Ecie & Esme III: Forever and a Day

Nine

'I am freaking out!' Lauren said as she fixed her make up in the bathroom mirror with Esme. 'Tonight is going absolutely nowhere. Why did I ever say yes to Ethan?'

'It's not so bad,' Esme said. 'You're just over exaggerating a little.'

'Esme,' Lauren said looking at her friend. 'Are we not eating dinner at the same table? Do you not see what a total disaster this whole thing is? I want to go home.'

'We're all just nervous,' Esme said. 'It's bound to be a little awkward.'

'You're kidding me, right?'

'Come on Lauren...'

'I want to get drunk,' Lauren said looking at her reflection. 'I want to wake up covered in sick next to a really hot Mexican called Jorge.'

'Do you have some repressed childhood horrors or something?' Esme laughed. 'You're answer for everything seems to be, to just get drunk.'

'Why not?' Lauren said. 'I like drinking and it makes me feel less nervous.'

'We can go out after this,' Esme said. 'But first we've got to get dinner over with.'

'I really feel like sneaking out of this restaurant,' Lauren said. 'Is there a window I can climb out of?'

'Get real,' Esme laughed as they finished up in the bathroom. 'It's not so bad.'

A few hours later, Lauren, Esme, Taylor and Ethan found themselves sitting in a small booth in Les Deux drinking.

'How do you feel now?' Esme asked leaning into Lauren over the loud music.

'Ha ha,' Lauren laughed holding up her glass. 'I feel drunk.'

'Are you going to talk to him?'

'I'm going to dance,' Lauren said getting up with Esme's hand in her own. 'Let's go sister.'

Taylor and Ethan watched as Esme and Lauren got up and made their way to dance.

'Am I doing something?' Ethan asked. 'I'm totally lost, dude.'

'She's new to all this,' Taylor said.

'Well I'm not exactly the king of dating either,' Ethan said. 'This was a big mistake me asking her out. I wish I had just left her.'

Taylor looked sympathetic, thinking of something. 'You should go talk to her.'

'What do I say to her?' Ethan asked. 'Why are you ignoring me and ditching me every chance you get?'

'She's obviously really nervous and unsure of what to do,' Taylor said. 'You've got to decide either you wait for the ice to melt a bit more, or you end things now before you get the chance to discover what an amazing girl she is.'

'I know that you're right man, but I just don't know,' Ethan said.

'No offence, but you're both pretty shy people,' Taylor said. 'What did you expect?'

'I honestly thought things would be different,' Ethan replied. 'We used to get on so well before we started dating. Maybe we should go back to that.'

'Listen to me man,' Taylor said looking at Ethan. 'You've got to trust the decision you made. I'm not going to let you lose this one.'

'I don't know...'

'You don't think there are times when I wish that I hadn't of even bothered with Es?' Taylor said. 'Because trust me, there are loads of times when I wish that. But something you've got to realize is that the good times, no matter how few and far between, always outweigh the bad.'

Ethan looked at Taylor. 'And that's supposed to make me feel what, exactly?'

'Comforted,' Taylor laughed. 'It's supposed to comfort you and give you hope that nothing is lost. Just give it time, or do something about it.'

'Hey Lauren,' Ethan said pulling her to the side and into an empty booth. 'Can we talk?'

'Here? Now?'

'Yeah,' Ethan said. He looked at her for a moment. 'Look, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm feeling a little confused. I thought you wanted to go out with me, but all you've done since we started dating is completely ignore me. Now, I really do like you and I think you're cute and all, but if you don't want to be with me then you can walk away. That's all you've got to do, walk away.'

'Ethan,' Lauren smiled. 'I don't think now is a very good time to talk...'

'You've got to decide now,' Ethan said. 'I'm ready to really work at this relationship, but if you're not, then just say.'

Lauren nodded. 'I do want to be with you Ethan,' she said. 'Even though I've only known you for about a month and half, I do really like you.'

'So then what's the problem?'

'I don't know what I'm doing,' Lauren laughed. 'It sounds so silly, but I've got no idea what I'm supposed to do with you. Esme says we should talk, but I don't know what to talk about with you. I think it's a little too early in the game to talk about our past and stuff.'

'Well I don't know what to do either,' Ethan chuckled. 'We can work it out, together.'

'Okay,' Lauren nodded. 'We can.'

'We can,' Ethan smiled. 'So we're staying together? We're okay.'

'Yeah we are,' Lauren nodded. She put her arms around Ethan and started kissing him and he kissed her back. 'We are.'

'Where did they go?' Esme asked resting against Taylor.

'I don't know,' he replied. 'Maybe to talk it out.'

Esme nodded. 'I hope they do mange to work things out because I think they'd be really cute together.'

'Yeah,' Taylor nodded kissing Esme's head. 'I think so too.'

'I want to go home,' Esme said looking up at Taylor. 'I'm tired and I've got class tomorrow then I'm working til really late.'

'Oh Es,' Taylor said as Esme sat up straight. 'I really think you should...'

'I'm not going quit my job,' Esme said looking at Taylor. 'Did you know that less than fifty percent of kids my age even have jobs? Do you know how hard it is to find a job right now?'

Taylor laughed. 'You're going to go all politician on me now?'

'Shut up,' Esme hit Taylor playfully. 'I'm being serious. The statistics are really bad at the moment and I'm really lucky to have this job.'

'Well whatever,' Taylor laughed. 'You can keep the job...'

'I was never going to get rid of it,' Esme laughed as they stood up. 'You're not really the supportive boyfriend I thought you were.'

'Isn't that a shame,' Taylor laughed putting his arms around Esme's waist and kissing her on the lips. 'Boo hoo.'

'You're mean,' Esme stuck her tongue out. 'I don't like you.'

'Nah,' Taylor laughed pulling her closer. 'Of course you do.'

'You're so sure?' Esme said.

'Yeah,' Taylor said rubbing his nose against her. 'I'm good at this type of thing.'