They finally got to the Laughing Cow. It was packed, but Aspen was okay with the lines. She would talk to other people in line. Laugh with other people, and smile at the little kids. Ethan was moaning and groaning the whole time. Once they got to the front, one of the guys took their order.
“Hey Aspen,” the short guy with the bright blue eyes said. She must have known him. “The usual?”
Aspen looked to Ethan first, with those big eyes and asked, “You sure about the fried chicken latté?”
Ethan just glared. “I’m sure,” he said.
She turned her head back to the cashier, and with a huge smile, she said, “Yes please Morgan. But coffee for him, he has a headache. Drinking too much.”
Ethan gave her a look, but before he could say anything, the guy cut in. “Who’s he?”
“This is Ethan, I found him.” She said it as if was show-and-tale day at preschool.
Ethan had to look away, he was turning so red in the face. He looked around the café, seeing if there was someone else he could talk to, someone that would help him right away.
“Befriending the homeless?” Morgan joked. It wasn’t a really good joke to Ethan though. He sure wasn’t homeless and didn’t want people thinking he was. He started to wonder if he did look like he was.
Aspen giggled. It was a very light giggle, the type to make Ethan notice, to make him stop looking for someone else.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. Oh, and I want a big cookie. I love these cookie, did Mary makes these again?”
“She sure did. It’s on the house.”
Her mouth hung open and she started shaking her head. “Oh Morgan, you don’t-“
“Shoot, Aspen, it’s no big deal, after what you did for Freddie.”
“Well, thank you very much. And don’t worry about it, I love that little guy so much, he’s a cutie.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow, confused. Before he could ask a question, Morgan went on, “Oh, hey what are you-“
“Hey!” Ethan cut in. “I need to really borrow your phone. Remember me?”
Aspen’s face froze up and Morgan gave him a cold look. She felt red in the face as she turned to Morgan. “Thanks,” she said in a mice voice.
“We’ll call your order when it’s ready,” Morgan said, eyeing Ethan.
Even though it was all on the house, Aspen put a five in the tip jar. She then grabbed a big cookie off the shelve.
It said gluten free, egg free, peanut free, soy free, and vegan safe. Ethan turned his nose at it. Aspen and him found a table towards the back. She plugged her dead phone into the wall under the table and Ethan collapsed into the chair. He didn’t realize how sore he was until his body had finally rested.
“Do you want part of a cookie?” she asked.
He looked it over. “No, it looks disgusting.”
She didn’t say anything. Lucky for her, the coffee was called out and she went up to get it. Morgan and her talked for a few more seconds before she returned. Ethan put his head on the table, feeling like he waited forever for her to come back. She was so friendly with everyone and it was killing him.
Aspen placed the coffee cup on the table, next to his head. He looked up to see she was looking down. “Do you take cream or sugar?”
“No,” he mumbled.
“Alright then,” she said, sitting down. She put the coffee to her lips and started to drink away. Ethan tried to take a sip, but it was hot. “Are you going to call a friend to come pick you up?”
“My assistant. Though, I don’t think he will pick up.”
“Your what? Assistant? Why would he not pick up?”
“It’s the bastards day off,” Ethan said, grabbing the phone and checking it. It was still too dead to turn on. “But I don’t know who else to really call.”
“Are you that busy in life that you have to hire someone to help?” she asked as if it was a joke.
“Yep,” Ethan said again, making her stop smiling.
She asked in what seemed almost like a fairy tone, “Does he do all your work while you go out on a walk?”
Ethan lowered the phone to see her face. He made such a funny face; it made her giggle a bit more. “A walk?”
“Don’t you like going on walks? Or running. I would, but I’m not that busy in life. Does he do all your work for you?”
“Well . . . My dad made me hire him.”
“Your dad?”
“I work for my dad’s company.”
“Oh, so why did he make you hire someone?”
He seemed to give a slight smile. His dad was stuck with him. He just said with a shrug, “I guess I don’t have time.”
“You had time to get drunk last night.”
“It was my birthday,” he protested.
“Oh! Happy Birthday. I hope you had a really nice time,” Aspen said with a soft kind-hearted grin. Ethan couldn’t help but stare at this weird, out of this world girl. He just shook his head, and waited for the minutes til the phone was charged enough to use. But he started to think about last night, and everyone at the party.
He started to think about the hot women with their next to nothing clothes. He thought about all the drinks he bought for everyone. He started to think about the guys laughing and joking with him, as if they been long time friends. He didn’t even know any of their names. He thought about the cool guys, the loud music, hot dancers, all the drinks, all of the people, and how none of them, not even one, mumbled Happy Birthday to him.
Yet, this strange girl right in front of him was the only one that had even actually said the words. She was the only one that wished him happiness. She didn’t even know that he had money to blow every second of the day for years and still be in 1 perfect. She was kind, just to be kind.
He found himself smiling, straighten his back. “Thank you . . . thank you for that actually.” And he had meant it too.
She nodded. “Oh, it’s not problem. What did you do? Drinks with a few guy friends?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess something like that.”
“How old are you?”
“30.”
“Oh wow, really? You don’t look that old. But 30 is the new 20 these days, that’s what I’ve been told. How do you feel about being 30? I still got a little while to go. I actually can’t wait til I get older.”
“Um, it’s alright, I guess.”
She nodded. “So, what do you do for a living?”
Ethan thought about it for a second. “I rather not talk about work. What do you do?”
“I work at a tea shop, but today is my day off. It’s just right off of Pearl Street.”
“Where?” he asked crossing his eyebrows. He had no idea where anything was in this town. Even though it was no more than an hour away, he had never had the desire to come to Boulder. He knew this is where all the weirdoes lived. He was told all the stories.
“Pearl Street. You never heard of it?”
“You expect me to know the Laughing Cow, and Pearl Street?”
“Pearl Street is so famous! Tourist come from all over and go there. It’s such a neat place.”
“It’s just a street.”
Aspen gave a little giggle. “No, it’s not just a street, it’s an outdoor mall.”
“What’s so special about that?”
She grinned. “Maybe if you weren’t so busy working, you could go and visit yourself.”
Ethan found himself smiling. It was so odd that this girl, who he didn’t even know that well, was so nice to him. Before he said anything, Aspen looked at her phone and said, “It charged enough. You want to call whoever it was you needed to call?”
She handed him her phone and he started to dial Tom’s number. He put the phone to his ear. It was ringing. After a while, he hung up. Ethan took the phone away.
“No answer?”
“It’s the bastard’s day off,” he said. He sighed. “I guess I have to call my father.”
“That shouldn’t be too bad . . . would it?” she asked, seeming to pick up on his tone.
Ethan didn’t even response. He wasn’t sure what he could say about his father to this girl that would never understand. His father and him were nothing alike. Not in the least.
His father, Marcus Sullivan was dirt poor as a child, and through his life, he build a company from the ground up, making millions beyond millions, allowing him to give trust funds to both his boys. His brother, Calvin, was the one who took his money and turned it into millions also.
Ethan, on the other hand, still worked at his father’s company. He actually depended on his trust fund more than anything, since his job paid nothing his father’s work. Honestly, if it wasn’t for his father, he didn’t know where in the world he would be.
He put in the number for his father. He was hoping that he wouldn’t pick up. After two rings, his father answer
ns 18.68.41.141da2
