Scarlett and Ethan were in her living room, she still hadn't uttered a word after what he told her outside. She poured herself a drink and offered him some but he rejected it, claiming that he didn't want any alcohol at that moment.
“So what were you talking about?” She asked, hoping that it wasn't what she heard or maybe he had misspoken.
“Look, I know this sounds odd but I can't help it, quite literally. I like you a lot Scarlett and I want you to be my girlfriend. I think you have a good heart and you're not who I presumed you were at first.” He paused and stared worriedly at her.
Scarlett took a sip of her drink and stared back at him, only, her expression was blank and had no emotions, she wasn't sure how to react to what she was hearing.
“You may be a little sassy but I like it that way. I don't mind at all.” He added and she let out a low groan.
“Where's all this coming from, Ethan? I thought we both agreed to be just friends?” She questioned, wondering why he was suddenly acting that way. To make matters worse, he moved closer to her and tried to take her hand. She rejected his gesture by slowly moving away.
“I want us to be more than friends,” Ethan answered regardless.
With a sigh, Scarlett shook her head and dropped her glass of Brandy. “I'm sorry but I'm in love with someone else.”
“What? Who? But I've never seen you with any guy.” Ethan shrugged, looking confused and tense.
“Well, it's complicated and kinda one-sided.” She sighed again. “If I manage to get it off my mind, maybe I can give us a chance then. But for now, I'd prefer that we just remained friends.”
“No problem.” Ethan nodded his hands in his pockets.
“Oh boy..” Scarlett sighed yet again, shuffling her feet over the table to grab her phone.
“What?” Ethan questioned, taking his seat. He had been standing this whole time.
“I'm hungry, I wanna order some food.” She answered.
“Why order when you can just cook?” Ethan frowned at the idea of wasting money to order food when lots of provisions are at home for making a good meal.
“Exams are coming up, I assume you know that. I have to read, I don't have time to cook.” She answered, about to dial the restaurant number when Ethan suddenly got up and swiped the phone from her hand, putting it back on the table.
“You don't have to worry, I'll do the cooking.” He smirked at her and made his way into the kitchen. He put on the apron and then laid out everything he would need for the pasta. After that, he rinsed the pot and started cooking.
Scarlett couldn't help but watch him in admiration as he cooked. All she could think about was Adrian and how hot he looked when he was cooking for her. She reached for her phone again, fighting the urge to call him since she had missed him terribly.
“I can't..” she told herself and was about to drop the phone when it started ringing and Lily's name was displayed on the screen. Her face lit up immediately and she answered the call.
“Hey bitch!” Lily squealed in excitement and Scarlett giggled.
“Hey, girlfriend. How are you doing?”
“I'm very well! I've missed you so freaking much!” Lily continued to squeal, the excitement in her voice could not be masked.
“I've missed you too, honestly. I just can't wait to come home and see you, thank goodness the semester is almost over.” Scarlett sighed.
She looked over at Ethan who was in the kitchen and saw that he was really engrossed in the cooking. She smiled slightly and left for the balcony to talk to Lily.
“I can't wait either… We have so much to talk about and a lot to catch up on.” Lily answered breathlessly.
“Speaking of catching up, how's everything with Adrian?”
Scarlett rested her arms on the railings and let out a groan.
“I fucked things up big time, I don't know if he'll ever want anything to do with me again. I really fucked real bad.” She answered, her voice becoming shaky as memories of what happened with Adrian flooded her head.
“Hey, calm down and tell me what happened,” Lily told her in a calm tone.
Scarlett went ahead to narrate everything to her. She told her about Ethan and how everything led to her almost slapping him. By the time she was done explaining, she was already emotional and her vision blurred by her tears. She sniffed them back and tried to fix her shaky voice.
“Can you believe he called me a cheap slut? He said I'm a slut, just like my mother.” She whined and Lily let out a deep sigh.
“Oh my gosh, Scarlett! Are you in love with Adrian? You're in love with him!” Lily exclaimed and Scarlett scrunched her face.
“What are you talking about?”
“Okay, Adrian isn't the first person to ever call you a slut. You don't even get offended when others say it to you but hearing it from him hurts you. That only means that you're in love with him, this is definitely more than you just trying to fuck him.” Lily explained, accompanied by a giggle.
“What? No, I'm not in love with him.” Scarlett immediately denied the accusation.
“I'm just disappointed that he would say that. He's going to be my dad, there's no way I'm in love with him. Maybe I should just let go of all these stupid flings.” She added, shaking her head and feeling sorry for herself.
“I don't think it's stupid flings. Besides, he's not married to your mom yet and I think he's in love with you too. I mean, he's getting possessive already, he hates seeing you with other men.” Lily answered and Scarlett scratched her head.
“If that's the case, why hasn't he called since then to apologize? Shouldn't he have apologized to me by now?” She scoffed. Her question was met with silence, followed by the shutting of the door from Lily's end.
“Gotta go bestie, we'll definitely talk about this when we see. For now, my sugar boy is here.” Lily said and Scarlett chuckled.
“Crazy bitch.” She mumbled. She hung up the call and stood outside for a while before going back into the house.
Ethan was still cooking by the time she entered inside. She decided to give him some space while she went through some of her lecture notes.
In no time, Ethan was done. He set the table and dished the food out. Scarlett got up and went to join him in the dining room. They sat down and started eating.
Scarlett was amazed at how well Ethan could cook. She ate the food like her life depended on it and even went ahead to get seconds.
“You seem to be enjoying the food.” Ethan finally broke the long and excruciating silence between them.
“Huh? Yes, it's really good.” Scarlett answered with a mouth full of food.
“I'm glad you are. Now, Scarlett, I'd like to know you more.”
“There's nothing special to know about me.” Scarlett chuckled nervously.
“Come on, tell me anything. Maybe your favorite color, food, dislikes, and stuff like that.” Ethan asked, dreamily staring at her which led to her feeling knots in her stomach.
“Oh, well..” she paused, suddenly coming to a realization.
Scarlett thought that maybe she was wasting her time chasing Adrian when it was obvious that he wanted nothing to do with her. She wondered if the right thing to do would be to try and forget Adrian.