DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?

        As Ethan walked toward the car after the session, he thought of what Dr Adriana Sanchez just discussed with him. Dr Adriana had asked him to wait behind after the session with Faith, he had asked Faith to go to the car and wait and Faith had looked at them suspiciously. When she had left, Dr Adriana had taken him to the balcony so that Faith would see that it was only a discussion. 

      "How are you getting on?" the doctor had asked. 

       "Getting on with what? Coming to Hollywood or with Faith?" 

       The doctor had chuckled lightly.  "Come on. You know what I mean. Is there any improvement? Has she said anything to you yet?" 

       "No." 

    The doctor had nodded and remained quiet for a while, looking down at Faith who was walking towards Ethan's car.  "I shouldn't be doing this but I had to tell you since it's going to affect her too." 

    Ethan's heart had skipped a little.  "What's going to affect her?" 

       "I don't know how this will sound but I don't think I will hold out any hope on her, at least not at present." 

        "What do you mean?" 

      Dr Sanchez had sighed.   "I have doubts if she would ever be able to find a man she would allow herself to love." 

      "What are you saying?" 

     "I think she is still looking for that mom she never had." 

       "As I said before, I would wait." 

    The doctor had folded her arms across her chest.  "That was the reason I brought you here. As much as I admire what you have for her, I would like her to let go at her own pace I won't want you to hurry her." 

       Ethan had smiled.  "Don't worry doctor, like I said I will wait. It won't take forever." 

        "No, it won't," the doctor had said as she shook her head with a smile. 

       As he walked to the car, he realized his heart was thumping and he was thinking about just how long Faith would take to move on from the past. He opened the door and slid in. Faith glanced at him and said nothing. He ignited the car and drove away from the psychiatrist's office premises. 

       They remained silent for a while until they hit the major road.  Then Faith cleared her throat. 

      "Least I forget, Nora said Danny would like us to eat dinner with them  tonight if you are up for it." 

      "Yes, Danny sent me a text. So...we just have a few hours to get dressed." 

       "Oh, yes," Faith said and kept looking ahead. 

     Ethan glanced at her.  "Are you alright?" 

      "What do you think?" Faith asked almost immediately, looking at him. 

        "I think you are not alright." 

        "Bravo." 

       "What's the problem?" 

       "Mood swing, I guess." 

    Ethan looked at her.  "Mood swing? Are you...are you perhaps pregnant?" 

      Faith turned sharply and looked at him.  "What are you saying right now?" 

        "Well, when my sister got pregnant, she always had mood swings and the doctor said it's one of the symptoms of pregnancy." 

       "Don't be silly," Faith said and looked out of the window.  "Mood swings can happen to anyone." 

      Ethan smiled.  "I was kidding, I wanted to tease you a little." 

       "Great, well done, I'm teased." 

       "Thank you." 

       Faith looked at him.  "You and Dr Sanchez, huh?" 

    Ethan looked at her. How could he have missed it? She was jealous, it pleased him, but he decided to play along.   "What about us?" 

       "Do you like her?" Faith asked and wished she could take it back the moment it came out. 

       "Why would you think that?" 

        "Don't try to turn the question on me." 

       "Are you jealous?" Ethan asked with a little chuckle. 

       "Well, I'm sure if you see me with Noah or any other man, you would get jealous. You got jealous of Charlie earlier." 

       "Yes, I will get jealous. I am pleased that you are jealous," he said and looked at her. She was looking at him with a scowl.   "It only means that I am progressing." 

      Faith eyed him, leaned back on the seat and looked out of the window.  "Wake me when we get home." 

        "Yes, ma'am!" 

  Faith jerked up almost immediately.  "How can I let you off the hook like that? Does she like you? Are you in a love triangle right now?" 

     Ethan chuckled.  "At least I have the looks to be in a love triangle, don't I?" 

      Faith sighed.  "Forget it!" she snapped and leaned back on the seat. 

      "You are so cute when you get jealous." 

       "Don't pacify me. Keep driving and don't talk to me." 

      "Yes, ma'am." 

   Faith jerked up again.  "If you like her back, you are so dead." 

      "You are scarier than I thought. What if I like her back? She is pretty and young." 

  Faith paused. She realized that Ethan was still teasing her and she slowly leaned back on the seat.  "Alright, go ahead." 

      Ethan looked at her and smiled.  "If you must know, nothing is going on between Dr Sanchez and me." 

       "Whatever." 

       They arrived at Danny and Nora's later in the evening and were surprised to see the dining decorated with rose-red candles, rose petals and ribbons. Ethan and Faith had dressed casual but when they saw Danny who came to welcome them in, they had a rethink. 

      "Welcome," Danny said. 

        "Thank you," Ethan said and handed him the bottle of champagne.  "We didn't realize it was this serious, we came with casual clothes." 

         "Believe me, this was all Nora's idea. I never knew I would be wearing a tux until later this evening," Danny said and they all laughed. 

       "Where is she?" Faith asked. 

      "She is probably up there, dressing like she was going to eat with the queen of England."  Another laughter, and then Danny called.  "Babe! Babe! Our guests are here!" 

       "Oh, my God! I'm almost there now!" Nora yelled from upstairs. 

      They heard her heels hitting the floor and they all looked up to see Nora in a maxi blue dress, that had a long slit up to her thighs, her hair was parked beautifully and she wore nice make-up that complimented her beautiful face. When she saw Ethan and Faith, she gasped. 

         "Why didn't you dress up from home?" 

         "We didn't know it..." Ethan started to say but Faith cut him short. 

          "We came from my doctor's place. Since I was the last patient for the day, we took a bit of time." 

        "Well, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you are here." 

       "You have a nice dress there," Ethan complimented. 

  Nora beamed with a smile.  "Thank you. Let's get to eat everyone." 

     They proceeded to the dining table. Ethan pulled out a seat for Faith and she sat down. There were different dishes on the table. 

      "Nora, when on earth did you prepare all these?" Faith asked. 

       "After lunch break. Your favourite jambalaya is over there. Tell me what you want to eat and I will dish it for you."

       They talked about a lot of things while eating and laughed a lot as they cracked jokes. But Ethan noticed that Danny was not really happy, he looked like he was bothered by something and the way Nora always glanced at him occasionally showed that Nora had arranged the dinner to cheer him up and he wondered what the problem could be. 

      After dinner, the girls cleared the table and went to the kitchen to do the dishes. Ethan was left alone with Danny. Danny pulled at his tie and removed his suit jacket. Ethan watched him. He was not uncomfortable because Ethan was there, something else was making him uncomfortable. 

    He looked up at Ethan and smiled.  "I must be boring you." 

       "You know, we don't really know each other as the girls do. I mean, we are not as close as they are," Ethan said. 

       "Yes, that's right. So are you and Faith a couple now?" 

         "We are in the process.  Why don't you give me a grand tour of your house, it's big and beautiful." 

        "Sure, why not?"  Danny stood up and poured wine into two glasses. He handed one to Ethan.  "I think we would get better knowing each other." 

      He took the glass and followed Danny.  Danny took him around the house, took him upstairs and showed him different rooms, the Jacuzzis and they went up to the roof where the swimming pool was. 

     "Wow, you sure have great taste,"  Ethan marvelled.

    Danny nodded.  "Yeah, I think I have to cut down on that taste now." 

       "Okay, what's the problem?" 

      "What problem?" Danny asked and sipped his wine. 

       "Come off it, Danny. I know that something is bothering you, I don't mean to pry but you know what they say, a problem shared is half solved." 

      "There is no problem, dude," Danny dismissed it. 

  Ethan hitched his shoulders.  "If you say so." He sipped his drink and looked at the pool.  "I have always dreamt of having a house like this." 

  Danny remained quiet for a while, then he paced a little.  "Since you have suspected, I can as well tell you. It's a burden that I need to let loose anyway." 

       "I am all ears." 

     Danny stared at him for a while.  "I am going bankrupt. I mean I'm broke, but Nora doesn't know the magnitude of the problem. I don't want to make her worry. I mean she knows that I am short of funds, but she doesn't know that I am broke. This house is on a mortgage and I can't tell her, I don't want to ruin her happiness. She is so excited about our wedding coming next month. I don't know what to do. 

      "She feels I'm being hard on myself because she feels she could provide for our needs until I stand on my feet again, but the problem is that I don't see myself standing anytime soon. I don't know what else to." 

     Ethan sipped his drink.  "How much do you need to clear the mortgage and stand back on your feet again?" 

      "It's a huge amount of money, dude." 

       "Name it." 

  Danny stared at him, surprised and then he chuckled.  "Forget about it, bro. I'm glad that I shared it with you, I feel a little relief. Let's go back inside, the girls would be done by now." Danny turned to leave. 

      "Danny?" Danny turned to look at him.   "Do you believe in miracles?" 

       "What has that got to do with anything?" Danny asked, chuckling. 

         "You don't believe I could help you?" 

         "I appreciate your concern but you live in a rented apartment, how could you give me two million dollars?" 

   Ethan smiled a lopsided smile. "Give me your account details." Ethan fetched his phone and handed it to Danny. 

      Danny eyed the phone and looked at Ethan.  "You better not joke with me." 

        "I'm not playing with you, I'm not joking." 

          "No jokes?" 

          "No jokes." 

      Danny took the phone and typed in his account details. Ethan took out his other phone and called his assistant.  

       "Hello, Tyler. I texted you an account I want you to forward three million dollars to that account." Danny's eyes grew wide and he looked around.  "Yes, not from the company's account, do it from my other account. I want it done in two minutes, that's right. Bye." He hung up and looked at Danny.  "Can we go in now?" 

      "No, we can't!" Danny blurted and blocked Ethan's way.   "How can you mention that huge amount of money in my presence at this period?"  

      "I didn't mention it, you said you needed it." 

       "Are you joking with this kind of thing...?" His phone beeped and he took it out from his pocket and looked at the screen. Three million had been transferred to him. He clutched his mouth and looked at Ethan. 

      Ethan smiled.  "Should we go in now?" 

      "Wait, wait. What is... Who the hell are you?!" 

      "That's my wedding present to you. Happy married life in advance." Ethan started going towards the stairs. 

     Danny stood there dazed for a while, then he caught himself and ran after Ethan.   "Wait, what, who are you?" he asked catching up with him. 

       Ethan turned sharply.  "Danny?" 

       "Yes." 

       "I did you a favour and I would like a favour from you too." 

         "What's that ?" 

         "Don't tell Faith about this, don't tell Nora because she would tell Faith."  Danny seems not to be listening.  "Danny, did you hear me?" 

        "Yes, yes, yes, I did." 

         "Deal," Ethan said and went away.