Black as Night
I shook my head.
"Stop it, Olivia," I said. "It's not that you
can't
break up with Ethan. You mean you
won't
break up with him."
"No, Bethany," said Olivia. "I
can't
. I've tried. I've tried a dozen times. I just can't."
"Breaking up is easy," I said. "Just grab hold of his favorite toy and twist. He'll suddenly discover he can't
wait
to break up with you, even if he has to do it with a higher-pitched voice."
"It doesn't work like that with Ethan, Bethany," she said. "It just doesn't work at all. Nothing works. I can't break up with him."
"For fuck's sake, Olivia! We're not teenagers anymore! At 27 years old, men don't tell us what to do.
We
tell
them
what to do. What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Ethan's different."
"He's controlling you, Olivia! He's even got a collar on you."
"It's not a collar! It's a choker. It's a symbol of our relationship."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, it's definitely that all right. Look, I'm going with you tonight. All right? I'm going and I'm going to get you away from him."
Olivia looked miserable, but I didn't let her argue. Tonight, whether she liked it or not, she was going to learn how to get rid of a parasite.
*****
We met Ethan at a piano bar called 'Keys'.
"It's his last name," said Olivia. "He thinks it just fits perfectly, being a piano bar and all."
"Wait a minute," I said. "It's Ethan's bar? He owns the bar?"
"Oh, yeah," said Olivia. "He's got a bunch of money. He's loaded."
I sighed. "No wonder he's a controlling jerk."
We moved through the dimly lit lounge as the piano player provided background music. The female musician sang while she played, throaty renditions of well-known and not so well-known tunes. A thin sax player dressed all in black accompanied the piano from time to time.
Olivia led me to a dimly lit table in the back. Ethan was already there.
He was annoyingly good-looking. Dark hair, thick shoulders, just the right amount of five-o'clock shadow. His clothes were expensive and he knew how to wear them. Confidence bordering on arrogance.
His eyes were wrong, though. That's what Olivia was missing. Ethan's eyes were just wrong. Dark, brooding, mysterious, whatever you wanted to call them. But they were wrong.
Ethan smiled as we arrived at his table. "Good evening, ladies," he said. "I don't recall instructing you to bring anyone tonight, Olivia, but you've done well regardless. Who is your attractive friend?"
I looked at Olivia and waited for her to explain my presence, but it only took a glance to realize that she was gazing at him in helpless thrall.
Olivia said, "I...I...you look sooooo good tonight, Ethan. I.."
I rolled my eyes. "My name is Bethany," I said. "I'm Olivia's friend. And I'm here to let you know that she's done with you."
He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me," I said. "She's done being bossed around by you. Done being your pretty little arm candy. Done being a decoration. Done being objectified. Just done. Do I need to spell it out for you?"
Ethan smiled. "I don't believe you do, Bethany," he said. "Between your articulation and air of barely suppressed rage and violence, I feel you were quite clear. But let's hear what Olivia has to say, shall we?"
One look at Olivia's blank gaze of adoration told me that was a lost cause. "Let's not," I said. "I've already said everything that needed saying."
"I'm sure you have," he said. Then, still holding my gaze, he said, "Olivia, sit next to me."
Olivia immediately moved to the chair next to him and sat down. She leaned forward and put her hand on his leg.
I rolled my eyes again. "Olivia, what the hell is wrong with you? I can't believe you're looking at him like that! I can't believe you-"
Ethan held up his hand.
I glared at him. "Don't you DARE try to shush me, you arrogant, misogynistic, piece of-"
Ethan held up both hands now. "Easy, Bethany. I'm not sure what you've heard about me, but I really think you're judging me harshly without even knowing me."
"I know enough," I grated.
He chuckled. "Perhaps you do," he said, "or perhaps you only think you do. Either way, do you really think you're treating me fairly? Does Olivia truly look mistreated?"
Olivia was still gazing at Ethan with big calf-eyes. I shook my head in disgust.
"I have no idea how you managed to inveigle your way into the head of an intelligent woman like Olivia, but I'm not going to let you get away with it."
Ethan laughed. "I could almost believe you. You have quite the fiery spirit, don't you?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Don't patronize me, dickhead."
He chuckled again. "I'll tell you what, Bethany. I'll make you a deal."
I shook my head. "I don't think so, Sparky. I don't make deals with slimeballs."
Ethan took a swallow of his drink, then set his glass down. "Hear me out, please. I'll make you a deal. You and I will go out on three dates, which should be a sufficient number for you to get to know me at least somewhat. If after those three dates, you still feel that Olivia and I should part ways, then I will agree to release her."
I said through gritted teeth, "You'll
agree
to release her? Like, what, a fucking prisoner exchange? Who the hell do you think you are? If she doesn't want to be with you, then it doesn't matter if I go on dates with you or not."
Ethan smiled, although it didn't touch his wrong eyes. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?" He turned to Olivia. "Olivia, baby, do you want to leave me?"
Olivia said, "Oh, no, sweetie! Never!"
Ethan looked back at me. "See?"
I could feel my face flushing with anger. I couldn't wait to pry Olivia away from this fucking arrogant asshole.
"You know what?" I said. "Fine. Three dates. After those three dates, you'll cut her loose. And you'll keep your word, because if you don't, I'll cut your fucking balls off. Understand?"
Ethan tilted his head in a way that almost made it look like a regal bow. "I do indeed, Bethany. Provided, of course, that you still feel she should no longer reside within my orbit."
"Very little chance of you changing my mind on that, dickhead," I said. "And to be clear...there will be no sexual payoffs during these 'dates', understood?"
Ethan smiled again, and this time his wrong eyes did as well. "Outside your presence," he said, "I place no expectations upon our dates."
"Good," I said. "Then we finally agree on something."
"Indeed," he said. "We'll set our first date for tomorrow night, then. Shall we meet here at, say, seven?"
I gave him a look, then nodded. "Seven is fine."
"Excellent," he said. "Until tomorrow night, then."
*****
I cooled down on the way home, mad more at myself for letting him get under my skin than at Ethan. Ethan was, after all, likely just being his usual misogynistic self and I had no business expecting anything less.
Thinking about expectations reminded me that I knew absolutely nothing about Ethan Keys and since I was going to be going on three dates with the man, I needed to perform some due diligence. Hell, 'Ethan Keys' might not even be his real name, for all I knew.
So, with my laptop open and a glass of red wine next to me, I started scanning the usual sites.
A typical scan of criminal record sites produced nothing. Not even a parking ticket. Not that that necessarily meant anything, of course. I had no doubt Ethan had a lawyer every bit as slick as he was and surely wore suits even more expensive than his. Still, I was disappointed not to find at least one or two pending tax evasion charges. Some kind of white-collar criminal activity would have given me something to work with.
I started scanning various social media sites then. He seemed to show up a lot more on other people's sites than on his own, and it was almost always with women. Very attractive women. He certainly had his share, it seemed. I was almost flattered that he was willing to ask me on a date.
Almost
flattered. I hadn't forgotten what he was about, even if Olivia had.
His own sites seemed to focus more on his bar and the various celebrities that stopped in from time to time. There were quite a number of pictures of him sitting with actors, sports stars and others of similar fame. I had to grudgingly admit he did appear to have a certain level of notoriety.