Ecie & Esme III: Forever and a Day

Six

'Hey dad,' Ecie answered her BlackBerry Tour 9630 as Landon jumped back into his pants. She wiped her face with one hand and smoothed her hair to one side. 'What's up?'

'Oh you know,' Jonathon replied. 'I was just checking up with you.'

'Dad it's like five o'clock in the morning,' Ecie replied. 'Where are you?'

'I'm in New York right now,' Jonathon replied. 'I'm with Riley.'

'How is she?' Ecie asked watching Landon go the window and look out of it. He walked back into the room then went out to use the bathroom.

'She's doing okay,' Jonathon replied. 'We're working.'

'That's great,' Ecie replied. 'When are you coming home? We haven't seen you in like a month. I feel as though you're really happy we're at college now, because it means you can work for longer periods of time. But I miss my daddy.'

'I miss you too darling,' Jonathon replied. 'But after these next few weeks, I'll take a short bit of time off before Sofie goes on maternity leave.'

'We both know that mom will never go on maternity leave,' Ecie said. 'She'll be writing scripts when she should be pushing.'

Jonathon laughed. 'Well Eric said he'd try and make her rest for a bit. I know she'll never trust me one hundred percent to run the company, but she'll have to one day.'

'Yeah dad,' Ecie laughed as Landon walked back into the room and started looking around for a shirt. 'So you and Riley are going to go the whole way?'

'I promise I won't get her pregnant,' Jonathon joked. 'I guess I've got quite a track record.'

'You said it not me,' Ecie laughed.

'But you implied it,' Jonathon laughed. 'Anyway, how is everyone?'

'They're all good,' Ecie replied. 'We saw mom's brothers a while back and they got really drunk, as usual. Mom got really pissed at them then started throwing them into the pool. It was actually quite funny to watch.'

Jonathon laughed. 'I wish I'd have been there.'

'Yeah,' Ecie sighed. 'Well I've got to go, but you can tell Riley we all said hello and stuff. If you guys are really going to work out, I don't want to send out any wrong signals or anything. She seems really nice.'

'That's very big of you,' Jonathon said. 'I'll be sure to pass on the message.'

'Love you,' Ecie said. 'Talk to you later.'

'Love you too.'

Ecie hung up and looked at Landon who was now sitting at the end of the bed tying his shoelaces.

'How's your dad?' Landon asked looking back at Ecie who was sat cross-legged watching him.

'He's working,' Ecie replied. 'I think he'll be back in a couple of weeks.'

Landon nodded. 'So where is he now?'

'New York,' Ecie replied. 'He's with Riley.'

'Do you like Riley?'

'She's different to any woman dad's ever dated seriously,' Ecie replied. 'For starters, she's actually a proper woman who's been around a lot and understands how the world really works. She's different to mom and Cassie, she's quiet, a bit reserved, but she brings something out of dad that no other woman has done before,' she shrugged. 'I don't know.'

Landon stretched his arms out and pulled Ecie's arms so that she came to him.

'What?' she giggled as he nestled into her. 'You're tickling me.'

'Are you okay?' he asked.

'I'm fine,' Ecie replied. 'I'm just tired and I've got loads of work to do.'

Landon nodded, realizing that Ecie was in one of her moods where she did not communicate properly with him.

'I should get going,' he said kissing her on the lips. 'I'll see you tomorrow in class?'

'Yes sir,' Ecie nodded kissing him back. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

Landon nodded then got off the bed and left the room, followed shortly by Ecie in one of his shirts.

'Landon,' Ecie said leaning against the front door as Landon stood by the elevator.

'Yeah?'

Ecie looked into his eyes and smiled. 'Nothing.'

'What?'

'We'll talk later,' she said as the doors opened and Landon stepped in. 'Have a nice day.'

'You too,' Landon replied. 'I love you.'

The elevator doors shut and Ecie closed her eyes for a moment before returning to the apartment and closing the door.

'I love breakfast out here,' Esme yawned as she took a bite of her papaya. 'It's so nice and the sun just makes everything so nice.'

'It's going to rain this afternoon,' Verde said sipping on his orange juice. 'So enjoy this sun while you can.'

'Do have any classes today?' Ecie asked stretching her legs onto another seat.

'I've got two seminars this afternoon,' Esme replied. 'So it looks like I'll get stuck in the rain. Do we have any rain boots?'

'We've got some Hunter's somewhere,' Ecie replied. 'But I don't know.'

'Do you have any classes today?' Verde asked.

'No,' Ecie replied. 'I've got nothing on all day so I think I'll go to the library and study.'

'Are we going to see Lauren today?' Esme asked.

'You'll have to call her,' Ecie yawned. 'But I think she's working today, so I'm not sure.'

'I thought you guys used to work together,' Verde said. 'What happened?'

'We still work together sometimes,' Ecie replied. 'But the shifts got all mixed up so we mostly work at different times.'

'When are we going home again?' Esme asked.

'Soon,' Ecie replied. 'We're running low on Clive Special's and I don't think I want to cook for a long time.'

'Everything else had gone so well until you tried the chicken and apple pot pie,' Verde laughed. 'You shouldn't be discouraged.'

'Yeah,' Esme laughed. 'I really loved everything else.'

'I hate you guys,' Ecie laughed. 'I really do.'

'You're a great chef when it comes to the simpler things,' Verde said. 'You're also really good at defrosting things without burning them and turning them to cinder.'

'I get it,' Ecie said. 'I'm crap at cooking proper intricate meals. But nobody wants to eat pasta for the rest of their lives. I want to make proper meals for people.'

'Don't beat yourself up,' Esme laughed. 'You'll soon get the hang of it.'