Devil's Eye

Chapter 11

5' 3"

... Thomson took his eyes off the rear-view mirror, struggling to persuade himself that he was worrying only because his imagination had played some dirty trick on him. A completely empty road was in front of him, and, for the first time in his life, Ethan regretted that they hadn't been stuck in traffic. He wouldn't mind spending a couple of hours in good company. The name of this good company was, of course, Noah.

The parking lot conversation between Thomson and Morgan seemed more like walking barefoot on a sharp blade, every false move on which threatened to fall down a precipice, though every right move would cut your feet apart and leave sharp pain behind. Ethan pictured him and Noah as two quickly sketched figures that were slowly walking towards each other with poor balance, leaving blood stains everywhere. Though Ethan was the one to leave blood stains. Kidnapping. What was he even thinking about when he decided to tell Morgan about it? It was his secret, after all. It was a little secret that Thomson was hiding carefully, so the topic would never come up again.

Probably Noah was asking himself why Ethan had been telling him all that and why the hell he hadn't started the car yet. Little did he know that the answer was right there all along. Thomson just wanted to spend some time with Noah in privacy. With no music on the stage, no humming around, and no irritating bartender behind their back. Just in silence. The more, the better. It was a pity that silence didn't work out because strangers can't spend a lot of time in silence together without feeling awkward. Silence is too intimate to share with someone you know nothing about. Try to relax and sit in silence when you can't bear physical touch and the person you're talking to is surprisingly upset that you come from a wealthy family. Ethan was ready for anything, but not for that. Usually his father's financial circumstances attracted people, rather than the reverse. As soon as rumors started spreading that Ethan Thomson was some 'golden boy', he would immediately get surrounded by those arrogant blood suckers like Steve and shy (but still) blood suckers, who would rather look down and mumble quietly that they are, unfortunately, short of cash today. Ethan, could you pay for that, please? I'll pay you back, I promise!

They never paid back.

Ethan was buying it at school. In university - never. So the status of 'golden boy' changed into 'cheap golden boy','mad golden boy', 'crazy dwarf', and'schizy bastard.' But the problem wasn't in his cheapness or madness. Ethan didn't care about the money. But he cared about any possibility of other people taking advantage of it. No, thank you; he didn't need it. Ethan had already been there, and he didn't like it at all. During the school years, he thought that he had a group of loyal friends, but when the circumstances showed up and Ethan needed their support, understanding, and sympathy, there was, surprisingly, no one around. Nobody offered their help. Besides, Ethan developed a slight animus toward all the benefits his father had been paying for. The reason Ethan took the car today in the first place was because there could be a possibility he needed to give Morgan a ride since he didn't want to send him home in an Uber. Moreover, Ethan completely ignored all the cars in the garage, including Bugatti's hypercar (his father's gift for his last birthday), preferring to commute by either public transport or on foot. However... Probably, he needed to take the wheel again in the near future. Not for his own comfort, of course.

Ethan developed the same attitude towards his father's power. Thomson could mention it once in a while, just like he had done in their conversation with Steve earlier that day, but his pride would never let him make these threats come true. He was bluffing. Thomson preferred to solve all of his problems, when they would become real, on his own. That was why, if one of the numerous conflicts had ever been taken to court, Ethan would personally defend himself. Without his father. Without the army of his loyal dogs of law. Without his authority or, even worse, money.