Ethan had been privileged enough to build a personal training business using social media to find clientele. He was at a point where he chose his own hours and came and went as he pleased.
Due to his nonexistent schedule, he often surprised Sophia by coming home sporadically at all hours of the day.
Seeing that it was only midday, he thought nothing of coming home to take a quick shower after training someone and then working out by himself. Since he hadn't heard from Soph, he assumed that she was probably at the bakery and finally left the tall, dark, and handsome guy behind.
However, the moment he unlocked his front door and made it inside, he realized right away that wasn't the case.
"What the hell, Soph!?" he exclaimed seeing the mountain of a man sitting on one of his couches.
Ethan was wearing headphones and accidentally yelled a lot louder than he meant to. He pulled it out of his ear and his eyes wildly scanned the room for his roommate.
At the sudden intruder, John stood up from the couch and the expression on his face became dark. He didn't move forward, seeing that Sophia didn't react badly to the arrival of the person.
The man was so much taller than Ethan realized, except it might have been due to the musculature of his body. It would be hard for him to believe it was natural and not the work of some kind of steroids.
"Care to explain?" Ethan asked, feeling flustered as he approached Sophia who he found at the sink.
Sophia rinsed suds off of one last pan before going to the countertop towel rack, drying off the stainless steel pan, and putting it in the cabinet. When she turned to Ethan, she had a guilty smile on her face and her green eyes were wide.
"How do I go about this…" Sophia nervously responded, drying off her hands and taking off her apron. "They were discharging him from the hospital but he had no place to go because he had amnesia. The hospital granted me temporary guardianship until we can figure out where he belongs. We're calling him John for the time being."
Ethan stared at her in disbelief.
"A stranger?" he asked quietly through clenched teeth, his eyes widening and making him look crazed. "Damn, Soph. It's like you went out and adopted a huge dog without asking me beforehand. This is so unlike you."
Ethan was thrown off, but he was also amused. Ever since he had known Sophia, she wasn't one to stray from her straight path. Seeing her have an adventurous side was entertaining.
Before Ethan could get another word out, John's deep voice penetrated their ears.
"I can hear you," John said.
Considering there wasn't a wall between the kitchen and the living room, it was obvious he would be able to pick up on the conversation. John then wondered if Ethan was stirring things up on purpose. He didn't like how close that man and Sophia were.
As John sized him up, he saw that, despite his shorter stature, he still had muscles that spoke of great strength.
Sophia walked towards the living room. She wore a gentle expression as she approached John.
"This is my roommate, Ethan," she introduced him. "I already told you about him. He's my best friend."
Sophia had expressed previously that her number one rule was to respect Ethan. John had no choice but to stand down even though seeing her next to a man made him feel unsettled.
It further caused him to wonder if she was lying about not knowing him before. This familiarity with her had to mean something.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, John," Ethan said the name with a certain edge to it. "I'm going to go shower before I head off to another training session. I'll see the two of you later on."
Ethan backed away with his eyebrows raised at the two of them. He retrieved his gym bag from the floor by the front door and disappeared up the stairs.
Sophia and John had a moment of eye contact before they both glanced away from one another.
"What would you normally be doing right now?" John asked.
"Normally I would be at the bakery, but I told my part-timer that she doesn't have to come in today," Sophia said. "I'm too tired to open up shop today anyway."
John's eyes went to Sophia. Was she tired? He didn't have a good measure of people since he woke up. Everything alarmed him.
"You're tired…" he realized. "Because you were dealing with me?"
That was the truth but Sophia wasn't going to blame him. She offered a reassuring smile.
"I wasn't dealing with anything," Sophia insisted. "I saw someone who needed my help and I wanted to be there for them. I can handle being tired."
It warmed her heart that he seemed genuinely concerned but when she assured him that there was nothing more to it, he closed it behind his stern mask. He made her wonder if he was someone who often had to hide his emotions. She was usually perceptive of people but it was hard to get a read on him considering he didn't even know who he was.
"I want to go outside," John said all of a sudden.
Sophia resisted commenting that his words made him sound like an adopted dog like Ethan talked about
"Shouldn't you rest?" she asked.
He was on various medications that had been sent home with them from the hospital pharmacy.
"My pain is managed. I'll be fine," he said. "If I go outside I can learn more."
The neurologist had expressed how important it was for John to experience many things so he could try to reawaken some memories and figure out who he was.
"If you're sure…" Sophia said. "I'll get my shoes on."
John's eyes followed her as she went to the coat closet she had placed her sneakers inside of earlier. He realized that he inherently didn't like being babied so much. He also realized if it was what was required for her to not be fearful of him, he would relent for the time being.
After John got his shoes back on, they were able to start walking around the neighborhood.