TheMysteriousManReturns
1305 Words
Liza had just decided something.
“It’s a choice out of concern.
Partly out of fear.
And partly self-interest.
One decision that would change everything.
Suddenly the bell of the bakery rang down below.
Someone was in the room.
Liza looked to the stairs.
Then back to Ethan.
“Stay here.
The tension in his face deepened.
“Why?”
“I will tell you later.”
She rushed downstairs before he could argue.
The bell rang once more.
There was a tall man by the counter.
Costly suit.
High-priced watch.
Eyes cold.
The sort of man who didn’t belong in a small-town bakery at all.
He smiled at sight of Liza.
It was not a friendly smile.
It was a smile of someone hunting.
“Good morning,” he said slickly.
Liza’s instincts screamed danger at once.
“You need something?”
For a moment the man’s eyes flicked towards the stairs.
Then back to her.
"I want someone.
A tremor ran down her spine.
“Who.
The man reached into his coat.
And took a picture.
Liza turned cold as ice.
Ethan Brown’s photo.
And the man asking looked very much like someone not hoping to bring him home.
Liza’s heart pounded in her ears.
The picture in the stranger's hand seemed to sear her eyes.
Ethan Brown.
He couldn't be confused.
The same blue eyes.
Same dark hair.
The same face that's now upstairs in her apartment.
The stranger smiled civilly.
Too politely,
"I was looking for him.
All Liza's instincts told her that something was wrong.
Dangerously incorrect.
She forced herself to stay calm.
“I’m sorry,” she said, arms crossed. “Never seen him before.”
The man gazed at her.
Not just casually.
Carefully .
As if he was weighing every word.
Every time you blink.
Every single breathe.
His eyes drifted back to the stairs.
Liza shifted a little so he couldn't see.
There was a flicker in his eyes.
Distrust.
He saw
He noticed, of course.
Guys like him were keyed into everything.
“How interesting.”
“’What’s?’”
“The bakery owner across the street said you let someone in during the storm.
Liza’s stomach sank.
Of course someone had seen.
In small towns everything was seen.
Rememered everything.
We talked about everything.
She got out a laugh.
“Some drunk customer, maybe.”
The man smiled once more.
But the smile did not reach his eyes this time.
“I get it.”
None of them said anything.
The air was heavy.
Oppressive.
Dangerous.
Then Noah’s laughter floated down from the flat above.
Liza came to a dead stop.
The stranger heard it, too.
His eyes went up at once.
Towards the ceiling.
For Ethan.
To her son.
Her heart froze.
Don't go up, please.
This is what I'm talking about.
The man put the picture back in his pocket.
...if you should see him
His eyes locked with hers.
Dial this number immediately.
He gave her a business card.
Liza picked it up.
When their fingers touched, she was suddenly cold all over.
The man bowed his head politely.
Then he turned and left.
The bell over the bakery door tinkled softly.
The door shut.
And only then did Liza realize she had been holding her breath.
She immediately locked the bakery door.
Then he looked out the windows.
Two times.
Her heart was still pounding when she got back to the apartment.
Ethan was on the couch when she found him.
He sat down beside him.
Both were sitting with dinosaur toys.
Liza halted.
It was a laughable sight.
The billionaire on TV.
The mighty CEO.
The Billionaire.
Currently being dragged to a dinosaur tea party.
Noah grabbed a green plastic T-Rex.
“This one’s King Dino.
Ethan nodded his head soberly.
“Impressive.”
"And this one is Queen Dino.
Another hint.
“Good too.
Noah squinted.
“You have to do the dinosaur voices.”
Ethan looked genuinely unsure, for the first time since she'd met him.
“Do I?”
“Yes.
“Do you have to?”
“That’s the law.”
Liza put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
Ethan tried, actually, to her surprise.
The dinosaur roar that followed was horrible.
Horrible.
Noah laughed.
Genuine laughter.
The kind that filled the whole room.
And then something happened.
Something neither grown-up looked for.
Ethan chuckled as well.
Not civilly.
Not clumsily.
Really.
The sound changed him.
The sadness was no more.
The tension evaporated.
For a moment he looked young again.
Lighter
Human being.
Liza couldn’t take her eyes off.
Not even Noah.
The little boy scooted over at once.
Like some invisible power.
Ethan looked just as surprised by the movement.
But he did not recoil.
Instead his expression softened.
Almost automatically.
Liza felt a tightness in her throat.
There was no denying the connection between them.
And she knew why exactly.
Even if neither of them did.
⸻
Noah insisted on helping Ethan build a cardboard dinosaur castle later that afternoon.
Which mostly consisted of making a mess.
A huge, huge mess.
Liza was watching in the kitchen.
She should’ve been working.
Should have been balancing invoices.
Should have been figuring out how to pay next month’s expenses.
Instead she found herself watching Ethan.
Watching him with Noah.
Seeing him smile.
Watching him become someone entirely different from the cold billionaire she’d seen on television.
And the more she looked the more puzzled she became.
How could he be the same man as in those news reports of a ruthless CEO?
That was no sense at all.
Ethan Brown made no sense.
The way he looked at Noah in particular.
As if some hidden part of him already knew.
As if his heart knew what his brain did not.
Noah suddenly climbed on Ethan's lap.
The movement was natural.
Easy.
A child needing comfort.
Ethan stopped dead.
For a fleeting moment something flickered across his face.
A strange feeling.
Powerful.
Beautiful.
Almost hurting.
Then he flung an arm round the boy without thinking.
In a protective way.
Not quite.
Like he'd done it a thousand times before.
The room fell silent.
Liza stopped to breathe.
She’d seen that gesture before.
Five years back.
The night Noah was born.
The memory struck her in the face.
A ballroom at a luxury hotel.
A charity event for a corporation.
Her first real talk with Ethan Brown.
Before it all went wrong.
Before the allegations.
Before the scandal
Before the broken hearts.
He'd looked at her like she was interested in the past.
She hadn’t known then that loving him would eventually destroy her life.
Liza quickly wiped the memory away.
Not right now.
No more.
Five years to put herself back together.
Five years of raising Noah by herself.
Five years of telling herself she was over it.
She wouldn’t return to that pain.
But somehow Ethan’s presence was tearing open wounds she’d carefully buried.
“Mummy?
Liza blinked.
Noah was watching her.
“So?”
"So what?
The little boy gave a dramatic sigh.
“The question.
“What question?”
The question of importance.
Ethan looked just as confused.
Noah jabbed at Ethan.
Can he stay for dinner?
Liza almost laughed.
Only Noah could have a billionaire with amnesia as a dinner guest.
The little boy’s eyes lit up with hope.
“Please.
Liza looked up at Ethan.
He looked almost nervous, surprisingly.
As if her answer made any difference.
Much too often than it should.
Something inside her chest gave an unexpected flap.
Not invited.
And she crushed it right away.
He can stay, of course.
Noah shouted.
Ethan smiled. “
And for a brief moment, everyone looked happy.
Too happy, which was probably why fate decided to ruin it.
- Writer
