Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Seven

'What kind of stuff are you looking for?' Emily asked.

'I don't know,' Ecie replied looking at different tops. 'I think I want something simple that I can wear by the pool and stuff.'

'Right,' Emily nodded. 'How about something from the T by Alexander Wang collection? Those are really simple.'

'Yeah,' Ecie nodded. 'They've got a bunch of cute stuff.'

'So you're excited about Palm Springs?'

'Yeah,' Ecie replied. 'It'll be nice to get away from everything for a while. I feel as though Malibu suddenly got so serious.'

'I think that as you grow up, things begin to come into perspective.'

'Yeah,' Ecie agreed. 'I still can't get over the fact that I'm going to college in the fall. It is so exciting and nerve-racking.'

'You'll be fine,' Emily smiled. 'You're going to love living away from home and having your own space.'

'How was it for you?' Ecie asked.

'Well I grew up in San Francisco but then I moved down to Beverly Hills for the last two years of high school,' Emily replied. 'College was nice because it meant that I could do stuff for myself. My whole life I was always following my parents.'

'And you go to Santa Barbara?'

'Yeah,' Emily replied. 'I transferred from Louisiana.'

'So then how did you meet Ross?' Ecie asked.

'Paris,' Emily grinned. 'Could you imagine of all places in the world to meet someone.'

Ecie laughed. 'That is a little weird.'

'I know,' Emily replied. 'But I thought he looked kind of cute and he was from back home, so why not.'

'So you met him in Paris and thought you'd go out with him? Was it love at first sight or something?'

'Me and my girlfriends were in a gallery and he asked us for the time,' Emily smiled. 'He wouldn't take his eyes off me. We were all staying in the same hotel so we all met for drinks later and we got to talking. We stayed up til six in the morning talking.'

'About what?' Ecie asked. 'Ross is hardly the most interesting person to talk to all the time.'

Emily laughed. 'We just talked about everything,' she replied. 'He told me about his life and his home and family, and I told him all about me. We talked about the things we hated and the things we liked.'

'And why you were both in Paris?'

Emily laughed. 'He told me he was interested in art and that he wanted to start his own collection.'

'And he won you over?'

Emily nodded. 'Sometimes I think people get too used to looking at themselves in a particular way. It's sometimes best to just leave all that stuff by the door and do something different.'

'So in other words you wouldn't normally have stayed up til six in the morning with a total stranger talking?'

'My other boyfriends I've met have always been through friends or family,' Emily replied. 'Meeting Ross was something very different.'

'Right,' said Ecie confused. 'I don't get it.'

Emily laughed. 'Ecie, Paris is the city where anything can happen. Your dreams can come true.'