Don't Play With My Soul
Chapter 37

Ethan Junior's POV

"You want to talk about it man? You've been looking slumped for the entire morning," my brother offered as I walked into his office to hand in a document.

I threw myself onto his couch, feeling defeated and lost.

"Is this about Zenia leaving?" he asked.

I nodded my head yes.

"You're missing her, aren't you?"

I nodded my head yes again.

"Tell me, exactly, how can you break up with her when your heart still wants her? Is your ego that big?"

I eyed him. "I don't know. She hurt me as well and she wanted to play the victim role. Nah, I don't think so."

"Did she apologize?"

"Of course she apologized, Evan."

"See, that's the problem right there with you younger generation. It's like the word 'sorry' doesn't mean anything or that it doesn't exist in your vocabulary. She apologized! You should have been the bigger man and accepted her apology and worked things out with her. She's a human being and, on top of that, she's a woman. She'll make mistakes and harsh judgement, but it's your job to assure her that you're willing to fight for her no matter what.

"You gave up too easily, and that's why you lost her. Now she's in England with some other guy by her side."

"Evan, what should I do? Should I go to England for her?"

"Don't you dare. Just leave her alone EJ. If it's meant to be then she'll come back like how her sister came back to me. Give it some time."

"Well, what if she doesn't come back?"

"Then move on with your life. And what's that rumor going around about you and Madison? Is that true?"

"Not really."

He narrowed his eyes and glared at me.

"I'm telling you the truth. She's my friend and that's it. That only hit the media because after my breakup with Zenia, Madison and I went to the movies and there was a group of paparazzi." "Why would you do that?"

"Because Mom insisted. I told her about the breakup, and then Madison lost her mom, so she insisted that we should go to the movies and try to have some fun."

"Nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened!" I semi-shouted.

"Okay. I believe you."

Zenia's POV

"Wow, your father's place is amazing," I complimented when Anton decided to give me a grand tour of his father's mansion the next morning.

"I'm glad you like it. How was breakfast?"

"It was amazing too. Everything about this place is amazing."

"Not as amazing as you," Anton said softly. We rounded a corner and he pushed me gently up against a wall. "You're so beautiful. I'm so happy that you're here," he whispered in my ear. He tilted my head upwards so that I was looking into his oceanic pair of eyes; his mouth slowly came towards me.

"No, Anton," I said and gently pushed him away.

"Oh, too soon?"

"Yeah."

"Right, I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're not. It's just that I'm still processing, and I don't want to lead you on to something I may not be able to give back. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"Thank you."

I gave him a quick hug and I went back into my guest bedroom. I was still feeling sleepy and nauseated. The time difference was making me confused, and the plane ride made me upset. I turned the lights off, climbed into bed and fell asleep. At 4:00 p.m., I woke and decided to call my sister.

"Zen! I was so worried when I hadn't heard from you. How are you?"

"I'm fine Jasmine. You really need to stop worrying so much. How's Jevan and the other baby?"

"Jevan is being Jevan, and the little one is doing great. I went for a checkup today and everything is going smoothly."

"You're what, like four months?"

"Four and a half exactly."

"What's the sex?"

"No, I'm not doing that. I want this one to be a surprise. Evan and I have already picked out names. Jase, if it's a boy and Evelyn if it's a girl." "Wow, you and Evan are such an incredible pair."

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Of course I miss the best brother-in-law ever."

"I'm not talking about Evan, I'm talking about EJ. You know he came to the airport looking for you to try to stop you from leaving." My heart skipped several beats. He came?

"I don't want to talk about EJ right now. He ended us and moved on with Madison. You said so yourself."

"Yeah, but I think I was wrong. With all fairness, I saw that on television, and you know how the media can make things look extra."

I heaved a frustrated sigh.

"I'm sorry if I'm upsetting you, but you did a smart thing by moving away Zenia."

"Well, why do I feel like I made the worst mistake of my life? You know I still love him, and the fact that he came to the airport, I guess he wants more than our friendship." "Zenia, listen to me. Give it some time for the negatives to blow over. If you come back too soon and get back with him, the same thing is going to happen again and again." I understood where she was coming from.

"Okay, I've got to go now. Jevan is asking for his diced fruits. Oh, do you wanna say hi to him?"

"Yes, put him on."

"Halo," his tiny voice came through the phone.

"Hi baby, how are you?"

"Fine."

"Aunty Zena misses you so much. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Otay."

"He's already so intelligent," I said when Jasmine came back to the phone.

"Tell me about it. Emma told me that Evan formed perfect sentences at one-year-and-one-month old. It's in Jevan's DNA."

We shared a jolly laugh.

"Well, take care of yourself over there, and I'll talk to you soon again. I love you, girl."

"I love you, too, big sister."

The call ended and I began to tear up. I missed home. I missed Ashley and Alex's drama, I missed my sister, who was my acting guardian angel, I missed my awesome brother-in-law and his side of the family, but, most of all, I missed him. I went through my pictures again. I never had the courage to delete his handsome face.

"Zenia, dinner is ready!" Anton called from outside the bedroom door.

"I'll be right there!"

I washed my hands and went into the dinning room.

Anton was already seated and I sat down opposite him.

A plate of fried salmon fish cakes topped with mango salsa on a bed of grilled goat cheese salad with a fluttering of mango coulis dressing and a cup of tea, awaited my mouth. The smell was heavenly and I hungrily devoured every bit of it. "Wow, you really enjoyed your dinner."

"That was very delicious. Your chefs are very good."

"They received the best training in the world."

"I wouldn't doubt that."

After dinner, we went to watch a movie. I snuggled up on the comfortable couch with Anton next to me.

"What shall we watch?" he asked

"I don't--" My response was cut short by an eruption making it's way up my chest. I heaved off the couch and made a beeline to the nearest bathroom.

Everything I had for dinner a moment ago, came up.

"Zenia, are you okay? My goodness, you're looking suddenly pale." Anton rubbed my shoulder as I vomited again.

"I think it was the salsa," I said as I rinsed my mouth out. "In the morning, I'll be fine again."

"Okay, well no more salsa for you."

The following morning, I felt better. The sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and I was a happy mood.

I met Anton for breakfast.

"Today, I want to show you around the neighborhood, but let's have breakfast first, of course."

"Okay."

Breakfast was served, but when the scent got into my nostrils, it caused another eruption. I ran into the bathroom again and, once more, I vomited. I felt weak afterwards and a fever came on instantly.

"I think I should take you to see the doctor. It could be food poisoning," Anton said.

He helped me to my feet, led me out the bathroom and grabbed his car keys.