Page 87 of Champagne Nights

“Aunt Charlotte, I mean it.” I raised my voice.

She kissed my forehead and patted my hand.

“If you need anything, call me or come over.”

“I will.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Ethan

I was hurt. I was angry. I was sad. Rage consumed me, and as soon as I arrived home, I grabbed the bottle of scotch and a glass and took it upstairs to my bedroom. I downed two glasses in a flash, and as I looked over at the chair that sat in the corner, I noticed some of her clothes folded neatly on top of it. I couldn’t believe what she said to me regarding Sophia. But most of all, I couldn’t believe how upset she was with what I had done. Maybe I should have talked to her first about it, but I didn’t think she could even react the way she did. Maybe I didn’t know her at all. But one fucking thing I knew for sure was that she never wanted her eyesight back, which I couldn’t understand.

Over the next several days, I couldn’t control my anger, and my staff knew to stay away from me. In the blink of an eye, I was back to the person I hated most. I had let my guard down and let my feelings come to the surface, and for what? Only to be shattered again.

I hailed a cab to Dr. Perry’s office, climbed out, and went inside. There was only a brief wait as she was with another patient.

“Come on in, Ethan.” She smiled. “Your phone call sounded urgent. What’s going on?”

I placed my hands in my pocket and paced across the room.

“Aubrey and I broke up.”

“Why?”

“I did something she didn’t like, and she said something I didn’t like.”

“Okay. Why don’t you sit down, and we’ll talk about it?”

“I’m fine pacing around the room.”

“What did you do?”

“I found and spoke to a doctor that may be able to help Aubrey get her eyesight back. I told her about it, and she freaked out on me. She told me that she was happy the way she was, and I only did it for my own selfish reasons.”

“Did you tell her after you found the doctor or before?”

“After I met with him. She said I had no right. That was her life.”

“Did you do it for your own selfish reasons?” she asked.

“No. Of course not. I want Aubrey to see again. I want her to be able to see the things she never saw before the accident.”

“Including you?”

“Of course. Who wouldn’t want that, Dr. Perry? But that wasn’t the main reason I got in touch with Dr. Marchetti.”

“Dr. Marchetti from Boston?”

“Yes. Do you know him?”

“Yes. I’ve known him for years. He’s one of the best eye specialists in the world.”

I finally stopped pacing and took a seat across from her.

“I thought I was doing something good for her.” I lowered my head and placed my hands over my face.

“You were, Ethan. There has to be some psychological reasoning as to why Aubrey doesn’t want to meet with Dr.Marchetti. You said that she said something to you that you didn’t like. What did she say?”

---