He reached the bottom of the stairs and heard a gasp, “Holy shit!”
Emily was flipping through a magazine with her ear buds in when she saw Eric walk into the room with no clothes on. He quickly covered his privates, but it was too late. She got a good look at his body.
He was going to run up the stairs, but said, “Fuck it! You’ve already seen it.” He lowered his hands, walked to the couch to grab his bag, turned, and walked up the stairs.
Emily sat with her mouth open and hadn’t shut it yet when Julia walked into the room.
“What’s the commotion?” Julia asked.
“Eric just walked into the room naked to get his bag. I guess I forgot to bring it when I got him into the tub.”
Julia smirked at the vision of her daughter seeing that monster for the first time. She sighed, “Sorry I missed the show,” and laughed as she walked out of the room. Emily shook her head in disbelief.
A few minutes later, Eric came downstairs and plopped down on the couch. Emily smiled at his tight t-shirt and loose mesh shorts. “I guess you didn’t realize we were home?”
He shook his head and said, “I called down before I left the bathroom. I guess you didn’t hear me.”
“Nope,” Julia said as she walked up from behind and handed him a banana split from their trip to Dairy Queen.
“Wow! You remembered,” he gushed.
Julia smiled, “Emily remembered. She said you used to split them all the time when we went for ice cream together.”
Emily sat on the floor at the coffee table between them. Julia tossed her a spoon and giggled as she left the room. Eric rolled his eyes and sat on the floor across from her.
“Don’t even think about taking my cherry,” he warned with a bit of humor in his tone.
“I wouldn’t dare,” she smiled before she playfully swirled her tongue around her cherry and sucked it into her mouth. She enjoyed him watching her do that. He couldn’t look away.
“It’s been a while since we’ve shared a sundae,” he lamented.
She nodded, “I wish we never moved.”
“Do you?”
A tear threatened to fall as she said, “More than you’d believe.”
He scooped some pineapples that were on her side of the dish, and she hit his spoon with hers, “Stay on your own side, Buddy Boy.”
She smiled at the memories of him trying that so many years ago. She saw the smirk on face and the smile he was trying to hold back. Emily finally understood why Julia wanted to go for ice cream, when they had some in the house.
Julia waved as she walked past, up the stairs. Emily mouthed, “thank you,” and Julia smiled.
A few minutes later, Julia stood under the shower and sighed. She was torn about how to handle her desire for Eric and her daughter’s obvious interest in him. She wanted to dip into that well again, but she wouldn’t touch him as long as Emily was interested in him. No matter how great he was in bed, she knew she would want her daughter to be happy before her needs were met. She wondered if he liked Emily the same way Emily liked him.
*****
Eric always ate his cherry last, remembering that their parents ordered the sundae with two cherries so each could have one. Emily always tried to take it. Once in a while, he’d let her.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said as he saw her eye his cherry which soaked in the goop of sauces and melted ice cream.
He didn’t feel any anger or disappointment with her at that moment. It felt like the old days to him, when they were friends. He noticed her mannerisms were the same. One such was that she would turn the spoon over in her mouth when she ate the ice cream. It never made sense to him then, and it didn’t that night.
He hit the back of her hand with his spoon when she went for his cherry. He scooped it and ate it himself. He made a show of savoring the small morsel.
“Brat,” he smirked. She shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t want to mess anything up,” she started, “but can we put my stupidity behind us now?”
He looked up but didn’t say anything.
She continued, “Clearly, we can get along. This last ten minutes was like nothing changed in the last ten years. I’m begging you, Eric. Please don’t hate me anymore.”
“I don’t hate you,” he said as he sat up onto the couch. “I’m angry, well, I was angry, but I never hated you. You were my best friend, and you threw me away. You have no idea what that felt like.”
She sat on the couch next to him and took his hands in hers, “I know and I’m sorry. Please, I feel like I have a chance to have you back after thinking I’d never see you again. Don’t throw me away as I was stupid enough to do to you.”
He pulled her into a hug, and she sobbed into his neck. “I felt so bad when I realized what I did. Shamefully, it wasn’t until I graduated high school.”
She scooted up and rested her head on his chest. His hand fell to her abdomen with the bottom of her breasts touching his forearm. She enjoyed his touch.
“The summer after graduation, I sent you an apology email and it bounced back as undeliverable. If you don’t believe me, I still have it in a folder to remind me of what a fool I was. I can’t believe our mothers stayed in touch. I didn’t even think to ask her about you.”
Julia was at the bottom of the stairs and saw Emily laying in Eric’s arms. She was only sad for a moment, then felt joy radiate through her. He was the perfect guy for her daughter. She said a silent prayer for it to work out between them and crept back up the stairs to give them privacy.
“What was it like to be popular,” he asked. He didn’t realize it, but his hand was stroking her stomach. She realized it though.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“How so?” he asked, surprised at her answer.
“Well, to start with, it’s extremely stressful. Everything has to be perfect all the time. The clothes you wear, the car you drive, the job you have…all that crap matters. Hell, if you dare try to date someone that’s not in the clique, you’re gonna be shunned.”
“I never thought of it like that. I figured when you’re in that clique, it’s all natural.”
“It probably is natural for the rich kids. But if you’re just a regular person trying to fit in with them, it takes a lot of effort.”
“You’re far from a regular person, you’re so beautiful, you would fit right in.”
She smiled at his compliment and took his free hand into hers. She placed her other hand on top of the arm that was stroking her stomach. He realized what he was doing and stopped. She was glad he didn’t remove it altogether.
There were a few moments of silence before he heard her breathing change. He looked down and her eyes were closed; she fell asleep. He looked at the stairs and wondered if Julia was also asleep. The days had been taking a lot out of all of them due to the work they had done. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep as well.
*****
Julia put on a robe and walked over to Emily’s room and was surprised she wasn’t in bed. “I guess she was serious about waking up early to help us.”
She walked downstairs and gasped when she saw the couch. Eric and Emily had fallen asleep just where she left them. The only difference was Eric had his hand cupping Emily’s breast. She shook her head and walked into the living room to wake Emily.