Blind Love: English (3 page)

So, you spent the night, huh?

"Nice to meet you, Dominik," I said, raising my hand to shake it with his, but was met by silence instead.

I internally shook my head and sighed, but from the outside, I kept the smile on my face. I guessed that among the things Sandra had told him about me, she’d failed to inform him that I was blind.

You see, since my blindness had nothing to do with my eyes themselves, they still looked the same; nothing had changed about them. They were still the same shade of blue that I was born with. So at first glance, you couldn't always tell that I was blind. And it was mostly the handshaking that gave my condition away.

When someone introduced themselves to me, I had no idea if they were offering me their hand or not, so I did anyway – which would always be in the wrong direction, or with a little fumbling until I would put it in their hand finally, so … you get the picture.

"Uh, thanks," he said, shaking his hand with mine, then cleared his throat, not saying anything else. Expected. So, I filled the silence. "Do you want some coffee?" I offered.

"Yeah, uh, but I don't want to bother."

"Ah, please, it's no big deal," I waved him off.

"Thanks, Anna," I could hear from his voice that he was still recovering. I sighed quietly as I poured him a cup of coffee then offered it in his direction. "Don't mention it. Nice shirt, by the way," I smiled, earning myself a chuckle, and the tension was gone.

When Sandra came down the stairs and joined us in the kitchen, she greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and I was able to hear the kiss she placed on Dominik's – or maybe it was his lips, who knows, I just heard the sound. We then had breakfast together, and it was really nice.
Dominik
was really nice. We chatted about whatever for a few minutes, and then he told us about going with his brothers to the studio where they recorded their songs; they'd be recording a new one this afternoon.

"You girls should come with me, it'll be fun," he offered.

"Oh, my God! Are you serious?" Sandra exclaimed.

"Dead," he replied.

"This is so cool," I said. And go with him we did.

Ethan and Carl Thompson weren't there yet when we arrived, and I learned that each one of them recorded solo before they recorded the whole thing together. Dominik entered into some room and we stayed outside of it with a woman named Lisa – the band's producer – and the rest of the staff who managed the process of recording.

Sometime later when Dominik was on a break, Ethan
Fucking
Thompson made an appearance. My breath caught in my throat when I heard his voice as he greeted everyone with a, ''Hey guys!'' The smile was audible in his velvet voice.

"Hey, bro, come meet Sandra," I heard Dominik calling and then I heard someone – I knew to be Ethan – approaching us.

"Hello!" he said.

"Hey, Ethan. Remember me?"

"Of course I do. Dominik made sure that we’d never forget who you were," he chuckled, and Sandra giggled while I smiled big.

"And this must be your shy friend, the only girl who’s ever refused to come on stage with The Thompson Brothers." I could still hear the smile in his voice, but his words made me blush and chuckle lightly.

"She's my sister, actually – Anna," Sandra said.

Ethan sounded like a nice guy, much like his brother, but I’d already learned he was when Sandra went up on stage instead of me and he didn't embarrass her by saying anything about it or telling her he meant the one beside her – me. It was something really admirable, because it wasn't often when you find a great talent with a good soul underneath it. Lots of celebrities – especially band boys – were full of themselves and arrogant.

"Hi, Ethan, nice to meet you."
Here comes the awkward moment
… I offered him my hand, and like always, there was a pause of silence before his hand met mine a moment later and he shook it slowly.

"Nice to meet you, too," his voice was lower and the smile I'd heard just a minute ago was gone.

I decided to break the tension as usual and just force this awkward moment to pass. "You look even better in person," I remarked, and when I heard his light laugh, I knew it'd passed. I was good.

That was the day I met Ethan Thompson. The day when it all started.

"Did you finish that book yet?"

"Like you mentioned, it's a book, not a grocery list, it takes time," I said into the phone, a bit frustrated.

"Would you just answer the question?"

"I just did."

"Okay, so the answer is no. Would you just answer the question without lecturing me?"

"You ask the same question every damn night, Ethan!"

"Maybe if you stopped giving me smart-ass replies I wouldn't ask so much!"

"Don't ask that question again."

"Authors are mean,"
he mumbled to himself and I stifled a laugh.

"So are band boys."

"You sound tired," I told him.

"I am. So fucking tired."
 I heard him yawning on the other end of the line.

"Maybe you should go to sleep."

"I'd rather talk to you,"
 he said in a low, exhausted voice, and I had to smile at his words.

"Okay, but at least get in bed."

"Yeah, I probably should,"
 I heard him moving around before he told me he'd taken my advice.

"You should do nothing tomorrow except relax; it's been a long week," I told him, then there was a long pause. "Ethan?"

No answer.

"Ethan , are you there?" I asked, and it was only then that I heard his even, deep breaths, announcing that he'd fallen asleep.

I didn't hang up.

"Your brother is a jerk, did you know that?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea."

"Someone should teach him how empty milk cartons belong in the trash can and not in the fridge."

"Mom tried doing that a long time ago; it's lost cause,"
 he chuckled lightly.

"Do you know that empty milk cartons belong in the trash can and not in the fridge?"

"Well, you have to let me spend as much time at your place as Dominik, then you'll know the answer to that."

"And then what happened?"

"Then I told him that I was done," I shrugged one shoulder, though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Did you tell him why?"

"There was no need to, Ethan," I started. "Both of us knew it wasn't going to happen." Pushing the pain down and keeping the 'whys' to myself.

"I'm glad you did."

"What?"

"Uh, I mean, you shouldn't go into a relationship that you know isn't going anywhere."

"Yeah," I sighed, wishing it was that simple for me.

"No fucking way!" I exclaimed.

"I swear."

"This is just crazy," I told him.

"Your turn."

"Okay, hmmm … I once put a roller in my mouth to see how much I could take."

"Shit!"
 Ethan cursed under his breath after he took in a sharp inhale of breath.

I didn't say anything, just blushed hard when I realized what I'd just said.

"And, uh, how far … uh–"

"Nine inches," I answered.

"Oh, fuck!"

"Are you okay?" I frowned into the phone.

"Uh, yes, yeah, I mean – I gotta go,"
 and he hung up without another word.

"It's his loss, really,
" he said, and I had to smile.

"Of course, it's his loss," I replied. "I mean, if he was into that BDSM stuff, I could've saved him from buying all of the blindfolds and shit," I let out a breathy laugh.

"Wait, wait, how do you know about the BDSM lifestyle?"
 Ethan asked.

"Er, the internet is such an evil invention, you know?"

"Hmm, but it's only evil when you search for the ways that lead to hell, you know?"
I could swear I was able to hear the smirk in his voice.

"It wasn't like that, it's just I have this app that reads fanfiction stories for me. You can't imagine the kind of stuff I find on this site," I said, biting my bottom lip.

"You mean that all day long you listen to a robot's voice talking dirty while reading you porn?"
 he asked in amusement.