GROUND RULES

REINA

Alan’s hand falls off my face and he rushes towards Ethan. But Ethan shuts the door again. And locks it.

Alan’s palms are curled in fists as he stands there, pitch silent. I swallow and move closer, until I’m standing right in front of the door—beside him.

I look up at him for a brief moment but he doesn’t even spare me a glance.

“Ethan?” I call out in a sing-song, facing the door. I wait for a few seconds. I’m about to call out his name again when the door creaks open a little and Ethan’s small head pops out. My heart constricts a little and I crouch down, asking him,

“Can I come in?”

He takes a while, then nods.

“Ethan.” Alan’s voice booms, startling us both. Ethan looks up at him.

“Can I come in too?” Alan asks, and I can tell he’s struggling to say it calmly. Ethan shakes his head, then pulls me in with his both hands.

I pretend to have been forced in because of his grip, then when we’re both in, I peek through the door.

Alan starts to push the door open. I push back hard.

“Stop!” I whisper. “Please respect the fact that he doesn’t want to… uh, talk right now. I promise, I’ll make sure to know what’s up with him. Okay?”

He’s not buying it. “I need to see my son.” He tries to push again. I can tell he’s not even using much strength, but I’m still struggling behind the door.

“Sir!”

He stops pushing now, then spins around and storms off.

I finally shut the door when he disappears around the corner, letting out a deep breath. The room is pitch dark. My eyes fill with moisture. Why would such a little boy be so comfortable in this darkness? I’m still scared of the dark at my age, I can’t imagine…

I sniff.

“Oh Ethan… where are you?” I call out in a breezy, soft singsong. I hear a giggle. It’s quiet, almost missable. But it’s there. My lips twitch.

“Oh Ethan, I’m coming to get you…” I start to tiptoe. The giggle is louder this time. And yes, Ethan is a real smart kid so he turns his Kaio necklace upside down.

It’s harder to find him now, but I follow the sound of his footsteps—which he tries to make as quiet as possible.

Ethan is smart. The only way I can catch him is by outsmarting him. So I stop in my tracks. I let him move around for a bit, then I start moving. I hear him move too, but I’ve come too close.

His shriek rings across the room when my palm wraps around his arm, pulling him to me. We’re on the floor in no time, laughing hysterically.

I carefully ask now, “Alright, alright… now can we turn on the light, big boy?”

Silence for a while, then I feel his nod. Letting out a breath of relief, I go over to the switch and flick it on.

Ethan is still sitting where he is, his hair a mess for the first time since I’ve known him. That was me, I think, wondering if Alan would like that. There’s a lot of prim and proper in this house.

“What do you want to do now?” I ask Ethan, and he shrugs. I look around his almost empty room for the first time, cringing.

“We’ll get you more… fun things for this room. Won’t you like that?”

He shrugs again. I sigh. Then I see a scrabble set and I turn to him.

“You play scrabble?”

“Yes.” He mutters with a small smile.

Oh wow.

For the next thirty minutes, Ethan goes head to head with me at the scrabble. He gets sleepy, so I get him some snacks and watch him eat before he goes to have a nap.

I don’t know why, but I step out of Ethan’s room and start to look for Alan’s. I want to talk to him. Scold him, even. Ethan’s room is barely a child’s room. Now I understand why he’d left it dark… there’s barely anything to look at. Even if it’s temporary, at least there can be some Christmas cheer?

I know it’s not really my place to say anything about all this, but my heart just aches for that little boy. I need to speak to his grumpy dad.

I walk around until I decide I won’t be able to locate his room myself. I’m about to turn around and head back when a door opens. I swivel back around to meet my boss’s piercing gaze.

“How’s my son?” His tone is sharp, demanding.

I straighten, “Uh… good. At least he’s good now. He seemed a little moody before, though. He barely speaks too, even if he looks like he has a lot to say. He just stares at me, smiles rarely… he’s going through something. Have you bothered to ask, Sir? Have you—”

“Ms Reina Summers.” The blast of his voice makes me go mute. He continues, “You seem to always see the need to lecture me. It’s still early, and I can still let you go… but at your own detriment. You’d be owing me everything I’ve paid you upfront and a bit more for wasting my time. It’s stated in the contract. Is that what you want? To be dismissed?”

I didn’t even realize he’d gotten so close. He was not the only one with a labored breathing  too. We both had our chests heaving up and down.

“I don’t…” I bite the inside of my cheek. I need to choose my words carefully. Yes, I care a lot about Ethan, but he’s right. Loosing this job at this moment would be at my detriment. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, Sir, and I apologize if I have come across as disrespectful in any way. I just… Ethan seems so lonely, I wish you could get through to him somehow. I have ideas, I could help you. I’m not saying you’ve not been doing a good job, but you can… you can do much better. That’s all I’m saying.”

He lets out a sigh. There’s silence for a long while, and then he steps back. “I appreciate your care for Ethan. And I’m not blind, I see that he fancies you. You can keep him happy, make him smile with your kindness and love. But let this be the very last time you open that pretty mouth and try to lecture me on dos and don’ts around my son. Are we clear, Belle?”

I swallow. No, not at all.

I nod regardless.

He frowns. “Words.”

“Clear.” I almost roll my eyes. He notices my sauciness, of course, nothing really gets past this man. I see a ghost of a smirk on his lips, but it quickly goes away.

Alan gives me a quick once over. I feel my cheeks flush when he looks back up at my face.

“From tomorrow, you’ll be on uniform like the rest of the staff. You’ll take the uniform from my room, by noon.”

From his room? I don’t get to ask anything, because he walks off at once.