“What?”
“Um, hey dad,” Ethan said in a tiny voice.
“My God, Ethan, where are you? Your mother is worried sick, you know that?” Ethan took the phone away from his ear, and then returned it after a moment. His father was still going on about something. “We had a birthday dinner planned for you.”
“I know dad.”
“You got drunk at a club?”
“I had a party at my friend’s club-”
“We worked hard on our birthday dinner for you. No call, no thanks . . .You’re a real disappointment, you know that?” his father said, stabbing him with the knife and twisting it.
Ethan gave a sigh. “I know,” he said, not even flitching at the pain the knife put into him. He’s been stab so many times, it was numbing now. He looked across the table and saw Aspen.
He was looking at her, staring at the tip of her short hair. He really liked how the blue brought out her eyes. She was watching the outside world, two hands on her coffee cup. She could have easily been one of those girls in Paris.
“I better see you in work tomorrow, on time. We need to have a long talk.”
Ethan waited for a second. Before he could speak his mind, his father hung up the phone. He didn’t know who he could call now. His father didn’t care if he was hurt. His father could care less if he was in the alley way passed out. He gave the phone back to Aspen.
“So what’s your plan?” she asked. He didn’t want to tell. Why should he? He didn’t even know her.
“I’ll get a taxi back to my place later.”
She looked confused. “Isn’t your dad . . . or Tom is it? Aren’t they going to pick you up?”
Ethan shrugged, shaking his head. “No.” He looked out the window. “I guess I have a free day today.”
“Hey, looky there,” she said with perk behind it. He did manage to give a small smile. “What are you going to do today?”
He thought about it. “I am not sure.” He put his hands on top of his head and led back. Aspen sipped on her coffee. “What do you do for fun?”
“Well, today I have to do some things, but I do a lot for fun,” she smiled. “I could show you Pearl Street if you want later.”
“That’s fine,” Ethan declined. “You don’t have to.”
“You sure?”
He barely knew what that place was suppose to be. “What’s all in Pearl Street?”
Aspen gave a laugh. “Well, it’s just an outside mall, but they have performances on the street. There are people who juggle with fire, and tons of singers. They have really good hot dogs too, I mean they are really good. It’s by the court house. Oh, there is a pizza shop too, and it’s pretty cheap. You sure you don’t want to come along? I can show you.”
“No, I don’t have my wallet.”
“I’ll buy you lunch if you want.” Ethan gave her a look. He put his hands down, and laid them on the table. He led closer to her. Aspen looked around then back to him. “What?”
“I have never had someone offer to buy me lunch. It’s just . . . weird. No offence, but you’re just weird.”
She didn’t seem offended, like most people would when someone told them ‘no offence’. “Well, I got a lot to do too. You’ll have to come along with me. And I can drive you back to Denver.”
Ethan gave another long pause, and led closer. “Why?”
“Well, you don’t have a wallet, and I can give you a ride. How will you pay for a taxi?”
He was very confused. “I . . . well . . . why would you do that for me?” Aspen shrugged. He could have laughed at her. She was very unreal. She was nothing that he had seen before. He threw his hands up. “What the hell, I’ll tag along.”
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