09
The next day, I reached out to Ethan.
He picked up fast, but he didn’t say anything.
I skipped the talk about yesterday. I just said, “Your gift is on the way. Should be there
soon.
He paused, sounding a little hoarse. “What? You’re finally calling, and you won’t even say
happy birthday?”
I said, “Happy birthday.”
He laughed. He didn’t hang up, he asked a
I was stunned.
Did it matter?
“No,” I said.
Those gifts from the past were kind of over
the top for just friends.
The gift this time was pretty standard.
He went silent again. Then I heard his lighter.
His voice was muffled. “Was your date good last night?”
I remembered the face.
I felt guilty. “Yeah, it went pretty well.”
<
He didn’t respond. Then he started coughing.
I checked the time. “I have to go. I’ll talk to
you later.”
He said, hoarsely, “Okay.”
After that, we started talking again like we
used to.
But he was usually the one reaching out.
One day, he messaged me.
“I’m making cookies. I forgot a few steps. Can you come over and show me?”
Somehow our conversations had started including words like “could you,” “would you,” “can you“.
<
We were awkward, not like ourselves.
My thoughts went blank. I forgot to respond
to him.
When I got home, I remembered when I saw
him standing at my door.
He looked at my phone. “You were supposed
to get off an hour ago. Why are you just
getting here?”
I was stunned.
I had met up with a friend after work for
dinner.
I didn’t expect Ethan to be waiting for me.
I was about to answer when he asked, “Were
<
you with your date?
I opened my mouth, then nodded.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
He wasn’t laughing. He was staring at me.
Then, after a while, he spoke my name, and it
sounded serious. “Liv.”
I looked at him, confused. “Yeah?”
Then my phone started ringing.
It was my date from the other night.
He asked if I wanted to catch a movie
together.
I didn’t expect him to reach out after I had to
leave early.
Before I could answer, Ethan asked, “Is it
your date?”
I sighed inwardly.
He was really trying to manage my dating life.
I answered the call first.
“Yeah, I’d be down for that.”
I talked for a bit longer and agreed to meet
next week, then hung up.
Ethan’s face fell. Then he laughed, a small laugh. “That’s great. You’re hard to get a
hold of these days.”
く
I said, “Yeah. I’ve been busy.”
He scoffed quietly. Then he didn’t say
anything.
He followed me inside.
He rarely came to my place.
It was a small space and he was tall. He
looked out of place here.
I’d never seen him like this.
I almost laughed.
He looked at me, like he had suddenly taken
an interest. He became casual.
He wasn’t so quiet anymore.
<
Пe put on my apron anu started working on
the butter.
I was watching him, awkward and unsure
what to do, and I said something about work.
He answered.
I looked at him, then stopped.
“You were the one who taught me to make
cookies, how could you have forgotten?”
He also didn’t ask me what to do next.
It went quiet.
I heard something almost fall.
His voice was rough. “I just remembered.”
