He is Enchanted

Exhausting Wednesday

Ethan was agitated for two days straight.

A lot was going on this Wednesday, but what troubled Ethan the most was when Mrs. Pearson and Liana came to his office. Ethan was close to getting out of his office and heading straight to the Early rise coffee bar; he waited in front of the elevator. When the elevator door opened, Mrs. Pearson and Liana got out of the elevator.

It was so unexpected that Ethan almost shouted some inappropriate words in front of them. Even though she was sure that Liana would chuckle, Mrs. Pearson would show the opposite reaction. It's better not to let this happen; there are much better ways to make Liana chuckle.

After having a "lovely" conversation in his father's office for twenty minutes, what troubled Ethan even more was that his mother joined them out of nowhere.

Not only was Ethan irritated, but Liana too, she just nodded or shook her head, and sometimes she was busy with her phone.

Ethan knew it well; Liana wasn't that type of person who would spend time on the phone when she talked with other people.

She did it because he was irritated with their parents. She probably didn't even know this would happen, nor did Ethan.

Ethan also believes that Roman didn't know about this either. Even crazier is that the three of them may be kept this meeting a secret from Roman.

Because if that old man found out, he would indeed grumble because he saw his daughter being dragged around like a worthless doll.

Including when their parent brings them to an exhibition held by a well-known fashion brand. The exhibition was filled with their latest collection from their brand.

It's not only the new collection. There are also old collections on display, based on the conversation between Mrs. Oakland and Mrs. Pearson.

Ethan didn't really know Liana well, but he knew right away that these clothes and bags weren't something Liana liked.

According to Ethan, Liana prefers simple clothes but still has feminine elements like floral or soft colors like white, pink, blue, and light green.

But most importantly, Liana likes lightweight clothes, so she can move freely.

Meanwhile, the collection currently on display is quite the opposite of what Liana prefers.

Ethan saw a yellow blazer, a long red furry skirt, and the most horrified clothe they're ever seen, which Mrs. Pearson and Mrs. Oakland buy, is a long red and black plaid skirt with a shimmering glitter in every inch of the skirt.

"Liana," called Ethan.

Liana leaned closer to Ethan while the three of them saw the skirt and other items.

"Just imagine if the squares were black and white, they'd be like a walking chessboard."

Liana was so shocked, she even pushed Ethan, making Ethan stagger and hit a chair behind him. Luckily there wasn't anything on the chair, so the wooden chair with floral motifs was only moved a few inches from its position.

Finally, Liana and Ethan fell silent when their parents finished paying at the cashier. It seems they didn't realize that Liana and Ethan had a conversation earlier if they realized they would tease the two to talk more.

After the exhibition, they went to a hotel to eat dinner.

Ethan sighed.

It turns out that Roman's presence at times like this can undoubtedly save Ethan and Liana.

Because now their parents want to talk about Ethan and Liana's wedding.

Like what kind of dress Liana will wear, where they will hold the wedding, how luxurious the wedding is, how many days the wedding should be, and which city or country the wedding will be held.

"Paris, it must be outstanding if they got married in Paris."

"Or London."

While Ethan and Liana pretended not to hear their conversation, they had busy eating their food.

Actually, Ethan and Liana's misfortune didn't end there because a group of the middle-aged woman came a few moments later.

And as one might have speculated, they were Mrs. Pearson and Mrs. Oakland's fiends.

Ethan even saw Liana holding her own hand like someone praying, her forehead touching his hand.

What happened next was all expected. They would show off.

Then the following agenda is taking pictures.

Here Ethan and Liana decided not to be in the photo, so they both stood up and called for a waiter to hold the camera.

"Liana."

Liana turned her head, but she looked at Ethan with an annoyed face because she wasn't in a good mood.

"If I asked you to go to the rooftop, would you like it?"

Liana sighed.

Actually, they don't have another choice because after taking pictures and uploading the photo on social media, the following agenda is to show off.

Right, back to the first agenda. It seems that they didn't have anything else to do except show off.

Liana and Ethan both know that their mother will show them both off.

But if Liana and Ethan decided to go to the rooftop together, they would definitely be teased.

But after serious consideration, Liana nodded her head.

Liana felt that it was better to be teased than to hear how their parents showed off her and Ethan.

In the end, with great effort, Ethan managed to convince his parents and Mrs. Pearson if he wanted to be given some alone time with Liana because they had not been able to find time to be alone.

So here is Ethan and Liana now. They brought a glass of wine and went to the rooftop.

Actually, the atmosphere of this roof is quite romantic; the roof looks more like a garden, coupled with the transparent ceiling and window, allowing them to look up at the sky above them and gaze at the skyscrapers, and looking to the urban nightlife bustle beneath them.

Ethan invited Liana to rest at some table which was quite far from the entrance and very close to the left side; a tall palm tree almost hid the table. Ethan didn't see it at first, thanks to the waiter who walked towards there, revealing the table behind the palm tree.

It's a strategic place to hide.

Maybe the hotel deliberately dims the atmosphere because only a few small lights are scattered randomly in the garden area.

Liana sat down then looked straight ahead, where there were skyscrapers.

"Ethan."

"Hmm?"

Ethan fixed his eyes on Liana, who was sitting across the table, then didn't move, she smiling, for some reason.

"Do you know why the windows of the buildings are shaped like a rigid rectangle?"

When you think about it, the rectangle shape is the hallmark of a city at night, and a new question arises, even though the previous question has not been answered.

"I'm also curious as to when these buildings became the hallmark of urban areas; sights like this are everywhere, even in some art."

When Ethan mentioned the word art, Liana seemed to have been stung by something; she grabbed her small bag and took out her phone.

Liana pointed the camera at the stunning scenery in front of them.

"For social media?" Ethan asked.

Liana chuckled, then she shook her head. "No, to give to my dad."

Now, Ethan's turn felt like he had been stung by something; he who had wanted to lay his head on the table instead leaned his body towards Liana. "For Mr. Pearson?" Ethan asked.

But Liana just smiled and ignored it, busy taking photos of the scenery in front of her, even she stood up and then took another scene.

In fact, Liana was as lifeless as Ethan.

Ethan stood up, carrying his wine glass, and tried to match his footsteps with Liana's.

"For inspiration to paint, right?"

Liana's movement stopped, and Ethan almost crashed into her. Liana even turned to look at Ethan as quickly as he stopped in his tracks, surprising Ethan a second time.

"How did you know my father's hobby is painting?"

Ethan was just about to open his mouth, but he realized quickly that the answer he was about to give Liana was not something that should have happened between him and Roman.

"He-he told me that when we were at the zoo, we talked about a lot of things at the zoo, a conversation that you know, it didn't matter."

Liana raised her eyebrows.

"I mean, we were just having a light conversation, getting carried away in the happy mood of a holiday."

Luckily, the dim light hid Ethan's uneasy smile, and luckily Liana didn't ask any further; she turned her back to Ethan and captured some of the other scenery.

Liana stepped back. "I know you're a stubborn person, Ethan."

Ethan just laughed while trying to calm his heart which was now beating wildly. "Not really."

"My dad wouldn't tell about his life to some random person, and forcing a stubborn person isn't easy, you know. Only the same stubborn person could force him."

There was a nervous, shattered laugh from Ethan.

After that strange laugh, there were no more words to fill the gap between them; Liana was busy with the camera, and Ethan was busy with his thoughts.

Ethan thoughts on what Mr. Pearson at the cafe right now. Unfortunately, superheroes are just fiction characters; if superheroes were real, Ethan would have asked one of them to swing him from this rooftop to the Early rise coffee bar.

Ethan found a small lamp with several flowers growing in front of him. Ethan took his phone, aligned his camera in front of the light, and confidently pressed a button to capture the moment.

In the photo, the small lamp was like a moon in a tiny world; the flowers which turned black due to the light from the lamp behind them added a magical touch.

Ethan chases Liana, then shows the photo to her; Liana yells in surprise and then praises the picture.

"Send me the photo. You know, my dad is picky. Out of the dozens of photos I took, maybe he will only take one to be used as a painting idea; most of the time, he does not use it at all."

Ethan laughed, though he wasn't surprised hearing that.

Next, Liana tells Ethan to take photos of whatever he thinks is good, but Ethan doesn't find anything else until one of the waiters comes up to them and says their parents will be home soon.

The day ended, with the two families returning to their homes.

But even though the tiring day was over, there was still one thing that stuck in Ethan's heart. Brushing his teeth, Ethan stared at the Pearsons' home from his bedroom window.

Ethan ruffled his hair as he went back to the bathroom, annoyed that the house was staring at him as if mocking Ethan for being unable to do anything to get rid of the gnawing feeling in his heart.