Imprisoned by secrets

Chapter 10

Thirteen years ago......

Ethan watched Beatrice place an indigo cushion on the wall. When she was sure the dirty patches were covered by the cushion, she rested her back and wiggled her way into comfort.

Beatrice pulled the new book he'd given her out from the indigo bag. After glancing at the title, she nodded her approval but didn't look up.

"This is what I wanted." She said. She started reading the acknowledgment. Ethan had never met anyone who liked reading acknowledgments like Beatrice.

Her eyes were scanning the book. He'd never met anyone else with an insatiable hunger for books. He wished he could figure out a way to make her intrigued enough to pay that much attention to him.

He watched her eyelashes flutter occasionally when she blinked. Her eyelashes weren't as long as his but they suited her face perfectly.

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

He pinched himself hard. He sometimes found it hard to believe that a girl like her existed. He found it harder to believe that she kissed him from time to time when he said the right things.

Perhaps that was why Eugene had the same problem.

He frowned and looked away. He couldn't stop thinking about what Eugene had said. Perhaps it was because it was something he had often thought about as well.

He glanced at Beatrice. He knew that although she seemed to be concentrating solely on her book, she could sense him watching her. He was sure she was used to people looking at her.

He hated the idea of being one of those who admired from afar, forever unable to touch the beautiful jewel they wanted. It reminded him of his allergies to the special chocolates his mother always brought home. He loved them but he couldn't eat them.

It felt like a pathetic way to live, never being able to love who you want and have them love you back.

"I'm curious. What do you usually do when you're not here? Like yesterday. You didn't come." Ethan asked suddenly.

Beatrice didn't even look up from her book.
"I had an impromptu engagement with some guests. By the time they'd gone, it was too late to come here. You didn't wait for me, did you?" She said.

Ethan couldn't answer. He had spent the entire day staring at the trapdoors. Several times, he'd thought they moved but it was just his imagination.

He'd gotten home a few minutes before dinner started. His mother had been livid. Ethan had tossed and turned all night, wondering if she had gotten killed or if she would ever come back. The worst part was that she wasn't ruffled the next day. He'd been upset for nothing.

It looked like his brother might be right.

"Family friends?" Ethan tried to force back his unpleasant thoughts.

"Allies. There's no such thing as family friends where I come from. The adults talked about a new business project while I got to entertain their 16-year-old son." Beatrice shrugged and flipped the page.

Ethan tried to be quiet and let it slide but he just couldn't.

A 16-year-old son came to visit Beatrice.

He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. He just recently turned 15. According to his brother Eugene, girls liked older men because they were suave and more experienced.

If that was the case with Beatrice, he'd already lost before the battle began seeing as he was a year younger than the boy and just a year older than she was.