Ethan replied wanting to get this conversation over with in hopes that it would never come up again. "Look, she was the first person in PV to befriend me. She believed in me when no one else did. She did what she could to get me out of jail, she helped me to discover who I was but…"

"You loved her." Simone interrupted. "Do you love her still?"

"Darling, as it turned out that the girl I fell in love with never even really existed." Ethan remarked emphatically.

"So she stopped existing just because she betrayed you?" Simone was momentarily caught off guard.

"Because she should have known me. And evidently I didn't really know her either. Look, she took Zach's word over mine. She let him convince her that power would corrupt me. And then she married him to punish me. The girl I thought she was could never have done that."

"You lied to her and Ethan. She believed in you and you lied to her." Simone felt the need to defend her friend.

"I'm not denying what I did." Ethan replied. "But Simone, would that drive you to marry my father?"

"Oh come on!" Simone flinched and shuddered, "Ewwww."

"See!" Ethan exhaled loudly finally feeling that his point had been made. "That was just the right answer and I don't believe anything more needs to be said on the subject." Smiling Ethan bent his head to her and kissed her till she was dizzy. Hmmm… Ethan thought to himself. That was effective. I really should remember that the next time she hits me with a barrage of questions. Ethan briefly drew from her kiss so he could look closely to see if there was any trace of doubt left buried in her eyes. He liked what he saw and bent his head to once again take her warm lips with his mouth.

Simone lost herself in his kisses until the phone rang. Shaking her head Simone sighed softly, "It's Zach again. Don't you think you need to take this call?" Sighing Simone dragged her hand across his raspy cheek before pressing her nose to the soft warmth of his neck and with her curiosity finally at rest she relaxed into his embrace.

Ethan looked down at the phone. He picked it up, turned it off and let it drop into the sink. Smiling softly he took her by the hips and drew her closer to him so that she was barely on the edge of the sink and was pressed closely to him. Simone gasped and grabbed the sink top to keep her balance. Ethan reached and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Too late. It would seem that I have lost any hope of getting a connection."

"Oh, I don't think you are going to have any problem getting a connection Ethan." Simone smiled as she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and twined her fingers into his hair.

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