Chapter 4
1655 Words
Ethan didn’t go home for two days.
He lodged in a luxury hotel and drove aimlessly through Manhattan until the sky bruised with evening and the city lights blinked awake one by one. His mind kept replaying the same thing—” the Paris girl” and also his irresistible likeness to the new maid. A ghost tugging at his memory plus not being home was the only way Caitlyn would leave to avoid further arguments with her.
His phone buzzed.
It was Caitlyn
He ignored it. Again.
The next buzz wasn’t Caitlyn, it was Liam.
“Dude,” Liam said as soon as he picked up, “where are you I've had a thousand messages from Caitlyn..saying you are missing or probably kidn*pped”.
Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s nothing just needed alone time”.
“You only say ‘it’s nothing’ when it’s everything. Talk.”
He hesitated. “It’s the new maid.”
Silence. Then… “Please tell me you didn’t sleep with her already,” Liam said shockingly
“What? No! Of course not!” he snapped.
“Oh hell,” Liam groaned. “Not Paris again.”
Ethan slumped back in the driver’s seat. “I don’t know, man. For months, I tried to forget that night but it just keeps haunting me”.
“Bro she's nowhere to be found..like she doesn't want to be found, just go home man everyone is worried sick about you, gotta go”
“Right,” he hung.
After that night, the confrontation with Caitlyn and the strange, breath-stealing closeness she’d shared with Ethan…she wanted space and no headaches but she couldn't seem to find the cure for the migraines she had of being worried sick about the thought that Ethan was missing or kidn*pped.
He returned home around 11 pm that night while everyone was asleep.
Ethan headed to the kitchen for water but stopped dead at the doorway.
Talia was there alone. Standing on a small step stool, reaching for a box on the top shelf. Her hair was tied up messily, a few strands falling down her neck in her pajamas barefoot.
She was effortlessly Gorgeous.
He almost turned away—but her foot slipped.
“Hey….”Ethan lunged forward and caught her by the waist.
They froze.
Her breath hitched softly. Ethan’s fingers tightened instinctively, his pulse kicking hard against his ribs. he swore he felt something electric pass between them.
“Th—thank goodness you're home and alive, we were worried “she whispered, slightly flustered but not trembling.
He exhaled slowly with a smile. “Don’t climb things when no one’s around.” he kept her down.
“Silly me I had so much trust in the stool” she smiled back.
“We were worried…or you were worried…” as he cupped her face gazing into her eyes.
“Hmmmmmmmm we were… I..was… yes.. I was…”. Stuttering.
“You're so cute… it's fascinating how one lady can be this beautiful “.Touching her lips leaning for a kiss before he snapped.” I need to go rest, tomorrow’s a long…… day at the office” He left for his room.
As Talia stood there breathless.
The next morning she entered the living room with fresh towels with last night's moment with Ethan clouding her head just as Ethan walked in from the hallway, sleeves rolled up, collar undone, hair slightly damp from a shower. He froze when he saw her.
And she, for a moment, forgot how to breathe.
“Good morning,” he said softly.
Her fingers tightened on the towels. “G-good morning… Ethan.”
“Did you miss me last night?” he said.
“…..whatt….” with her eyes wide open.
Ethan reached out before thinking, lifting her chin with a gentle touch. Her eyes widened. His thumb barely brushed her skin, but it felt like a spark.
“Talia,” he murmured, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, not Caitlyn, not anyone.”
Her breath caught as he held her waist.
“I like you a lot.…and honestly it feels so unreal” as he kissed her on the head.
Unluckily for them Caitlyn witnessed everything and before Taila could reply Caitlyn broke the silence.
“What a good day to capture a heartfelt moment of my soon-to-be husband and a maid.. isn't this cinematic worthy”
Talia stuttled with fear.
“Caitlyn…why are you here?”
Talia immediately left for the kitchen.
“To see you, my love, I almost died worrying about you” touching his face.
“How many times will I tell you were never gonna get married”.
“Oh, now I see the reason why….. Because of your little toy,” she snapped.” But honey you don't have a choice ….its either we get married or your little thing vanishes to thin air” She smiled deadly as she left.
“Don't you dare touch her……..” pacing as he took his briefcase and headed to work.
At lunch, Ethan narrated everything that happened to his best friends in his office.
“How can that lunatic Caitlyn threaten me with Talia just to get married to her?….”
“Men I've always known that girl was born crazy…maybe just too crazy to be crazy” Marco said.
“I think I'm missing a puzzle or two here…when did it transition from the French kiss to the maid Ethan?”.
“I don't know bro it just happened that I'm in love with two women that make me feel connected “
“Wow… I love this...a love triangle”.Liam said air drawing a triangle with his fingers.
“Stupid….so what's the plan are you getting married to Caitlyn..?if yes or no what's gonna happen to Talia? Liam asked.
“Protect Talia at all costs..I know how devious and manipulative the Harringtons can be and with my dad being at their side of the coin there's every possibility that Caitlyn will win. Truly loving someone is always making sure they are protected. So yes I don't mind pulling through with the wedding as long as Talia is safe” he replied calmly.
“Things we do for love….but a big question is what if mystery lips shows up?..then will Talia still exist?”They all stared speechless at each other.
Ethan found Talia in the laundry room later, folding shirts carefully, her face still pale from earlier. He leaned on the doorframe, watching her for several seconds.
“You okay?” he asked.
She startled, pressing a palm to her chest. “I… didn’t hear you.”
“You never do,” he said, stepping inside. “You move like a ghost.”
“That’s the point,” she murmured. “Good housekeepers disappear.”
He frowned. “I don’t want you to disappear.”
Talia blinked up at him soft, startled, vulnerable in a way that made his chest ache.
He picked up a shirt from the basket. It was one of his.
Without thinking, Talia snatched it back. “I—I’ll fold that.”
Ethan raised a brow. “You think I can’t fold my own shirt?”
“No, I just—”
He began folding it.
Horribly.
Talia stared.
“That’s not..wait..no…stop..”
He looked at his work. It resembled a wrinkled rectangle fighting for its life.
Talia burst into laughter before she could stop herself.
A real laugh.
Soft. Bright. Beautiful.
Ethan froze.
He hadn’t heard that sound in years. Not since his mother was alive.
Something warm spread inside him—slow, deep, impossible to ignore.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh,” he said quietly.
Talia’s smile faded into shy embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean”
“Don’t apologize.” He stepped closer. “I liked it.”
Her cheeks flushed.
The silence felt warm, full, charged.
“Talia,” he said slowly, “does this… feel strange to you?”
Her fingers trembled “What do you mean?”.
“This,” he murmured. “Every time you walk into a room, it’s like…” He stopped, exhaling heavily. “It’s like the air changes.”
Her heart flipped painfully.
She shouldn’t ask. She shouldn’t care.
But her voice betrayed her.
“How?”
Ethan’s eyes dropped to her lips—just for a fraction of a second, but she felt it like heat.
“Like gravity,” he whispered. “Like everything pulls toward you.”
Her breath shuddered.
“Ethan…” she whispered.
His hand lifted slowly, hesitantly reaching for a loose curl near her cheek. He brushed it back gently, fingers grazing her skin. She felt it in her spine.
“Talia.”
Their faces drifted closer. Both breathless. Both trembling.
Her pulse hammered. His eyes softened.
It would take nothing for him to close the distance.
Then there was a knock
The air shattered as James entered the kitchen.
“Mr. Rossi,” James said stiffly. “Your father is on the line. He says it’s urgent.”
Ethan scrubbed a hand over his face. “Of course he does.”
He turned back to Talia for a moment, eyes lingering, burning with something unsaid.
“We’ll… talk later,” he murmured.
She nodded, throat too tight to speak.
When he left, her legs weakened. She slid into the nearest chair, heart pounding uncontrollably as she had a glitched and blurred memory of a kiss.
What was happening?
Why did being near him feel like remembering something she never lived?
And Ethan walking toward his office felt equally shaken.
He had wanted to kiss her.
He had almost kissed her.
And the terrifying part?
Every cell in his body was screaming that it wouldn’t have been the first time.
- Writer
