Jamie 6:55 PM
I don't think you've needed to “ply” me since, like, Thanksgiving.
Canadian Thanksgiving.
But I could be open to being...plied...later tonight?
That puts a smile on my face, and Alexei seems to notice it immediately when I walk off the elevator.
“Are you...textingsomeone, Ethan?”
For a second I panic, but then I realize – there's no need. I'm thirty-two-year-old with nothing to do for the next two days – it would honestly be weird if Iweren'thoping to get laid.
“Maybe.” With a smirk, I turn my back to him, shooting Jamie an eggplant emoji and a heart eyes emoji and shoving my phone in my pocket. When I turn back around, his eyes are nearly as big as the smile on his face.
“Good for you, Ethan!”
Alexei suggests one of my favorite steakhouses, a place near 394. As our Uber pulls up, I realize it's just a few blocks from Jamie's place.
The place is dark and intimate; in another life, I could imagine bringing Jamie here and watching the candlelight shine off his blond hair. The hostess welcomes us warmly and takes us to a small, private alcove. I no longer ask how Alexei makes things like this happen – I simply bask in the privileges of being his friend.
As we settle in, he looks at me, and I can tell I won't get away without talking about what happened in the lobby.
“So you are...seeing someone?”
I look at the wine menu and wonder if it's too late to take it back, to tell him it was all a prank. He and I have known each other for nearly a decade, and in all that time I've never datedanyone. How could I imagine he would just let it go?
Maybe I can just say Hailey or Astrid set me up with a friend and it's early days still. That might at least buy me a week or two to think it through.
“Ethan, it is ok. You don't have to talk about it. You've just...you've seemed distant lately. I am happy to know you are doing okay, yes?”
He's not wrong. As I've spent more and more time with Jamie, I've started to neglect my friendship with Alexei. I know I'm not texting him as much, not leaning on him as much. Does he deserve to know why?
I press my lips together, trying to decide how to proceed. In eight years, I've never once heard a slur from his mouth, never heard him speak ill ofanyone...well, anyone who stayed out of his crease. What if I just...told him?
Sweat breaks out across the back of my neck at the thought. Can I just...do that?
For a moment, I am saved by the waitress returning to the table to take our orders. But before long, we are alone again.
“I'm...seeing someone. Sort of.”
His eyebrows raise so far up his forehead that they're nearly lost in his hairline.
“Ethan! This is wonderful news. I am so happy for you.”
I blush at this. “Yes, well, it's still very early. Don't go starting a wedding registry or whatever. I'm not even sure I'd really say we'redating. But we're...something.”
He smiles softly. “And they are good to you?”
I nod.
“Yes, they are very good to me. Very...understanding.”
His smile drops a notch at that.
“Understanding?”
“Yes, our lives aren't...they aren't always easy. You know this.”
