"Most of our social problems are as a result of miscommunication." We all know this...
ETHAN'S POV.
It's been two weeks since Kendra walked out of my house.
Two weeks since I last had a proper night's sleep.
Two weeks since my conscious was hell bent on focusing on her tear filled emerald eyes.
Two weeks since I used her.
Isn't that funny?
What I detested most, I did to her.
And, what she detested most, she did to me.
We were toxic for each other.
Clearly, we brought out the worst in each other.
"Mr. Veron, your father is on line 1." Came the voice of my PA, Carmine, through the office intercom.
"Sure." I mumbled.
If I was being honest with myself, I didn't want to speak to him yet.
Having the whole Kendra thing on my plate had really worked me out that I barely had time to be focusing on my other relationships.
Especially not after what had happened in Greece.
"Son," he spoke curtly.
"Dad," I matched his tone.
"Your mother would like to speak to you." And before I had a chance to retaliate, he passed the phone over.
"Ethan,"
"Nancy," I wasn't in the mood for this.
"You wouldn't believe who I saw today," she gushed excitedly.
"Look Nancy, can we resume this conversation when I get home, I have lots of work to do, so if it isn't something imp-"
"Ava!" She exclaimed. "I saw Ava today." She went on not caring how disinterested I was.
"Ava?"
"Yes Ethan. Ava..." she paused before sighing, "the beautiful young lady I invited over when we were in Greece?"
"Yeah I remember that, I also remember distinctly how you insinuated I was an attention seeker, and how you not so subtly implied that I was ruining your marriage. Yeah... I think I remember..." I let my tone drop with acid.
She sighed, "since you're clearly not mature enough to address the issue, I'll let that pass. Anyway, I gave your contacts and office address to Ava, the girl is new in New York and I thought you could help her find what she was looking for."
"Nancy, I am a busy man. I don't have time for-"
"This once... Just this once Ethan. She's trying..." my dad spoke before quickly disconnecting the call.
This once?
How could he say that.
For over fifteen years, I've watched Nancy use my dad.
Watched him do everything to please her.
And now he wants to include me?!
Why were women like this?
First Nancy, now Kendra...
Is this some kind of curse in my family?
In my anger, I pushed away everything on my table till they landed on the floor with a thud.
"Am I interrupting?"
I looked up to find a familiar redhead.
One whom I'd met on the same day I exploded on my father and his wife.
Ava.
"I see you're still letting the anger get to you huh?" She strutted in as though she owned the place.
"You? In my office? In New York?" I smirked.
"Wipe that stupid smirk of your face, it wouldn't work on me, I have a girlfriend remember?" She smirked right back.
How could I forget? Ava was gay.
I ran a hand through my hair. "Trust me when I say I've done quite a lot of remembering today."
"So, what riled you up this time?" She gestured to the papers and phones on the floor.
"Same old. How'd you get here?"
"Nancy took care of it. Though, I must commend your PA, she isn't easily persuaded."
"She has to be, that's what I pay her for."
"Calm down..." she chastised.
I couldn't help chuckle at her silly face, but that was quickly short lived when she asked her next question.
"So, how's the girlfriend?" I stilled.
"Gone. What are you doing in New York? How's your jewelry business?" I spoke curtly.
She looked at me as though I had grown another head.
"You mean, the girlfriend that had you shunning me out before you found out I was gay, the one for whom you flew from Greece to New York in a heartbeat, is gone, as in G.O.N.E, gone? Gone somewhere? Or dead?" She tried.
"Yes, that girlfriend. We weren't suited for each other. Now, answer my question."
She stood up.
"Last I checked, you loved her so damn much to even give another woman a second look. You can't just brush it off..."
"Ava..."
"Fine. I'll let it go. But I will find out." She surrendered.
I nodded.
"Anyway, I'm expanding my jewelry business and... Guess what?"
"I'm not good at guessing."
"Fine." She rolled her eyes, "I'm proposing to my girlfriend as soon as I get back." She grinned.
"Wow, that means congratulations are in order then."
"Yes they are."
"So, I hear a business expansion and a wedding?" I smiled back.
At least some people get to be happy.
"Yep. So, a guy who works at Tiffany, saw my work in Greece and invited me over to show some samples here. My girlfriend loves Tiffany jewelry, so I thought why not get her a ring while I'm here?" She wiggled her brows.
I refused to indulge in the path my thoughts were willing to take.
"Sounds like a great idea."
"Yeah, just one little thing?"
"What?"
"I need you to accompany me."
"What? Why?" I had no idea about jewelry, well unless it had to be worn by a certain someone, then I became an expert.
"You're the only person I know here, and I think you have good taste. Also, we could maybe throw in a little tour of the city, you know, put a smile on that grouchy face of yours..." she said sounding hopeful.
"You can't be serious."
But she was serious.
That explains how I found myself on the front page of New York Times and every other tabloid in the country.
I just can't get a break, can I?
KENDRA'S POV.
After a near mental break down at the hospital, I called my therapist, Dr. Cheryl and asked if she could see me.
She had agreed to meet me at my home, alongside Kenna in the evening.
Clearly, I had a lot of issues to address.
"Like I said before Kendra, I totally did not approve of what you did with Ethan, but as your therapist I understand it was a coping mechanism." She told me after I'd explained every single thing that had happened since that dreadful night. "I also understand where Ethan's reaction is coming from, but I can not justify his actions."
"Coping mechanism? What do you mean by that?" Kenna asked her.
Dr Cheryl glanced at me, as if asking permission to share my information and I nodded.
"Well Dr. Russell, you-"
"Please, call me Kenna."
They both smiled.
"Okay, well Kenna, you see after Luke physically abused Kendra and left her, it led her into trauma further worsening her abandonment issues. Once Emily's heart had severely started acting up, unconsciously her mind begun to prepare her for another case of abandonment. So, in order to avoid the pain it would have caused her body to dwell on how Emily would leave her, Kendra's brain caused her to focus on Ethan more. And that was what happened, she focused more on the hate she felt for him after finding out he lied, before eventually believing in a hypothetical life her mind created. One in which she made herself believe she didn't know Ethan's true identity. Sometimes, in order to prevent pain the brain creates false realities, erases memories and other effects. Call it a survival skill, or a coping mechanism even." She explained.
"So if I were to understand you, her actions were unconscious?" Kenna inquired.
"No, in fact all her actions were conscious but based on an unconscious decision. A decision made by her brain."
"Wow."
"Yeah..." I chimed in.
"So far, we haven't been able to tackle her abandonment issues which seem to be the cause of the dependency, the fear of holding on to someone and also, the trauma."
"But, Dr Cheryl, she had a good life. Good parents, how could she suffer from abandonment issues?" Kenna asked again.
"It isn't a prerequisite for her to have had bad adoptive parents or a false life, it may have been present all through her life and then triggered to grow by other external events, which in her case seemed to be her toxic relationship with Luke."
"Yeah, so how do I stop this, how can I free myself?" I struggled for the words.
"Yeah, how can she free herself?" Kenna added.
"Well, based on all our previous sessions and for the time I've come to know you Kendra, I think the answer had been right under our noses." She smiled.
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
"It's simple Kendra. Closure." She spoke again.
"I still don't get you." I tried again.
"Kendra," she took both my hands in hers and turned her body to fully face mine as we both sat on the couch.
"Kendra, you need to find your parents."
Heyyyyy.....
So we finally have a ship name... KETHAN courtesy of my lovely reader @designgirl01.
Also, ten chapters left guys🤧
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Love Joy.