Page 23 of In Bed with the Enemy

"I'm sorry," I said, quietly.

"I'm not," Ethan said, shaking his head. "It's nice. It was a lot to carry on my own."

"Why do you think your dad was so mean to you?" I asked, wondering if I was pushing Ethan too far.

"I think because his own father was mean to him. And, I think I didn't necessarily show him that my interests were aligned with what he saw the company interests to be."

"The sea birds?" I asked him.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "How did you know about that."

"Last night," I said. "You talked about the sea birds. About how I might care about them. I had no idea what you meant, though."

He smiled and nodded his head. "I was ten when the big spill happened. I saw it all on the news. Nonstop footage of it. I do care about this planet, Amy. I'm just running a company that makes money off of destroying it. And those gears are big. It's just taking me some time to try and get them turned in the opposite direction."

I nodded my head. "I think it's really admirable that you're trying at all."

"What about you?" he asked.

"What about me?"

"Your childhood? Why'd you end up the way you did? Why'd you turn down what I'm sure were countless offers to work for barely any money doing what you do? It's gotta be because of a cause close to your heart."

"My grandparents lost their house to a gas pipeline when I was very young. I never knew my parents, really. My mom gave me up to them and ran off when she was really young. Passed away from stupid mistakes, so they were the ones to raise me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

I shook my head. "Don't be. I had a good childhood with them. They were kind and took really good care of me."

Ethan nodded. "I'm glad."

"Anyways, some big intrastate pipeline was being built and, well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you how it works. They target the rural, lower income lands because it's less to pay in acquisition fees. The house had been in my family for a few generations. It was torn down so that someone could make a lot of money transporting gas under the ground."

"I'm sorry."

I nodded. "We were displaced for a while. They never really give you what you need to move and buy a new place. Those were hard times. And, I just always thought to myself that there had to be a better way. A way that didn't involve kicking people out of their homes or drilling through ancient rocks and sea beds. So, I tried to find it."

"That's very admirable of you."

I shook my head. "I guess we're both very admirable failures."

"I wouldn't say we're failures just yet," Ethan said.

I shrugged. "My main investor pulled out last night. I'm toast. And after my performance during the conference, I doubt I'll have a job come Monday."

"Well, if that really does happen, I want you to know that Standard's offer is still on the table."

"We were just starting to have a good thing here," I said to him teasingly. "Let's not ruin it."

"Yeah," he said, and we ate the rest of our dinners in silence.

14

ETHAN

"Go ahead and take the bed," I said. "I'll sleep here," I said, patting the couch cushions where we were sitting.

"I couldn't possibly," Amy said, putting up a fight, as always.

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