MOTHER'S HUG

     "You did what?!" Charlie asked. 

      "You heard me right." Douglas went down the stairs. Charlie followed him. 

       "How could you say that to your long lost sister? You have been looking for her, Doug!" 

       "She is not repentant enough." 

       "What do you mean?" 

       "She still believes she didn't do anything wrong. Until she learns how not to be selfish and self-centred then I don't need to see her." Douglas went to the bar and poured himself a shot of whisky. 

     "All this while you never sounded like you wanted her repentance. You wanted your sister, you searched for her, you even went to the place where you were born to look for her."

      Douglas gulped down the drink.  "This conversation is over," he said his voice raspy. 

       "No, it's not. She is my friend." 

   Douglas turned to look at him.  "Are you going to choose between us?" 

      Charlie exhaled in frustration and scratches his forehead.  "Come on, Doug, you know that that's not what I meant." 

      "If you don't want it to be like that, then you stop seeing her." 

       "What?" 

      "You heard what I said." Douglas took the bottle of whisky and the tumbler and started up the stairs. 

      Charlie stared at him helplessly as he went up the stairs. 

        Faith woke up and realised she was not on her bed. She was on top of someone and she knew that cologne, it was a familiar one. She opened her eyes and unwrapped her arms from his neck. Ethan was seated on the floor, his head resting on the bed, his eyes closed, his arms wrapped around her waist. She couldn't help but stare at his face while he slept. His thick black lashes fanned across his face, his luscious red lips shut in sleep, he looked beautiful while he slept. He stirred and she quickly removed her eyes from him and cleared her throat. 

       Ethan's eyes flew open and his green eyes stared straight into hers and she felt a sparkle. Deny as she might, he had raised a trail of feelings inside her, although, she was letting common sense reign and she still felt that Charlotte's death was still fresh and Noah was back.

       "Hey," he called in a hoarse voice, sitting up.  "Are you okay now?" 

      She nodded staring into his eyes. He stared into hers and they stayed like that for a while. 

      "I'm sorry, I know that we agreed to stay away from each other, but...I couldn't watch you cry..."

      She grabbed his face and shut him up with a passionate kiss. His arms tightened around her as he kissed her back passionately. Her brain was telling her to stop, but her body refused to comply. She kissed him deeply and he returned the kiss, their hearts racing, sparks flying. 

      After a while, he gently pulled away and stared into her eyes and searched them like he was looking for a missing clue.  "Are you alright? You wept so much last night." 

       "I found my brother," she said. 

      "Wow, that's good news, isn't it?" 

     She looked away from him and cast her gaze down.  "It wasn't the best of reunions. He hates me," she said matter of factly.  Ethan didn't say anything, he just stared at her. The memories of the previous night come flooding back to her and the tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed, looked up and wiped her tears. She didn't look at Ethan, she looked behind him.   "Joshua used to love me so much before he left, but seeing him last night, hearing the words from his mouth and seeing that he meant them from his eyes, made me realise how much he hates me. I don't even know what I did." She started weeping again. 

     Ethan drew her into his arms again and she hugged him weeping again. "Shhh," he hushed her.  "That's enough."

      "He hates me! He said I'm self-centred and selfish, he said awful things to me." Faith kept weeping. He left me all alone in this world, only to return and hate me so much." Ethan patted her back and listened to her. He is cruel... "

      Ethan patted her until she slept again. This time, he carried her to the bed and laid her down, covered her up and took her phone that was ringing. It was Nora, Ethan answered it. 

      "Hey, Nora," he said. 

      "How is she?" 

       "She is sleeping." 

        "Is she still upset?" 

       "She is aggrieved," Ethan said and started walking out of the room. 

       Noah texted Faith. He decided to go on that double date with Nora and Danny. He texted Faith the time and venue and texted Nora, telling her that he would like to see her and Danny. He texted Danny too. He was ready to hold Faith down this time. 

        When Ethan hung up, he saw Noah's message and his heart skipped. He wondered why Noah wanted Faith's friends to be present. In situations like this, it was always a proposal. He was in the kitchen about to make breakfast, he quickly went to the fridge, filled a glass with water and gulped it down. His heart was not thumping, it was pounding and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. 

      He thought of deleting the message so that Faith won't see it. But she would eventually find out one way or the other and she would hate him. He didn't want to ruin his chances. That's if he still has a chance. The kitchen door opened and his mom came in. 

       "Good morning mom," he greeted. 

        "I was half expecting to see you and your girlfriend in a hot romance here," his mom said and sat on a chair. 

    Ethan chuckled.  "Why would you say that?" 

       "Why do you always choose the kitchen?" His mom stood up and went over to the fridge."

      Ethan paused for a while.  "I guess it's where our feelings flow the strongest." 

       "Do you want to cook?" his mother asked and went over to the sink to rinse out a pan she had taken out from. 

      "I wanted to make Faith a cup of coffee and sandwiches she is not feeling too well this morning." 

   Dolores placed the pan on the stove and looked at him.  "So, when do you intend to tell her the truth and marry her?" 

      "I thought you didn't approve of her?" Ethan asked quickly. 

       "Who said? Come on, I told you I never despised her. I thought she didn't love you back, but I could see that you two are crazy about each other." 

       "What if she is not the one for me?" 

    His mom shot him a sharp look.  "What do you mean?" 

    Ethan swallowed hard.  "A few weeks isn't enough to know who you want to spend the rest of your life with. I told you I just met her like it's just a few weeks maybe not even up to two. I just lost a girlfriend and having to move on so quickly and settling down for another woman is quite... I don't know...fast. This whole thing is making me desperate, I need to do things at my own pace."

      His mom moved closer to him and cupped his cheeks with her hands.  "Ethan, no time is enough to know someone. What you have with her is beautiful, I see the way you look at her and that's beautiful, there is enough chemistry between you two, but if you feel you need to slow down your pace, then that's fine, you still have two months left to know her right?" 

       He stared at his mother for a while and nodded his head. She stroked his cheeks tenderly. 

     "Oh, come here my son, I'm so proud of you."  She spread her arms and he went inside. His mom hugged him tight and patted his back. 

      He hated himself for lying to his mom and he hated himself even more for involving Faith in that lie. She might have a lot going on in her life than living his lie with him. What happens if she gets engaged tonight? Would he ask her not to wear the engagement ring around the house? It's just a matter of time before her boyfriend would insist on seeing where she lives. 

      Everything is just messed up and is becoming even more complicated by the day. What was he going to do? His mom's grip tightened on him. The kitchen door flung open again and Faith came in, her face looking all sullen. Puffy eyes, red nose and swollen lips. Dolores looked at her and squinted her eyes at her and disentangled herself from Ethan. 

      "Oh dear, what is the matter? Why do you look such a mess?" She looked from Ethan to Faith. 

        Seeing that motherly hug that Mrs Floyd gave her son, suddenly made Faith realise how much she had missed her mom and how much she wanted to be hugged like that, how much she wanted that reassuring hug from her mother.  She felt she was cursed, that was why her whole family left her. 

       "I miss my mom so much," she muttered. 

      "Oh, come here," Ethan's mother spread her arms and  took Faith in. Faith hugged her tight and wept bitterly again.  

       Ethan stood there staring at them.