I removed the shades and placed them at the table as I scrolled through my phone. My order was ready in no time as the waiter served me my espresso.
"Would you like anything else, sir?"
I stole a glance from the name tag on the right side of his shirt. "No, that'd be it. Thanks, Tyler."
He shot me a nod and sauntered away.
I dialed Lauren's number and pressed the phone to my ear. It's been a while since I'd talked to my mini-human of a little brother and I figured he'd most definitely be having a chip on his shoulder.
"Ethan. Hello, sweetie. How are you?"
"I'm good, Lauren. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing great, just missing you around here. Everyone's missing you, your dad, uncle George, and of course Asher."
A throaty laugh escaped my mouth. "I miss you guys too." I heard Asher's voice echoing through the line then Lauren said.
"Alright, Asher. Wait, I'm gonna let you talk to your big brother." Her voice seemed a little distant and I figured she pulled the phone away from her ear. "Sweetie, Asher wants to talk to you. He's been bugging me all day."
"Sure, put him in." I took a sip from the mug.
"Ethan! Hi!"
"Hey, champ. What's all the fuss about?" I laughed.
"I'm bored here without you. When will you come back?"
"What about your friends? I thought you told me they were cool."
"Yeah, they are. But mommy Lauren won't let us swim in the pool on the weekends. She says we'll catch a cold."
"Tell you what? Once I come back, you'll be swimming in the pool every day."
"Really?! Promise?"
"Promise," I laughed.
"You double-promise?"
"Yeah, double fucki—, oh shit, I mean—" I raked a hand through my hair. Well, crap. "Double promise."
Asher giggled. "You said the bad word. I know because my friend Ryan told me."
I sighed, almost facepalming. "Yes, I did but don't tell Lauren, okay?"
"Okay. But if you don't take me to the pool, I will tell her."
"Fine, you little punk. I'll remember that."
I caught a glimpse of Vincent entering the café. His eyes roamed around looking for me. I cast him a quick wave from afar. "I gotta go now but I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay, bye."
"Be good." I almost rolled my eyes at my own statement. Who am I kidding? I was so not the right person for that kind of advice.
"Hey, man." Vincent yanked the chair and flopped down on it. He looked a bit uneasy though. His mouth sealed in a tight line.
"What's up? You good?"
"Yeah, kind of," he sighed. "I guess."
"What's wrong, Vince?"
He reached out for a glass of water and chugged it down. Then he looked at me. "Reem's pregnant."
"Oh." To say he caught me off guard would be an understatement.
"Exactly, oh. We did a blood test yesterday and yeah, she's pregnant with my child."
"Wait, are you not cool with it or?"
"Of course, I'm cool with it. It's just—" he paused. "It's her I'm worried about."
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't part of her plan. She just started out, you know and she loves her job. We talked about it and she wants to keep it, we both want to keep it but I'm kinda having cold feet. What if she regrets it later?"
I didn't say anything. I just waited for him to collect himself and keep talking.
"You know, when we found out yesterday, she was so happy that she broke down crying. I know she's happy and honestly, she made me the happiest man on earth. I mean, she's literally giving me a baby but what if that was a one-moment kind of thing?"
"I don't think that's the case, Vince. People don't break down crying for a moment-kind of thing feeling. It takes more than that. And believe it or not, at some point all women want to have babies. It's in their nature, motherly instincts and all. It's unexpected, hard, and maybe overwhelming, I get it but trust me, if anyone is ready to be a dad— it's you."
"You think?"
"Dude, are you for real?" I laughed. "For the record, you've always been there to knock some much-needed sense into me and you showed me the right path to walk on. Frankly, you are too responsible and mature for your age and not just now. Even back in uni, I was that reckless, impulsive, and living-in-the-moment kind of guy, but you— you were always the— what's the damn word?" I clicked my tongue. "The wise one."
He laughed. "Yeah, that I remember, you were unstoppable, man."
I smirked. "Good days."
"Right?"
"Yeah but that aside, I think you can do this. Both of you. Reem can still work until you know, delivers. Then she can pick up from where she left off. I'm sure Hazel will understand her more than you and I will ever do so yeah, she needs to talk to her."
"Yeah, she does. I'm counting on little one, I know for a fact she'll babysit. But what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, I mean— that's your duty as the godfather."
"Oh, I don't think I'd go there if I were you. I can't even talk to Asher without swearing. Well, unless you want your kid to spell the alphabets for you in cussing forms at 3."
He laughed. "Dude, you have no idea. Reem already set the ground rules. She's already giving me shit for it, she said the fetus can hear us or something."
"Well, sucks to be you. You just booked yourself a nine-month free trial to hell with a bossy, whiny drama queen on crack." Reem was already hard to deal with before getting pregnant. Now everything will be ridiculously amplified.
"What a dick."
I laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Sappy shit aside, I'm happy for you, man. You're gonna be a great dad." I pressed on the last phrase intentionally.
He seemed to take the hint and let out a low laugh. "Thanks, man. I hope so." He then furrowed his eyebrows a little. "But wait, what was that thing you wanted to talk about?"
Oh, shit. I almost forgot. "Yeah, it's about dollface's birthday. I'm planning something and I kinda need your help."
He cast me a proud grin. "So you couldn't keep your hands off her, could ya'?"
"Nope. I can't live without that girl, Vince. No matter what. I spent the last three years breathing, now I'm finally living. And I don't wanna lose that. At all."
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You two were inevitable anyway. Everyone knew it, except you both."
Actually, we did. Deep down, we did.
"Anyway, what do you have in mind?" He asked.
● ● ●
I'd come home, took a quick shower, and started dressing up. I had to see Hazel in a few minutes. I wished she was here all the time or if I was in her place all the time.
Now that we were together or so-not-together, I couldn't stay a second without having her with me— to myself. All the damn time.
We didn't have the 'relationship' conversation yet but I didn't really find it necessary. It was new and we enjoyed it. We didn't need to be entitled to be together.
She knew my heart.
And I knew hers.
And it was enough.
Except it somehow wasn't since deep down, I was still worried she'd end up leaving me again. It wasn't an ideal situation. Her and I were a mess.
Some things were complicated— and it kind of made me a little anxious. I knew she wanted me but the fact that she came back to me, asking to be friends and then ending up more kind of fucked up with my head. What if she defided to switch the whole thing off again? We needed to talk about that.
It was complicated but somehow there was beauty in it. The beauty of uncontrollable feelings. No one could ever control how they feel, feelings dominate us and it's beautiful when that domination brings you together with that certain someone.
At some point, you both know that pushing and pulling won't work because your hearts want to be together. They might be trapped inside cages but that doesn't mean they can't break free.
I sighed and buckled my belt. Then my phone buzzed atop the nightstand. I reached for it and couldn't help but smirk when I saw Caleb's display name. It's been a while since we last face-timed.
"Hey, lover boy." His face went from bored to scornful real quick. "Am I interrupting something?"
I looked down at my bare chest and then it clicked. "Trust me, if you were interrupting something, I wouldn't be talking to you right now."
"Whatever, dude. Put something on, I need you to meet someone."
I arched my eyebrow, curious. Then I threw a t-shirt over my head and held the fabric in between my teeth as I pulled it down, careful not to drop the damn phone.
"Perfect," he smirked. "Come here, boo." A dark-haired girl with Asian monolid eyes and perfectly-shaped teeth came into sight. She seemed to give me one of her sweetest smiles. Then she said. "Hi."
Caleb pipped up. "This is Charlotte, my girlfriend."
Fucking finally. The guy had been playing in the field for years. He never seemed to be serious about anyone, or highly interestedbfor that natter. But then again, I was one to talk. Talk about hypocrisy.
"Hey, Charlotte. Nice meeting you. Is this bastard treating you well?"
"I can still hear you, you know." Caleb gritted out.
Then she giggled. "Same here, heard a lot about you. And well, he's fine, sweet most of the time actually."
He leaned down to kiss her and lingered. Somehow he decided to give me a shitshow of some very unwanted sucking face. What the fuck.
Charlotte seemed to finally realize they were both giving me a live show and pulled away. The red cheeks didn't go unnoticed. Then she completely disappeared out of the phone frame. I heard her saying. "Oh my God, we just gave him a live show." Then she pressed. He's watching."
"Yeah, he's watching." I bit out. "You're going off the rails, Cal."
He laughed. "Not even sorry. Anyway, man, I'm coming to Canada tomorrow. Thought of giving you a heads-up."
"For real?"
"Yeah, I thought I'd pay you a visit, since I have a few days off from work. Charlotte and I are bored so why not?"
I laughed, lowly. "Great timing. Hazel's birthday in a couple of days. She could really use a surprise."
"Holy, fuck. Are you guys back together?"
"You could say that," I shrugged.
"I called her a few days ago and she didn't tell me anything."
"You guys still talk?"
"Oh, you have no idea. We talk shit behind your back all the time. Gossiping and all." He shot me a wink.
I flipped him the bird.
"Ouch, that hurt."
"Fuck off, I need to go pick her up "
"Okay, see ya' tomorrow! Don't get your boxers in a twist, lover boy!"
I shook my head. "Have a safe flight, fucker." And just to spite him, I added. "And bye, Charlotte. Can't wait to have you here."
He shot me a death glare and I laughed, ending the video call.
And now, I had to go pick up the birthday girl.
★ ★ ★
Caleb is back!
His girlfriend is actually inspired by my very dear friend chrltt-t❣
She's honestly the sweetest, most kind-hearted girl ever. I won't be able to reflect all of her traits into Charlotte's character but I just thought of giving it a try since she's been Caleb's number one fan ever since he showed up in this trilogy. So here goes nothing. 😂