Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Two

'Does your mom know that you're stalking her new boyfriend?' Verde asked eating a French fry at lunch.

'No,' Esme replied munching on her salad. 'We thought it'd be best if she didn't know.'

'So how did you get his address in the first place?'

'I borrowed her address book and looked through it,' Esme replied. 'It was easy enough.'

'Have you ever eaten at Curtain?' Verde asked wiping his mouth.

Esme shook her head. 'I don't have five hundred dollars to spend on a meal.'

'Damn,' Verde said. 'How expensive is that place?'

'It's like a billionaire's club,' Esme replied. 'E and I were looking at its website and it's so luxurious. You'd think it was a five star hotel or something.'

'So how are you going to go about stalking him more?'

'It took us a week to actually see his face,' Esme replied. 'You have no idea how long we waited around the block or looking for the correct address.'

'Do you think your mom might marry him?' Verde asked. 'I mean, if he's loaded he wouldn't mind having a lavish party.'

'Mom feels oddly about marriage,' Esme replied. 'I don't think she's going to marry anyone, any time soon.'

'Well I think it's good that your mom's met someone nice and someone she likes a lot,' Verde said. 'When was the last time she even dated someone?'

'God knows,' Esme said. 'She's been too busy to date.'

'Did you find out anything more about him?'

'He was engaged once,' Esme replied taking out some sheets of paper that she and Ecie had printed off the night before. She wiped her hands then passed the sheets to Verde. 'He's got three homes stateside and two homes abroad: a villa in Tuscany and an apartment in Rome.'

'How much did you say he was worth?' Verde asked looking through the papers.

'Fifty nine point six billion dollars,' Esme replied. 'They say that if he sells his chain of restaurants or hotels that he'll be worth even more. They make him loads of money.'

'I can see that,' Verde said staring wide-eyed. 'These homes are his?'

Esme nodded.

'So he lives in Calabasas and has homes in New York and Texas,' Verde said looking at a page. 'He has fourteen cars and an impressive wine collection worth ten million dollars. What is up with this guy?'

Esme shrugged. 'I'm just a little confused because mom hates guys with too much money,' she said. 'Eric seems like such an anomaly.'

'It says here that he supports many organizations and helped to set up shelters and soup kitchens for the less advantaged,' Verde said. 'He even has a charity that provides meals to kids and families in poor areas around the world. This guy is giving out millions every year.'

'I'm guessing that's why mom likes him so much,' Esme nodded. 'I suppose it makes sense. He's a generous guy.'

Verde laughed. 'His favorite pastimes include: buying property, making gelato and ironing his shirts.'

Esme laughed and took the sheet back from Verde. 'Who is this guy?'

Verde laughed and shrugged. 'What a strange man.'

'He's a very strange man.'

'Where did you get so much information on him?' Verde asked. 'You've got some pretty weird information on him.'

'If you know where to look,' Esme replied. 'He's a billionaire, a philanthropist and a world class chef. When you think about it, he's everywhere.'

'I think that you and Ecie should eat at one of his restaurants,' Verde said putting the papers together and handing them back to Esme. 'He makes all the recipes himself and you'd want to know if his food tastes any good.'

'I guess I could talk dad into taking us there,' Esme replied. 'Just as long as mom doesn't find out.'

'Verd gave me an excellent idea,' Esme said. 'We should have dinner at Curtain.'

Ecie stared at Verde. 'Are you okay? You need to see the menu,' she got up and passed him a sheet of paper with a price list on it. 'The only thing I could maybe afford is a glass of water.'

'Water's free,' Verde said looking at the price list.

'That is exactly my point,' Ecie said. 'Unless you expect me to break into a bank and steal money, I don't see how we'll afford dinner there.'

'We could ask dad,' Esme said. 'Dad loves trying out new places.'

'Well then you can tell him about it,' Ecie said. 'I prefer following Eric around town.'

'Did you see him today?'

'No,' Ecie replied. 'But I think we should probably do more Eric-spying this weekend. I'm not working til the afternoon, so we'll have plenty of time.'