GOOD BYE MRS FLOYD
After kicking off her shoes and removing her clothes, Faith went to the kitchen still thinking of Noah's gift. She kept snorting whenever she recalled what he wrote on his note. She was baffled at his audacity and his confidence. No one was in the kitchen when she entered, she decided to make it quick so that Ethan or his mom won't come in and meet her there. But, the kitchen door opened when she has barely touched anything and Ethan come into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.
She became uneasy. Not knowing if it was because he closed the door or if she dreaded him pretending not to see her again. He walked towards her as she put the kettle on.
"Hey," he said slowly coming to stand beside her.
"Hi." Her heart began to race and she had to struggle to keep her hands from shaking. She focused on the mug in front of her, refusing to look at him.
"How are you doing?" he asked, his voice was husky but there was a little softness at the edge.
She nodded before she replied because at that moment she suddenly lost her voice. "I am fine," she said. Striving for a casual tone, as if she was only asking to return his kindness and not because she cared, she asked, "How are you?"
"Mom is leaving by the weekend," he said ignoring her question.
She swallowed hard and tried not to think about him ignoring her like that. She looked at him. "Weekend starts tomorrow."
"Yes, she would be gone on Saturday. We could go back to our usual lives."
In her secret heart, she was hurt. She was going to miss being his friend, she was going to miss all of it. But she has to let it go, it won't result in anything good and she would be fine once she leaves.
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, we would. I'll be moving out when she leaves."
Glancing at Ethan, she saw the surprise in his eyes and something else she couldn't recognize. He was silent for a while.
"If you... I'm sorry, I should be the one moving out. I'll sort it out."
She faced him fully. "No, you have done enough for me. I found a place already," she lied.
His eyes widened a little, he was shocked but he regained himself immediately and then shrugged. "Well, if that's what you want."
She nodded. Her heart bled as he turned away from her and started toward the door. He stopped.
"I'm sorry for the other night. I know you said we should pretend like it never happened but I still have to apologise."
She suddenly couldn't speak she became tongue-tied. The kettle began to whistle and she turned down the burner, he left the kitchen and closed the door gently beside him and the tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked severally. She wasn't going to cry, it was for the best.
She poured the water into her mug containing a tea bag and the colour changed immediately, she stirred it for a while and carried it to the table.
"It's for the best," she assured herself and sat down. But she knew she was deceiving herself. She wanted to burst into tears, she didn't know if it was for the best. She was going to miss him, his laughter, his jokes, his smirk...
She pushed the mug away and placed her head on the table to have a good cry, the kitchen door clicked open again and someone came in. She stayed like that, not bothering to know who came in or not. The person walked up to her and started rubbing her back and that was when she knew it was Mrs Floyd. That was when the last grip of the control she had loosened and she started sobbing profusely.
Dolores started patting her back as she jerked in spasms of cry. She drew a seat and sat beside her, her palm still tapping Faith's back.
"It's not always rosy you know," Dolores said staring at something imaginary in front of her.
Faith, unable to control herself kept sobbing, her head still placed down on the table.
"It would get tough at times and it would even seem impossible sometimes, love is a mixture of a lot of feelings, like, fondness, hate, confusion...a lot of things. Sometimes, you get confused about how you feel and you try to hold in your feelings, but then you remember the good old days, the days of bliss and laughter, the days that were filled with joy and happiness and the good part of each other. Those beautiful moments you spent together, should keep you together."
"Mom, I'm tired!" Faith wailed, raised her head from the table and fell on the woman who welcomed her in her arms.
"Shhh," Dolores shushed her while rubbing her back. "It will be alright. I remember when I met his father, bless his soul. We were so in love that I was scared I would ruin everything one day. Sometimes, I wanted to end it all, sometimes I didn't want to end it at all. I just stood strong and followed my heart and I never regretted it. We had issues before and after we got married, issues that threatened to dissolve us, but because we loved each other, we always find our way back to each other.
"Those days, I would feel worse than you are feeling now but I usually overcome it. It would get tough, it would get confusing but because you love each other, everything would settle. I know you do love each other. I know because I have seen it, I have seen the way you look at each other. "
Faith kept weeping on her shoulder and she consoled her. Faith could bet herself that she wasn't in love, but she was confused and she didn't know why. She doubted how possible it was to fall in love with someone when you are just moving on from another. She had been in love with Noah, until a few days back and she just wanted to take a break from the whole relationship thing.
"I know, it might be a difficult decision to make, but I trust you to do the right thing."
She went to sleep that night in tears. The following days, she didn't see Ethan until the day his mom left and he went to drop her off at the office, she had returned the rented car she had been using throughout her stay. Dolores had insisted that Faith goes to the airport with them and they went to the airport together, but throughout the journey to the airport, Ethan never talked to Faith and an awkward silence settled in between them, even when Dolores tried to bring a conversation that would involve both of them, Ethan made it clear that he wasn't interested in the conversation.
Faith kept glancing at him from time to time and anger started to seep into her. Why was he sulking? They made the mistake together, why would he repulse her like that? Is she truly that repulsive? Was Belle right after all? Was no man even capable of loving her? It was a good thing that his mom was travelling back to San Francisco, she was going to confront him and know what his problem was or better still confront him here in the car where his mom was present since he wants to play hard.
"What is the problem with you, Ethan?" she asked.
Ethan looked at her for a while, a look that suggested that she was being ridiculous by asking him that question. Then, he faced the road again. "Can we talk about this at home, I want to focus on driving."
Faith exhaled and glanced at his mother, the woman hunched her shoulders. Faith faced the front again. He was really giving her an attitude. She tried not to think about it or think about him. She kept thinking about different kinds of food and the one she wanted to eat.
They bade Dolores farewell at the airport after a while, they had to stay until her flight took off. She had hugged them and had said something to Ethan in his ear that Faith didn't hear. She had left and they had walked back to the car separately. Faith had said she would find her way home, but Ethan insisted on taking her home, since he brought her to the airport, he would take her home. After a little argument and Ethan threatening to embarrass her at the airport by lifting her to his shoulders, she entered the car.
But their ride back home was silence stricken and very awkward. Both were angry at each other. Ethan kept his eyes on the road all through the journey while Faith folded her arms across her chest and kept looking out of the window. Ethan dropped her off at home and drove away, leav ing her there by the sidewalk to stare after him in frustration.