Saturday's schedule

Mariana

I stared at Ethan, waiting for the moment when he would say that he was leaving, but he didn't say anything, he just stood there, staring back at me, a ridiculous smile on his stupid face.

So I had to take the initiative to send him away myself, after all, I wanted to get back to watching my soap opera, which I had paused at the main moment when the idiot rang the doorbell.

"You can go now, Ethan," I say, not bothering to be polite.

But then again, the first rude person in the whole story was him, who came to my door without telling me he was coming, or rather, without asking me first if I would accept his visit.

Faced with my question, Ethan just settles more comfortably into the armchair in my living room, still with his beastly little smile on his face.

" I don't plan on going anywhere tonight," he says, leaving me in shock "You can shut your mouth, honey, and I'll stay here, keeping you company."

" You've got to be kidding me!"

I can't believe that Ethan intends to stay at my house, in the middle of Saturday night, when they had so many other more interesting options for him to do.

Ethan's only goal could be to disturb me, to take away my peace of mind!

" I'm dead serious, honey " he confirms what I still hadn't been able to absorb " What are you watching?"

At that moment, Ethan looks at the TV and realizing which scene the video was paused on, he lets out a loud laugh.

"Lavinia's soap opera? Is that really what you were watching?"

Ethan is a very handsome man, but his smile always carried a hint of cynicism, which took away some of his beauty and made me upset with him.

But at that moment, smiling so spontaneously and truthfully, he was even more handsome, literally a piece of mischief, in the strictest sense of the expression.

I closed my face even more and was really upset by the intrusion of that snooty jerk, hot, true, but a jerk nonetheless.

"I don't owe you any satisfaction about what I see on my TV, you busybody," I say, truly annoyed.

"All right, no need to get so upset," he says, but still has a silly grin on his face.

Ethan stands up and I begin to feel something akin to disappointment, imagining that he has changed his mind about staying at my place and intends to leave.

But he walks over to the couch where I am, and to my surprise, another one Ethan sits down next to me and lays his body against the backrest, his hands behind his head.

" The armchair is too small for me " he explains " I'll stay here with you."

I wasn't expecting company that night, even less that it was going to be Ethan Constantino, and this leaves me with no reaction, as it is totally unexpected.

"I'm ready, you can release the video," he says, "It's not the best programming, but it's what you see," he completes as if that explains anything.

I, even though I felt completely annoyed by the unwanted visitor, pressed play on the remote control and released the images.

As much as I didn't want to enjoy Ethan's company, after all, he was blackmailing me, and making Murilo's life difficult, I admitted, at least to myself, that he is not an unpleasant man to me, quite the contrary.

We watched TV, but I couldn't concentrate on what was on the screen, that's the truth.

Being side by side with Ethan, in the comfort of my living room, watching TV, is something I consider too intimate and it is managing to affect me worryingly.

" It's over " Ethan points out the obvious, pretending to be saddened by the fact " What are we going to see now?"

I try to keep my expression annoyed, as I don't want him to know that I am enjoying his presence there.

"I'm going to stick to my schedule for tonight, " I say, fiddling with the keys on the remote control in search of what I intended to watch.

When I select the action movie I was going to watch now, Ethan holds my wrist, preventing me from pressing play on the schedule.

"You should make us some popcorn," the jerk suggests.

"You're a slacker, huh!" I reply, trying to feign an irritation that I am far from feeling.

Despite my complaint, I get up from the couch, willing to make the popcorn.

"Don't forget to bring a cold drink," he warns me when I'm already at the entrance to the hall.

"What is it?" I ask, not believing his request.

" A soda, Mariana " he completes, as if I hadn't understood the previous request " Oh, don't delay, I was wanting to see this movie."

I sigh, pretending to be very annoyed, when in fact I am having a horrible time with that unexpected facet of that hot and arrogant asshole.

I return a few minutes later, bringing the microwave popcorn and soda, and he stares at the package in my hands with a frown.

"Microwave popcorn?" he asks, leaving me confused, and then he explains, "Salete makes popcorn the traditional way, it's much tastier.”

Hearing this Salete's name brings a strange pang to my chest, but I try to feign neutrality.

I sit down in the same place as before, open the popcorn package, and pop one quietly into my mouth, while Ethan lets the movie start.

"Share it with me," he asks, as I hold the package out to myself.

"Why don't you go over to Salete's house, and eat the traditional popcorn she makes? "I am unsuccessful at neutrality."

This time, the idiot's laugh is even louder and he almost can't stop laughing, making me even more annoyed than before.

I pretend to ignore him, as I stare at the images on the screen without really paying attention to what is happening, while he stares at me, still smiling.

"I can't go where Salete is, she traveled to Belo Horizonte and left me home alone.”

"Salete lives with you?" I ask, horrified at all the possibilities going through my head at that moment.

He confirms, only with an affirmative nod of the head, and I practice jumping up from the couch, putting a safe distance between us, because I want to hit that idiot.

"How can you live with this Salete and still make my life miserable, Ethan? Isn't one woman enough for you?"

My hands are on my waist and I am possessed by that man's lack of character.

I would never accept any approach to him, not even on a blackmail basis, if I knew there was already someone in his life.

Ethan also stands, coming closer and stopping too close to me for his physical integrity.

His hand comes up to my face, but I pull it away quickly, but Ethan smiles at my attitude.

Before I can wait, his body is glued to mine, his hands gripping my arms at my back, while his mouth is too close to mine, leaving me unable to think straight.

"Salete is my housekeeper and she is sixty years old Mariana," he explains and is no longer smiling.