You Can't Choose Love by Veronica Cross Page A

uncertainty when he had sex with Janet. The fact that she was new to
it made it even more exciting and alluring.
    Janet was content as she lay
quietly in his arms. And then she looked up. “There was a reason I came to talk
to you today.”
    “I know,” was all Ethan said. He
wasn’t looking at her. He was staring up at the ceiling but his arm was still
wrapped around her as she lay on his chest. “Can it wait till tomorrow?” he
asked softly. “I don’t want to ruin the moment.”
    And in that moment, Janet realized
that Ethan thought their little relationship had come to an end. He was trying
to cherish what he thought were their last moments together.
    Janet wondered if that were true.
But she would have to wait till tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to lay in
his arms and forget about the impending conversation that might be their end.

Chapter
11 – Revelations of the Past
     
    Any hopes of confrontation were deferred
when Ethan got a call early morning from his father who wanted him present at a
meeting as his replacement. Ethan had to rush to get dressed and left the house
before Janet was fully awake. The touch of his goodbye kiss lingered on her
lips as she roamed around the house, a while later.
    In the kitchen, she was greeted by
a middle aged woman named Chef Bufe. She was setting up a breakfast table and
insisted that she will set up a separate one for Janet up in the living room
but Janet could not understand why they couldn’t dine together. In the end,
Chef Bufe reluctantly agreed but asked her not to tell Ethan.
    “Why?” Janet asked surprised.
    “He asked me to make breakfast for
you and serve it in the living room like we serve all the Reeds.”
    “I see,” Janet said slowly.
Suddenly, she had an idea. “What’s Ethan like?” she asked. “I mean what do you
think of him?”
    “He’s very good to us,” Chef Bufe
replied. “Looks after all our needs. Gives us extra money. Makes sure all my
children get Christmas presents. He’s very good kid.”
    Janet frowned. Why was he such
an asshole to me and the general school population then?
    “Are you his girlfriend?” Chef
Bufe asked hesitantly.
    “Oh no,” Janet said. “Just a
friend.”
    The older woman nodded. “Ethan
only ever had one girlfriend in the time I’ve known him. And that was put an
end to by his parents.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “They thought she isn’t good for
him.”
    “Was she… not rich?” Janet asked
cautiously.
    “Oh she was rich. Very rich. But
she belonged to a rival political family. I think that really affected Ethan
adversely.”
    “What did his parents do?”
    “They broke them up. Threatened
her and her family. I don’t exactly know the whole story but Ethan was
distraught.”
    Janet looked at the assortment of
foods in front of them. She had never had such a rich breakfast. Five different
types of breads, several cold meats and spreads, vegetables and fruits, all
types of eggs, croissants, puddings, cakes and pastries.
    “This is all too much,” she
pointed out, mostly so she does not have to answer Chef Bufe talking about
Ethan’s past.
    “I thought it’s too less…” the
woman trailed off. “Ethan asked me to make everything. I still missed out some
cereals and porridges.”
    “Ethan is crazy,” Janet concluded
picking up a piece of bread and coating it with honey.
    Chef Bufe gave her a suppressed
knowing smile but didn’t say anymore.
    “I hope Ethan’s meeting is going
well…” Chef Bufe said as an afterthought.
    In fact, it was going quite well. Ethan
had filled in for his father several times, a fact his mother did not
appreciate owing to the dangers associated with entering politics. Ethan wasn’t
sure how he felt about campaign meetings which all basically discussed
marketing strategies and how to manipulate people into giving Mr. Reed their
vote. It could be interesting in a manner but most of the time it felt wrong to
discuss methods of manipulation. Ethan