Earn My Trust

Chapter 23 - Alone at Last

Hannah let herself into the flat and quietly closed the door behind her. She wanted to surprise Ethan and hoped he would be either in his office or the bathroom.
She snuck inside and was relieved to see his office clear, as well as the living room and kitchen. She made her way to the bedroom and finally heard Ethan singing along to his portable music player in the shower.
She bit her lip to hold in the laugh that bubbled up inside her. Out of all the music she thought Ethan would listen to, Trick Me by Kelis was definitely not one of them. To make it more difficult to resist was how he was really going for it, too.
"Those days are old and overdone, and it's only 'coz I'm not with you that you made me number one..."
She couldn't resist any longer!
She, herself, had spent many nights singing along to the song after her split with Jake, and she just had to take advantage of the moment.
She burst into the bathroom just as the song changed to the rap part, dancing as she sang along.
"Started getting heavy when I really wasn't ready, used my past to get in my mind, so I fell for your lies like all the time."
Ethan spun round so quickly that he lost his footing. He slipped forward on the tiled floor of the shower and ended up pressed flat against the showers glass screen.
She burst out laughing and bent over at the hilarious view she had. He was flattened against the screen, squeaking as he slowly slid down while he struggled to get friction on the tiles.
"Alexa, stop." He said once he managed to peel himself off the glass, scoffing at Hannah while she was still laughing at him.
Unfortunately, the technology device didn't hear him and continued playing to the song, Fuck Away the Pain by Divide the Day.
"Alexa, stop!" He cried louder, again being ignored. "ALEXAA! SHUT UP!"
Finally, the device heard him and, with a sarcastic "okie dokie," stopped playing the music.
Hannah was now on her knees, gripping the sides of her stomach from laughing so much.
"Enjoyed that view, baby?" He asked sarcastically, stepping around the glass screen and stalking towards her. "That was evil, you know."
"It... was... perfect!" She wheezed, wiping away tears when she was suddenly grabbed and hoisted into the air.
She frantically screamed, kicking her legs and flailing her arms around in protest until she was plunged under the hot water of the shower.
"Ethan! What the fuck?!"
"That's what you get for scaring me!" He smirked, leaning in and lifting her top with the blouse up to undress her. "Now we have to have a shower together."
Hannah spun around to face him, gazing up at him with naive curiosity, her mind full of imaginary scenarios they could do in the shower together.
She had never had sex in the shower, but she was definitely willing to give it a try!
"Can I at least get undressed first? It's not very appealing to get undressed while in the water, the tops sticking to my skin." She protested, leaning against him seductively.
He froze at that. He hadn't expected her to be on board with his suggestion. He only said it as a joke, saying it just to see her storm back to the bedroom to get changed after she'd learnt her lesson.
He stared at her, flummoxed for a moment, before his dick reminded him she was game! He immediately switched his gaping open mouth for his smouldering grin and stepped aside to let her get undressed.
"Don't be too long." He huskily whispered in her ear as she passed, gently nipping at her earlobe. "I'll be here waiting for you..."

*****************************

Sadly, the hot shower scene Hannah had played in her head did not live up to reality.
Lathering each other in soap had been the most anticlimatic part of the whole situation, building both of them up only to be left thoroughly disappointed.
They had been slipping and sliding all over the place. He couldn't get a good grip on her to pin her to the wall, and both of them had been spluttering attempted lust filled words to each other through mouthfuls of water in vain to keep the mood alive.
If anything, they had quickly abandoned the shower and head straight to the bedroom, where she laid a towel on one of the huge carpets beside Ethan's side of the bed and they then made love there on the floor.
They laid in each others arms afterwards, both basking in the afterglow and out of breath, but both felt extremely foolish.
"Well, that didn't go as I had expected..." he said sheepishly, breaking the silence first.
"No..." she agreed, twisting round to look at him. "How in the fuck is that kind of thing the kinkiest part of any romance movie?!"
He laughed and leaned in for a kiss. "At least we know now."
She hummed against his lips and gasped as he removed himself from her, still feeling highly sensitive, laying back down and watching him get up to go to the wardrobe.
"So what did you have planned for our first evening together?" She asked him, gathering the towel between her legs to catch any drips. "Or have you not thought past what we've just done either?"
He threw his head back and laughed at her joke.
"Actually, I have got an idea, but it will involve getting dressed and leaving the house."
She pouted from where she stayed lying on the floor. "Really?"
"Yep, but don't worry. You won't need to wear anything too dressed up or anything, and we won't technically be leaving the building, just the flat."
She frowned at him, wondering what he had planned.
"Ok... just give me a second to clean up, and I'll be dressed again." She grunted as she got off the floor, accidentally taking the towel with her because it was wedged between her bum cheeks.
He snorted as he turned, now casually dressed, just in time to see her remove the towel, and made his way back to her, snaking his hand around her waist and caressing her back.
"There's no rush. I need to sort some things out first." He murmured, kissing her deeply before letting her go and heading for the door to the living room. "I'll see you in a bit."
She stayed where she was after he disappeared from view, her mind rattling off all kinds of guesses on what he had planned.
She thought it could be a meal out, but then they weren't leaving the building like he said. She wondered if it could possibly be swimming. That was the most likely.
Deciding she would find out when they finally got round to it, she made her way back to the bathroom to have another shower, this time alone.
While she relaxed, letting the hot water wash over her body, she thought back to what Martin had told them about Ethans previous relationship.
Personally, she could never treat anyone the way Bianca or Jake had treated either of them. She wouldn't be able to live with the guilt!
The fact Bianca had selfishly thought she deserved the success Ethan had been getting, completely disregarding all the hard work he was putting behind it to achieve those successes in the first place, absolutely disgusted her. How dare she think she deserved that kind of reward for doing nothing! She wished that Bianca had never become famous, that she remained a nobody like she was, just so she was still no one, but the bitch had what she wanted now and even that didn't seem enough to her!
She knew how hard work and perseverance made the rewards all the more satisfying. It was not giving in and turning away from the goal altogether that was the most difficult to resist, only because it was the easy option.
She sighed and turned off the water, stepping out and grabbing a fresh, luxurious towel. She wrapped her hair up and left her body to drip dry while she approached the his and her sinks, picking up a flannel and wiping the mirror clear.
She took in her reflection in the huge mirror. She looked washed out, tired. She could see the signs of ageing, the fine wrinkles around her mouth, eyes, and forehead, but she also saw the happiness in her eyes. The warmth and love she was giving and now receiving overshadowed all of her setbacks.
She smiled back at herself, finally feeling comfortable with who and where she was in life and deciding she would allow herself to enjoy it, for however long it would last.
She turned away from the mirror and made her way to the wardrobe, trying to decide on what outfit would be best suited for the evening.
She decided to wear something sophisticated but irresistibly sexy as a treat for Ethan.
Una seemed to have thought along the same lines when she designed her clothing, too.
She found a gorgeous black spaghetti strap low-cut vest top that had beautiful lace detailing around the top hem. It had built-in breast support cups, meaning she didn't have to wear a bra and have the straps showing. A pair of stretchy jeggings hugged her in all the right places, accentuating her hour glass shape and smoothing out her legs. She found her trusty pair of black leather medium heeled ankle boots and decided to style her hair loose, allowing her flowing waves to hang over one shoulder.
Once she was finished, she made her way to the door when the most delicious smell filled her nostrils, making her hum in delight.
Ethan had been busy cooking a sumptuous feast for the both of them. He had stopped off at the shop on the way back and bought all the ingredients he needed, figuring cooking would be the best way to treat his girlfriend than show off his wealth.
The feast consisted of all the picnic favourites. Homemade scotch eggs, sausage rolls, and chicken wings, which he'd cooked earlier, potato salad, fresh leaf salad. He made a chicken korma sandwich filler along with an egg mayonnaise with cress in case she wanted another option. Freshly squeezed orange juice was being stored in the fridge in old-fashioned corked glass bottles, and he also had a bottle of the finest red wine he could find. The only thing that he hadn't handmade himself food wise was the loaf of bread, which he had wrapped in a cloth and had the bread knife sitting beside it.
He hummed away to himself as he set about creating his delicacies, hoping she would enjoy the evening he had planned for her.
Hannah watched him hum away as he began packing everything into a large picnic basket.
"We're going for a picnic?" She asked in surprise.
He grinned when he heard her voice. "Yep. All handmade by yours truly."
"But where are we going to go to eat it? The poolside?"
He let out a short, abrupt laugh at her guess and shook his head. "I don't think you're allowed to take food into the swimming pool area." He explained, picking up the bread and laying it on top of the containers already neatly stacked inside. "We're going somewhere further up than the pools anyway."
She frowned, lost on where he could be referring to.
He finished packing and turned to look at her. He felt a jolt of electricity blot through him as he took in how truly stunning she looked in the casual outfit she had chosen. His heart started beating twice as fast, and his eyes were automatically drawn to the perfect silhouette she displayed.
"Hannah..." he whispered, rendered speechless by her beauty.
She blushed coyly and came closer. "Am I dressed right for whatever you have planned?"
He couldn't make a sound, just nodded dumbly, unable to take his eyes off her.
She got close enough for her to lean in and loop her arms around his neck.
"I take it this is an outside event if it's a picnic?" She asked, eyeing the expensive looking wicker basket on the kitchen counter.
He finally managed to find his voice and cleared his throat. "Um, well, yes. I would actually suggest a jacket. It can get cold up there."
"Up where?"
"The roof." He fixed his eyes on hers, feeling like he was diving into deep pools as her blue eyes hypnotised him more than her body did. "We're going up to the rooftop garden."
She gasped and yanked her hands down to cover her mouth. "I forgot there's a rooftop garden!"
"I figured. No one ever goes up there, so we'll likely have the place to ourselves." He leaned in to kiss her before reluctantly pulling away and picking up the basket and his keys. He froze when his fist closed around them, realising something was amiss that he hadn't noticed before.
"Wait... how the fuck did you get in earlier?!" He cried, spinning back round to stare at her.
She smirked and folded her arms cockily. "I think you scared Martin off after he saw you with... what did he call it? Mrs. Thumb and her four friends?"
His heart slammed on the brakes, and he felt the blood drain from his face.
"It's not what you're thinking!" He denied immediately, making her laugh.
"It's fine." She reassured him sweetly. "He gave me his key, saying I'm going to need it more than him anyway."
"He did, did he?" He replied doubtfully. "I'm sorry, but the amount of times I've caught him letting himself in just so he can use my coffee machine. I find it hard to believe he'd just hand it to you."
"We actually had a little... heart to heart?" She explained loosely, thinking back to the conversation at work. "When you left to come home, he told us what it was like for you both. Your first property buy in Edinburgh, the way you lived in a tiny studio together, everything until he got to... her..." she finished awkwardly.
His face scowled at the subtle mention of his ex. "How the fuck did she come up in conversation?"
"He wanted to defend our choices for dating each other." She bit her lip, wondering if she was actually digging a deeper hole for Martin to crawl out of rather than helping him. "Mel and Greg said that, ideally, we should be keeping to our own... classes, and he told them it didn't always work out for the best." She sincerely looked him dead in the eye. "It helped, you know. You had already told me how hard things were growing up with your dad, but to find out you continued to struggle so you could take that first dive into upselling a house? It made me feel like you understood me more than I ever thought you would have. Especially how she... treated you. I could sympathise with that a little bit."
He was floored by what she said. His idiotic friend had come to their defence and helped his girlfriend see the bigger picture of him?
"Oh..." was all he could say, standing there rooted to the spot while holding the heavy picnic basket in one hand and his keys in the other.
She gave him a tiny empathetic smile. "It made me all the more certain I was making the right choice by going ahead with this too."
The corners of his mouth twitched into a returning smile, and he put the basket and keys back on the counter to kiss her again.
Their exchange heated up again, and both were tempted to move back to the bedroom, but he pulled away.
Breathing heavily as he resisted her, he forced himself to pick up the basket and keys.
"We better get up there before it gets dark. There's lamps up there, but they don't give off the best amount of light."
The couple took their leave, Hannah taking the keys so she could lock the door behind them. She turned toward the lift, but he gently took her hand, leading her to a door to the right in the corner of the hallway.
They climbed the stairs until they reached a fire exit door, and Ethan clonked it open, allowing her to step outside first.
She was speechless by how the rooftop garden looked. She had expected it to be pretty bare, with large fans to help the airflow into the building or an electrical shed, but it wasn't.
The ground was crystal white gravel, with black, sleek marble benches. Palm trees and other exotic plants sat in matching marble flower bases, bordering the pathways.
Further along, she could see a raised marble platform with a marble type of gazebo over it. The floor of it was covered in artificial grass, and it had white painted iron fences between the plinths.
The edges of the large roof had a waist high wall, and the view! The three hundred and sixty view of Londons skyline took her breath away.
"This is perfect!" She whispered, unable to take her eyes off St. Paul's rooftop, that was just about visible in the distance.
He chuckled and gently took her hand, leading her towards the gazebo.
"It really is. It's relatively new, too. Only been here, what, the last two years?"
He let go of her hand once they were close enough and put the basket on the floor, whipping out the blanket and laying it on the fake grass.
"I was wanting to do a picnic, just like our lunches we used to have together, but..." he trailed off, not really needing to finish off the sentence.
His yearning for the privacy they no longer had was evident in his eyes.
She placed her hand on his forearm, kneeling down on the blanket and pulling him down with her.
"It's ideal. Thank you!" She breathed, genuinely pleased with his choice.
He smiled warmly at her, glad she approved and pulled the basket closer, pulling out the wine glasses and the choices of beverage.
"Red wine or orange juice?" He offered, putting on the same posh voice he did when he had given Bea her breakfast a few days before.
"I'll try the wine, please." She grinned back at him, laying herself back and propping herself up by her elbows.
She relaxed while she watched him uncork the wine and pour a little to let her taste some.
The rich flavour was a lot sweeter than what she was used to. She hummed in pleasant surprise and nodded at him, handing back her glass and letting him top it up.
"This is my favourite wine, although I don't drink much anymore. Its actually the same wine they'll give you at the Gala on Thursday." He explained, handing back her glass and pouring himself some.
"Well, that's going to be dangerous." She mumbled comically. "Una's going to be on hand in case you need help carrying me, right?"
He had been just about to take a sip and snorted into his glass. "Yeah, she should be there. She doesn't drink for religious reasons."
"That's a relief." She giggled, taking another small sip and looking around the peaceful garden.
Even though they could hear all the traffic and commotion from the streets below them, it felt so intimate being up there away from them all. The breeze was gentle, the slowly lowering sun still high enough to give off pleasant warmth, and even the pigeons seemed more relaxed and less... irritating to see.
"I think I have a new favourite place." She sighed, looking back at him to see his was unloading the plates and cutlery, along with the multiple food containers. She frowned when he pulled out a whole loaf of unsliced bread. "Why did you bring up the whole loaf?"
"For freshness." He deadpanned as if she was mad. "I don't get sliced bread. Doesn't bring back good memories."
She winced a little when she remembered him telling her about his dad.
"Oh yeah..."
"Besides, you can control the thickness of your slices this way." He smirked at her cockily.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "It's all about the girth, isn't it?"
He chuckled and pulled out the final container before gesturing at the food.
"So, what do you fancy first? I have homemade sausage rolls, scotch eggs, chicken wings... you can have a sandwich? Chicken korma or egg and cress. Umm... some fruit?"
"My god, man!" She gasped at the variety on offer. "This is going to end up feeding us over the next week!"
He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing. "Yeah, I might have gone over board, but it all tastes really good."
"I don't doubt it. I'll start off with a scotch egg and some chicken wings, please? Then, perhaps an egg and cress sandwich to follow."
The couple munched on their food in comfortable silence, sitting close together and cuddling, only getting up to get more food or top up their drinks, and both watching the sun slowly disappear behind the surrounding buildings.
They actually managed to polish off a lot of the food he had prepared. By the time they were finished, the sausage rolls, scotch eggs, chicken wings, fruit, and salads were all gone. Only the sandwich fillers and half the loaf of bread remained.
"That was delicious!" She sighed happily, rubbing her stomach while he chucked the now empty bottle of wine into the basket.
"It was! I'm surprised the scotch eggs came out so well. I've never made them by hand before." He mused smugly.
"They were divine!" She agreed, nodding. "Do you want to take a look at the street while we let the food go down?"
"Sure." He grinned, getting up first, then holding out his hand to help her up.
They approached the buildings edge and leaned against the wall together, holding hands.
She was surprised the street was still so busy. She could see people bustling about below them, buses, taxis, and vans driving past towards their destinations.
"It's nice to look down on the madness below sometimes." She giggled.
He chuckled along with her, then nudged her. "Want to play a game?"
She stared at him. In her mind, she thought he was suggesting chucking food down on the people below or taunting them in some way.
"What game?" She asked slowly.
He smirked. "People watching! Martin and I used to play it all the time!"
"How do you play it?"
"You choose someone below, guess what their job is, what kind of music they listen to, the colour of their underwear, anything really."
She blanched at him. "The colour of their underwear?!" She criticised.
"Meh, it was Martins favourite to guess. Course, we never found out if it was true or not."
She snorted and burst into giggles. "Ok, that's sounds fun!"
"You go first." He offered, gesturing to the people below.
"Ok..." she peered down at the crowd, spotting an old lady in a huge brown trench coat and loafers. "Her. The grandma there..."
She pointed her out to him, and he burst out laughing.
"Oh, she totally listens to Michael Buble!" He cried, laughing louder.
"I reckon she wears devil red suspenders." She quipped snidely, getting the exact reaction she had hoped.
He cried out in disgust and threw his head back.
"Ohhhh, the mental images!" He shivered, making her laugh.
"Ok, your turn."
"The guy there with the sunglasses and peaky blinders hat." He whispered, pointing.
She scrunched up her face at him and lowered her volume to match his. "Why the fuck are you whispering? They can't hear us, you idiot!"
He snorted but kept his finger pointing at the guy. "He's a wannabe actor, definitely. You can see it in his swagger."
"Oh, that's totally wrong. He just thinks he looks hot!" She protested, unable to stop her giggling. "I bet he listens to K-Pop... nooo! Crazy Frog!"
He roared with laughter, and they had to duck away from the roofs edge in case they were heard.
Giggling like school kids, they continued playing the game until the sun had fully set, and it became too difficult to see the crowds properly.
"That was fun!" She praised him while they packed up the picnic. "We have to try it with Lisa and Martin one day."
"Oh, I'm sure we will." He promised, grinning widely.
They made their way back to the flat and let themselves in, both heading straight for the kitchen to clean up the containers and properly store the leftover food.
Ethan wished he had got another bottle of wine to have once back inside but had to just make an after dinner coffee for them both with her help. Although he had to take over when Hannah got a little too enthusiastic using the milk frother.
"I was thinking that we could go dress shopping tomorrow." He suggested as they sat down on the large sofa, lifting his arm so she could snuggle into his side. "Did you want to invite Lisa along?"
"That's a good...idea." She yawned sleepily. "Sorry, the food and wine are hitting me now."
"That's alright." He planted a kiss on the top of her head and leaned back to relax. "I'll need to make an appointment, so what time should I do it for?"
"Do it for three." She replied. "I'm supposed to finish work at two because that's when I would usually run to get my train."
He nodded and pulled out his phone to make a note of it before he forgot. "I'll call them in the morning and make the appointment for three for four people."
"Four people?" She repeated in confusion.
"Yeah. Una uses the same shop, so I can tell her to use our appointment at the same time."
"You're going to have to tell me the full story of how you and Una met one day."
"I'll get her to tell you tomorrow." He whispered, his eyes closing of their own accord.
They both fell asleep there on the sofa, the untouched forgotten coffees left to cool on the coffee table. Neither woke until the early morning sunshine shone in their eyes.