CHAPTER 68: YOU’RE NOT GAY....ARE YOU?

Ethan’s sleep was cut by the sound of his ringing phone the next morning. At first, he just ignored it, since it was a bit too far for him to reach and end the call.

But then the ringing refused to stop which annoyed him, so with his face buried in the pillow, he ordered, "Athena, please turn off my phone."

{I don’t think that’s a good idea,} Athena responded, causing Ethan to raise his head from the pillow.

His face was sleep-swollen, eyes half-lidded with dark circles underneath as he muttered, "And why not?"

It felt like he had just gone to sleep a few minutes ago before the call came in and he had planned to sleep away the tiredness.

{Because the call is from María,} Athena answered.

Ethan immediately sat up, walked towards the work desk, where his phone was and sure enough, the caller ID showed María’s name.

Picking the phone up, he put it in his ear and said in a drowsy voice, "hello?"

"Dios, Ethan," María’s voice came through, "you’re still sleeping at this hour?"

"What time is it?" He muttered, walking towards the curtains.

Since they were drawn, the room was pretty dark so he didn’t know what the time was. Pulling the blackout curtains back, Ethan was met with the bright rays of the sun.

As if a vampire, he immediately flinched when the sun hit his eyes, it was so high up that his eyes needed a few minutes to fully adjust.

That definitely wasn’t a morning sun and María’s next words confirmed it.

"What time is it?" She repeated, "it’s afternoon Ethan, if you were sleeping till now, does that mean you skipped breakfast?"

Ethan rubbed his face with one hand, the phone still pressed to his ear. "Skipped breakfast, skipped lunch... what’s the difference?" His voice was dry.

"¡Ay, Dios mío!" María exclaimed, her tone was a mix of both exasperation and concern. "This is not healthy. You work too much, and now you even forget to eat? Ethan, are you trying to worry me into an early grave?"

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, even now, she cared this much for him.

"Don’t worry, María. I’ll grab something to eat soon." He assured

"You always say that," she sighed, "but then you bury yourself in that computer of yours and forget. I should come over there and cook for you myself."

This reminded him of his university days, especially during exams. María’s cooking was the only thing that prevented him from eating instant noodles as breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As much as he was trying hard to push her away, he really did appreciate that she was stubbornly insistent on taking care of him.

"You’re welcome anytime, María." Ethan said, the sleep now completely gone from his eyes.

There was a moment of silence on the other end before she spoke up, "you seem different Ethan."

"Different how?" He asked, knowing exactly the answer to that question.

"Up until a few months ago, you seemed to to trying to stay away from me," she explained, "but these days, it seems different."

It was Ethan’s turn to be quiet. The reason he had been pushing her away was because he was scared, scared that her kindness was all a facade, kind that she’ll let him get used to it, only for her to leave him, like the orphanage had told him his parents did.

But experiencing the future had made him realize, María would never abandon him, on the contrary, he was the one that ended up abandoning her, he was the one that let her die alone and he was going to fix all that this time around.

"I’ve grown ever since I moved to Atlanta," he answered, "I now realize how important you are to me, María."

"I know I’ve said this before but, thank you María," he added, "for everything."

There was a sharp inhale on the other end as it seemed like she was trying to sort out her emotions.

"You’re welcome, Mijo." Was all María could say.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two when she suddenly spoke up, "that’s right, I called you for a reason."

"All this emotional talk made me forget."

This caused Ethan to chuckle a bit before asking, "And what reason was that?"

"It’s about Isabela," she started, Ethan could almost feel her teasing grin through the phone, "have you made any progress?"

With a sigh, he said, "No, María. I haven’t."

"Ay, Ethan," she said, sounding a bit disappointed, "you have a beautiful girl under your roof for days now and you haven’t made a move yet?"

"I’ve been busy with work," he simply said.

There was a pause on the other end, then María’s voice came again, this time softer but laced with curiosity. "Ethan... can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You’re not..." she hesitated, almost as if searching for the right words, "you’re not gay, are you?"

Ethan nearly choked on air. "What?"

"I mean, mijo," she said quickly, her tone full of care, "if you are, it’s perfectly fine. You know I’ll support you no matter what your preferences are. Love is love."

Ethan rubbed his temple, fighting back a laugh of amusement. "No, María. I’m not gay."

"Bueno," María said, her relief clear in her voice. "Then what’s the problem? Do you want me to talk to her for you? Because I will, eh. I’ll tell her you’re just a shy boy who needs a little push."

Ethan groaned. "Please don’t."

"Then do something yourself," she said, "if you don’t start showing your charms right now, you might end up alone forever."

"I’ll start looking for someone when the time is right María, until then please don’t play match maker," he said.

"Ay, Ethan," María sighed, "let me tell you something, life doesn’t wait for the perfect moment. If you wait too long, the right person might slip away before you even realize it."

She was right, she had been taken from him by life in his previous timeline, but this time he wouldn’t allow it. This time, he would save her.

"I’ll keep that in mind," he muttered.

"Good," she said, "now then, go wash your face and have something to eat, also, don’t forget to call me once in a while."

"I won’t," Ethan said with a small smile as he pushed the bathroom door open.

"Bueno," María replied, satisfied. "Then I’ll let you go before I scold you more. Take care of yourself, mijo. And remember—eat."

"I will. Take care, María."

With that, he ended the call and set the phone on the counter, exhaling a long sigh.

He turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face, washing away the remaining sleep from his eyes.

His reflection looked back at him as he raised his head up. It was time to get to work.

Taking a quick shower, Ethan walked out of his hotel room, dressed in a white polo shirt, black pants and white sneakers.

He was casually dressed since he didn’t have anything else to do right now.

{Lillian and Aria came looking for you this morning but since you were still sleeping, Lillian suggested you not be disturbed.} Athena informed as he walked to the elevator.

"I see," he nodded before asking, "where are they right now?"

{Aria has dragged Lillian to the beach an hour ago.} She answered.

He walked out the elevator and towards the hotel’s restaurant before finding a table to sit at and a waiter immediately appeared.

"And last night’s tasks?" He asked after placing an order and the waiter had left.

{The Russian Federal Security Service’s internal comm logs has been compiled and sent to Irina, she should open it any moment now.}

Ethan nodded his head.

{The research you asked for has been mostly compiled but there are still lots of sources more to go through.} She added.

"Neatly categorize the ones you have collected and upload them to my devices." He said.

{Understood.} She replied.

She went quiet for a while before reporting, {I also stumbled on some information that I thought you might be interested in.}

Ethan raised a brow at her words before asking, "what information?"

Before she could reply, his phone rang again, this time with an unknown caller ID. Accepting the call, he placed the phone on his ear and was met with a female voice with a light accent to it.

"Your location?" Was the only thing she said and Ethan immediately knew who it was.

Irina.

She had probably opened the file by now and she was undoubtedly impressed. He also wasn’t surprised at the fact that she somehow got his number.

It was but a minor inconvenience for someone like her, although, Ethan made no effort in hiding his contact information from her.

Without a response, Athena sent his location to Irina on his behalf.

"I’ll be there in a few minutes," with that, she dropped the call and Ethan smiled as he put the phone down.

"Now then," he started, " what interesting discovery did you make?"

{Well,} his phone let out a ding as Athena transferred something to it.

Opening it, he was faced the the picture of a family of three causing him to grin faintly, "this, really is interesting."