After the dinner party, Rob was with Ethan in his study, which was almost as messy as his desk at work. It was as though a tornado, a hurricane and a cyclone had torn through the area all together. He hid his smile, thinking that if it weren't for Julia, the rest of Ethan's apartment would pretty much be in the same state as well. Outside, he could hear laughter as Tim, Beatrice and Julia made snide remarks over the latest episode of 'Heroes'. Personally, he couldn't stand the show, and neither could Ethan.
"So what do you think?" Ethan asked, probably unaware that his left leg was jiggling up and down, a habit of his nervousness. "I mean, it's not finalized yet, but I think I can pull this off."
"I don't know," Rob said truthfully. "To be honest, I think it still needs a little work, Ethan. It has all the stuff you talked about earlier, sure. But there are already three good bookshops in the area. What makes yours different from the rest?"
"Good customer service," Ethan said promptly. "An eclectic range of books that the big chain stores won't have. We're even thinking of an in-house café, so customers can sit and browse."
"Ethan, you're in way over your head here. There's other stuff you need to be worrying about, don't even think about a café first. What if one of your main suppliers pull out?" Rob pointed to a page in Ethan's business plan. "All you have so far are verbal agreements with them. Try and have a backup plan, at least."
They discussed the plan for a while longer, and Rob personally felt awful for dimming the enthusiasm in Ethan's eyes, but he felt that he really owed it to his friend to be honest about the whole thing. After all, Ethan was going to be sinking a lot of money into this. When Ethan went into the kitchen to get them both beers, he hoped that Ethan was doing the right thing by setting up his own business.
They sat on Ethan's balcony and drank in silence for a while, studying the splendid night sky strewn with stars. "So what does Jules think about the whole thing?" Rob finally asked.
"Eh, you know her. So incredibly supportive. But sometimes, when I talk to her about this, I can see that she doesn't get some of what I'm saying. I mean, she's super smart, right?" Ethan sighed. "It's just that business is not her thing."
"Well, is your business thing going to get in the way of the wedding?" Rob asked, even though something in his chest was constricting, making him feel tight and achy.
Ethan shook his head. "What wedding? We're not even engaged." He looked down at his bare ring finger, forlorn. "Although I can sense that she wants to have The Talk soon. Who can blame her? We've been together two years. And that mother of hers is not helping. Keeps asking for her grandchildren. I mean, what the fuck, right?"
Rob chuckled as he took another swig. "Hell, who'd want to marry you and have your ugly kids?"
"Nice, Hutchinson." Ethan nudged him with his shoulder, grinning. "Thanks for making me feel better."
"Anytime. Then once you drive poor Jules away, the only person left to marry is me." Rob was only half-joking.
"Hell, sure, I'd marry you," Ethan said, sounding serious. "If you were a woman, I'd walk you down the aisle tomorrow, no questions asked."
"You're so full of shit, man."
"No, I'm serious." Ethan broke into a smile. "We can make the sequel to 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry'. How about that?"
"Sure, I can play the fat guy." Rob rolled his eyes.
"Hell no, I want to play him!" Ethan laughed. "Give me a month and a truckload of nachos and I'll make it happen!"
"Fuck off!" Rob swatted at his friend, who just grinned lazily at him, and he realized just how much he was going to miss Ethan when he was in Montana.