Chapter 7

The line on the other end was quiet for about thirty seconds, but it felt like years to Ethan; he stayed, whatever came, he’d accept. And then, her voice came, shaky, unsure, almost scared, “Ethan?”

“Mum… how…are you?” Ethan felt guilty and awkward; that was his fault; he had caused this. It wasn’t right to feel awkward talking to one’s parent, but here he was.

“I…I’m okay now.” She seemed to smile a little. “How have you been?” She asked.

Ethan was quiet, unsure of what to say. Had he been fine? Definitely not, but he can’t say that to her; that would be selfish of him to make her worry over him after everything he had done. “I’m fine.” He lied.

His mother was quiet; she could sense the wrong in his voice. “Who are you with on the phone?” Mr Vale’s voice came through. Ethan almost hung up; he wasn’t braced for talking to his dad yet, but he stopped himself, reminding himself that he would take everything they do, because he caused it.

“It’s Ethan,” his mother’s voice came through again. Ethan could feel the shift in the air at the other end of the phone. “Ethan?” Mr Vale called, like he was asking for confirmation that his wife wasn’t hallucinating.

“Dad,” Ethan called back; his siblings also chipped in. They talked for a minute before his mum’s soft, desperate voice came, “Ethan, when are you coming home?

Ethan was taken aback; he didn't expect that. He breathed in sharply. That is tempting; he badly wanted to run home into his family’s hands. He badly wanted to eat homemade meals. He badly wanna go back, but this wasn’t the right time. He smiled to calm himself. “Soon”, he said softly.

“Whenever you are ready to come home, just remember this is your house, and you’ll forever belong here.” His mother said. He felt tears pricked his eyes. After a few seconds, they chorused, “Live you!”

And ended the call.

Ethan held the phone to his chest, their last chorus echoing through his mind. How long he had yearned to hear that from Lucien, but it never did.

—FEW HOURS LATER—

Ethan was still up watching his movie on the TV; it was 9:00 pm. It wasn’t that late, but he was planning to retire to bed soon. Surprisingly, the door opened, and Lucien walked in. He had never been home at this time before; he was always coming back late into the night.

Lucien stared at Ethan sprawled on the couch acting like no one entered, he kept quiet for a second, maybe Ethan just didn’t sincerely noticed he entered, he trusts Ethan to welcome him, jump all over him and apologize about what happened in the morning if he had noticed him, so he cleared his throat, Ethan glanced at him then went back to his movie as if he was dismissing something unpleasant.

No “hey welcome”, no collection of his suitcase, no happy jumps and hugs and all that; it was just silence besides the sound coming from the movie that Ethan was watching.

Lucien was already losing it, “Ethan?” He called.

“Hm?” Ethan hummed, still not looking away from the TV screen.

“I called you several times in the afternoon; why didn’t you pick up or return my calls?”

“I was eating,” Ethan said calmly.

“Were you eating all day? You could have just returned the call after eating.”

“Ohh, I was busy after eating.” Ethan shrugged.

“B..busy with what?” Lucien was totally confused; he didn’t understand a thing about this guy anymore.

“Movies, and you are interrupting one with your questions.”

“W..what? Were you watching movies? You didn’t even bother to bring lunch to my office!” Lucien yelled.

“Stop yelling; you might get a sore throat, and yeah, you have a cafeteria in your office for a reason. Go get a meal there next time. Don’t wait on me; I’m not a delivery guy.” Ethan finally looked at Lucien. Lucien’s mouth was wide open. What is wrong with this guy? It’s probably some crazy hormones or so. Lucien dropped his suitcase on the couch, pulled off his shoes and socks, loosened his tie and shrugged off his suit. He undid the bottoms of his white shirt and rolled up his sleeves. He took in a deep breath,

“I’ll go upstairs to freshen up, set up the tat le before I’m back.” He ordered and went upstairs with his things. Ethan laughed in disgust, how stupid he had been to not see through all this in his past life. He continued his movie without moving an inch.

After a few minutes, Lucien walked down the stairs, in fresh clothing and scent. He looked towards the dining area, clean, empty; he furrowed his brows. “I specifically told you I wanted my meal on the table before I got back; where the hell are they?” Lucien barked.

“In the lichen,” Ethan said calmly, eyes fixed on the TV screen. Lucien growled and went into the kitchen, but…everywhere was clean, emptily clean. The plates? washed, the pots, kettles, pans? All sparkly. There was no trace of a cooked meal in the kitchen. What the fuck was Ethan trying to do with him? He marched to the living room, grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Ethan didn’t bulge; he just stared at Lucien’s face.

“Are you playing games with me? Where the fuck is the food?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Don’t give me that crap; there’s no fawking food in the kitchen.”

“I never said cooked food; you’ll have to use the kitchen for what it is meant for: cooking,” Ethan said calmly.

Lucien gritted his teeth and walked back into the kitchen. Truth is, he doesn’t know shiii to do; he tried frying eggs but ended up burning them; he watched YouTube videos, and while trying to follow the recipe, he mistakenly used sugar for salt and ruined the food. The kitchen was a whole disaster already; he was fuming. He walked out of the kitchen to an empty sitting room; Ethan had gone inside.

Lucien grabbed his car keys angrily; he’d have to go eat outside at a restaurant or something. He got into his car and drove out, and somewhere in his mind he was thinking, “Why is he even mad at me?”