Ethan didn’t say anything, but he turned around to face me directly. I could feel his eyes on my face, and I quickly nced down at the floor, scared to meet his eyes.


    "You don’t have to act so formal around me. It freaks me out," Ethan whispered close to my ear.


    Suddenly, he was so close. My body froze as his warm breath tickled my ear. Without knowing how to respond, I just nodded my head slightly.


    "You’re free now, right? What about a coffee?" Ethan asked casually.


    I opened my mouth to decline his invitation; however, the slightly tight grip of his hand around my wrist told me that I better reconsider my response.


    "Ethan…" I said his name as I started to pull my arm away.


    His grip immediately tightened, and I started to feel eyes on us.


    "Come along, Malissa. You don’t want to make a scene here, do you?" Ethan whispered softly. His tone as calm as ever.


    "We can just talk here…" I said.


    "It’s just coffee…unless you’re expecting something more…" Ethan teased as he smiled mischievously at me.


    It didn’t seem like negotiating with him would get me anywhere. I knew Ethan very well and if he hasn’t changed much since then, then he’s not going to take no for an answer. I was always following him around and doing everything exactly like how he wanted me to while we were together. Although Ethan was kind, loving and extremely adorable back then, he was very authoritative.


    "Just coffee," I said firmly.


    "Just coffee…" Ethan replied with a pleased smile.


    I sighed loudly as I pulled my hand back and this time, he willingly let it go. Without saying another word, Ethan began leading me out of the exhibition hall. As I followed him, I couldn’t help remembering how we spent our days together back then. Just like those times, Ethan trusted that I would follow him just because he said that I should. He didn’t even turn back to look at me.


    He just knew that I would follow him.


    If I meet him in a public ce like this popr café, then it should be a problem. He can’t do anything to me here so I should be fine. Nervously, I sat opposite him as I watched him sip on his coffee while I haven’t drank any of my lemon tea. How the hell did I end up here with Ethan? This is ridiculously strange…


    "Umm…you had something that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked softly.


    Since he hasn’t said anything since we sat down, it made me feel even more nervous. I wished that he would just spit it out so that we can get this awkward talk over and done with for good.


    "How are things with Hayden? Did you guys break it off?" Ethan asked casually like it was no big deal.


    I wasn’t sure if he had always been this insensitive or he was intentionally asking me this to ram a nail through my already broken heart. Regardless of his intentions, his words cut deep, and it hurt like crazy.


    "I guess so. I haven’t seen or heard from him for around three months now since the contract came to an end…" I replied as I tried to keep my voice from shaking.


    I wondered why Ethan was asking. Silently, I prayed that he wouldn’t ask for us to get back together again. Getting back with Ethan was just impossible for me now and I doubt that he still felt the same way about me.


    "Is that so…" Ethan said as he nodded his head slightly.


    "Ethan…why are you really here?" I asked.


    "To check up on my ex. You know, make sure that she’s doing ok with her new life and all…" Ethan replied before smiling gently at me.


    "After all this time?" I asked, almost snapping at him.


    "Oh…are you mad?" Ethan said teasingly.


    "No…I’m not…" I muttered slowly.


    Ethan put his coffee cup down before he threw his head back andughed so loudly that the other customers in the café turned around to look at us. Ethan really does stand out and sometimes not for the best reasons.


    "Why are youughing…?" I asked.


    "Because it’s funny. I like it when you’re mad and trying to hide it…" Ethan said, stillughing lightly.


    "Why are you here?" I asked again.


    Ethan’s green eyes narrowed at my suddenly sharp tone as he stared deeply into my eyes and leaned closer to me across the small table. After a few seconds of silence had passed by between us, Ethan smiled a little and broke eye contact.


    "Why do you think I’m here?" he asked instead of replying to my question.


    I hated it when he did this. Ethan wasn’t someone that was easy to talk to. He’s also very tight lipped about things that he doesn’t want to talk about.


    "Listen, I’m not getting back together with you if that’s what you wanted to ask…" I said with conviction.


    "Who said that that was what I want?" Ethan asked with an innocent look on his face.


    "You said it! On the cruise…" I said in frustration. How dare he make me remind him?


    "Oh, that…I’ll tell you about thatter. For now, why don’t youe a little closer…" Ethan whispered as if he was about to tell me a deep dark secret.


    He’s always been so secretive and back while we were together, I’d always found him to be so alluringly attractive because of it. I sighed before I let him get close enough to me to whisper into my ear.


    "I want to reunite and form a union between Torex and Silva…" Ethan whispered.


    "…what?!" I eximed loudly.


    What he had said was so unexpected that I literally jumped up from my seat. I felt the eyes of the people around us on me and I turned to shyly apologize to them before sitting back down on my seat.


    Did I hear that right just now?


    "What did you just say?" I whispered back in shock.


    "I said that I want to reunite and form a union between the Torex and the Silva gang," Ethan repeated.


    --To be continued…