A New Essence

Chapter 61

Ethan broke into laughter after reeling from Jordan's initial request of convincing Cora to marry Charlie.

"No, are you being serious?" He asked trying to get his laughter under control.

Jordan frowned. This was not at all the reaction she was expecting from Ethan. Not after what she's just asked of him.

"Absolutely yes. What's so funny?" She asked.

"Why would I convince someone who is already convinced to marry him?" Ethan chuckled. "You do know that they're a couple, right? Or is your family keeping things from you now?"

"Of course, I do! But your sister wants to complete highschool before marriage! That's four years and Charlie is barely hanging there! You do realise that he has a daughter too, right?"

"Why would she want to... Four years?" He looked at her in confusion. "But... "

"What? Why are you mumbling? Is there something wrong? You didn't look like this where you were buckling with laughter just a few minutes ago," she raised her eyebrows.

"I think I'll have to talk to my sister. Please excuse me," he said and dialled to Cora. "What's this four years of highschool am I hearing about?" Ethan barked into his phone.

There was a muffled noise from the other side even though Jordan tried her hardest to eavesdrop.

"We'll get to this once I come home," he said and hung up.

"So?" Jordan prompted and Ethan let out a huge sigh.

"What can I say? It's difficult to have a teenage sister in an adult's body," he shrugged. "Excuse me for a moment. I think I'll need to make another call," he said and quickly got into another one.

"Be my guest," Jordan politely moved away.

Ethan quickly wrapped up the call and looked at her. "Am I being a bore?" He asked as he pulled up near a restaurant.

"It's a working day. Boss man's got to be what he is," Jordan winked.

"That's a roundabout way of calling me a bore," he chuckled.

"Just laying the facts bare," she shrugged jokingly.

"Fancy seeing you two here," they heard a voice from behind them trail off, "Together..." It stressed.

"Jackie!" Jordan exclaimed. "Good to see you back! How was your trip? Where's Caitlyn?"

"It was fantastic. We were going to come home in the evening, actually. As soon as we arrived, Caitlyn took it upon herself to clear out all the lag at work. She's a true workaholic," he smiled. "And how are you, Ethan? How is your sister?"

Ethan and Jordan looked at each other.

"About that," Jordan interjected. "I think you'd want to join us for lunch," she smiled sheepishly.

She ran Jackie through all the details from the moment he left for his honeymoon till the moment they just met without missing a beat. Ethan was just amazed at how Jackie was able to catch up with her pace, let alone process and understand it. Maybe it was the sibling connect. He wouldn't know. His sister wasn't that close to him like the siblings in front of him.

"The best things come to those who wait," Jackie said with sage like wisdom. Or maybe from his own experience. One could never tell. 

"We're talking about Charlie here, remember?" She reminded him.

"Oh right, that little piece of-" he caught himself mid cussing and cleared his throat, taking note of Ethan's presence. "We can all sit together and discuss this if you are okay with it, Ethan," he looked at him. "Or you can first test the waters with your sister before we all gang up on her," he shrugged.

"Yeah, I'd like to hear things from my sister first-hand than knowing them this way!" He agreed. "Thank you for your time, Jackie. I think I'll need to call it a day today and focus on the more pressing matters at hand. I'll meet you at work tomorrow, Jordan," he said and left. 

Ethan rushed home to sort things out with his sister, but he couldn't find her.

"Where the hell did she disappear now?" He yelled at the house staff and they flinched.

"She's off, luggage and all," Oprah, the oldest house help said.

"What? Where did she go?"

"I wouldn't know that, but she took off as soon as she was done with your call," she shrugged. "She looked desperate to get away, that poor girl."

"Oh lord," Ethan massaged his temple. "It's okay. I think I know where she is. Disperse, everyone," he sighed and picked up his phone. 

---

"You should know that your brother called," Romeo said as he refilled everyone's drink.

"And you should know that I'm here to particularly avoid him," Cora grinned and he rolled his eyes.

"At least tell us now!" Dave squealed. "What happened? Why are you on the run?"

Cora sighed. "Marriage."

Silence loomed over their table for what seemed like an eternity.

"Oh, juicy!" Julia said smacking her lips. "Did he propose? Did you say yes?" She questioned and Dave squealed a little bit louder for every single word she uttered.

Cora downed her drink and narrated all that happened between her and Charlie, and the audience seemed to be pretty engrossed. 

"So, you want to complete highschool?" Julia questioned.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Even though the same thing can be completed even if you are married?" She questioned once again.

"Uh..." She hesitated.

"Charlie might fall for this crap, but I've known you for far too long, Cora," Romeo sighed. "What's the real reason?" He asked and everyone looked at her inquisitively.

Cora felt trapped. She knew that Romeo would see through her highschool facade, but she also knew that he would make her see reason. There was no other way now. She chose coming here, so she had to face the music.

To be honest, Cora loved Charlie, Cassy and the entire Baxter family. It was just perfect being with Charlie and she would change nothing about it. But she was backwards compared to the present day standards and most of her adult life was spent sleeping away. It was not really an ideal environment for knowledge and growth, to be precise. And now that she would have a daughter who is already a high achiever, she would soon feel uneducated. And what about her career? What did she want to do? She didn't specifically have enough time to plan out and live her career dreams. Well, not even in her sleep. What if Charlie eventually got bored of her? There are many smart women he comes across on a daily basis and considering how handsome he looks, she was sure that she'd be fending him off from those women vultures on a daily basis.

"So?" Romeo prompted once again. "What is it?"

"Just kill me already!" Cora groaned into the air.