We took his mediocre car which we had used when we went to the movie theater. It felt like it was a long time ago and indeed it was. It was two months ago when everything was simple and we were good friends who didn’t have unknown feelings for each other.
I searched up gift shops nearby and directed him to the location.
“Tell me, what do men usually like for a birthday present?”
“Whose birthday is it?”
“A close friend of mine. He had his birthday a few days ago.”
“He’s a man?”
I nodded.
“Keith?”
“Yes, now can you please tell me what a man would like to have for a present?” I asked impatiently.
“Men hate birthday presents. So I’m going to drive back to the mansion because you’re not getting a gift for Keith.”
He was about to make a turn back but I stopped him.
“Who doesn’t like to get gifts for their birthday? Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. You’ll see just how much he’ll hate no matter what you give him.”
“I shouldn’t even have asked you. You’re no help. Just drive me to the damn place.”
Ethan had a little sneer on his face but I just ignored him.
We arrived soon enough and I walked in, tightening the scarf a little to hide half of my face behind it.
No one was in the shop except for a lady who looked around forty. She welcomed me with a tired face. Clearly she was about to close the shop. Ethan was right behind me.
“What’re you looking for, miss?”
“A birthday present for my friend. He’s a chef and I was wondering if you had something related to that to help him love his work more.” I asked eyeing my surrounding to get ideas about what to get him.
“If it’s a gift for a man, there’s nothing better than a watch. A watch is a man’s most prized possession if it’s given by someone special. He’ll never forget such a beautiful gift and the person who gave it to him.”
What she said made me want to buy a watch for Keith but for some reason her words seems rehearsed, tweaked a little to match the circumstances. But nevertheless, I knew what I was going to get Keith for his late birthday present.
“What about a present which won’t remind him of her?” Ethan asked from beside me.
“What?” The lady asked.
I fixed him with a glare.
“Yes, please show me some watches,” I told the lady and she went to get them.
She brought out a lot of watches for me to choose from.
“Get him this one,” Ethan pointed at a bright pink watch.
“Err… I don’t think he’ll like the color.”
“Then how about this one?” He now pointed at a green one which was ugly to say the least.
“No.”
I took some time to pick one out, with Ethan trying to get me to pick an ugly one the whole time.
By the time I actually picked one out, I was thoroughly annoyed by him.
Not only did he try to get me an ugly present for Keith but he also made fun of him whenever he could.
I was told that they made customized watches as well so I told them to draw an impression of a chef at the center of the watch and an embossing ‘from your sous chef’ on the back of it, where Ethan argued with me saying the I didn’t belong to Keith, all the while with me trying to tell him that it didn’t mean that.
The lady told that the watch would be ready by four in the afternoon, making me relieved that I chose to get a gift for him tonight. I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect gift for Keith.
I was sure he was going to love it.
“That guy doesn’t even deserve so much thought to be put into his gift.” Ethan muttered under his breath.
I instantly whipped my head to cut him with a sharp glare. This was it. He had said enough and I couldn’t stand to hear my friend getting insulted anymore.
“Ethan, can you at least try not to be so rude about Keith’s late birthday party. I already feel so bad that I didn’t wish him on his actual birthday so can you please try not to make it worse for me? I get it that you hate him but I don’t, so I’d really appreciate it if you keep your hatred for him to yourself. You obviously wouldn’t know how it feels like when it’s your birthday but not even one member of your family wishes you a happy birthday. You wouldn’t understand how it feels like when someone you thought you were close to was so obsessed with her own problems that she didn’t even know it was your birthday. So please, be a little polite to someone who doesn’t have the kind of money that you have. Just because you’re in a higher position than him doesn’t make you a great person. The way you treat a person deemed lower to yours is what determines if you’re a good person or not. And right now, you don’t sound like a good person to me.” I snapped.
He looked taken aback from my outburst. Clearly this was not something Juliet would’ve said but I couldn’t care less about that matter at the moment. All I could focus on was that Ethan was demeaning Keith when he hadn’t done anything to Ethan and I had to let him know what he did wrong.
Ethan was quiet after that. A few minutes later, he walked out of the shop and I saw him get into the driver’s seat. He was probably going to wait for me there.
I made the advance payment and took the receipt from the lady before making my way back to the car.
The ride back to the mansion was awkward and quiet. When we reached, I silently got out of the car without sparing a glance at him. He also didn’t make any move to talk to me.
I knew he was just jealous. It was because we had unwanted feelings towards each other that was making him act like that. I knew that Ethan was a good person and he didn’t look down upon anyone, but I just said that in the heat of the moment. I was feeling fiercely defensive over Keith and what he said about Keith was extremely childish and uncalled for, even if Keith wasn’t there to listen to it.
I couldn’t bring a gift for Keith that night so I had be careful the next day when I’d go to pick it up.
***
The next day I thought I’d have to go alone to pick up the customized watch as Ethan was at work but I got a call from him at three-thirty in the afternoon.
“Hello?” I said into the speaker after I hesitantly took the call.
“Hi, uh Juliet. You have to pick up the watch at four, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be arriving at the mansion in ten minutes. Be ready by then. We’ll go get it together.”
“Um, sure.”
We said goodbyes and I got up to dress up.
Seven minutes later, I was waiting in the driveway for Ethan. Like he had said, he arrived shortly after and I got into the car.
We didn’t speak to each other the whole time. It was as awkward as it had been last night.
When we arrived, I quickly reached for the doorknob just so I could escape the uncomfortable silence but his voice stopped me.
“Juliet.” It wasn’t my name. But just because he said a name which had my name in it made my heart flutter at his voice.
“Yes?” I tried to act normal.
“About last night, I want to apologize to you. I’m sorry for saying all those things about Keith. I realized that I was being extremely rude and my behavior was unacceptable. I let my jealousy get the best of me. I realized last night after you went to bed that all the hate I felt for Keith was because I was jealous about how close he was to you. I can’t deny my feelings for you. But I don’t know what those feelings are exactly. Is it just attraction, a small infatuation maybe? I don’t know. But I want you to know that I don’t behave like this with people. When you said that you don’t think I’m a good person, I didn’t like it.” He grabbed my hand. “I don’t want you to think of me like that, because believe me I’m really not that kind of person. I’m sorry.”
I could see the desperation on his face to make me believe him. I could see he was telling me the truth and my scolding the last night had made him reflect on himself. I was at a loss for words, especially because I didn’t expect him to accept that he was jealous or that he was starting to know what he really felt about me. Also he was making me nervous when he was holding my hands and staring into my eyes like that.
“I know that you’re a good person. I’m glad you had a realization about your words and their impact. Just don’t do it again.” With that, I removed my hands from his and stepped out of the car, finally able to breathe freely.
I had ignored what he said about his feelings. That was the right thing to do. Ignoring it would make it go away.