Ethan spent the whole week thinking about a lot of things. He was mulling over his business plan, Rob's impending departure to the ranch and worrying about his relationship with Julia. He had written Rob a check for eight grand without question, and Julia had not said a word against it. In fact, she was even encouraging Rob to go and was helping him to compile some healthy recipes. Deep down, Ethan knew that any other sane man would not waste his time and make a woman like Julia his wife as fast as legally possible. So what was taking him so long?
She was a smart and kind girl, no doubt about that. And pretty, too – she always made heads turn when she walked down the street. His parents and brother loved her, and everyone else was always commenting on what a cute couple they were. So why was Ethan so reluctant to move things to the next stage?
He had often heard the other guys at work complaining about their own girlfriends and wives, always groaning over the phrase "we need to talk" and agonizing over the prospect of becoming exclusive, engaged or married. He thought it was natural for a guy to get cold feet whenever things were getting too serious too fast, but the main difference between him and the other guys was that they eventually did get engaged or married, most of the time. At the end of the day, after all the bitching, the love for their women was evident in their eyes. Was it in his?
It really wasn't fair to Julia if this wasn't going anywhere. She had already waited two years for him, and damn if he was going to make her wait even more.
He really wanted to talk to Rob about this in detail, but he didn't know why he always held back. Maybe it was because Rob was having his own problems with work and his love life. Or maybe it was because Rob always got this really sad look in his eyes whenever Ethan talked about Julia. He always assumed that Rob got sad because he wanted a girlfriend of his own, but somehow, he suspected there could be another reason.
Was Rob in love with Julia? Impossible, since he was always polite and restrained with her. Sure, Rob was always really shy and quiet. But Ethan knew that whenever Rob was really comfortable with a person, he'd let loose and crack jokes and spend as much time with that person as possible. It seemed that Rob only put up with Julia for Ethan's sake. Which was really weird.
"Hey, Shaw!" It was O'Leary, grinning like a shark. "Did ya hear? Your pal Hutch just tendered his resignation. Holy shit, you should have seen Kumar's face! I thought he was gonna keel over."
"Yeah, I know." Ethan felt even more gloomy at the thought of Rob leaving. He looked up at O'Leary. "What about you? I thought you said your cousin wanted you to do some contractor thing with him."
"Nah, I'm going to hang tight and see what happens first. Later!" O'Leary saluted Ethan before leaving his desk. Across the room over at the IT department, Ethan could see Rob shaking his head as Kumar spoke urgently to him. It was easy to guess that Kumar was trying to get Rob to stay. After all, he really was their best and most experienced IT guy.
It was good that Rob was doing this for himself. Still, it didn't mean that Ethan wouldn't miss him like hell. Personally, aside from health issues, he thought that Rob was fine the way he was. He was an awesome guy, a loyal buddy who would lay down in traffic for him, and he was actually pretty damn good-looking, even if he had some extra weight. His strong points were his smile and his clear, green eyes, always honest, always warm, always pulling Ethan in and making him forget where he was, like he was the only person in the world who mattered.
He blinked. Why the hell had he been thinking about that?
"Hey." Rob suddenly appeared at his cubicle, and Ethan almost jumped out of his seat. "Geez, what's up with you?"
Ethan knew his face had to be flushed. "Nothing, you just scared me with that ugly mug of yours. So what did the Moron say?"
"Stop calling him that!" Rob was laughing. That was another of his strong points: his laugh. It could literally light up a room. "You're really mean to Kumar, man."
Ethan shrugged. "He just acts like a big shot for someone who is just an IT manager, that's all."
"Well, he's trying to get me to stay. They're convinced I'm going to work for a rival company. Shit, they're throwing so much money at me that I was really reconsidering for a while."
"Don't, or I'll kick your ass," Ethan warned him. Even though the idea of Rob staying was tempting, he had to be decidedly unselfish, for once. This was about Rob's health.
"Don't worry, I've already paid up for the ranch thing, so I'm going. Montana or bust!" Rob punched his fist in the air, like Superman, and Ethan reached out to bump fists with him.
"God, you two are so gay," O'Leary complained, back from the water cooler. "Why don't you quit together and go open a knitting store or something?"
Ethan knew that Rob usually brushed off O'Leary's crass jokes, but for some reason, Rob seemed pretty miffed at the 'gay' part. "We would, O'Leary, but then you'd be our only customer," Ethan retorted, drawing a laugh from Priscilla nearby, as well as Rob.
"Aw, fuck you." O'Leary waved them aside dismissively and went back to his desk. Ethan shook his head.
"What an ass." Ethan jerked his thumb at O'Leary's retreating back. "Bet you won't miss the likes of him."
"Nope." Rob's intense green eyes seemed to glimmer with a profound emotion. "But I'll miss the likes of you, Shaw."
"I'll try not to weep," Ethan joked as he stood to hug his friend. But to his surprise, as he felt Rob's warm arms around him, his joke was turning out to be true.