He walked out, dumbfounded. The loud music took a toll on him and it registered on his mind that the DJ downstairs had increased the volume and that it was noisier than it was earlier before –only that it wasn't. How was one supposed to react and feel after such nerve-cracking news? He walked downstairs to the living room, found a plastic cup with beer on some shelf, and gulped the whole of it in two seconds. He looked around the serene, eyebrows knitted in confusion. Pictures in his mind became hazy and blurred. The disco ball flashed out its silver lights as the music boomed on. Slowly he faded away from the present, his mind dropped in somewhat of an ocean representation of questions and no answers. She was pregnant. Already. At such a young age. How to help her he did not know. What of his parents? What would they think of this? That is if it came to the point that he had to tell them? He reached for another cup of beer but someone stopped him. He looked at his side, it was Elena flashing worried eyes at him.
"How did it go? Is she okay? Are you okay?" She asked softly as if whispering. The music swallowed her voice.
"What?" He asked trying to overpower the noise. She grabbed him by the hand and took him outside. They climbed down the porch and sat on the front yard with their backs against the wooden fence behind them. Other people were doing the same too.
"Are you okay?" She asked once more.
"No, no I'm not." He told her. "She's pregnant Elena. She's…" words disappeared from his lips as his teeth ground on themselves, "things are so messed up Elena. I'm sorry for how she reacted towards you."
"It's okay. I understand... I just wish she knew what she has gotten herself in."
"This party feels so different now. Everything has just fallen apart."
She kept quiet having no words to soothe him out of this ordeal. The joy, the fire, the ecstasy that was once there in him had slipped away and he looked dormant even in her own presence.
"Um, do you want to get out of here?" He asked her, finding some words to say.
"Okay? But what about the party?" She drawled.
"Don't worry. I have some people taking charge. They'll manage. Come on, let's go."
"Okay, not what I meant but look. I came here because you told me that you wanted me to come. I want to stay with you here because this feels right."
"And it is. You will still be with me. Come on. Please? Do you trust me?" He ushered her as he stood. She raised a brow, smiled, grabbed his helping hand, and was up.
They got to a certain silver sports car parked outside the Purcells' home just like the rest of the cars. He opened the door for her and got in after her and sat on the driver's seat. The leather on the seat was warm. A GPS beep was below the stereo system. It had an enticing strawberry fragrance and was clean as if it had not been used before.
"Wait, whose car is this?" She asked seeming confused about what they were doing in someone else's car.
"Mine." He grinned as he fastened his belt. A security guard came to register his exit details.
"Yours? Since when?" She asked grasping the sight of everything inside the road drive machine.
"My father bought it last week and handed it to me as a present for finishing my studies... well on a high note." He finally said.
"Wow! Wow!" She exclaimed. "Your parents are so serious about rewards. It's nice. I love it." She breathed in the fragrance. Strawberry. It really smelt nice.
"Thank you Elena Stenfield."
"Why did you do that?"
"What? What did I do?" He chuckled a bit. They were about a minute away from the venue heading to more uptown Seattle.
"Call me Elena Stenfield. You know I hate it when someone calls me that informally."
"Not from me you don't." He said and grinned, eyes locked onto hers. She was smiling. He broke into laughter. Perhaps it was funny how he knew Elena all too well. Elena joined the toxic laughter soon. He was happy again. At least that's what he looked like amidst Ingrid's depressing news. She had rekindled back the Ethan that was there earlier.
"Nice one, Ethan. Nice one." She said, clapping her hands in awe. "So where are we going?"
"To my house." Replied Ethan, eyes straight on the road. The right bicep had been well exposed to her and the muscles twitched as he moved around. She could feel his strength by just gazing at his hands. His dark brown hair was being swayed by the cold night wind that passed through. The noise from his estate had died by every distance. There was traffic but not too much.
"To your house?" She asked, "What about the one we have just left?"
"That's the Purcells' home. I'm taking you to mine. Just another present my dad got for me."
"Whoa! You mean that you guys are that rich that you got a house and car as presents for finishing university– in two weeks!"
"Don't do that, please. My dad insisted so I accepted. But I'm not rich. My parents are. I'm going to work for my riches starting Monday." He said as he looked at her. He then directed his eyes back to the road.
"So, you were planning to live there alone?" She asked.
"Um, yeah. Obviously, Ingrid would be coming to visit once in a while. But whom do I have for companion except you?"
She felt pity for him. He had loved her all his life but she never showed the same affection if not any. He had already included her in his life after school, and yet she had never allowed herself to feel the same towards him. She knew that he wanted her, more than a friend. Elena watched him. The black shirt and contrasting dark hair were showcasing a silhouette against the rest of the world, the brighter part of his face exposed to her. She reached for her phone in her purse and took a picture of him.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" He asked seeming surprised by Elena's act.
"Till we start living together, I wanna be looking at you every single night before I go to sleep. And every day before I get out of bed. I want to look at you before the sun sets and before it rises. I want to look at you every single day of my life. You're like a poem so sweet waiting for the right audience." She said, her dazzling dark eyes dancing to the reflection of the street lights they passed under. He would have kissed her was he not driving the vehicle.
"Thank you, for your sweet words Elena. I love you too. Go on take pictures of both of us." He ushered her, eyes appearing watery. His voice sounded affirmative yet so tender. The pictures were taken the rest of the journey with some laughs, smolders, tongue outs and stupid faces in between.
They reached the house after thirty minutes from the Purcells' home. It wasn't too big. And neither was it too small. A small short wooden fence surrounded the premises, the same as the one back home. There was a driveway that led to the back of the house where the garage was. Ethan parked the car just outside the garage before opening its door to Elena. A black convertible was parked on the opposite side of the road that had arrived sooner after the two lovebirds had made entry into 'their' new home.
He switched on the lights and revealed the beauty to the wondering Elena. There was an L-shaped couch in the middle with a daybed on its adjacent. The television in front was stationed on the wall with a picture frame of Ethan and his family on the adjacent one. There was no table. He directed her to the kitchen as she absorbed the fragrance that the house gave off. It smelt nice. Strawberry nice. It seemed to have everything to take care of a family of four, let alone a bachelor. He reached for the fridge, took out some juice, and poured it into two glasses. He handed Elena one and after a small clink, they took sips.
"So how's the house?" He asked, curiously joking.
"Well, um you tried." She responded with the same aura.
"Tried?" His eyebrows shot up. "Have you seen what I have done with the house?"
"Kidding. Just kidding. For a person like you, it's good. For the both of us, much, much better." She mouthed him the better with eyebrows shot up and a smile at the end.