Just The Two of Us

***Mini post. Didn't want to go another week without posting!***


"I see the crystal raindrops fall

And the beauty of it all

Is when the sun comes shining through

To make those rainbows in my mind

When I think of you sometime

And I want to spend some time with you

Just the two of us

We can make it if we try

Just the two of us (x2)

Building castles in the sky

Just the two of us

You and I" Just The Two of Us by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.

After my Dad, Cam, Jenna and Beatrice left, I got back in bed planning to get a few more hours of sleep before cleaning my house. Instead of sleeping, I chatted with Trevor via comments on his picture. Bilal was the first to respond to the comment I left on their picture.

Bilal: Legends were made here. Memphis is the home of rock and soul. And you bring up Justin Timberlake? SMDH

Trevor: She named Justine after him. Don't try to argue with her. It's pointless...

I immediately responded when I saw Trevor's comment.

Me: Legend? ✔

Rock? ✔

Soul? ✔

So yes @Bilal. Justin Timberlake NEEDS to be brought up.

Pointless because it's true @Trevor

Trevor responded with a gif of Eminem in the music video for Stan. He added text on it that read: Lily, the original Stan.

When I asked him where he got the gif from, he told me it was an app he recently closed on. I commented that I would be downloading it once it was available, and he told me he would send me a link when it was ready. I didn't respond and a few minutes later, my phone started ringing. When I saw it was Trevor, I ignored him. Writing was more comfortable for me as I could edit before I sent. I sent him a decline message, saying I couldn't talk right now.

He sent me a text, but when I saw Forrest finally texted me back, I gave him a call. I was hoping to see how he was doing and drop off some leftovers, but he was on his way to Gabriel's annual Memorial Day party.

"Ok. Have fun. Make sure you tell him goodbye instead of ghosting like you did to me yesterday." I complained.

"I didn't ghost you. I left." He argued.

"Without saying goodbye Casper."

"I'm so sorry Lily. I'll never ghost you again." He said, sarcastically.

"See? Was that so hard?" I taunted him. We made plans for him to stop over Tuesday to pick up the food before we said goodbye.

When I hung up, I read the text Trevor sent me, asking what I thought about Noelle. I texted him back the truth: while it sucked how Bianca and Noelle got together, Bianca was the happiest I ever seen her and that was good enough for me. He responded with a gif of two girls kissing, and the added text: Good enough for me too. I responded with: Lol. Bye Trevor!

I didn't leave though. I stayed in bed and Trevor and I texted back and forth. I told him about most of my family being in town and how we all got along. He told me about all the traveling he was doing for work. When I realized how long we've been texting and how late in the day it gotten, I told him I had to get going.

I got up and finished my chores: washing my laundry, changing the sheets on the beds and taking out recycling and trash. After leftovers for dinner, I went to my room to figure out what I should wear on my date with Ethan. I spent an hour going through skirts, pants, blouses and dresses but I was having a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to wear.

It reminded me of the time I invited Ethan to brunch when I first moved back to Dallas. I was so insecure about what to wear and what to say. I definitely wasn't that insecure girl anymore, but Ethan somehow made me feel that way. I contemplating calling or texting Ethan, just to gauge how he was feeling but I didn't know what to say. After I picked a few clothing options, I took Justine outside. When she tried to jump on the daybed sitting in her grassy area, it gave me the perfect reason to call Ethan. I dialed his number and he picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ethan. Have any need for a gently used outdoor daybed?"

"Does anyone really need an outdoor daybed?" He asked me.

"No, but I couldn't convince my dad of that and now it's taking up all of Justine's grass."

"I'll take it. How did you get it in the backyard? How many people did it take?"

"I have no idea. My dad snuck it in while I was at work."

"I'll figure it out."

"Ok. Cool."

There was a moment of silence until he spoke up again.

"Was there anything else you needed to talk about?" He said.

"Um... Not really."

"Not really?" He repeated, expectantly.

"No, not at all. Why?" I asked, curious by his tone.

"Nothing, I thought I might have to reconvince you about going out with me."

"No, but I would love to hear what you would have said to convince me."

"I would love to share it with you. Tomorrow. On our date." He coaxed me.

"About that... Where are we going? I was trying to figure out what to wear but I have no idea what we're doing."

"Dinner, if it's not too late for you."

"It's not too late."

"It's casual, so dress casually."

"Ok. Good. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

I went back into my closet, and picked out slimming dark brown pants with a burgundy top and cream cardigan. Tuesday, I got up and went to my boxing class to work off some nervous energy. Even though I knew we would just be doing dinner and I had my outfit picked out, I was still nervous. I told myself no matter what, at least we would know what was between us so we could resolve any feelings we had.

While that motivated me to go, it did nothing for my nerves. I went to work, the catching up after the holiday on Monday keeping me busy for the first part of my day. Q was part of the team that worked Monday and he pulled me aside when he got ready to leave for the evening.

"Hey, any idea what's up with Fahri and Clayton?" He asked me.

"No idea." I replied. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Not really- it's the way Clayton talks about him. I was wondering if you picked up on anything."

Clayton going over Fahri's head came to mind, but I didn't want to add more fuel to the speculation fire.

"Not at all, but let me know if anything happens."

"I will."

On the way home, I called Forrest to confirm he was still coming over. When he told me he was heading over as we spoke, I hung up and rushed home. He still beat me there. I let him in, asking about him and Rocky as I made my way to the kitchen to grab his Tupperware containers.

"We're good. Adjusting. Why? Did she say something?" He responded, looking through the containers.

"No. Why? Should she have said something?" I said, grabbing a reusable bag to put his food in.

"No. You know, it's an adjustment. But we're ok. Adjusting." He repeated, biting into a pecan bar. I stared at him, wondering if I had enough time to dissect that generic, redundant answer. I saw the time and that Ethan would be picking me up in another 40 minutes. I decided to save it for later.

After I let him out, I took a quick shower before throwing a towel around my body. I did my make-up next, a natural look with a peach nude lip. I was taking down the french braids I wore at work, applying styling milk to my waves when the doorbell rang. I looked at my phone and saw it was a quarter after 8:00. I got up, put on a terry cloth rob and went to answer the door.

"You're early!" I complained, letting Ethan in as I checked him out. He looked great as usual in khakis, a light blue shirt and a gray overshirt.

"I wanted to take a look at the bed while you finish getting ready." He said.

"Ok. I'll just need the last 15 minutes!" I promised.

"Take your time." He assured me.

Once he went outside, I went back to my room to get dress. I put on black ankle booties and diamond studs before tossing my hair asymmetrical, letting it fall over my shoulders. After examing myself critically in the mirror, I checked my phone to see I had 3 minutes left. Ethan was still outside, so I went out to see how he was doing. His overshirt was off and his defined biceps flexed against his shirt as he had the mattress up, examining the frame of the bed. 

"Time!" I announced, stepping out on the deck and stopping my perving of him. 

"You look great." He said, looking me over as he walked to the deck.

"Thank you." I flushed at his appreciative glance.

We walked into my house and after he put back on his overshirt, we left. I locked up and he walked me to his truck, opening the door for me. I smiled thankfully as he gave me a hand and I lifted myself up into the seat. He closed my door and I put on my seat belt before I thought about opening his door for him. I undid my seat belt and I leaned over to open his door. He reached the driver's side of the truck at the same time I got the door opened and it whacked him on the side.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, nervously as I sat back against the seat.

"It's ok. I'm fine." He said as he joined me in.

Once our seat belts were on, Ethan started the truck and we left. He told me I could turn on the radio and I did. The music was the only thing filling the awkward silence in the car. I flipped stations for a while, stopping on songs I liked to focus on the music and not the anxiousness I felt. 10 minutes into the ride and the only set station not on commercials was playing jazz.

"Do you want to connect your phone to play your music? EJ has an AUX cord in the cup holder." Ethan informed me.

"No. It's ok." I said switching back to the jazz station. "We can listen to this."

"I didn't think you were jazz fan."

"I'll listen to everything. Is this Kenny G?"

"No. I believe that's Charlie Parker."

"Damn. That was my second guess." I joked, flatly.

He looked over at me once he stopped at a red light. "You said you can do anything with the right song playing? Pick one that makes you relax."

"Are you saying I'm not relaxed?"

"I'm saying you're not at ease like you normally are." He said, as he turned into a parking lot.

"I'm just hungry." I smiled, weakly.

"Well, we're here."

I looked up to see we were at the Razzoo's parking lot. My jaw dropped.

"Really? You though taking me to the restaurant I asked you to and you rejected me would put me at ease?" I said, perplexed.

"You remember?" He asked, surprised.

"Of course I do! You remember things that devastate you."

"I don't remember you being devastated."

I shook my head at the memory of spending the rest of the day crying with Sammy, thinking maybe there was too much history between us for this to work. "I held it together in front of you."

"I'm sorry. I should have said yes when you asked me out. I wanted to say yes." He said, grabbing my hand.

"Why didn't you?" I questioned him.

"I was afraid." He admitted.

I stared at him for a moment. "Of what?"

He cleared his throat before he replied. "My feelings for you. They weren't something I planned... Or understood. Even after 2 years, I didn't know how to... control how I felt. It was- It was the safe choice not to date you, but I always regretted it. I brought you here because I wanted to make the right choice." He confessed.

I took a deep breath, touched by the fact he was so honest with me, even though he was clearly uncomfortable revealing that to me. "Ok."

"We don't have to eat here. We can go somewhere else. Anywhere else." He offered.

"No. I understand. You want a redo and I want oysters so let's go eat." I smiled at him, at ease. 

We went inside and was seated right away at a booth for two. We seat across from each other, looking over the menu.

"You want to start with oysters?" Ethan asked me.

"Yeah... I normally get the grilled oysters but that's when it's happy hour and half off."

"Happy hour ended an hour ago." He pointed out.

"I know." I frowned. "Another perk of my job; I always miss happy hour."

Our waitress came over and took our order. We ordered a dozen grilled oysters, sweet tea, jalapeno catfish for him and I got the seafood platter. When she left to put our order in, he asked me how my job was going: besides missing all the happy hours.

"It's ok. Did I tell you what happen with my boss and speeding up my client's rehab?" I asked Ethan. When he responded no, I filled him in on how Bolen got reinjured and requested to work with me only. Our appetizer arrived by the time I told him about Q and him asking me if there were any problems between Dr. Clayton and Dr. Fahri.

"How did Clayton feel about Fahri getting promoted?" Ethan asked me, handing me a small plate for the oysters.

"I really didn't pay attention. I was kinda distracted with learning my new role and moving." I said, glossing over the fact that it was after Trevor broke up with me and I was completely out of it. I grabbed an oyster before offering him one.

"You eat oysters right?"

"I do." He said, taking one from the plate. "Maybe he was frustrated he didn't get the promotion."

"The way Adil explained it, he was the one that recognized the need for his position and pitched it to our boss. It makes sense he would get the job." I countered.

"Understandable, but if Clayton was with the company longer, I can see why he would believe he should have been considered." Ethan commented.

"Maybe. I really don't care about their power struggle. They completely lost me when they started to put their personal agendas above the clients." I said in between bites of food. "How's your job?"

He smiled, brightly and I listened intenly, automatically excited for him. "We have a project not far from your house in development. Condos and retail space- it's coming together nicely."

"That's awesome... Or wait. Is it in Plano? Because if it is, you can do shoddy work so my property taxes don't increase."

"The demand in Plano is going to increase your taxes regardless; Especially once the Toyota center is fully opened."

"Urgh, don't remind me. Traffic and prices have already increased thanks to all the Californians moving to Texas." I sighed in disgust.

"Lily, you're a Californian that moved to Texas." He pointed out to me.

"Whatever." I laughed as he shook his head at me.

Our dinner came and I traded him shrimp and crawfish for a piece of his jalapeno catfish. We ate and chatted about EJ and how close he was from having enough practice time to play in his first game. Ethan promised to send me his schedule so I could be there.

"This is kinda weird." I said, dipping a fry into my extra cherry mustard sauce.

"What? Your sauce?"

"No. This is incredible. Have you tried it?" I asked.

"Maybe; If I have it's been a while."

I dipped a shrimp before handing it to him. He took a bite and I watched.

"Good?"

"Good." He confirmed. "What's weird?"

"Us. This." I motioned to the table.

He averted his eyes and I was able to read the disappointment on his normally stoic face. "It's not awkward between us." I quickly clarified.

He meet my eyes again and I continued. "First dates are normally awkward- with awkward getting to know you first talk. Like what's your family like and what are your favorite hobbies. We're just talking. That's weird for a first date."

"I met most of your family and you've met all of mine. What other hobbies do you have besides concerts, food and Disney movies?" He asked.

I grinned. "None. That's it. My entire life in one sentence. I don't know your hobbies besides what you do with EJ."

"That's pretty much my hobbies: Whatever he's interested in at the moment."

"So right now your life is basketball, drums and Youtube videos?"

"Exactly." He nodded with a slight smile.

"Ok, EJ is gone. You have free time-"

When he opened his mouth to respond, I cut him off, "and you can't say work."

"Will started poker nights a few times a month, fishing with my dad, reading." He listed.

"Reading? Read anything that got made into a film I would have seen?" I grinned.

"I think the last book I read that was made into a movie was a Dan Brown novel."

"Yes. I love Tom Hanks. Aren't they making another?"

"I don't know. I haven't watched any. I read the books."

"They almost made me want to read the books. Even though they're not Disney movies, we can add them to movie nights."

"EJ didn't make it through Aladdin. You think he can make it through the Da Vinci Code?"

"Probably not." I conceded before the waitress came and checked on us. After she left, Ethan asked me, "Any more first date small talk?"

"Yes. Favorite colors?" I teased.

"Yours is blue. I don't have one."

"Pick one. What's your favorite color to wear?"

"Black."

"Um, no. Pick another one." I ordered him.

"Gold."

"Gold? Is that your second favorite color to wear, Goldmember?" I giggled.

"No. It's the color your eyes turn when your laughing-especially at someone else's expense. Who's Goldmember?" Ethan asked, as I blushed, a pleased smile on my face.

"He was a character in the third Austin Powers movie. The one with Beyonce." I explained.

"I could barely make it through the first one."

"EJ would love them." I said, the smile never leaving my face.

The waitress came again, clearing our plates and asking if we saved room for dessert. I didn't and none of their options were tempting enough to take home so we declined.

"You still think tonight was weird?" Ethan asked me as we left.

"No, this was nice."

"Nice enough to do it again?" Ethan questioned as we approached his truck.

"Yes."

"I don't have EJ this weekend, if you're free." He opened the truck door for me.

"I have plans already." I stopped and looked at him before I got inside. "I- um, I'm dating other people. I'm not ready to commit to anyone or a relationship right now. I just want to make sure you are aware and ok with that." I said, trying to be more straightforward and not make the same mistakes.

Ethan looked me in the eye. "I told you the only things I need from you are your time and honesty. I appreciate both of them tonight."

"Ok." I nodded.

"Ok. Will you let me know when you're free?"

"Will do." I smiled up at him.

I got in and popped open the door before he made his way around the truck. He thanked me as he got in. When he started the truck, the jazz station was playing Just The Two of Us.

"Omg. I know this song!" I said, excitedly.

"Grover Washington Jr?"

"No. Dr. Evil sings this to Mini Me in one of the Austin Power movies. It's a sign! This is the next movie night." I smiled.

"It's a date." He smiled at me before we took off.