Surviving His Memory

Chapter 8

"Thank you for the flowers, they're beautiful." I said quietly, after a few moments of us only smiling and staring at one another. My words seemed to snap him out of it. "You're welcome, YOU are absolutely stunning, Ellie Grace." he gave me a show-stopping grin. My face feels like its on fire as I try to maintain a steady breath. There is no way that he doesn't already know the effect he has on me. The way my name sounds on his lips is hypnotic.

"Thank you, you too." I tried to shake it off, whatever it is that his mere presence tries to do to me and smile back at him. My mind is going a million miles a minute. I have to tell him about Evan and I need to do it before we go anywhere. That way, if he wants to change his mind, we don't have to share an awkward ride or walk back here.

"Are you ready, warrior princess?" Ethan asks me. "Sort of...can I talk to you about something first?" My hands are shaking and my mouth dried up instantly. "Sure, is everything okay?" His eyebrows dip in concern. I cleared my throat, "yes..no..I mean..I'm okay. It's just that..." I swallowed a couple of times, trying to figure out how to say this. My entire body is trembling. Why am I so nervous?

"Ellie...if you don't want to..." He begins but I cut him off. "I definitely want to go, but there's something I have to tell you before..." I take a deep breath, "I was happily married when I turned twenty-two. His name was Evan, and he died a year ago. This is my first, first date in years. I never thought I would have to do any of this again. I needed you to know what you're getting yourself into with me. If you want to change your..." it's his turn to cut me off. "Gosh Ellie, no I don't want to change my mind. I'm sorry that he's no longer with us. I'm honored to be the man you decided to go out with." As he spoke he cupped my cheek and wiped away a tear that I hadn't realized had fallen.

"I'm so glad that's out of the way. I've never had to tell anyone before and I was so afraid you would decide I had too much baggage. I would have understood but I won't lie, it would have been disappointing." I told him with a genuine smile. "I'm glad you told me. I will do my best not to disappoint you. Are you ready then?" I gave him another smile and nodded.

As he leads me out the front door, I notice a lot of stares. "Why does it seem like everyone is looking at us?" I asked Ethan. "They're looking at you, Ellie. You drawl people in. They can't help it." He tells me and my heart flutters. "That was sweet but I think they're actually looking at you, sir." I tell him with a chuckle. He shakes his head. "How about we agree to disagree and just say they are looking at how good we both look." He winks and I laugh. "Fine, but just this once."

He leads me to a black town car and opens the back door for me. I sat down and slid over so he could sit. "I could have gone around. You didn't have to scoot." Ethan tells me with a smirk as he slides into the car. Everything he does looks deliberate. He has total control of every movement. It's hard not to watch him. "If you feel the need to get my door I'll scoot, so that you don't have to go around." I smile at him. "Well, aren't you thoughtful," he says with a wink.

The nerves I had, walking into the lobby had settled down. Now that I've told him about Evan, I feel pretty calm. I am glad I got it out of the way.

"Care to tell me where you're taking me?" I asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "On a boat, but that's all you're getting from me." His smile is addictive. He has this mischievous twinkle in his eye. "I have never been more glad that I don't get motion sick." I laugh at the face he makes. He clearly hadn't thought about that.

The only reason I thought about it was because Evan got motion sickness from the cruise that we took on our honeymoon. The poor thing, barely made it out of our cabin. We swore off boats after that. I'll be glad to be on one again. I always loved being on the water. "Now that you mention it, I'm glad too, relieved, even." He blows out a breath. I just giggled at him.

A short time later, our car pulls into the harbor and awaiting us is a very large boat. No, it's not a boat. It's a ship. "Worst clue ever." I side-eyed Ethan, as I take in the large white ship infront of us. "What do you mean? It is a boat.." His eyes hold laughter. "I think this one would qualify as more of a ship but it does float, the same as a boat. I'll give you that." I shrugged one of my shoulders at him playfully.

"Youre probably right. It was a terrible clue. I just wanted to see your face when you saw it. Well my warrior princess, our ship awaits, shall we?" He offers me his arm and I place my hand, on his elbow. My stomach flutters as soon as I touch him. My fingertips lay on his perfectly sculpted forearms. This time I don't notice if we draw stares. This time I was bewitched by him and his huge presence.

Ethan has this energy about him. He commands a room as soon as he enters. Being on his arm is exciting. I may not see the eyes on us, but I can feel them. His green eyes are twinkling as we climb the ramp leading to the ship's deck. Scattered throughout the deck are other groups of people mingling. All of the women are dressed in cocktail gowns and heels. The men are dressed similarly to Ethan, some even wearing sports coats. They have to be hot under there.

Ethan leads me through the crowd. It seems to separate, allowing us passage. We travel down a large staircase that opens to the floor below. The room is huge, grand even. There are small tables throughout on both sides and an open dance floor in front of the stair case. Each table has candles and a small flower arrangement. Everywhere I look, it is fancy and pristine. Chandeliers adorn the ceiling, casting a beautiful soft light throughout the space. Waiters and waitresses bustle around the tables as soft dinner music plays on the speakers.

As we descend the stairs, a tall blonde woman in a tight red dress waves at Ethan and starts walking our way. "I'm sorry about this.." He mumbles to me as she gets closer. She is a beautiful woman, definitely younger than me, and her dress leaves little to the imagination. It barely covers her boobs or her bits. I never understood how that could be comfortable. You're only one wrong move from a nip slip. Heaven forbid if she makes two wrong moves. I glance at Ethan. His face is unreadable. "I'm sure it will be fine." I told him, tightening my grip on his arm. Women like her have always made me self-conscious. She looks like a freaking barbie, just like the queen b, of the b***h brigade from high school. She was my number one bully and I hated her.

"Ethan, honey! I'm so glad to see you.." She walks up to him and hugs him. Which kind of pushes me away. "Lori, this is my date, Ellie. Ellie, this is Lori. She is one of my best friends, sister." He pulls me back toward him by wrapping his arm around me, his hand landing on my waist as he introduced us. As soon as I was about to smile and offer a handshake, the ignorant Barbie spoke, "Where's the rest of her? She's so short and tiny." My blood boiled. "Trust me. I'm all here." I said back in my best impression of her overly sweet voice. "Well you're just so little" she looked at me and I could see the malice in her eyes. "I thought she was fake" Barbie slid her finger down Ethan's chest. I wouldn't say I spoke out of jealousy, nah. I spoke out of pride. I am here with this man and she is trying to pretend that I'm not. That may work in her head, but it doesn't work for me. "Oh honey, trust me. Everything about me is real." I let my eyes drift to the balloons on her chest. The implications are there. Her eyes widen and she tisks. I swear Ethan is choking over a laugh but he tries to cover it with an exaggerated cough. "What are you trying to say?" She asks. I lifted my shoulder, "I don't know, what it is that you mean? But I would like to get back to our date now. It was lovely to meet you." I said, once again using the same sweet, disgusting voice. I'm mentally urging Ethan to get me away from this, made of plastic, barbie wannabe. He must sense it somehow because, before I know it, we're walking away from "Lori," leaving her standing at the foot of the stairs. I took a glance back at her and, from the look on her face, I didn't make a new friend today. I smiled back at her for good measure. I have no need for a friend like her.

Ethan guides me to a table and pulls out my chair. "Thank you." I smile up at him as I sit. "Oh no, thank you! Lori is a leach. I love her brother but she is just..." "too fake?" I tried to finish for him. His laugh tells me my assessment is appropriate. "For the record, I have never done or said anything to encourage her advances." He tells me with wide eyes. "You have to spell it out for women like that. She reminds me of a girl from high school. They would make good friends. Only, I'm not sure if they would fit at the same table, with both, their airbags and their egos." I state matter of factly. His roaring laughter draws the attention of some of the other patrons around us and I cant help but laugh with him. At least he finds me funny.

"Alright, for the witty warrior princess, wine or champagne?" He asks me as his laughter subsides. "Definitely champagne. I'm too picky with wine and I can never remember what I like. I always like champagne." I answered honestly. Evan always helped me while deciding on wine.

Ethan ordered my champagne and a beer for himself. The waitress hustled away too fast for me to change my drink to a beer as well. "I didn't know that beer was an option. Everything seems too fancy for it, I guess." I half laughed. "You drink beer?" He asked me with wide eyes. Why are men always surprised to find a woman who prefers a good beer? "Beer is, overall, my favorite alcoholic beverage. My dad and I always taste-tested any new kinds that came around our town. So now I do the same in his memory. I can't say I have a favorite. It just depends on the day." I took a sip of the champagne. Our waitress just sat in front of me. "...but this is delicious too!" Wow. That is the best champagne I have ever had.

Ethan and I fell into an easy conversation. I am much more relaxed now. With Ethan, everything seems to be pretty natural. I'm comfortable in his presence, at least for the most part. Sometimes his big green eyes make my heart race while he holds eye contact.

I've caught glimpses of the barbie wannabe and everytime I see her she seems to be angrier. It sucks to be her. I wonder if anyone else has sent her away tonight. A beautiful woman like her could have anyone she wanted. That is, if she weren't such a terrible human. I only stood in her presence for a few minutes and I knew she wasn't my kind of person. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Ethan asked me as he covered my hand with his own on the table. "Oh nothing...my head can be a strange place." I told him with a small smile. I felt my cheeks heat up as I gazed into his eyes. "Oh come on my little warrior. What has your attention?" The smirk on his lips was playful and, suddenly, I wanted to know how his lips felt pressed against mine. I shook my head a little to displace that thought. "I was wondering about how many men in this room have had to dodge unwanted attention from a bar...I mean Lori." Crap. I almost called her Barbie, out loud! His smile is contagious. "What were you really going to call her?" He asked with a chuckle. "Umm...well...I've been calling her Barbie in my head since she spotted you." I told him with an eye roll. "Seems.. somewhat.. fitting.. I can't wait to tell Cal about this." He said through his laughter.

Our waitress shows up with our food and we continue our small talk. He asks me about the town I'm from and when I have to head back home. We talked about his family. Apparently, he has two sisters. Who are both younger than him. His family still lives in a small town in Pennsylvania. His parents still own the home he grew up in.

I don't say it, but I wish I had that. I wish I had a family, but I don't. The only family I have is June and she was Evan's family, technically. I am lost in my thoughts as I finish eating my meal. The clearing of his throat interrupts me. I snapped my head in his direction, "hmm...I'm sorry what was that?" He had a small smile on his face. "I was wondering if you would like to go back up to the deck? Maybe even dance with me?" His voice sounded confident, but his eyes betrayed him. I can't watch him squirm long before I agree and we stand to make our way back toward the grand staircase. As we begin walking, Ethan offers me his hand. Placing my hand in his just in time to trip over my own chair leg. Thankfully, his strong hand steadies me.

"Three!" I said proudly, not thinking about him being unaware that I have a running total of times that I trip and don't fall. It's a little thing that I did with my father. I have escaped three falls in a row! I'm on a roll. I stood there laughing, gripping Ethan's hand. His eyes sparkle with curiosity. "Four.." He says with a confused smile. Which only makes me laugh harder.

"My father and I. We used to count how many times I would trip or stumble but not fall. Once I fall, the count starts over. That little incident was good old number three." I said with a grin. "I'm getting good!" I added just as we began ascending the stairs.