when all is said and done | e.d.

fifty-two

ATTENTION🚨: for these next few chapters, there will be no specific order for povs. you're just going to have to pay really close attention. i'll bold the names to make it easier to notice.

harper

"so you absolutely can watch ruby tonight?" i call out to ethan through the partially cracked open door.

he doesn't even look at me, but nods.

ethan has been ignoring me recently. not necessarily in an attempt to go out of his way and be rude, but more as... well i don't really know.

he's not cold or bitter, just quiet and calm.

i don't know why.
at all.

"okay. are you sure you don't have plans?"

he sighs and spins around in his office chair to face me. "positive, harper. my friend called sick, so i can't hang out with him. not like you'd believe i had any plans in the first place," he mumbles the last part under his breath so quietly that i can barely hear it.

"what?" i ask.

he very obviously forces a smile, and a sense of sarcasm and mocking is behind it. "oh nothing, harper. just so happy to be at your service when and anytime you need me!"

i scoff. "who are you and what have you done with my normal ethan?"

"your normal ethan?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "try again."

okay, maybe scratch what i said about quiet and calm. this ethan has an attitude.

"s-sorry?" i stumble out. "do you want me to drop her off at your place or do you want to watch her at mine?"

"i don't want dog hair on my couch," he says dryly, flipping through this week's draft issue in paper form.

"she's hypoallergenic."

he turns to me with a blank expression. "still sheds a little. my brother is deathly allergic to dogs. what happens when she sits on my couch and the hair doesn't fly away?"

"ethan—"

"do you want my brother to die, harper?"

"ethan!" i yell out. "my patience is very thin right now. i don't know why you're upset with me, but i'm going to need you to pretend you're not for tonight. please."

he blinks once. twice.

and then all the angered expressions toward me is wiped away. he nods, licking his lips a little.

"i'm sorry. i know you don't want my brother to die."

this makes me let out a short laugh. "i don't. but he wouldn't. ruby seriously doesn't shed. at all."

"pets aren't allowed in my building."

"so then i'll make sure my house is cleaned up for you," i nod. "and there's plenty of raspberry sherbet in the freezer."

his eyes light up a little. "really?"

"yes! i'll even call someone to go get it from the store right now."

he watches as i reach for my desk phone and punch in a few numbers.

the phone on his desk rings, and his face drops.

i stifle a laugh as he groans and reaches for it. "what?" he asks.

"since you're my assistant... can you go get a couple tubs of raspberry sherbet? i have a house-guest tonight."

"wow, wonder who," he says sarcastically before slamming it back into the receiver.

this time, i don't hold back my giggle as he hastily snatches my credit card from my fingers, and tugs on a light jacket.

he bites the inside of his cheek to stop a smile.

there. my normal ethan is back.
but only for a second before the hard demeanor returns.

"i hate you, harper brown."

i lean forward on my desk, locking eyes with the devilishly handsome guy in front of me. he swallows, and i watch his adam's apple bob.

"i hate you more. leave."

he nods and is out the door.

i sigh, leaning back in my chair and trying to sort out my thoughts.

i like ethan.

a lot.

i wish i knew why he's been upset lately. as soon as he returned from getting my coffee a couple days ago, he's been really distant. i remember that i was on the phone and—

oh my god.

the phone call.

i gasp and scramble my brain for what i had said to thomas.

"he's just my assistant."

"i could never think of him like that."

"he's just... ethan. he's always been just ethan."

"no no no no no," i rush to say, feeling a panic set in.

he heard me. he had to have heard me.

the words that came out of my mouth were not true at all, and i regretted them as soon as i hung up the call. thomas was getting on me about the late night visit from ethan, and i panicked. it doesn't make it right, but that's my side of the story.

he was making fun of ethan's fake dead cat and i didn't know what to do, so i only laughed and half-heartedly told him to stop. it made me uncomfortable, but i'm really bad with confrontation.

i was scared thomas would break up with me before i could break up with him, so i said things i didn't mean.

about the guy i actually like.

and that's wrong, i know.

i guess after michael left me, i became very cautious of what people thought of me. "they can't judge me if i judge them first" type of mentality.

the fact that i could have possibly hurt ethan's feelings makes me sick to my stomach, unable to move a muscle.

he's definitely still upset.

even though he smiled a little, he's still hurting.

"i have got to fix this," i groan, rubbing my temples.

thomas needs to go.