Chapter 23 Pain

Ethan ignored Nyx, took a deep breath and said, "I am not with my family right now but with another woman in her house."

"Oh, okay… I guess?" Sasha sounded confused. Her voice was no longer cheerful, of course. Then they became silent once more.

"Sasha."

"Yes?"

Ethan opened his mouth and then closed it, his lips pressed in a thin line. His mind had gone blank and he just said it without thinking. Ethan used to think that he had recovered from this but it seemed he didn't. What could he say to her now? He was sorry?

"...Nothing," he said.

"... Okay Ethan, we will talk later then."

"Alright." After the phone disconnected, Ethan covered his face with his hand.

He was just repeating the same mistake he did before. No, it wasn't the same but similar.

"What should I do?" He groaned.

Nyx asked in amazement, [Ethan, how can you be such an idiot?]

"...I didn't want to lie to her."

[Idiot you could have just told her later, in a more subtle way at that. Usually you think a lot before doing something and when it comes to this, you always fuck it up.]

Ethan bit his lips and said, "Then I should go to her?"

[No, go to her mother.] Nyx harrumphed.

Ethan closed his eyes and slowly cleared his thoughts. Nyx was right. There was a right time and right place for everything.

He sighed. He still had a long way to go.

'Okay first I'll meet Sasha.'

With that thought, he got up and in a rush, he slipped. He reacted fast, using the support of the wall and psychokinesis.

But his lips twitched. He had actually broken the wall! He gazed at the hole and his arm inserted in it and sighed. How was the wall here so thin?

Nyx like usual added salt to the wound. [You sure like inserting your hand in holes. Hopefully next time, you will not do this with a girl.]

"At least the hole is not that big."

[Enough for your dick, yes.]

"Shut up, Nyx," Ethan snorted, and slowly pulled out his arm. But the wall just cracked and more and more sections fell down.

Then when he saw the thing behind the wall, his eyes widened.

"What the…"

There was a small room there. What was shocking was that there were many pictures on the wall. One of them was Sasha's.

⸻????⸻

Some time later, in the Bruic bar, the loud music boomed giving even more headache to Sasha, but she gulped another glass of alcohol, receiving another cheer from one of her friends.

She genuinely liked Ethan. And even had accepted him being in a polygamous relationship… with a heavy heart. Because of the apocalypse, Helen had a very low population, and the ratio of male to female was also low as such in a few regions polygamy was legal. She had given herself many excuses.

Still, Ethan's action felt too cruel to her. Yes, he was honest but still it really hurt her. She thought she had accepted it, but her heart didn't listen to her. The sadness that washed over her was too much to bear. And now, her friend brought her to this bar.

After the call had ended, she felt her mood go sour, so she listened to her favorite music that usually cheered her up. But that didn't work so she called Sara and started talking about random things.

Until Sara noticed that something was off and asked her about it. Sasha only told her that the guy she liked didn't like her back, the typical stuff that happened everywhere.

Sara tried to console her and then proposed to come to the bar with her. Sara was invited to it by her colleagues, Sasha joining in would also be good. Sara said that they would enjoy things together. Then she specially came to her house, didn't ask about Ethan's details and tried to cheer her up.

Sara told her to enjoy herself and the night, forget about anything. In the end, she agreed but now she didn't feel good at all.

Charlie, the man her best friend introduced, placed his hand on hers, leaned closer and asked, "Are you alright?"

He looked handsome, but of course, he was nothing compared to Ethan. At first, he appeared to be friendly and subtly made his intentions clear, she had played along.

Not like Ethan and she were dating, if he could fuck around, why couldn't she? That was her thought at first. That was where the alcohol was leading to. But the more she drank, the more she felt the headache rising, the more she felt like shit.

'I don't like this at all,' she thought and softly smiled at Charlie and said, "I am fine. Just need to go to the washroom."

"Ah, alright," Charlies nodded, his eyes brightening. "I'll help you go there."

'I am not hinting you, you fool!' Sasha groaned inside.

"No, it's alright. I'll go myself." She got up and started leaving. Her best friend, Sara, also wanted to join her, but she declined.

Sara was a good girl, it was just that she always forced herself to be and act modern. She had introduced Charlie and his other friends in a hope to make her mood better, this fool of a girl. Though Charlie also felt like a nice guy but still, he was too desperate for sex.

In the washroom, Sasha looked in the mirror, at her reflection. Her face was flushed red, the result of the alcohol. She wore a red one piece dress that emphasized her figure, and showed her cleavage.

"Why the heck did I even wear such a dress?" She mumbled, "I shouldn't have listened to that idiot Sara."

Now alone in this washroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror, a drop of tear that she had held back for so long dropped down.

"Don't cry idiot," Sasha told herself and washed her face, but the tears didn't stop. Then she stopped resisting the urge, and started crying.

"Idiot, Ethan," she whispered.

After a few minutes, she finally calmed down. As she still felt a bit dizzy, she decided to go back home. She took out her phone in order to call Sara and tell her that she was leaving. She would ask her if she wanted to come with her.

But then Sasha noticed that there were many miscalls from Ethan. She recalled that when she was talking with Sara, Ethan had called but she didn't accept the call.

Sasha let out a deep sigh as she dialed Ethan's number. The phone rang and rang, until finally, a strained voice answered on the other end. "Sasha!"

"Ethan, I–"

"Where are...," his voice barely audible.

"Ethan, I can't hear you properly."

"Listen... it's....," Ethan's voice was full of urgency, making Sasha's heart race in concern.

"There is a network problem." Sasha said. "I'll go outside and call you again."

"Dange–" The phone disconnected.

'Dange…? Danger?' Sasha was left with a gnawing feeling of unease.

She quickly gathered herself, stepped outside the bar, and tried calling Ethan again. But it was unreachable. Her face drained of color as she realized the gravity of the situation. Did Ethan get into trouble?

Suddenly, a hand clasped onto hers from behind, sending chills throughout her body.