I Do

“Actually, it was never that serious.”

Noah looked disappointed.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I thought she was perfect.”

Ethan shrugged.

“She had the perfect looks and everything but it is like she was just playing a part. They all do that… I don’t think I can do that anymore.”

Noah took a sip of his coffee waiting for him to say more.

“That’s it?” he asked and Ethan shrugged.

“Was I supposed to say more?”

“Yeah, details. I mean, I really thought Leslie was the one.”

Ethan looked at Noah as he took another sip of his coffee.

“At first, I thought so too but as it turns out, she is like all the others… hiding her real intentions and playing with my feelings.”

“I’m sorry brother. I don’t know what I can do for you about Leslie but tell you what, I will get Amanda to put an ad in the paper for a personal assistant. You should have a competent addition to your team by the end of the week.”

Ethan laughed.

“Someone’s sure of themselves.”

“Well, I have to be,” Noah said as he stood up.

“Go home. Get some rest,” Ethan said in an authoritative tone.

“Yeah, this coffee should be enough to get me home.”

“Get one of the drivers to get you home,” Ethan called out as Noah opened the door. “I don’t trust you behind the wheel right now.”

“Ay, ay captain,” Noah said.

“I’m serious, Noah,” Ethan insisted and his brother turned around.

“And call me when you get home, will you?”

“Yes dad,” Noah said passively before he walked away.

Ethan closed his eyes and sighed when Noah closed the door behind him. He had brought up a topic that he hoped never to talk about again. Leslie Meyer was the straw that finally broke Ethan’s back. She was the woman who made him think about the kind of women he normally dated. After his break-up with Leslie, he realized that there was one thing in common with all the women he had been with. None of them had ever had any true feelings for him. To them, he was just an ATM, a step to get them to the next level of their lives. It was not a very good feeling. Besides, he had just turned thirty-five. His younger brother had his life figured out by the time he turned twenty-eight and even though he was going through hell with the divorce, he at least had two adorable children. He had a family. Perhaps that was what Ethan was craving. A family. He had half a mind to get on those dating websites or find a mail bride. If that would not work, he could at the very least get himself in a contractual marriage. Maybe that was the only way he could get a family.

“I guess it is true what they say,” he thought. “It is lonely at the top.”

                                                            *****

It had been two days since Josie quit her job and she had practically done everything that needed to be done. She had cleaned her entire apartment, reorganized the pantry and sorted out the pile of mail she and her roommate, Dani, had been ignoring for the last few weeks. She had also been looking at job websites and checking wanted ads in the newspapers. But so far, she had not seen anything that piqued her interest.

“I think I might as well settle into menial tasks because this is my life now,” she thought as she flipped through the day’s paper, just as the front door opened

She turned around and smiled when she saw her roommate Dani Williamson walking in.

“Hey you,” Josie said, smiling. “How was work today?”

Dani kicked off her shoes and made her way to the couch

“Long and tiring,” she said. “You?”

Josie sighed.

“Well, today was pantry organization day. So, apart from some expired spices that I threw out, I didn’t really do much.”

“So, still moping, huh?” Dani asked and Josie nodded.

“Yeah, what else is there to do? I am used to sixty-hour workweeks. I feel like I am oversleeping at this point.”

“No, what you are experiencing is called rest,” Dani pointed out, smiling. “You should try it sometime.”

“How about you? How is San Diego’s biggest producer?”

Dani rolled her eyes.

“Well, I am still producing stories about monkeys and ridiculous investigations, such as, what home cleaning detergent could be killing you. So, there’s that.”

Josie smiled.

“Well, at least you have your foot in the door. Soon, you will be producing real investigative pieces. I have faith in you.”

“Where is that pep talk when you are moping around?” Dani asked, smiling

“I have never been one to take my own advice, now, have I?” Josie asked as she circled an ad on the paper. “All I can get is this shit. Personal assistant jobs. It’s either that or I become a waitress and I cannot go back to that life. Not at this stage of my life.”

“Come on, it is not going to get to that point.”

“Dani, if I don’t get something by the end of this month, I might as well start bussing tables. I mean, it is not like I am hard strapped for cash or anything but if I don’t get a handle on my income, I will have to let you get someone else to split this lease with,” Josie said and Dani reached for her hand.

“Will you stop stressing?” she asked. “You and I have been roommates since freshman year of college and if we made it by with ramen and Kool-Aid and almost no kind of healthy food for four years, then we can make it through a few weeks. After all, I am getting an income and we can reduce our food budget by half if I sneak out food from the production sets.”

Josie smiled.

“Your production team does get really good food.”

“Yeah, that new station head we got is all sorts of amazing. I mean, we get fresh fruit and vegetables from her orchard every single day.”

“And you thought the station takeover was going to be a bad thing,” Josie said and Dani shrugged.

“What can I say? I was wrong and I think you are also wrong about this slump you are in.” Dani reached for the newspaper and looked at the ad that Josie had just circled. “Wait, Josie.” She sat up and read the ad out loud. Josie had the feeling that everything Dani was saying should have made some sense to her.