Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Seven

'Did you see your friends again tonight?' Esme asked as she climbed into bed and pulled the sheets up. 'You missed an interesting dinner.'

'So I was invited to dinner tonight?' Taylor joked climbing into Esme's bed. 'That makes a change from being blacklisted.'

'I didn't blacklist you,' Esme replied. 'You just kept lying to me about where you were.'

'I never lied to you,' Taylor frowned. 'I just told you that I had to cancel dinner...'

'Yeah but you made it sound like someone in your family had died and you were flying out to Sacramento,' Esme replied. 'All you had to say was that you wanted to hang out with your friends.'

'Oh my god, Es,' Taylor laughed annoyed. 'You just like to talk about things we've already discussed.'

'You brought it up,' Esme replied. 'I was only answering your stupid statement.'

Taylor sighed. 'So what was dinner like?'

'You're mad at me,' Esme replied. 'I don't want to tell you if you're going to be mad at me.'

'I'm not mad at you,' Taylor replied. 'You just get really annoying at times and it stresses me out. I've had a busy day and all I want is to snuggle with you and maybe if you want, we can do something.'

'In what ways do I stress you out?' Esme said looking at Taylor. 'You do know that you can leave if I get too "stressing" for you.'

'You know what, forget it,' Taylor said. 'You're in one of those moods where you go all weird and tetchy. Just forget it.'

'Fine,' Esme huffed turning away from Taylor. 'You snuggle up to yourself tonight.'

'I will,' Taylor said. 'I'm way more snuggly than you anyway.'

'That's great then,' Esme said taking all the sheets and wrapping herself up. 'How do you feel now?'

'I always sleep without sheets,' Taylor said. 'It keeps me cool.'

'That's even greater,' Esme said. 'I'll remember that for next time.'

Taylor jumped on top of Esme and she squealed.

'Taylor!'

Taylor kissed Esme on the nose then kissed her on the lips.

'Taylor!' Esme said pushing him off.

Taylor pulled the sheets away from Esme then climbed on top of her and pulled off her night shirt. He kissed her neck and caressed her body.

'Have you spoken to Denis at all?' Esme asked.

'Yeah,' Taylor replied. 'But just a bit. He's been busy with loads of stuff.'

'Right,' Esme nodded. 'Do you think he'd want to see E again?'

'Why?'

'I was just wondering,' Esme replied. 'I thought that because she hasn't seen him, that maybe he might want to see her.'

'Denis doesn't want any trouble,' Taylor replied. 'He's happy that she's okay and healthy now. He knows that she's grateful and he still cares about her, I just think that he needs to get on with his life.'

'I know,' Esme replied. She sighed. 'I just feel like Ecie is so lonely and I know that she needs someone apart from Carole. You know she wanted to see Ellis.'

Taylor looked at Esme. 'Why would she want to do that?'

'Because she loves him,' Esme replied.

'After what he did to her?' Taylor said. 'How could she?'

'Well I think it's understandable,' Esme said hitting Taylor with a pillow. 'I have to put with much worse.'

'But I don't beat you to a pulp and leave you lying on my bathroom floor covered in blood,' Taylor said. 'If she sees him, what Denis did would have been a waste.'

'You and Ellis used to be close,' Esme said.

'Yeah, but we're not anymore,' Taylor replied. 'I can't believe that you would even be considering letting Ecie see him.'

'I can't stop her,' Esme said. 'She's independent.'

'Well I think that it's all bullshit,' Taylor said annoyed. 'She shouldn't see Ellis ever again. You should make sure that she doesn't.'

'Why do you care so much?' Esme sat up and looked at Taylor. 'I thought that you hated Ecie. Are you in love with her or something?'

'Oh yeah,' Taylor replied sarcastically. 'I'm so in love with her that I'm fucking her sister in the next room. Get real Es.'

'Then why are you getting so antsy about her seeing Ellis? If she wants to see him, then she should.'

'Unless you missed it, Ecie was in hospital for four months,' Taylor replied. 'I can't get those images out of my mind. She's got tubes and she's bruised and cut and lying in so much pain. She could be dead.'

'But she's alive and fine,' Esme said. 'Anyway, I was only telling you what she wanted to do. There was no need to get all emotional about it.'

'Well from now on, don't tell me about it,' Taylor replied. 'I never want to hear about Ecie's troubles again. You can keep them to yourself.'

'Taylor...'

'I mean it Es,' Taylor said. 'All you ever talk about is Ecie. Don't you ever want to talk about yourself or something?'

'I've got nothing to say about myself,' Esme replied. 'Ecie's way more interesting to talk about.'

'Just because your life isn't a mess, doesn't mean you're any less interesting,' Taylor said softly. He kissed Esme on the lips. 'You need to stop comparing yourself to E. You are so perfect the way you are.'

'You mean it?'

'Of course,' Taylor smiled. 'You're the girl that I'm with. You've got nothing to worry about.'

'And you're not just saying that because I might kick you out of bed?'

'Not at all,' Taylor replied. 'The thought hadn't even crossed my mind.'

Esme smiled as she kissed Taylor.

'So what happened at dinner?'

'Nothing,' Esme replied. 'It was okay. How are the boys?'

Taylor stared down at Esme confused. 'Huh?'

'How are the boys?'

'I thought you said that dinner was interesting,' Taylor said. 'I want to know what happened.'

'Nothing,' Esme replied. 'How are your friends?'

'Great,' Taylor replied. 'They're still asking for you though. I think they might actually be in love with you, because they always want to see you. It's kind of weird.'

Esme laughed. 'So are you finally jealous of me? Do you wish you were me?'

'Not even close,' Taylor laughed. 'You've got to do a lot more than win over my friends.'