Earn My Trust

Chapter 13 - Preparing for the Inevitable

Ethan woke at his usual time and jolted in bed. He didn't recognise his surroundings. He frantically looked around in a panic until he felt a hand creep across his chest.
He gasped and grabbed it, snapping his head in the direction it came from, and saw a bleary-eyed Hannah frowning at him.
He suddenly remembered where he was and sighed in relief.
"Sorry." He mumbled, rolling over to kiss her. "I didn't mean to wake you. Forgot where I was for a second there."
She nodded sleepily and yawned. "What time is it?"
"Five in the morning."
"Seriously?!" She complained and rolled over. "I don't think this is going to work if you get up this early."
He chuckled and tenderly kissed her bare shoulder. "I'm sorry. It's my body clock. I'll leave you alone."
She hummed back, quickly falling back asleep while he slid out of bed and left the small bedroom, picking up his clothes still left in the living room. He made his way into the kitchen, needing a coffee.
He then remembered the disgusting coffee she had and decided against it. He was going to buy a better brand of coffee when he went out later.
He figured he'd get some work done while he let the mum and daughter sleep a little longer and picked up his phone on the sofas' armrest.
It flashed up with a low battery and died in his hand, making him tilt his head back and groan, feeling foolish. He didn't pick his charger up, and Hannah didn't have the same model phone he used, so he didn't have a cable he'd be able to use.
Grumbling at his failure to think ahead, he slumped on the sofa and stared at the peeling ceiling, wondering what he could do to keep himself occupied.
His thoughts automatically attempted to replay the best night of his life last night but he quickly stopped those before he found himself in a situation he'd never get out of until he'd relieved it, and he didn't feel right taking care of himself in their home. It felt like he would be insulting her.
He could cook the girls' breakfast, but he wouldn't be able to do that until they woke up.
He thought about finding a shop to get some better coffee but decided he couldn't risk it. It wasn't like he could use his phone to order a delivery either!
He was limited with his options, so he decided he'd help with some of the housework instead of sitting there being useless.
He did the washing up, tidied the living room, dusted, and folded the basket of laundry that he found in the corner of the room.
He remembered it was Friday. Bea had school today, so he picked up the uniform he'd folded and got out the iron and ironing board, hanging the uniform on the back of the sofa once he was all done.
He then located the toilet and washed himself up a little before returning to the living room and looking for something else to do.
His eyes landed on Bea's colouring pencils and the stack of paper he'd neatly piled up earlier.
He picked up the table and moved it so he could sit on the sofa and lean on the table while he drew.
The pencils Bea had were cheap, but it made him feel nostalgic, reminding him of the pencils he used to create his art when he was younger.
He decided to draw a picture of Hannah and Bea together. A small portrait of them from memory as a surprise for them both.
He scrutinised the pencils as he tried to figure out the best colours to use that closely matched their auburn curls, Hannahs blue pools for eyes, Bea's hazel brown. There were no brown, black, or red pencils in Bea's collection, so that was going to create a challenge for him, but he didn't let it stop him.
He furrowed his brow in concentration as he gently scratched the pencils on the paper.
He decided to go with a fantasy theme for them, complete with headbands of flowers along with butterflies and fairies fluttering around their heads. He focused on their soft, dreamy expressions when he had the bright idea of a unicorn mother and daughter being reflected in their eyes.
He was so involved with perfecting the sketch that he didn't notice Bea coming out of her room.
"Ethan!" She cried out happily. "You slept over!"
He lifted his head up and quickly hid his almost finished master piece. "Good morning, Princess! Did you sleep well?"
She nodded eagerly, smiling widely.
He grinned at her and got up, making his way into the kitchen and putting his picture beside the kettle so she didn't spoil his surprise for her and her mum. "What would you like for breakfast?" He grinned, leaning against the counter.
"Golden nuggets."
He blinked at her, unsure if he'd heard her right. It sounded like she was saying cold and maggots to him.
"I'm sorry?"
"Golden nuggets."
He still couldn't work out what she said. "Uh... one-one more time for me."
"Golden nuggets." She laughed louder, climbing up on her small chair. "Golden nuggets!"
"Um, does that involve eggs? I can make you a special egg breakfast?"
She shook her head, thinking he was playing a game, thankfully. She hopped off her stool and went into the kitchen, pointing at the cupboard too high for her to reach beside the fridge.
"In there." She laughed, jumping up and down.
He opened the cupboard to see a few boxes of cereal, one being a royal blue with 'Golden Nuggets' in yellow writing.
"Ohhhhh, Golden nuggets!!!" He laughed, feeling incredibly stupid. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted cereal?"
"Because it's Golden nuggets." She giggled and went back round to her chair. "Where's my table?"
"Oh, I moved it to the sofa so I could do some drawing." He explained while he sought out some bowls. "Why don't you eat there so we don't have to move the table?"
Bea did as she was told, and he poured out the sickly sweet smelling cereal into a bowl and poured the milk over it.
He picked up a tea towel, draped it over his arm like a waiter, picked up a clean spoon from the draining board beside the sink, and took her bowl of cereal to her.
He pulled a stoic expression, getting into his waiter character, and gently placed it on the table, bowing at the waist, before taking the tea towel and flicking it out to the side, placing it over her lap to catch any drips. She laughed at his little performance.
"Bon appetite, mademoiselle." He said in a posh voice, and she eagerly picked up her spoon, swinging her legs under the table.
He stood up straight, smiling down at her and turned around to go back into the kitchen to put the milk away, when he came face to face with Hannah standing beside the fridge.
She arched her eyebrow at him, smiling slyly, and he felt like he'd done something wrong.
"Oh, don't tell me she's not supposed to have that for breakfast." He guessed blindly, grimacing as he waited for a telling off.
She burst out laughing. "No, that is her breakfast. It's more this..."
She lifted up the sketch he hadn't quite finished with a big smile.
"When did you manage to do this?!"
He frowned. "While I waited for you to wake up."
"You managed to do this in an hour?!"
"Half an hour. I cleaned up a bit for you and ironed Bea's uniform for the day first."
Her jaw dropped. She quickly slapped the picture on the kitchen side, grabbing him by his shirt and yanking him to her, slamming their lips together and digging her hands into his hair lustfully.
His body was still reeling from the night before and immediately began to rise to the attention. He hummed against her lips in protest, reluctantly pushing her away. His cheeks were flushed, his trousers suffocating his excitement, and he nervously cast his eyes over to Bea's back.
"Baby, not while she's here. I'm still badly affected from last night." He whispered frantically, pointedly glancing down at the uncomfortable bulge.
She followed his gaze and smirked. "Did you like it? Did you enjoy what i did?"
He stared at her, thinking it was bloody obvious that he did, before gulping and nodding vehemently, unable to make a sound as he remembered the performance she'd given in preparation to take him.
She giggled at the way he was still under her spell, even if it was the morning after. She blushed and bit her lip, feeling the empowering rush of adrenaline she'd felt the night before come rushing back through her bloodstream.
He finally managed to find his voice.
"Does a fish need water? Do we need air to breathe?!" He asked bluntly, a grin spreading across his face. "I loved it! You're making me a love sick puppy here, Hannah, and I'm all fucking for it!"
She laughed and looked back at the picture he'd drawn on the A4 sheet of paper.
"Ethan, this is so beautiful! I absolutely love it! Has she seen it?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. I haven't quite finished it. Still needs perfecting."
"Thank you. I'm going to get this framed!" She beamed at him, pecked a small kiss on his cheek, and then turned to make her coffee. "Did you want one?"
He gave the kettle a disdainful look. "Uhh, if it's alright, I'd like to get some more expensive brand of coffee and let you try it." He said carefully. He had been about to say he'd treat her to a more expensive brand, but he knew she wouldn't allow it if he worded it that way.
After last night, he saw her as a feisty feline who was immune to the word treat. There was no way in hell he was going to try and tame her!
She arched an eyebrow at him, then made a curious noise. "I'd like to try that actually, if that's OK?"
Ah ha! He'd found a loophole!!
"Sure."
She then tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing as if she was realising something. "You don't like the coffee I have, do you?"
It wasn't a question. She had caught him out. He gave her a sheepish grin.
"Ok, I'll admit it. I'm used to the best coffee. It's all I've ever drank since I started my company." He blushed.
She gave him an unimpressed look before snorting loudly and descending into giggles.
"I know, it's awful, isn't it?!" She agreed. "It's because I go through so much, I have no choice but to get the cheapest. This whole tin lasts me about... a week and a half? Means I don't need to keep buying it all the time. Costs me a fiver each time."
He wrinkled his nose at the biscuit sized tin of cheap coffee.
"I won't tell you how much I spend on coffee. Even Martin now only ever drinks the coffee at mine. All I'm going to tell you is that it comes direct from Ethiopia, and I can only get a hundred gram bag at most, so I tend to bulk buy."
Her eyes widened. "Only a hundred grams at a time?!" She had to know. He had drawn her in now. "And how much will that set you back?"
He watched her, interested to see her reaction. "Only seventy-five a bag."
"Seventy-five quid for a small bag?!" She blanched then shook her head. "That better wake you up enough to run a marathon across England for that price!"
He burst out laughing.
"It's actually decaffeinated."
"Oh my god! That's bloody pointless then!" She looked down at her phone to check the time before sighing. "Bea? Finish up quickly, baby girl. It's nearly time to get dressed for school."
Bea whisked her head round. "Is Ethan taking me to school?"
He gave her a longing look. "I hope to one day, but right now, it's not a good idea. Remember what we spoke about yesterday?"
Her face fell a little, but she nodded. She got out from behind the sofa and made her way to her bedroom while Ethan went to pick up her bowl. He stared at the bowl incredulously.
"She didn't even fucking eat it!"
Hannah burst out laughing. "Welcome to my world." She mused.