Ex-Husband's Regret

Ava

I was a nervous wreck as I prepared for my date with Ethan. It’s been two weeks since I was discharged from the hospital and I was all better. The doctor gave me the clear and I even gotten back to work a few days ago.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

In the two weeks, a lot has changed. Letty and I have gotten closer and so has Ethan and I. He’d asked me out a couple of days ago. I had agreed whole heartedly.

Ethan was good for my ego. He made me laugh and relax. With him I was at ease. When I was around him I forgot about Rowan. I forgot about my broken heart.

“Hair up or down?” I ask Letty.

We were on video chat and she was helping me get ready.

If I was being honest, this is the first time I’ve ever gone out on a date. Like I mentioned before, I

wasn’t the kind of girl that boys asked out before.

When I was married, Rowan never took me out. In fact we never did the normal things couples did. when they were in love. There was no dinner dates for me. It would be a surprise if Rowan even made it home for dinner most days.

“Definitely up, you have a beautiful long neck, you should flaunt it.” Letty says pulling me out of my thoughts. “Ethan will definitely imagine k*ssing it and running his tongue down it the entire time.”

My cheeks color at the picture she painted. I was married for F***s sake, yet such a comment made me blush.

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating” 1 mumble, trying to Hide my embarrassment.

“No I’m not. You’re a beautiful woman and any man would be lucky to have you”

“I’m not beautiful” I say automatically. It was sort of a knee jerk reaction.

I wasn’t beautiful. I knew that. Hearing everyone tell you how beautiful your sister is, nails in that fact. It also didn’t help that other parents used to tell my mother that I wasn’t poised, elegant, neat or put together like Emma was

“Yes, you are…you’re the only one who doesn’t see it. All you need is a confidence boost and I swear men will be scrambling and falling over themselves to have you”

I put my hair up in a messy bun, with loose tendrils framing my face. 

I really wanted to believe what she said, but it’s hard to break years of beliefs Beliefs that were

I sigh and push back the painful memories

“If you say so”

“I say so, now turn, I want to see how you look” she commands.

I didn’t want to go all out incase things didn’t go as planned, so I settled on a little black dress Something that I wasn’t used to. Rowan never took me out when we were married so there wasn’t any need to dress up.

I wore matching black heels and did a nude make up.

“You look amazing Ava, Ethan won’t be able to take his eyes off you” Letty says with her jaw dropped.

“Thank you, Letty” I smile.

“I have to go, but I hope you have a wonderful time” she smiles kindly at me. “Let me know how the date goes”

“I will and thanks again”

We hang up just in time, because my door bell rings a second later.

Giving myself one last look, I take my purse and head downstairs. I open my door to find a smiling and dashing Ethan with a bouquet of flowers

He cleaned up well and looked mighty fine in his black suit

“You look beautiful, Ava” he stares at me as if seeing me for the first time.

“Thank you” I say softly, looking down.

As you’ve guessed, I’m not good at taking compliments. Especially from attractive men

He lifts my chin with his finger before handing me the flowers. “These are for you”

I sniff the roses feeling grateful. Rowan has never once bought me flowers. Hell, he has never treated me like I was important to him. In his mind, I was an inconvenience that he had a child with.

“Let me just put them in water and then we can leave” I turn around and head to the kitchen

After putting the flowers in a vase, we leave

I was both nervous and excited at the same time. I didn’t know what to do or say. I mean what do you do during dates? What do you talk about? And who is supposed to start the conversation. I was so out of my element that I was afraid I was going to mess things up.

“Is it weird that I’m scared shitless, though I’ve gone on more dates than I can count?” Ethan asks, breaking the silence.

I laugh. Feeling relieved. The anxiety that had caged me fades away.

“Not at all…I was also hyperventilating. I’ve been nervous the whole day.” I confess. “It made it hard to focus on my classes”

Though my students were happy to have me back. They could tell that my mind was else where

They even called me out on my abnormal behavior.

“I had to file a report repeatedly because I kept messing it up” he chuckles and I grin at him.

It eased my anxiety knowing that I wasn’t the only one that was nervous.

We talk about how our days were and I couldn’t help but think how easy things were between us.

This was how things should have been with Rowan Instead he decided that the only one good enough was Emma. He decided that I didn’t deserve a chance.

“We’re here” Ethan says.

I look at the place where we had parked. The restaurant’s name was familiar but I’d never eaten there before. I was also curious because it looked fancy.

“I heard the food here was great so I thought we could try it” he tells me as he turns off the engine.

Getting out, he rounded the car then came and opened the door. He helps me down and leads me inside. His hand at my lower back.

“Reservation for Ethan Anderson” Ethan asks the twenty something hostess.

She checks her list before speaking. “Right this way” 

As she leads us, she keeps throwing glances at Ethan. I don’t blame her thought. Ethan looked good. Maybe if we were in a relationship, I would feel jealous but right now I didn’t.

She settles us then leaves. A minute later, a waiter arrives with a bottle of wine. He then leaves with our orders after pouring us each a glass..

“So, how does a cop afford such a high end restaurant?” I wasn’t being rude or anything. I was just curious.

This looks like the kind of place where Rowan had his business dinners.

Ethan chuckles before answering “You could say my parents are well off”

“Parents?” I ask confused.

If I remember correctly, he told me his dad wasn’t in the picture.

“Yes, my mother was a drug addict and she overdosed after I was born. When the FBI took out my dad, I was put into the system. I thought that was the end for me but it wasn’t. A few months later

I got lucky and got adopted by a really wonderful couple”

I was mesmerized by him. The more I got to know him, the more I liked him.

“In other words, you’re trust fund baby?” I joke making him laugh.

“You could say that but if we are being honest, then you’re also a trust fund baby” he fires back at him.

I laugh but it’s forced. How do I tell him he couldn’t be anymore wrong without revealing how messed up my past was. 

Sure, father was rich but when shit between me, Emma and Rowan went down, he cut me off completely. He took my trust fund and cut me off his will. According to him, I didn’t deserve anything from him after what I did to his princess.

“So, what’s the most exciting thing about your job?” I change the subject.

A smile lights up his face as he begins telling me about his job. Soon our food arrives and we dig in. 
I try to focus but the more people start arriving, the more nervous I get. I try to relax and focus on

Ethan but it doesn’t work.

“Are you okay, Ava? You seem nervous?” he asks me slowly as if sensing my discomfort.

“Nervous?” I choke out

“Yes, you’re fidgeting and your eyes keep roaming” he tells me. “Aren’t you enjoying yourself?”

Show eye

Gosh! I feel so bad now. Should I tell him the truth or would it ruin everything that was building between us. The last thing I wanted was to come off as an ungrateful bitch

“You can tell me, I promise I won’t be mad” his gaze pierces mine. It’s like he can see the battle waging inside me.

“I do like your company and I’m enjoying being around you it’s the scene that I’m uncomfortable with” I murmur truthfully.

“You mean the restaurant?”

“Yes. I’m not used to all this.”

There was a low chatter all around and everyone looked lively but I felt out of place. Like I didn’t belong here.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t think to ask, I just assumed that this is the kind of place you would want to

“It’s a lovely place but I would be more comfortable at a greasy diner than this fancy restaurant”

He stares at me for a while before throwing down his napkin. At first I thought that he was pissed off. That he was going to walk away, but he surprises me.

He holds out his hands for me. “Well if that’s what the lady wants that’s exactly what she’ll get”

I search his eyes. Trying to see if he was playing me but I don’t find anything that isn’t genuine. I carefully place my hands in his. His warm fingers enclosing around mine.

“What about the remaining food?” I ask him.

“Don’t worry about it”

He leads him towards the door. When we’re outside, I pull him to a stop.

“I’m sorry for ruining dinner and you don’t have to do any of this. You can just drop me off at home” I still felt horrible.

He steps closer and pushes a piece of hair behind my ear before gently k*ssing my forehead.

“Don’t worry about it” he smiles. “Since we already ate, how about we go for ice cream? I know a good place”

I smile wide at the mention of ice cream. Maybe this evening could be salvaged after all. Nodding at him in approval, he takes my hand, just as I feel eyes burning the side of my skull.

As we he walks me towards his car, I search for whoever it is that was looking at me.

I almost stumble when my eyes land on a familiar pair of grey eyes. Rowan was standing next to Emma, near the restaurant we just came from and he was glaring at me and Ethan.

There was a storm brewing behind his eyes. A very dangerous one.

Averting my eyes and shaking off the dangerous feeling his burning eyes evoked, I focus on my date.

I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and he had no right to seem angry when he was clearly on a date with Emma. 

Ethan manages to pull me out of those looming thoughts. For the rest of our date, he gets me to forget about Rowan, even though there was still that underlying current in the atmosphere