Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Two

'Taylor something is going on,' Esme said at lunch. 'Something is going on with Ecie and she's not telling me.'

'You should wait for her to say something,' Taylor replied.

'What if she never does,' Esme said. 'What if it's too late?'

'Then what do you suppose we do?' Taylor asked. 'Stalk her?'

'That's perfect,' Esme said. 'We have to follow her to see where she goes and what she does.'

Taylor looked across at his girlfriend and took a deep breath. 'Come on Es,' he said. 'You really want to follow your sister? You want to give her the Eric treatment?'

'It worked with Eric,' Esme replied.

Taylor pushed his plate in front of him and rested his elbows on the table, clasping his hands. 'Okay Es,' he said. 'Say we do follow her, how will we have the time and how will she not notice us? She's up at all hours and sometimes we don't even realize when she's gone.'

'How do you mean?'

'Like last night,' Taylor said. 'She wasn't supposed to be at your mom's house. She was supposed to be at your dads or somewhere.'

'You're right,' Esme nodded. 'She's way too sneaky for us. We need to get someone else to do it for us.'

'Who are you going to find that has the time to follow her without being noticed?' Taylor asked. 'Who do you know who knows Ecie well enough? Who do you know who would even consider helping you?'

'I've got someone.'

'And who might that be?'

Esme grinned. 'Denis.'

'I'll see you later,' Esme kissed Taylor on the lips as he dropped her off at her father's house. 'Call me when you finish.'

'Okay,' Taylor said. 'I'll see if I can convince him to help, but I can't promise anything.'

'Okay,' Esme replied. 'Have fun at work.'

Esme got out of the car and walked into her dad's house.

'Hey dad,' she smiled walking into the living room. 'How are you?'

'I'm good,' Jonathon nodded opening another letter. 'What have you been up to this morning?'

'I did some work then went to lunch with Taylor,' she replied sitting down on the sofa facing her dad. 'Are you still opening letters?'

'Yes,' Jonathon replied. 'I'm beginning to think that taking that three month holiday was a mistake. I've got all this stuff to reply to and your mom seems to have eloped with her new boyfriend.'

'I told you to start dating,' Esme replied. 'Why don't you just get an assistant for all of this?'

'I've only ever had one assistant, who was any good,' Jonathon replied. 'And she had to go off and get married and have kids.'

'Why don't you call Cleo anyway and ask her to help?' Esme said. 'I'm sure she'd say yes.'

'Oh no,' Jonathon shook his head. 'I'd rather do this by myself.'

Esme shrugged. 'Maybe I can help. I'm very organized, time efficient and I make excellent company.' She smiled at her dad. 'I also happen to know where Clive hides all his treats.'

'Are you interviewing for the job?' Jonathon laughed ripping open another letter.

'Do I get the job?'

Jonathon laughed. 'Okay you've got the job, but only on a trial basis.'

Esme grinned. 'It's good enough for me.'