Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Three

'This is awesome,' Esme said as she stepped into Taylor's grandparents' house that weekend. 'I love your house.'

'Why thank you. My name is Ruth,' his grandmother replied. 'We've had this place since before little Taylor was born.'

'Oh, I'm so sorry,' Esme said a little embarrassed. She held out her hand. 'My name is Esme and thank you so much for having me this weekend.'

'No problem at all,' Ruth smiled. 'Taylor's told us quite a bit about you already. You're even more beautiful than he says.'

Taylor went red. 'I'll just show Esme upstairs then you can get granddad.' Taylor took Esme by the hand and led her up to a bedroom. 'This one used to be mine.'

'I like it,' Esme smiled looking around the room at the old comic book hero posters on the walls and the books from Taylor's childhood. There was a skateboard in the corner and a pile of magazines on his desk. A freshly made large bed was spaced in a corner of the room and she turned to look at Taylor. 'Is it okay for us to share a room? Will they mind?'

Taylor laughed shaking his head. 'They're pretty cool. They know that you're my girlfriend and they know that people in the twenty-first century do...stuff.'

'Do stuff?' Esme said raising an eye brow. 'It's like you're still seven.'

'I mean, you know what I mean,' Taylor said stuffing his hands into his front pockets. 'My grandmother is so cool and she makes the best pie in the world. My granddad's really cool too. He can make anything out of wood; he once helped me get an A in woodshop class in like the eighth grade.'

Esme couldn't help but smile at Taylor. 'I think that's really sweet.'

'Right,' Taylor said getting embarrassed. 'I'll show you around then we head out and I can show you around town.'

'Come here Taylor,' Esme said softly. She kissed Taylor on the lips and ran her hands through his hair. 'This is perfect. Thank you for bringing me.'

'Everyone just kept saying that it meant the honeymoon was over,' Esme said as she walked with Taylor through his old neighborhood. 'You were acting kind of weird.'

'I've been really busy with the store and everything,' Taylor replied. 'The first couple of months of it are bound to be trying.'

'Yeah, I guess,' Esme shrugged. 'So you used to live here?'

'Yeah,' Taylor nodded. 'It's so strange being back now. I feel as though I never left.'

'Why did you leave?'

'You can't spend your whole life in one place,' he replied. 'I just remember being seventeen and thinking, "I'm going to go down to Malibu and surf some waves".'

'So you just left?'

'Yep,' Taylor replied. 'There's never a better time than the present.'

'What about your grandparents? Your friends, school? What about your whole life?'

'I guess we've grown up in different environments,' Taylor replied. 'Things are just different for us.'

'Yeah but still,' Esme said. 'I just couldn't imagine you leaving a place so suddenly.'

'It was fine,' Taylor replied. 'I had some cash I'd saved for a rainy day. I reenrolled at school down in Malibu and I got a new job. Things were pretty easy.'

'And you got to ride the waves?'

Taylor laughed. 'I sure did.'

'I don't know,' Esme said. 'It just seems so... extreme.'