Chapter 12: One step forward, two steps back.
"ANA!" Ethan cried, trying to reach for me as the wave of reporters swept through us from all sides.
We were backed up against the lift wall. By now, I had grown used to these kind of situations. My eyes had familiarized with the awkward bright flashes, no longer easily agitated or easily dizzy from any of it. Of course, I hated the many voices bombarding my ears. Some were shouting and some were screaming, beckoning for me to answer. But they always failed to realize that if everyone was talking at the same time, I could never catch the question and hence, would never answer anything.
I pitied Ethan, who was practically cowering under the spotlight. He was sweating profusely, trying his best to reach out to me physically. Some part of me thought he was trying to protect me but another part told me that Ethan was shaken by it all and wanted a hand to hold. Regardless, I stretched my hand out to him, trying to grasp his across the sea.
There was a 'ding' of the elevator and I heard the doors roll back. The effect was immediate; like throwing a bone to dogs, all the reporters focused their attention on one person.
With a completely porcelain-like expression, Christian stepped out from the lift with Luke and Taylor as guardians. Before anybody could flood Christian, the two of them leaped forward and acted as a barricade. The reporters fought against the barrier, trying to break through it.
Christian narrowed his eyes slightly at the situation and I thought I saw him shoot an icy glare at the Escala staff. With swift fingers, Christian reached for Ethan's collar and jerked him into the lift with him. I was slightly further way and out of my saviour's arm length. It did not please him. "Luke."
At his name, Luke fastened his hand around my wrist and gently tugged me towards himself. Intercepting, Christian looped his arm around my waist and helped me into the lift as well. I was happy to see him, wrapping my arms around him. Christian tapped in the code and the doors began to close, shooting us up towards safety.
"Ana." Christian said monotonously, trying to pry my hold off him. He was successful and I staggered back slightly.
"What?" I asked, confused.
I watched in utter shock as Christian swerved on his feet, bringing his clenched fist into an unsuspecting Ethan's jaw. "CHRISTIAN!" I screamed, flying to his side and grabbing his arm as he delivered one more blow.
Ethan had already lost his balance, Christian's grasp propping him up via his collar. His blue eyes were filled with no retaliation, he was docile and took the beating. "CHRISTIAN!" I begged, tugging at his arm. Had Christian thought Ethan was proposing to me as well? Had he thought I had accepted it?
What else would warrant such an unprecedented behavior? My inner goddess snarled.
My husband's eyes were enraged, burning with a fire out to kill. The lift 'dinged' and the air con from our apartment welcomed us. Christian lifted Ethan with just an arm, hauling him out of the lift and into the lobby. "CHRISTIAN STOP!" I pleaded in desperation, trailing after them.
Ethan's eyes were groggy from the beating, beginning to roll back into his head as his nose bled from the right nostril. "YOU'VE GOT IT WRONG. PLEASE STOP." I shouted, trying to break Christian's trance.
"WRONG?!" He blasted, not even looking at me. He held Ethan with a look filled with daggers and flung him to the floor with immense strength. There was a loud crash as Ethan's back hit the coffee table. I gathered all the adrenaline I could and leaped in front of Ethan just as Christian charged for him. I threw my arms out like an eagle motivated with the desire to protect her chick.
Realizing this in his semiconscious state, Ethan reached for the hem of my dress and tugged as hard as he could. Just as Ethan had expected, I came tumbling down and onto his stomach.
"YOU FU**ING BASTARD." Christian hollered, about to strike when Taylor stepped in front of him and shoved him back. Christian spewed many unkind words at Taylor, who was now using his own chest to keep Christian away.
Luke dashed forward to help me up, trying his best to scrape me off Ethan. "No Luke," I whimpered, fear-filled. "I have to keep him safe."
Softly, with a father-like tenderness, Luke whispered so Christian would miss it, "And I have to keep you safe." He lifted me off the floor, sweeping me into his arms.
"GET. HER. OUT. OF. HERE." Christian barked, his fists clenched by his sides as he restrained himself. Taylor had both palms pressed against Christian's biceps now, coaxing him to calm down.
Luke began to walk and I flailed against him. How could I leave Ethan here unprotected to bear the brunt of the misunderstanding?! "Why are you doing this Christian?!"
His grey eyes flew to me, absolutely incredulous. "Why?" Even soft, his tone was deadly.
"It's a misunderstanding!" I was thankful that he stopped for the moment, agreeable to listening to me.
"MY F*** IT IS!"
"LOOK!" I exclaimed, desperately throwing my banded finger in the air. "Ethan was just returning it! No harm done!"
"NO HARM DONE?!" He was sarcastic and it frightened me. Raising his finger at Luke, he pointed towards the bedroom. Nodding, Luke started to walk me there.
I was helpless. Luke's steel grip was rigid around my body and I could only watch as Christian commanded Taylor to haul a crumpled Ethan into the office. Christian shot me a stern glare of warning before heading into the office first.
"Please..." I begged Taylor softly.
The man had Ethan propped up on an arm and he offered me a reassuring smile. Knowing Christian would hear anything he said, he sated me with a little nod. It was only then that I knew whatever happened, Taylor would protect Ethan from bodily harm.
Luke lowered me gently on the master bed, a hand resting on my shoulder as I began to sob. "Are you alright?"
"Of course not." I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand. "Why... Why... Why is he acting like that?" I was so confused. Had he not seen the ring on my hand? His own ring? "It's my fault for dropping it, Luke. Why's he taking it out on... Ethan?"
The memory of Christian pounding Ethan so fiercely played itself in my head, sending goosebumps down my spine. It made me fear for Ethan's safety. Who knew what Christian was up to now?
"Ana," Luke sighed, tucking a stray tendril of hair behind my ear. "It's not the ring."
I could hear the confusion in my voice, "What?"
Luke's eyes searched mine, "Ana, there's something else..." He tried to find a suitable phrase, "... Ethan did."
"What?" I could not stand this. I had to know. The tears continued to flow down my cheeks.
"Okay. I'll take you to the camera room so we can eavesdrop... On one condition." Luke lifted his index finger to my eye level. "You have to stop crying." I nodded in agreement, scrubbing the tears off my cheeks. "We both know Christian's hawk-like skills. If I bring you out and he hears you crying..."
"Got it."
Luke smiled at me grimly, helping me up by the elbow and guiding me out. The office door was closed shut, a heavy mahogany door that promised little eavesdropping from my side. Luke pressed his index finger to his own lips, reminding me of the need for silence, as he took me into the camera room.
There were a million cameras running at that moment. Well, not really a million. But there were many... I had never been here before. Cameras covered every inch of this house. "Wow." I could not stop the shock from leaving me.
Luke chuckled, proud. "We're all eyes and ears in here." He nestled me down into the comfortable leather chair and began tapping away at a sophisticated computer gadget thing. Immediately, he pulled up all angles of the office into view.
"Oh thank God!" I sighed in relief as Ethan was still alive, sitting in the chair opposite Christian's king chair. Taylor had kept his promise, standing near the office table to prevent any sudden violent attacks from happening.
"Volume." Luke snapped his fingers, remembering. He played with some more gadgets and then the sound was up.
Christian stared Ethan down, joining his fingers with each other. "We're married and she's pregnant with our child, Kavanagh."
"I know." Ethan replied softly, his head dropping in shame.
"And yet." It wasn't even a question, more an accusation. "What did you think you would have achieved by doing this?" Christian probed, the anger saturating his irises. "You'd think Ana would leave me? Leave me for you?"
"I didn't have a plan." Ethan said, exasperated.
"But you had a goal, didn't you?" Christian accused, narrowing his eyes. "You wanted Ana and you still do." Ethan remained silent, refusing to answer. The elongated pause made my heart pound in confusion.
Hadn't Ethan and I moved past this?
Ethan and I had decided to push back any feelings for each other like mature adults a long time ago. There simply was no way for us to love each other, especially not when my love for Christian was a mountain that cannot be moved. I had talked it through with Ethan. It was only on that condition that I had allowed us to resume our tight friendship. It was the basis that I had allowed myself to dismiss Christian's warnings as mere insecurities. But if Ethan...
It took you this long?! My inner goddess rolled her eyes at my naive and juvenile perspective.
"Kavanagh, I can't allow this to go on and you know it." Christian folded his arms. Ethan nodded sadly, running his palms down his face in exhaustion. "It's not healthy for you either."
"It's not like I'm doing it on purpose, Christian." Ethan groaned through his palms. "I've tried to stop loving her but I can't. And when you love someone for that long... Nobody is good enough for her." He sighed. "And when I see her upset because of you... It just worsens."
Christian was the one to sigh now, scraping his scalp with his fingers. "I apologize for stepping in and sweeping Ana away from you. It was unfair of me, I admit, but I love Ana just as much as you do. So I'm going to ask you to surrender Ana from here on."
"Not... See her anymore?"
What was this? What right did Christian have to do this? It made me slightly mad. Ethan was my best friend. He has been ever since I met Kate.
"It's for the best." Christian pursed his lips. "I can't let you break up our family. But thank you for returning the ring regardless, Ana was so worried she had lost it."
I was more confused than ever. If Christian had not beaten Ethan up for possessing my ring... My inner goddess mirrored my frustration, shrugging.
"I'll never be able to get her something like that." Ethan sounded defeated, it was heartbreaking.
"Look, Kavanagh." Christian himself began to crack. "I'm sorry that it has to come down to this. You should take some time off, see the world, meet new people."
"And never come back?" Ethan chuckled sarcastically, interpreting Christian's words waywardly.
"No, come back whenever you want." Christian smiled grimly. "You're still a family friend."
By now, I was out of my wits trying to figure out the reason behind this. What had Ethan done that had convinced Christian that he was still in love with me? What had Ethan done that had given Christian the right to dismiss my dear friend?
As if reading my mind, Luke put a soothing palm against the small of my back. "Ana, Ethan was the one who called Mrs Robinson that night..."
It was like the air within my chest suddenly abandoned me, leaving me with a sense of hollowness. I was like a toad shrunken within its skin, a part of me in disbelief at Luke's words. Ethan knew how Elena made me feel and how she was the source of a myriad of my insecurities. Just the mention of her name was enough to make me quiver. If Ethan had... No way. "You're lying."
Luke's eyes lit up with sympathy and he continued to stroke my back. "You're lying!" I repeated, louder this time. The idea of Ethan being the one to initiate such a thing... To trick me into believing that Christian would return to that bitch... I shook my head hard as betrayal whipped my anger alive.
Luke's lack of response was sufficient in helping me draw a conclusion. He had somehow found the courage to tell me something that Ethan had failed to and was reluctant in having to repeat it. Luke had held Ethan in a good light, always trusting him to help me heal from anything that would affect me. There was no doubt that Ethan's betrayal had come as a shock to Luke as well.
It made me jump to my feet, Luke fell backwards onto the floor in utter shock. There was no need for me to wait, I knew Luke would attempt to stop me. Balling up my fists, I charged into the office and interrupted Ethan and Christian shaking hands across the table. Taylor's eyebrows rose in surprise and was soon mirrored by Christian's.
However, Ethan had his back turned to me and would never have thought that I would grab him hair first and toss him to the floor. "YOU BASTARD!" I hollered, red tainting my vision as I slapped him across the cheek where Christian had created a visible bruise.
A slap?! My inner goddess shook her head at me, having put on her Muay Thai gear and was ready to tumble.
Ethan's jaw had smears of blood, evidence of his earlier abuse. But it did little to dissolve my anger. Lifting my clenched fist high in the air, I let it dive knuckles first into his stomach. There was no satisfaction as Ethan's eyes squeezed shut in pain. "GO TO HELL." I screamed, but all there was was pain.
My heart was throbbing at his betrayal. Seeing him beat up by my husband and then by me did not change that. All it did was agitate my torture as I realized that we had come down to this stage, where I was aggressively and willingly physically hurting him.
Luke burst into the room a split second before Christian had my arms locked behind my back in a firm grip. "Ana, I want you to breathe." My jaws were still clenched tightly as Taylor and Luke tended to Ethan. Ethan refused to look at me, his head sweeping the floor and accepting his fate. "Please see Mr Kavanagh out."
When the office door clicked shut, Christian grip around my wrists turned into feather-like caresses. He spun me around slowly so I was facing him. Gingerly, his right hand reached up to lift my chin, "Are you okay?"
I was dumbfounded. My mind was still trying its best to comprehend the fact that my best friend had betrayed me. All along, Christian had been right about Ethan's love for me. It never faded and I was stupid to think it had. Now I felt stupid and guilty, recalling all the times I had probably hurt Christian in the process of my friendship with Ethan.
"Ana?" He began to worry, his grey eyes searching mine for any life.
I wrestled back the tears, my vision beginning to water. "I'm so sorry Christian. I'm so sorry for accusing you of approaching Elena. I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me. "
"Hey hey," Christian stopped my mouth with his index finger, shaking his head at me. "I don't blame you, Ana." His tone was soft and genuine, tenderizing my heart in too many ways as I began to choke on my tears trying to keep them back. Christian has loved me from Day one and all I ever did was take him for granted. "I never did."
"How can you not?" I whimpered, reaching to wipe my tears.
Christian beat me to it, gently brushing them aside. "Because I love you, Ana." He cooed, then switched up for a comical tone. "And frankly speaking, you're so blur and unaware of your surroundings that you miss things like Ethan."
The way he said it made me laugh a little, but it made me feel guiltier. My guilt manifested in the form of fresh tears, rolling down my cheeks at a fast pace. Christian pursed his lip and drew me into his chest, a hand at the base of my back and another around the nape of my neck. "It's alright Ana." He kissed the top of my head. "Your personality gives me a chance to protect you, which is so often, and I like that."
I let myself rest against Christian's chest, taking in slow steady breaths to calm myself down. Christian held me close, "I want you to need me Ana. Me. I don't like it when you depend on anyone else."
I nuzzled my nose into his chest, relishing the feel of his familiar warmth. I liked depending on Christian. "I do depend on you."
Christian sighed, discontentedly. " Just as much and maybe less than you depend on Ethan."
"That's not true." I whimpered at the accusation.
"I'm not trying to fight, Ana. I just want you to see how I see it. This thing between you and Ethan," to confirm his point, Christian clutched me closer to him in a loving embrace. "And now you know I was never imagining things... it was headed towards a 'more than friends' zone, especially for Ethan."
Just the sound of his name felt raw on my heart. I flinched. "Don't," Christian chided softly. "It's not his fault."
"How is it not?" I wrapped my arms around Christian's back. "He tried to break us apart and I was letting him."
"But I would never." Christian said with complete conviction and I knew it was true. Part of me had never bothered so much with how comfortable I got with Ethan because I knew that Christian would be like an anchor to our boat, keeping me from drifting too far. "And besides, love."
At the tone of his voice, I took a small step back so I could look at him. Christian smiled warmly at me, " Remember how you justified Leila's actions?"
Oh shit. I knew where he was going with this. "No."
His smile turned into a full blown grin as he knew he had found the perfect moment to turn my own words against me. "Oh, it's a good thing I do."
I stuck my tongue out at him.
In response, Christian's eyes burned with a new fire, one fueled by lust. "I miss you."
I knew exactly what he was referring to. "What? But I'm right here."
He smirked, "We both know what I miss, Grey."
" Do we now?" I said, coyly batting my eyelids.
Christian ran a thumb across my lip, freeing my bottom from the teeth that had encased it. "Good attempt at distracting me, Ana. I'd say you managed at least twenty seconds this time round."
I sighed, exasperated.
"Ethan loves you and that's why he acted that way." Christian said, happily getting it off his chest.
I could not deny it. My face simply slipped into a petulant pout.
A low rumble escaped Christian's chest and he dived in to lock his lips around mine. He distracted me with his wandering fingers; they hunted along my thighs towards their destination. His lips were urgent and his tongue battled mine in an apocalyptic battle to the finish. My mind was spinning with Christian's name, knowing full well that this was his intention all along.
Christian was leading my thoughts away from the hurt Ethan had committed, but the larger part of all this was his reminder to me that I was his. He was going to repossess me to make his point crystal clear. And, I was going to love every minute of it. I stepped up onto my tiptoes and linked my fingers behind his neck. In a swift movement, not even breaking our connection, Christian lifted me off the ground and carried me towards the one place he would always know he owned me completely.
Please review!
When I was your man; Bruno Mars