"Anything else, ma'am?" The waitress asked Gwen, who was so bitter that ended up having just a milkshake. Strawberry, her favorite. She thought about leaving, but she was not going to give him this satisfaction of knowing he had ruined her appetite.
"No, that's all." the waitress looked at her in annoyance. Normally, when she used to go there, she knew a few of the workers, but after her years of marriage and her time outside the country, tons of things changed. What more could she expect?
"It's five dollars." The waitress was chewing gum and the noise was just too irritable for Gwen to be able to cope with that. She got ten dollars and without waiting for the change, she got up and walked to the door, without looking in Ethan's direction. She was so pissed off!
She reached her car and she was trembling with rage.
"I should have better gone home, after all!" She said just to herself. When she got her car keys and was about to press the button, Ethan's voice startled her.
"Just a milkshake?" he asked and she ended up letting the car keys fall. Since she was startled, her feet moved. She kicked the car keys. They were now under the vehicle. She closed her eyes, sighed deeply and turned to look at Ethan.
He had his hands on his pockets and was looking in the direction where her car keys vanished.
"Seems like you've got bad luck, huh?" He asked and looked at Gwen, with a grin on his face.
"What the hell is your problem?" She asked, getting on her knees and putting her purse on her side, so she could have both hands free and bent down enough to retrieve the keys.
Ethan didn't expect she would do it that way. She was wearing a dress, for God's sake!
He cleared his throat and looked at the other side. Gwen didn't even pay attention to him.
Ethan may not like her, but he was not a liar. She was hot. In bed, he was always satisfied in those three years of marriage with her. And he wasn't gonna pretend he was not shaken physically by being close to her.
She finally got her keys, got up and cleaned her knees. She just pretended he was not there. In fact, she almost forgot about his existence, had he not got closer to her and she sensed a shadow behind her.
"What is it that you still want, Mr. Lennox?" she asked and opened the door to her car, but he closed it.
"I mean it when I say I want you out." He said. Her perfume was so good. He closed his eyes for a second, to smell it better.
"And I meant it when I said I ain't going anywhere." She replied and stepped on his foot, so he backed away and she had space and opportunity to open the car's door and get in.
Ethan knocked on her window, but she ignored that, too, and hit the gas. He stayed there, watching as her car went away, until it turned right and he saw it no more.
"You will leave. I'll make sure of it." He said, as a promise. Then, his phone rang. Without looking at it, he answered it.
"Lennox."
"Where are you?" His grandfather.
"Heading home." Ethan answered, opening his own car door and getting in. "I am about to drive, can't talk now, grandpa."
"You come here, right now, Ethan Lennox! Don't you dare to ignore me!" The old man demanded and Ethan just sighed and agreed, before he finished the call.
Nicolai Lennox was a strong old man. Ethan loved him very much, since his father has always been working and doing other things, when Ethan was a kid and his grandfather was the one who always looked out for him.
When Nicolai got really sick and everyone thought he was done for, Ethan got so carried away by that, that he agreed to honor his grandfather's promise and marry the daughter of the Hoffmann family. He didn't love anyone, at the time, so, it was not like he was going to lose too much. He had seen Gwen's mother when he was younger, and she was pretty. Her father was not ugly. That said, the girl couldn't be ugly, right?
The day he met Gwen, was the day of their marriage. She was in a simple white dress, holding a small bouquet of flowers and looked impatient. He could say she was gorgeous. But then, he remembered she accepted that bargain and was forcing him into an union he was not willing to oblige. She was just as bad as her family and he hated her for that.
When he arrived at the Lennox mansion, his grandfather was sitting on the sofa, watching his favorite Tv show: How much?. It was a program where a participant would have to say how much something cost. If right, that person would receive the product as a prize.
"Grandpa, you asked for me?" Ethan asked. He could be cold and daring to anyone, but not to his grandfather. If Nicolai decided to hit him with his cane, he would. And Ethan would not complain or burst in rage.
"Of course, I was the one calling you myself, wasn't I?" The old man said. "Don't be stupid, that junk is at least four thousand and thirt five dollars!"
"And why?" Ethan asked, ignoring the fact that his grandfather was ignoring him.
"When are we going to have grandchildren, boy?" Nicolai asked and Ethan took a deep breath.
"I don't know, grandpa."
The Tv turned off. The old man turned his head to Ethan. The old age could be clearly seen on his face.
"You better know. Do you want me to die and have no peace in my heart? I have to be sure our lineage is going to continue!"
"I just have not found the suitable woman to help us." Ethan said.
Nicolai liked to listen to the radio everyday, so he knew Gwen was in town again.
"Of course you did. But you're a moron and let her escape, right through your fingers, like water."
Ethan knew his grandfather was not talking about Darla, who made everyone believe he was having an affair with her. Just to piss off Gwen, he let those ridiculous rumors grow and spread. Nicolai hated her just for being a 'homewrecker', as he always called her.
"I did not."
"Don't play coy with me, boy!" The old man said and branded his cane in the air. "Gwen was adorable, beautiful and with a good heart. So attentive, that one. She would make the perfect mother for your kids, just as she made a perfect wife."
"Grandpa, please, she was not perfec-"
"She was! but of course, you, as blind and stubborn as you are, could not see. I would have filed for a divorce too, if I were here. Cannot blame her. Just pity this family, myself and you, who I doubt will find another girl like her."
"She was not suitable. She is the culprit for me not having a child, if you can remember it."
"She was perfect! And you know that. Deep down your heart. And no, she was not the culprit. I am more than sure that girl was not even pregnant!" The old man said and sighed. "Anyways… the one who lost more is you."
"Why did you call me here?" Ethan asked. He was tired and this talk about Gwen gave him a headache.
"Just to remind you that I need a great grandson. And to know if you have Gwen's contact. I want to see her."
"No, I don't have her contact." Ethan said. He was not going to say he knew where she lived, though.
"So, go and ask someone. I need to talk to her." The old man asked. "It is a family matter."
"She is not from our family."
"No, but her family is related to us, in some ways. Now, be a good boy and do what I asked. You may leave."
Ethan shook his head, turned around and went to his house. Gwen was always troubling him!