delicate | ethma

23

Ethan

I guess I completely forgot that when you get a dog, it needs to be house trained.

Emma spent a good twenty minutes laughing at me because Stormy peed all over the kitchen.

I just smiled and shook my head. I was glad to be hanging out with Emma. We hadn't been able to much lately.

I've been busy with music, and Emma's been busy with life.

She sat down on the floor of my living room, where Stormy was eagerly wagging her tail and forcing Emma to pay attention to her. All she wanted was to be pet. Stormy loved a good belly rub. She was still a relatively small puppy, so she fit right in Emma's lap.

I sat down on the floor too, but on the other side of the coffee table. Stormy came over and laid down next to where I was sitting.

"How's Daniel?" I asked.

"He's such a goofball," Emma said, smiling and rolling her eyes at the same time. "But he's good."

"You guys are doing good?"

"We're doing great. I think we figured out when the wedding's gonna be."

"Yeah?"

"Well, we decided that we're gonna have a longer engagement, so we're getting married in the July after next year."

"That gives you a lot of time to plan, huh?"

Emma smiled. "Exactly. And Daniel and I are still young, so it's not like we have to get married right this instant. I'm 24, he's gonna be 26 soon."

"You're making me feel old. I'm turning 27 in December," I said.

"When are you gonna settle down? We gotta find you a nice young woman."

I looked down at Stormy, who had laid down in my lap. "I think I'm good here with just me and my pup."

"Ethan," Emma said. "Come on, you need to get yourself out there."

"Why? I'm perfectly fine being single."

"Is there a reason you don't want to settle down?"

"Yeah."

"And that is...what?"

I paused. "There was someone a long time ago that I kind of thought would be the one I settled down with, but she um—she, well, we just weren't meant for each other I guess."

Emma seemed a little disappointed in that statement. It was like she either knew I was talking about her, or she thought I wasn't and hated the hypothetical girl she was thinking of.

But she brushed it away before she spoke. "I was just hoping to have someone to hang out with when I'm third wheeling you and Daniel."

I laughed. "He's more my boyfriend than yours," I joked.

"Bitch, I'm marrying him,"

"Not if I marry him first," I teased. Emma laughed.

"Sure. Tell yourself that."

"Hey, at least I let him fuck me in the ass." I joked.

Emma laughed even harder. "You don't know what he does every night."

"Masturbates in the shower?"

"No, you idiot. What he does to me."

"You definitely let him kiss you. On the cheek."

"You are such an idiot," Emma said, shaking her head as she tried suppressing her smile.

I couldn't help but laugh because her face was getting all red.

It was always so cute when she got flustered during conversations. Almost like it was too funny for her to even be mad that I was outsmarting her or teasing her.

Her face would get all red, and she'd try not to smile, but her smile would always grow until she laughed.

Stormy was starting to get antsy, so I knew she had to pee. So, I let her into the backyard of my house, that luckily was already fenced in when I moved here.

I watched out the window until Stormy finally peed on the tree in the back of the yard, and then she came running back towards the house.

I gave her a treat as soon as she got back inside, telling her she was a good dog. I guess that's what you're supposed to do to help potty train them.

"Wow, you're basically a dad now," Emma said, smiling at me from her seat on the floor.

I chuckled. "Basically. All she does is eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. And she plays sometimes," I said. I grabbed Stormy's rope chew-toy, and tossed it to the middle of the living room, and she came running to get it before laying down and gnawing on it.

I sat next to Stormy so I could pet her, but she got up and walked away with her toy. She probably thought I was gonna try to take it from her.

"Wanna see the proofs I edited from the last show?" Emma asked. I smiled. I always loved looking at the photos Emma takes. She's one of the best photographers I've ever seen.

"Of course," I said. She smiled before reaching for her backpack and taking out her laptop. She got up and moved to where I was sitting, so she could sit next to me.

I could tell that Emma was really passionate about her job, and that's what made her so good at it. You're only gonna have talent in the things you love the most.

She logged into her computer, and we started looking through all of the pictures she took at the last show.

I noticed that she really captured the emotions I was feeling that night. That show was the same night that Emma was engaged to Daniel. I was feeling pretty alone that night, and I was trying to let the music consume me.

But Emma was still able to capture that I wasn't having a good day. I don't know how she does it.

As she kept clicking through the pictures and pointing out things about the different ones, I wondered if she picked up that I was upset that night.

I wondered if she knew why.

For her sake I hoped that she didn't, but for my sake I hoped that she did.

The last picture was a picture of me staring down at my guitar during a solo. I was the lead singer, but I was also still the lead guitarist of the band. All of the guitar solos were like soup for my soul.

Emma glanced at me, and the look in her eyes told me that she knew there was something going on that I wasn't telling her.

I hoped the look in my eyes didn't tell her that she was right about that.