Tragically Yours

| 17 |

We arrived at the only bagel place I know. Marry Me Bagel seems to be closed today despite it being a weekday. My dismay isn't as strong and obvious as the person right next to me. Ethan is still staring at his side of the door, watching the Marry Me Bagel miraculously open. But I can feel his dismay from where I am sitting, and I don't have to get him to face me to see the deep frown he's wearing on his face. I've only placed a gentle hand on his back and patted it as if to comfort a little child after a tantrum. "Let's just have breakfast somewhere else..." As I said that, I immediately realized I made a mistake.

Ethan slowly turns his body to face me, his frown getting deeply, and he looks like he's about to burst. "There's no fucking way I'll be driving while I'm this hungry."

"If you give me your keys, I can drive us—"

"I am not letting you drive my car, Vy!" He snapped and went back to staring at the Marry Me Bagel shop from his side of the car. So, this is how cranky Ethan is when he's hungry. He's entirely different from Lisbeth. Usually, when Lisbeth is hungry, she acts as if it's the end of the world and there's no hope for her anymore. But Ethan acts as if the world itself will end from his wrath from being hungry. I try my best not to laugh at that difference, but unfortunately a soft chuckle escapes my lips. To add some sprinkle of an unlucky trait, Ethan had heard it and snapped his head back to face me. "The fuck are you laughing at?"

"Okay, calm the fuck down." I hang a hand between us to both protect me from him and protect him from me. Does that even make sense? No, guess I'm that hungry too. Speaking of hunger... "Quick question, how hungry are you?" If he's just exaggerating his attitude, then there's still hope to save the world from the wrath of hungry Ethan. But if he's actually exaggerating his attitude, then there's a possibility that this car will begin to explode.

"I'm so hungry that I could result to cannibalism." He eyes me curiously and with a hint of cannibal hunger. The weird part is that I don't feel threatened by this because deep down I know... I would win between us fighting to eat each other.

He's about to open his mouth to say something, but I've noticed something on his side of the car window. "Oh hey, look!" I point a finger behind him for him to turn around at the perfect moment to see a person behind the closed door of Marry Me Bagels to flip the sign to open. "They were just preparing for the day, that's why they're still close... See, you didn't have to—"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Ethan had already gotten out of his car. The pace of him walking towards the store looks like a zombie finally being able to act vegan. Do zombies have the ability to be vegan? I don't know, I'm not familiar with paranormal topics, Ethan; on the other hand, is quite familiar with that one. A sudden vibration from my phone caught my attention and I fish it out of my pocket to check it.

Ethan: You coming or not?

How casually did he just messaged me after telling me he's about to commit a crime of cannibalism? I'm not concerned about that now because his entire attitude today had me cackling from laughter.

I decided not to reply and just head straight inside the Bagel shop. From the looks of it, as I get closer, Ethan is staring at me from the inside. I took that moment to picture him as a lost child waiting for his parents at his favorite toy store. Another smile forms on my face before I could even push the glass door open. The familiar aroma of fresh bagels in the air had hit the perfect spot deep inside my noggin that made my stomach grumble. I saunter my way to Ethan, who still looks like a lost child. "I'll be honest here, you look awfully like a lost child waiting for his parents."

He crosses his arms over his chest while one of his eyebrows lifts. "Well, in my defense, the 'parent'—" He lifts both his arms in the air, putting air-quotes at his last word. "—had promised me, the child, a free breakfast."