Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Two

'Where did you get that?' Esme asked looking at Ecie's back.

'What?' Ecie asked feeling on her back for something. 'Do I have something on my back?'

'Only a bruise the size of Texas,' Esme replied. 'You look as though someone's been throwing dodge balls at you all day.'

'Oh right,' Ecie laughed. 'You know how those kick-boxing classes can be. Sometimes, I really get my butt kicked; but what I always say: you should see the other guy.'

Esme laughed. 'You know, I'm really happy that we got to spend the summer together. I really enjoyed myself.'

'Me too,' Ecie replied. 'Especially watching Ross being attacked by all those sand flies.'

'Yeah I know,' Esme laughed. 'That was most probably the highlight of my whole summer.'

Ecie laughed. 'I know you must have really missed Taylor.'

'It's the strangest thing,' Esme said as she sat down on the floor of her sister's room. 'I feel as though ever since we got back, I've been missing Taylor a lot more. I see him every day, and yet I still feel as though he's not quite all there.'

'Have you talked to him?' Ecie asked sitting down slowly on her bed. 'I mean, maybe he's just really busy with his store and everything. I heard it's the coolest place in Venice.'

Esme laughed. 'It's the most amazing surf shop in the world.'

'I think you should talk to him,' Ecie replied getting up and walking into their shared closet that had recently been refurbished over and the summer and extended by another twenty feet. 'There's no use in talking to me about your problems because I can't fix them.'

'Yeah, I know,' Esme replied. 'It's just that you've got a whole lot more of experience when it comes to guys, than I have. I've got no idea whether this is natural or whether we've really just grown apart.'

'I personally think that it's only natural,' Ecie replied. 'The honeymoon is definitely over. Your first split obviously made things a little awkward for a while, but you should be over it by now. I think you need to start looking at this as a marriage. After a while, it gets a little boring. All you need to do is put a bit of spark into your relationship.'

'How?' Esme asked. 'He didn't seem so thrilled about us spending the weekend together.'

'Oh,' Ecie said. She came out of the closet with a new towel. 'Well then you need to put in all the spices back into your relationship. Keep it interesting.'

'Do you want to date him for me then?'

Ecie laughed. 'It would be fun, I admit, but you'd just be stuck on the sidelines watching; no. I'll give you all the tips and stuff you need to get Taylor back in love with you again.'

'Whoever said he was out of love with me in the first place?'

'Nobody.'

'Ecie.'

'Nobody's said anything about anything,' Ecie replied. 'I guess I just kind of thought that you guys had frozen up a little.'

Esme rolled her eyes. 'Just help me out before I totally regret this.'

'Okay then,' Ecie grinned rubbing her hands together. She went over to her computer and switched it on. 'What you need is a makeover. You look too much like Malibu Barbie; you want to look like Los Angeles Barbie.'

'There never was one, E,'

'Yeah but there totally would have been one had they known how to style her,' Ecie protested. 'Anyway, I am here to totally restyle you.'

Esme looked at her twin uneasily. 'I'm not too sure...'

'Trust me,' Ecie said. 'I'll do a fine job.'

Esme sat down beside her sister. 'Dad said something about you missing brunch the other weekend. He said that you wouldn't tell him what happened.'

'Is he still humming on about that?' Ecie asked as she browsed through the internet. 'Doesn't he have some Oscar winning movie to be writing or something?'

'You know dad,' Esme replied. 'He worries about stuff like that. He probably thinks you were held hostage some place.'

'Well you can tell him that it was nothing,' Ecie said. 'I can't even remember why I didn't show up anyway.'

Esme looked skeptically at her sister, but shook her head and glued her eyes to the computer screen. 'Oh that does look cute...'

'I've got a surprise for you.' Taylor said.

'A surprise?'

'Yeah,' he grinned. 'I was thinking that instead of staying at yours this weekend, that maybe we could head up to Sacramento and visit my grandparents. What do you think?'

Esme couldn't quite find the right words or reaction.

'I know it's a totally sucky idea, and we should just stay here for the weekend...'

Esme kissed Taylor on the lips. 'I love it.'

'You do?'

'Yeah. I think it's perfect.'

'Cool,' Taylor nodded grinning. 'I've been freaking out about asking you since the summer. I guess I just thought that you'd think I was really creepy.'

'You, creepy? Never.'