He is Enchanted

The Tings About Him

Liana asks Ethan to talk about this situation at a coffee shop not far from their home. Ethan decided to take out his motorbike that he rarely used to get to the destination faster.

Ethan felt that this discussion would be very long, so it could be crucial to cut some time on the trip.

"There's no need to rush, Ethan," said Liana while getting off his motorbike when they arrived at the coffee shop.

"Let's get there quickly."

Ethan walked in front of Liana, then held the door for her. Since Ethan knows some of the baristas here, thanks to Duke. Ethan had introduced Liana to them as his fiancé.

"We still have some things to take care of, so the engagement can't be held yet," he said while holding Liana's shoulder. "Our families and we also want to convince ourselves first."

The barista named Abby nodded her head, and as expected, Abby encouraged them and wished them good luck.

Ethan nodded as he took his caramel macchiato and Liana's milkshake.

They consciously chose to sit in the corner, close to the windows and far from the baristas.

Ethan sat up and immediately leaned towards Liana. He looked at Liana, making her uneasy then laughing. "What wrong, Ethan?" she asked.

"Explain to me why do you say that it looks like your mother is spending time with other men? What does that mean?"

Liana lowered her gaze as her fingers started to tremble. Then she took a deep breath and held it in.

"I mean, is she cheating, Ethan?"

His gaze's strength at Liana faded instantly, his face withered as well as his back. He backed away and then dropped his body onto the back of the chair.

There was nothing Ethan could do but watch the water droplets appear and then flow from the center of his glass onto the wooden table, the ice starting to dissolve.

"Liana."

Liana raised her head, but he could hear not a single sentence or sound from her mouth.

"Drink the milkshake first. It's my treat."

Liana lifted her lips slightly, and she nodded weakly. But after that, Liana remained where she was, her eyes staring sadly yet blankly at her fingers.

After all, who wouldn't be sad to know the fact that your mother cheated? Ethan would do the exact things she was doing now, and he might not even talk to that person until they were willing to explain everything and apologize.

Moments later, Ethan saw Liana leaning towards him. Ethan also tried to sit up straight, with a look he didn't take from Liana.

"Since a couple of months ago, I feel that mom is rarely at home; she always goes with her friends to someplace. She'll only be home if your mother asks her to go."

Maybe that's also why Ethan didn't see Mrs. Pearson playing washing the car with the others in the yard.

"Even when she finally stayed at home, she was busy with her phone. Even Miles and Niall get scolded if they try to get her attention."

Liana's eyes are wide, yet her brows are furrowed. "I'm just assuming, but seeing your question earlier, it seems my assumption is accurate, right, Ethan?"

"Liana, hold on."

"How did my mother's affair look like?"

Ethan's mouth that was opening slowly closed while trembling.

Ethan didn't understand why Liana had to ask about that man, a man he also didn't want to talk about anymore.

"Liana, please."

But Liana instead turned her sad gaze towards Ethan, Ethan tried to look in another direction, but her eyes still caught him, success in tempting him to look more.

Ethan finally relented. "If you want to know, he is a man who seems to be only about four or five years older than me, and his name is Egbert Seamus."

"Wa—wait, Mr. Seamus?"

Liana was even more surprised to hear that person's name than to tell her about her suspicions about her mother.

"Ethan, didn't you remember the name wrong? Shouldn't she be with Mr. Freeland?"

Who else is Mr. Feeland?

Ethan shook his head. "I won't remember will name wrong, and I'll never forget when he told me his name as if he is an aristocrat. You know, he even thought that I was Mrs. Pearson aff—"

Ethan was silent while Liana looked at him with sparkling eyes. After a moment, he lowered his head.

"If Mr. Seamus thought you were also mom's mistress, doesn't that mean mom has a lot of mistresses?"

"Liana, don't assume, we don't know—"

"If he can say that you are mom's mistress without feeling guilty, it means that she has met another man who is also mom's affair."

"Liana, we only see him, don't think about it."

"Mr. Seamus was my father's secretary, while Mr. Freeland was my father's colleague. An extraordinary coincidence? Have they ever walked three? Or staying at a hotel for three?"

Ethan got up then he sat beside Liana, then pulled his body into Ethan's arms,

"We don't have any evidence yet, Liana. You can't accuse him carelessly."

Liana hugged Ethan back tightly while Ethan tried to stroke his shaking shoulders, then moved on to his long hair.

"They could be just drinking, Liana, even though they're too close just as colleagues. But we can not conclude in that direction."

Liana laughed mockingly. "Thank you, and I appreciate your efforts to cheer me up."

Ethan laughed briefly. Then he leaned his head on Liana's head. "Everything will be okay," he said.

Liana paused and nodded her head. "I hope that we can return to being a complete family like before."

Now it was Ethan's turn to be silent, then he glanced out the window, his eyes looking far out, seeing people passing by, cars and motorbikes, even a dog that happily wagged its tail while walking behind its owner.

You can see the dog's eyes look at its owner with affectionate eyes as if the owner is the axis of the earth, and the dog itself is the earth that rotates on its axis.

Whole family.

***

"No way, guys, how could she."

At the end, when Ethan and Liana came back from the coffee shop and into their respective homes, when Ethan saw his cell phone ringing madly, it sounded like a song rather than a message notification.

The group call begins when Ethan has just opened their group chat. An emergency group call; Duke is still at his cafe, Judith is sitting at his desk, Dante is working on a poster project for a company, Emma is even still in the car with her fiancé. While the others were in their rooms, relaxing, enjoying the weekend that was coming to an end.

It turned out that everyone already knew about Mrs. Pearson. Soren and Duke told what they had yesterday at the bar. Including that arrogant man, Egbert.

"You all will not believe it if it turns out that the damn man is Mr. Pearson."

Ethan could even see Dante accidentally pulling his mouse, making an icon move.

"Damn"

"I mean, dude, seriously, is it some kind of tv series?"

Ethan nodded his head. "And you know, it turns out that Liana suspects someone else, his name is Mr. Freeland, he's a colleague of Mr. Pearson."

Her fiancé Emma was about to stop her car in the middle of a busy street when Emma suddenly cried out while opening her mouth as if surprised by something.

"The woman had an affair with her colleague Mr. Pearson, and I can't believe this."

Ethan sighed. "Liana even said that she had been suspicious of her mother for the past few years, and what happened last night made her suspicions even stronger."

Before falling asleep last night, Ethan had time to send a voice message to the group, telling how he failed to smuggle Mrs. Pearson to Liana's room.

Also, his heart is burning with jealousy, a feeling that should never exist.

"I feel sorry for Liana, Odette, Miles, and Niall," Ethan muttered as he folded his arms across his chest, then stared at the screen without intending to say anything.

The others were like that too, and they pretended to be busy when they had nothing to do, except for Duke, Judith, Dante, and Emma, of course.

Hunter's deep breaths came from Ethan's cell phone. "So we can conclude that Mr. and Mrs. Pearsons were lying to each other, weren't they? They lied to the point of seeking the happiness they should have at home."

A Void that no one could fill.

In the end, Ethan understood why Roman asked why he consistently underestimated Ethan when he was talking about his engagement with Liana.

Then about going to the zoo.

"He tried to fill the void that she couldn't fill."

He certainly didn't want Liana to go through the same thing as him.

"Ethan."

If they were in the same place, they would simultaneously look at or even direct their gazes towards Hunter.

Hunter was sleeping sideways on his bed, but he fixed his eyes on the bedroom lamp, which Ethan remembers, changes color and can be controlled using the phone.

"What are you going to do now?"

Ethan wiggled his toes. He stared down at his desk, following the wooden pattern that formed a whirlpool.

Ethan had a lot of questions to ask himself.

Can he still go to the Early rise coffee bar, enjoy a cup of coffee with Roman?

Could he have dinner with the Pearsons?

What should he do when faced with Mrs. Pearson?

What should he say if Odette asked him?

"What do you think I should do with this feeling?"

Ethan could see his friends frozen, some of whom thought with furrowed brows or pursed lips.

"Shouldn't you just back off, Ethan?"

Ethan's eyes suddenly gleamed. Everyone saw that, even when Ethan went out of camera range to blink quickly to prevent tears from falling.

Ethan was feeling annoying right now. It felt like the situation continued to rail heavily against him without giving him a break to breathe freely.

Then Soren laughed, leaving everyone confused.

"You told him to stop? Someone that said he could go to the end of the earth just to make him feel his love. It's pointless."

Emma then smiled too, a smile forced in sadness. "He also said that he could hold him for a million years."

Ethan started laughing when he caught the meaning of Soren and Emma, who were talking about the song that Ethan sang yesterday.

"The Ethan I know won't stop here. If you could fill the void he needs, he would choose you over her. So never mind, let's just play a game, let's get up and turn on that damn computer."

Everyone shouted at Hunter, but still, Hunter got up and turned on his computer, even though Ethan, Dante, and Isaac were still where they were.