Stars on My Arm, The by Leigh Jarrett

Author:Leigh Jarrett [Jarrett, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The loud hammering on the door was becoming too much to ignore. Ethan pried himself out of bed and threw on his kimono before making his way downstairs. As he stood in the front foyer, he listened to the hammering, wondering who the hell could be at his door at three in the morning. He shook his head and peered out through the small window near the top of the door. His eyebrows rose slightly when he saw it was Joel.

They had seen very little of each other since Joel had decided to put their relationship on hold. Ethan remembered how Joel had shown up at his house, kissed him and dropped the heartbreaking decision at his feet. But before Joel had turned to go that night, he'd held Ethan and whispered words that Ethan carried close to his heart; Joel had asked him to please wait for him.

The baby had finally been born a few days after the May twelfth due date, three weeks ago, and Ethan's cell phone had been inundated with pictures of baby, Sam, for days afterwards. He had tried to sound enthusiastic about the baby whenever Joel spoke of him, and he knew that a new baby was prone to occupy the waking thoughts of any new parent, but Joel's growing enthusiasm about parenthood was starting to concern him.

He looked out through the window again and watched Joel's escalating agitation. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Joel pushed past him and headed for the lounge. "Why is your door locked?"

"I wasn't expecting visitors… and you have a key." Ethan closed the door and followed after him. By the time he arrived, Joel had already poured himself a drink and was stretched out on the sofa. "It is so quiet here… you have no idea," Joel said.

"Is the baby crying a lot?" Ethan poured himself a drink and tried to determine the reason for tonight's late night visit. Usually when Joel showed up like this, it was just for a quick drink and then he would take off back home without a single acknowledgment of their separation, but tonight Joel had arrived much later than usual, and he seemed particularly preoccupied.

"Babies don't cry," Joel continued. "They shriek mercilessly until your ears bleed. I swear I haven't slept in three days." He threw back the remains of his drink and tucked a cushion behind his head.

"I was sleeping just fine until two minutes ago. You do realize it's three in the morning, right?" Ethan sat down on the footstool in front of the sofa and crunched on the ice from his glass.

"I'm sorry, but I really needed to see you. It couldn't wait until tomorrow." Joel rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand, and carefully studied Ethan's face.

"What's up?" Ethan asked.

Joel sat up and motioned for Ethan to come sit beside him. "I've been doing a lot of thinking recently." He reached for the pack of cigarettes on the coffee table, lit one up and passed it to Ethan.

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