I don’t know if Tom has an English accent when speaking Spanish, but when I read the Te quiero I heard the accent clearly. I didn’t think the message needed a response, so I deleted it and headed home.
Chapter fifteen
When I got home Ethan was just opening the front door so I walked in right behind him.
“How was your day?” he asked with a smile.
“It was normal. Nothing special really. Yours?”
“Just a lot of rounds in the hospital. Plus I assisted in a surgery on a guy who had a massive tumor near his heart.”
“Is he alright?”
“Hopefully he will be. We removed most of the tumor, and now he’ll need chemo treatments.”
“Man that sucks. I would be so scared if that happened to me.”
“But at least you know you would have your own personal doctor who would take care of you as best he could, making the process easier,” he said as he hugged me and kissed my cheek.
“That’s good to know… I guess.”
“Hey, what do you think about having pizza and watching a movie tonight?”
“Sounds like fun. Can we eat chocolate ice cream too?”
“Sure! Call the pizza guy and I’ll go rent a movie and buy ice cream.”
Ethan put all his stuff down and left to go get the movie and ice cream. As he was walking out the door he looked back. “Do you want to watch anything specific?”
“Not really. How about you just get a movie that makes me think?”
“Ok. See you in a bit.”
I took my phone out and saw another message from Tamara, aka Tom.
“Are you still mad at me?”
“No, why?” I responded.
“You never responded to my other message.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Oh, ok. I thought you were still mad. I can’t wait to see you again. Much less till we spend some time together.”
“Me too. I have to go though. I’m already home and although Ethan’s not here right now he’ll be back any minute. Bye.”
“Bye, take care.”
As soon as I read the last message I deleted them all and dialed the pizza place. Ethan got back 30 minutes later. About 10 minutes after that the pizza guy was at the door. We paid him and then sat down in front of the TV, pizza in hand, ready to start our movie date. I ate about half the pizza and two cups of ice cream. They were both so good and so was the movie. Ethan picked a romantic drama and I couldn’t stop crying during the whole movie. We were both really tired after that, so we each took a shower and went to bed. At first we were talking about different things but after a while Ethan fell asleep, so I went to sleep as well.
When I woke up in the morning Ethan had already left for work, and I had a message on my phone from him. “I get out of work around 7. Have a nice day. I Love You.”
“I love you too. See you tonight,” I texted back.
Later on I got to work and Tom was waiting for me at my desk. As soon as he saw me he smiled and waved.
I reached him and he gave me a hug. “Hey, how are you?”
“I’m good. What about you?”
“Much better, thank God. The plumber was able to fix the pipe so water stopped flooding my apartment. But I had to spend the whole afternoon and most of the night drying the floor. A friend helped but it still took forever.”
“I’m glad you were able fix the problem.”
“So do you want to do anything after work?”
“I have to be home by seven, so if anything we can go to your apartment for a while after work.”
“Ok, that’s perfect. I cooked just in case you said yes.”
“What if I said no?”
“Then I would have a lot of food to eat by myself...Anyway, I’ll be out at four on the dot and we can go.”
“Ok, can’t wait.” Tom then walked away.
A few later minutes I got a text from him that said, “By the way, you’re beautiful.”
After exchanging a few more messages with Tom, work went by pretty quickly and at four I ran into him at the time clock. We both clocked out and headed out of the building. We got to his apartment at about 4:10.
“So what would you like to do?” he asked as we walked in.
“I’m not sure. What about you?”
“Anything is fine with me. Would you like to see the library you didn’t get to see last time?”
“Oh my God, yes! That’s perfect.”
We walked up the stairs and into the library. This place was pure perfection. It was a lot bigger than one would expect from the outside. At the end there was a desk that I presume was where Tom did his work. The desk had a clear glass top and the legs that held it up were made of gray metal; there was a black chair behind it. The computer was on top of the desk and some books were opened next to it. Strangely, the walls of this room weren’t white but two shades of gray, one lighter than the other. However, the floor tiles were completely white and so were some of the decorations. There were shelves of books both on the right wall and the left wall. There could easily be 2,000 books in this library and that thought made me extremely happy. If my collection reached 300 books it was pushing it. Which truly does suck because I love reading, always have loved it and probably always will. There was a black couch near the door but there was enough space so you could walk around comfortably. In front of the couch there was a round small couch that looked like it could be a coffee table. There was also a tall gray lamp next to his desk, a lamp that could be moved easily to brighten a specific place.
“So many books. I love it,” I said, bouncing from foot to foot.
“What would you like to read?”
“What do you have to read?”
“A little bit of everything really.”
“Ok, how about Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen?”
“I do have that one. A great choice. I read it about 7 years ago and have to say I really liked it. Sometimes I feel the woman’s touch is too present, but it’s still a good book.”
“I feel like the book is perfect because the love story is so perfect. “
“Yet it’s so unrealistic.”
“Come on. It’s not like the whole story is positive.”
“Yes, but the story ends well for everyone.”
“No, nnot everyone. What about Lydia? She was practically shamed for running away with Mr. Wickham. They were poor and no one really approved of what they did.”
“Yes, but Mr. Darcy fixed that whole mess.”
“Ok I’ll admit that he did fix the whole thing.”
“Therefore, I would say that was the only major problem that might still be bad at the end of the novel and it was fixed, so the story is pretty positive and unrealistic. In real life someone would have probably died or they would never have gotten together.”
“I must say, someone is very negative.”
“Life is negative and dark,” he said with a chuckle.
“Whatever,” I said with a wry smile. “Just look for the book.”
He walked to his computer, started typing something, then walked to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a book. “Here it is,” he said, handing it to me.
“What do you have in your computer to help you organize your books?”
“A book tracker.”
“Oh, ok. Should we start reading?”
“Let me just go get some food for each of us and we can start.”
“What did you make?”
“Lasagna, garlic bread, vegetables and grape juice.”
“Ok, but remember no vegetables for me. I don’t like them.”
“Got it. I’ll be back soon.”
He walked out of the room and I sat on the couch. About 5 minutes later he came back with plates and put them on the floor. He walked out of the room again and a few minutes later came back with two cups filled with juice and placed them next to the plates. “How about I start reading while you eat and then when you’re done
eating you can read and I’ll eat?”
“Sounds perfect.”
He put his back against the round couch and started reading as I started eating. The food was so delicious. The lasagna had beef in it and the taste of the beef was vey good. It had a lot of cheese but even so it didn’t fall apart. Garlic bread rarely tastes bad and grape juice is always good. I started paying more attention to his words; they all sounded so perfect as they rolled off his tongue. He made Jane Austen’s book sound like heaven on this earth, and I loved every minute of it.
I finished eating and he smiled at me. “Looks like it’s your turn to read” he said, passing me the book.
I grabbed the book and he started to eat. I read as fast but as gracefully as I could, but I was so nervous I stumbled on some words. He didn’t seem to mind though and just listened to me read silently while he kept eating his food. When he finished eating I offered the book to him so he could keep reading, but he said no and told me he just wanted to keep hearing me read. After I read a while Tom offered to read again. We kept taking turns reading until I asked what time it was.
“It’s 6:20 pm.”
“Oh, I have to go soon,” I said, wrinkling my brow. “Ethan get’s home soon.”
We grabbed the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen. Then I walked to the door and he kissed me goodbye. I took a taxi home and got there before Ethan did. I took a shower and by the time Ethan got home I was already in bed.
He also took a shower then came and laid with me in bed. “How was your day?” he asked.
“It was good,” I said.
“What did you do?”
“I worked till four o clock. After that I ate lasagna with garlic bread that a coworker gave me and read a bit of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.”
“Oh I’m glad you got to read. I know how much you like that.”
“You’re right, I do like to read. What about you? How was work?”
“It was normal, except for one patient who was being extremely uncooperative.”
“I’m sorry. I hate it when bad clients come to the office.”
“It happens. I’m just really tired,” he said, leaning his head on my chest.
“I am too,” I said as I started to play with his hair. He soon fell asleep so I leaned over and turned off the light. After a while I too fell asleep, with dreams of Tom filling my mind.
Chapter sixteen
For the next four months I spent about equal amounts of time with both Tom and Ethan. It was pretty balanced on each end. Which was actually very bad. I felt that I was starting to feel more for Tom but didn’t really feel less for Ethan. Whenever Ethan worked late I would go over to Tom’s apartment where we would read for hours and hours. After we finished a book we would discuss it. On some days we would just go for a swim. We would also watch movies on Tom’s bed and eat ice cream. On other occasions we would cook together and even throw the ingredients at each other when someone started to get a little cocky about their cooking. When Ethan would get home early I would just go eat in a restaurant with Tom or we would eat in a small taco or hot dog cart near our job. Ethan didn’t notice any significant change in me, even though I could feel it myself. Every moment that I spent with Tom was extremely special. Our thoughts aligned perfectly, even though sometimes we did disagree on little things that were truly insignificant. We started making a link with each other and when I would go home I would feel like a part of me was still with Tom.
My guilt over the situation had completely dissolved, and even though I knew I should feel bad I felt absolutely nothing. No remorse. No regret. I had so much joy in me I couldn’t feel a wink of guilt and this joy Ethan did notice. Ethan was extremely happy with the way I was acting and he also started treating me a lot better. He would try to spend more time with me and he started focusing a lot more on the small details. Many days he would arrive with flowers, chocolate or just some simple gift. On some days when he got home early from work he would help around the house. That was at least three times a week. When he got home before me there would always be food waiting for me. Ethan was being a perfect man and a perfect partner, but it felt too late, as my heart was completely divided.
One morning Ethan walked into our room and sat on the bed.
“Hey, babe,” he said with a smile. “So I wanted to let you know that the hospital wants me to go to a conference this weekend. This time I can’t come home early because it’s only three days. I just wanted to make sure you knew that.”
“It’s ok. I understand. I’ll just go out with some of the girls from work and read during the weekend.”
My thoughts instantly went to Tom and what we could do that weekend.
“I’m so glad,” he said as he kissed me on my cheek. “I have to go to work now, so I’ll see you later,” and with that he walked out of the room.
I got ready for work and tried to get there as early as I could to tell Tom what Ethan had told me. He was usually about 15 minutes early so when I got to work I just texted him and he came to my desk.
“You wanted to tell me something?” he said, poking at a decorative apple I had on my desk.
“Ethan told me the hospital wanted him to attend another conference so he’s not going to be here this weekend.”
“Interesting,” he replied, his eyebrows lifting and his gorgeous face brightening. “Then we should go somewhere.”
“I thought so too. Where should we go?”
“Don’t worry about any of that. I’ll take care of all the details.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. This may be one of the few chances that I can go all out and do something very nice for you.”
“Ok, fine. Just tell me what I have to bring and I have no problem.”
“Ok, I’ll let you know when I’m done planning everything.”
He walked away, leaving me thinking about what would he might possibly plan. The rest of the day went by slowly and after a tiresome day I was home again. Ethan arrived about two hours after I did with a huge teddy bear that was almost as tall as he is. It had big brown eyes and its fur was light brown. I ran toward Ethan and touched the bear. It was so soft. He handed me the bear, but I could barely grab the whole thing, so I placed it on the floor.
“You told me a while back that you would like it if I bought you a giant teddy bear. So here it is.”
“Oh my God! Thanks, honey. I love it.”
“I figured you would.”
I took the bear to the room and placed it on the bed. Ethan walked in behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “I also brought you a movie.”
“What did you bring?”
“I brought an action movie.”
“Ok nice.”
“Do you want to watch it now?”
“Let me cook and then we can watch it.”
I walked to the kitchen and started looking through the fridge. “What would you like to eat?” I called out to Ethan.
“Let’s just eat simple today,” he responded from the living room. “Are there any hotdogs?”
I looked through the freezer until I saw some hotdogs in the back. “There are,” I yelled.
“Just cook those so we can watch the movie.”
“Ok, perfect.”
When the hotdogs were done we both sat down in front of the TV and started watching the movie. We finished eating and Ethan pulled me close to him so that I would lie on his chest until the movie ended. The movie finished and we got ready to go to sleep. We were on the bed and I was reading a book when Ethan suggested I read out loud.
I instantly thought of Tom and how we read together. It might sound selfish, but I didn’t want to share this with Ethan so I just closed the book. “I’m really tired, babe. Can we do it another day?”
“Sure. Are you ok?”
“Yeah I’m ok... just very tired.”
“Ok. Well, good night,” he said and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I felt a surge of guilt because of t
he lie I told him, but the last thing I wanted was to mix my two lives together.
Chapter seventeen
The rest of the week went by without anything special occurring. On Friday Ethan left for his conference and I was anxious to know where Tom would take me. I got to work and he was waiting for me at my desk like most days. He smiled at me and waited till I got to him.
“I have everything planned for this weekend. Ethan get’s back on Monday, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Ok. I’ll pick you up at your apartment today around 5 o clock. We’ll stay where we are going till Sunday.”
“Ok, so what do I need to bring?”
“You need a bathing suit, clothes to just walk around, sports clothes and also some elegant clothing.”
“That’s a lot to bring for just one weekend, don’t you think?”
“It is, but you’ll enjoy it. Trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“Good, then I’ll see you later at your apartment.”
I didn’t see him again till lunch when we went to eat some tacos in a taco cart near our offices. At four I left work and as soon as I got home I started packing as fast as I could so Tom wouldn’t have to wait for me. When packing I started by putting in a hot pink two-piece, a semi tight gray dress mixed with a bit of blue, which seemed like it constantly sparkled even though it had no type of glitter. I took a pair of navy blue Bermuda shorts and white shirt to go with it. Next I packed two long jeans and some t-shirts, black exercise pants and a few tank tops. The cutest and sexiest pair of pajamas I could find was the only thing I packed to sleep at night. For each outfit I also packed a pair of shoes and put an amount of underwear that could be considered as exaggerated. I had just finished packing my bags when I heard the doorbell ring. When I opened the door there was Tom, sexy as ever, wearing a tight black shirt, black glasses and long jeans that were a dark blue but seemed kind of faded, the type a rocker might wear. Every single part of him looked amazing, his chest and arms looked strong and firm, he looked tall, broad and his legs fit perfectly in his jeans. He walked into the apartment and closed the door behind him. He started kissing me, and the next thing I knew we were in my bedroom.
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