I grab my ke
ys and head out to my car. I’m anxious about how this is going to go. I know Ethan will support me in anything I do, of course. He’ll be so happy for me. Yet, that’s also going to make the sadness he won’t be able to completely cover even worse.
Still…it’s for the best. One day, he’ll see it too. Besides, I tell myself as I drive to Ethan’s house. It isn’t like I’m abandoning him and Lily. I’ll only be about an hour away and I’ll still visit as much as I can. I’m not moving across the country, after all.
Ethan’s bike is in the driveway, thankfully, and I pull in beside it carefully. As I approach the house, I have the sudden thought that Ethan might have gone out tonight, especially since Lily isn’t home and he doesn’t have to worry about her. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened, and I draw in a deep breath before entering the house with the key Ethan gave me many years ago.
“Ethan!” I call. “I hope you don’t mind me coming around, but I needed to talk to you about something!”
I listen, but there’s no answer. I frown. The house is also strangely dark, considering Ethan is home. Or maybe he isn’t? Perhaps he walked to the bar or was picked up by someone. I sigh and head further into the house. Just my luck. Though I can’t begrudge Ethan the chance to go out with his friends; he rarely gets the chance to do that without stressing about Lily.
Then I notice a soft glow in the kitchen. I pause, confused. The light isn’t strong enough to be a lamp or the overhead light. It almost looks like the glow of a phone? It flicks off as I watch, and then turns back on.
“Ethan?” I ask cautiously. “Is that you?”
I hope it’s Ethan. It would be really horrible if I’ve walked into the house at the same time as a robber.
“Georgia?” Ethan says tiredly from the kitchen, and I relax.
“Why didn’t you answer me before?” I ask, exasperated, as I walk into the kitchen. “You almost gave me a heart…!”
I stop short, staring. Ethan looks up with bloodshot eyes, blinking at me.
“What’s…this?” I ask blankly.
Ethan is sitting at the dining table, slumped in the wooden chair. The table is littered with cans and bottles, most of them either empty or mostly empty, of alcohol. And, now that I think about it, there’s a pungent smell in the air that makes me wrinkle my nose.
“Are you drunk?” I ask incredulously.
“Maybe,” Ethan says, and now I can hear the way his words are slurring.
What the hell? I knew Ethan was going to be home alone tonight, but did he really get so lonely that he went and drank himself into a stupor while he was alone in his house? I thought he was smarter than that!
“What the fuck, Ethan?” I ask angrily. “If you wanted to get this drunk, why didn’t you go to the damn bar?”
“Didn’t wanna…” Ethan groans, slumping down to the table. “Kyle’ll just ask me about the loan again.”
I frown. Loan?
“What loan?” I ask him.
He waves his hand toward the kitchen. There’s a packet of papers on the table. Half of them are filled out. It looks like Ethan is thinking about going for a loan of a few thousand dollars. But there’s no way he can afford to do that.
“Why are you getting a loan?” I demand, feeling a little hurt. If Ethan had just asked, I would definitely have helped him out.
“Lily wants a computer,” Ethan mumbles. He sighs. “Don’t wanna be a burden on anyone…”
I stare at him. Oh. I swallow the lump in my throat. I actually heard Lily asking Ethan for a computer for her birthday. I felt sad at the time because I knew Ethan could never afford it, and I started to investigate options to get it for her myself. But I didn’t realize that Ethan had been thinking about it too.
And, of course he would have! I kick myself for not considering this sooner. Ethan’s daughter had asked him for something he couldn’t provide. He would definitely have felt terrible about it.
But I can unpack that later. Right now, I have a very drunk Ethan on my hands.
“Is that why you’re drinking?” I ask, gentler this time, moving over to the table to sit beside him.
“No,” he snorts. “That’s because of Polly.”
I freeze. I haven’t heard Polly’s name in a very long time. We try to avoid it as much as possible. Neither of us can stand thinking of the woman that ran off so suddenly, abandoning Ethan and her daughter.