Don't Try the Noodles

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Bailey

The work week is finally over. I'm trying to put all that has happened behind me now, as hard as it is. I am more than thankful that Emma and Ethan have been so understanding about my abrupt breakdown the other day. They didn't tease me about it once, nor even really mention it at that. Although I dreaded it at first, I'm kind of glad to be able to spend my one day off with the two of them.

It's early Sunday afternoon. As planned, I'm in front of Emma's apartment complex to pick her up, so we can go see Ethan's cat. She waves at me from the door and rushes into the car.

"Hey, Bae! There's been a slight change of plans. Ethan wants us to come to"—she squints at her phone—"la cuisine dela liber-tay? I don't know. It's some French restaurant."

She holds her phone out for me. I recognize the place only because my parents and I had driven past it once and commented on how expensive it looked. Things truly are different for the son of millionaires, which is something I often forget about Ethan, seeing him every day chopping vegetables in the kitchen in his greasy t-shirt and jeans.

We arrive at the restaurant and find Ethan already seated at a table with a menu in hand. He's dressed more formally than usual, in a white collared shirt and navy slacks. I almost don't recognize him at first. He seems to have taken extra time with his hair as well. It looks shinier than usual. I can sense a few enamored female gazes on him. As embarrassing as it is, I'm one of them. But I stop myself there because the only person who should really be looking at him here is my best friend.

Ethan smiles as we take our seats. He smiles a little longer at Emma. "I'm glad you two could find the place easily. I've been to a few French places in the city before, but La Cuisine de la Liberté is by far the best."

"Woah," Emma says in awe. "Say that again!"

Slight panic shows on Ethan's face at the sudden request. "Um, what?"

"The name of the restaurant. Say it again!"

"La Cuisine de la Liberté...?"

"La qui-ZEEN du la lee-bear-TAY," Emma tries to repeat. "Ah, man. I've taken French all throughout high school and my pronunciation is still crap!"

At first, Ethan just sits there with a dumb grin. When it gets too quiet, I send him an eye signal for him to talk to her.

"No, it's not that bad at all." He turns his head nervously. "Actually, it's cute."

It probably took some courage for Ethan to say that, yet Emma brushes it off with a scoff. "Ha! Cute, my ass! I want to be good at French, not cute."

Ethan blushes at his mistaken word choice. "Then, perhaps I can teach you sometime."

"Seriously?"

"Sure."

"Cat dad and now a French teacher. You're pretty awesome. You know that?"

Ethan laughs. He holds his thumb and index finger at a dime's length apart and squints one eye. "Peut-être un peu."

He goes on to explain some of the dishes on the menu to us. Emma is fascinated to learn while I can barely follow half of what he is talking about. I'm mostly distracted by his French, which he barely ever speaks at work. It's a mystery how Emma isn't distracted too.

"I've never tried oysters before," Emma says. "I think I'm going to go with that one."

"Okay. And you, Bailey?"

"Um, uh..." Even with Ethan's explanations, the menu still looks like a puzzle to me. "I'll just have what you're having."

Emma is satisfied with her choice, quickly devouring one raw shellfish after the other. I'm quite happy with my tender steak too. It's not until I've finished it that I start to worry about what the price had been on the menu. I don't even know what I ordered. I hope I've brought enough cash...

Ethan calls a waiter for the check. He takes out a credit card. "Don't worry about it. I'll pay."

I feel both relieved and guilty. "Oh, but—"

"Thanks, Ethan! The food was great!" Emma has no shame.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

The three of us step out, and Ethan points to a good dessert café one block down. He also says his penthouse is a short walk's away from here. Of course, he lives in a penthouse. Now that I think about it, Ethan has been working at the restaurant for a year now, yet I still barely know anything about his personal life. It's not surprising, considering I'm not one for small talk, and Ethan isn't the type to brag.

Although Ethan insists on paying for dessert too, I beat him to it at the cash register. I hate keeping this lingering sense of debt from the expensive lunch. We order a few different slices of cakes and drinks. Emma and I opt for some tea, while Ethan is a total coffee addict.

Ethan and Emma make some casual conversation while I sit quietly and stare out at the tall buildings outside. My eyes are fixated on the changing traffic lights when Emma stands up without a word and runs to the bathroom. I stare at Ethan who doesn't know what has happened either.

"By the way, thanks for dessert, Bailey," Ethan says kindly. "And thank you for all the help you've been with Emma. I don't know what I would've done without you."

I look back out at the street to conceal my blushing face. "You're welcome...Um, I can leave if you want."

"Leave? Why would I want you to leave?"

"So you can spend some alone time with Emma."

"Oh." He lingers on that one word. Ethan's hardly ever been selfish, yet it's probably still hard for him to tell me to stay and keep hanging out as a trio. He has what he wants. However, he shakes his head. "I'd feel bad having you go already."

"It's okay. When Emma comes back, I'll tell her something's happened at home and that I need to go."

Ethan hesitates his reply. "You would really do that for me?"

"I need to go, guys!" Emma says, returning to her seat with a sick face.

"What happened?" I ask in shock.

"I've puked out all of my lunch. That's what happened. Maybe oysters were a bad choice for me."

"I'm calling the restaurant about this," Ethan says under his breath.

"Do you have to go to the hospital?"

Emma shakes her head. "It's not that serious. Don't worry about it! Some rest at home should do the trick."

I get up with her so I can drive her back to her apartment. However, Emma promptly lowers me back down to the chair.

"I'll take a taxi, Bae. I don't want to ruin your day off because of my vomiting." She leans closer towards me, even though her voice still stays loud. "Make sure you take a ton of pictures and videos of Emelia. I also want a full report on how cute she is tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay," I powerlessly reply.

"Sorry about this, Ethan. We can hang out again soon when I'm not puking."

"Yeah. Get some rest," he replies with equal powerlessness.

"I'm off then. See you, guys!" Emma rushes off, and everything feels so quiet without her around anymore.

Ethan and I are wordless as we watch her grab a taxi outside. This isn't how I planned today to turn out.