Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Six

'I've been waiting out here for ages,' Esme said as Ecie climbed into her Audi A5 coupe. She started up the engine then drove off. 'How was it this time?'

'We talked about why I cheat,' Ecie replied putting on her seatbelt. 'I need to jot down any reasons of why I did it.'

'Right,' Esme said looking at her sister for a moment. 'Why do think that you cheat?'

'I don't know,' Ecie replied. 'Maybe because I can't get enough of one person. One guy just isn't enough for me.'

'Well you're lucky that you can pull of being with more than one guy,' Esme replied. 'I can hardly get a handle on one.'

'Are things okay with Taylor? Did you see him today?'

'Yeah,' Esme replied. 'He came by the house this morning and apologized.'

'Did he tell you why he couldn't make it to dinner last night?'

'He was with his friends,' Esme replied. 'He was hanging out with his friends on the beach smoking pot.'

'Did he tell you that?' Ecie asked looking over at her sister. 'He said that to you?'

'I could smell it on him,' Esme replied. 'One of his friends called him and I overheard them talking about it.'

'I'm sorry Es.'

'It's fine,' Esme said. 'It just sucks that he has to lie about it. He could have just told me that he was going to meet his friends instead of making out like someone had died.'

'So what did you say to him?'

'I told him I was busy today and that I couldn't see him,' Esme replied. 'He got all annoyed and said that I was overreacting.'

'Are you guys still together?'

Esme nodded. 'God Palm Springs sounds so good right now. I cannot wait to leave this town for a week.'

'Same,' Ecie agreed. 'I can't wait to go to college either. I did some more research about USC last night and I found out loads of cool stuff.'

'How much fun will LA be next year though,' Esme smiled. 'I am so excited.'

'So am I,' Ecie nodded. 'It's not too far from home, but it's still far enough.'

'Yeah,' Esme nodded. 'I'm so excited about our apartment. LA has some of the best clubs in the world and some really cool restaurants.'

'How weird was it last night when Eric said we could stay at one of his hotels?'

'That was so weird,' Esme agreed. 'He is such a strange guy.'

'What do you say we scrap our plans for today and do something else?' Ecie suggested.

'What do you have in mind?'

'Oh you know,' Ecie grinned. 'How about we follow Eric like old times.'

Esme laughed as she turned a corner. 'Okay, seeing as I'm taking the whole day off school.'

Esme and Ecie laughed.

'What do you suppose will happen with mom and Eric?' Esme asked as she bit into her burger.

'I don't know,' Ecie replied wiping her mouth and looking out of the window. They were parked across the street from Eric's Calabasas home. 'They looked cute last night.'

'Yeah,' Esme nodded. 'I think it's so sweet that he's making such a huge effort.'

'I think he might like mom a little more than she likes him,' Ecie said. 'Did you see the way he kissed her on the cheek? It was like she doesn't like showing affection in public.'

'Mom is not shy of showing affection in public,' Esme said. 'Do you see the way she hugs and kisses us in front of everybody? It's totally gross.'

Ecie laughed. 'Exactly my point.'

'Oh look,' Esme said pointing. 'Who is that brunette taking the walk of shame? Looks like she even has a key.'

'Esme,' Ecie said. 'I think that's mom taking the walk of shame.'

Esme looked closer then reached in the glove compartment for the binoculars she kept there from their earlier days of spying on Eric.

'You're going to miss her,' Ecie said.

Esme looked through the binoculars and saw a very familiar face. 'When did she spend the night here?'

Ecie shrugged. 'Oh look, here he comes.'

They watched as Eric came out from his home in a pair of sweatpants and put his arms around their mother. Sofie smiled at Eric then wrapped her arms around him. They stood out in the sun for a few minutes talking and kissing.

'Oh that is so gross,' Esme said reaching down for her vibrating cell phone. 'Hello?'

'You're not at school,' Verde said. 'I was going to come over, is everything okay?'

'We're outside Eric's place,' Esme replied. 'He's totally macking on mom right now.'

'You just ditched?'

'I had to get Ecie from therapy,' Esme shrugged. 'Figured I may as well take the day off. What are you doing now?'

'I'm about to leave school,' Verde replied. 'Should I meet you guys somewhere?'

'Oh my god,' Ecie said. 'That is so disgusting.'

'What is it?' Verde asked.

'Mom just put her hand down his pants,' Esme cringed. 'I think we should go E.'

'You're right,' Ecie said wiping her hands quickly and putting on her seat belt. 'We've seen enough.'

Esme plugged her phone into the car then put on her seatbelt and started the engine. 'We're just driving away now Verd,' she said. 'We can meet you outside school.'

'Okay,' Verde replied. 'How long are you guys going to be?'

'We'll be about half an hour,' Esme replied.

They arrived outside Malibu Crest High School and Verde climbed into the back of the car.

'How are you E?' he asked leaning forward.

'I'm good,' Ecie replied. 'What about you?'

'I'm good,' Verde replied. 'So you guys have just been spying on Eric all morning?'

'Kind of,' Esme replied. 'Ecie had her thing this morning so I met her afterwards. I saw Taylor this morning.'

'How was that?'

Esme rolled her eyes. 'So, so.'

'We should go back to his house,' Ecie said. 'Hopefully they've finished by now.'

'You are so gross,' Esme laughed turning a corner.

'What happened?' Verde asked.

'We went to see Eric,' Ecie replied passing back her French fries. 'We saw that mom was leaving and he came out after her. They started kissing then mom put her hand down Eric's pants. It was so gross.'

'I can't believe that mom is like that,' Esme cringed again. 'That was so embarrassing.'