Free Indelible Love - Emily's Story by DW Cee

me
laugh.
    “So, Emily,” she said, turning to me,
“what about my brother do you like? Why would you want to date
someone who can spend no more than a couple of hours with you at a
time? I’m shocked he took an entire weekend off. You must be
special. I didn’t think he’d ever meet anyone who could tolerate
his schedule.”
    “I have to agree that he is quite the
workaholic. We’ve had only four dates in the last six weeks, and
every single date was cut short due to work.”
    “Hey, no more Jake-bashing.” Jake
frowned again as he pushed his seat closer to me. “Tell Jane what
you like about me,” he directed with a childlike
eagerness.
    “I told you he’s an attention monger.”
Jane rolled her eyes.
    Not having grown up with siblings, I
enjoyed their banter. It was fun watching Jake and Jane argue and
poke fun at one another. I’d never experienced this with anyone.
Since Max had only brothers, this brother-sister relationship was
an entirely new discovery.
    “Tell her, Emi.”
    “Let’s see. It’s not a very long
list,” I answered, laughing with Jane. “I’m kidding.” I quickly
added before Jake disowned me as a girlfriend. “Jake has this
amazing way of making me feel like I’m the only person in this
world who matters to him. I feel incredibly special.” My eyes
glowed as I spoke about my boyfriend. “Not only is he attentive,
he’s a caring, very loving person. Is that a good enough
answer?”
    His silly grin shouted to everyone in
the restaurant that he liked my answer very much. Passing the test,
he leaned over and kissed me—a bit too passionately—in front of his
sister. Jane had other ideas.
    “Are you talking about my brother? Do
you know what Kelley’s biggest complaint about him was? She always
bemoaned the fact that he didn’t pay enough attention to
her.”
    “Now why must you bring Kelley into
this story? That’s the past. Let’s leave it there,” Jake warned his
sister.
    “My mom says that Jake needs a woman
with a strong sense of self-esteem, because he never pays much
attention to anyone but himself. Have you two gotten into an
argument yet? Has he been mad at you?”
    I shook my head yes. “I don’t know if
I’d call them arguments, but we got into a couple of
disagreements.”
    “Wait till you get into an all-out
argument with him. I don’t know if you’re going to think he’s so
attentive and caring, then. You should see the tantrum he
throws.”
    “I love these new revelations about
you. You didn’t tell me any of this during lunch.” My eyes looked
at him in delight. “I can’t wait to see you throw a tantrum. Maybe
I’ll purposely make you angry just to see your
reaction.”
    Jane loved my goading. Jake didn’t
fall into our trap.
    “Don’t believe a word she says. I
don’t know what’s gotten into my sister.” He turned to his sister
and tried to give her a stern look. She wasn’t scared.
    “So, Jake, what do you like about
Emily? Try to keep it to a few sentences, OK? We have an opera to
watch.”
    Just then, servers came with our third
course. A sautéed striped bass sat in front of them, while I got a
medley of mushrooms.
    “If I had to sum up what I love most
about Emily, it would be her honesty. Even though she knows it’s
not to her benefit, she’ll still tell you what’s in her heart. I
know way too much about her last relationship.” He lightly shook
his head.
    “Was my honesty at lunch not to my
benefit? Am I in trouble?” My forehead creased with a worried
look.
    Jake’s lips reached over to mine again
and eased my concern. “I appreciate your honesty, whether or not I
appreciate your answers.”
    Jane broke our tender moment and
continued her question-and-answer session, and Jake happily obliged
by giving her a detailed account of our first encounter.
    “We met late at night at a supermarket
and I had to take her to the hospital after she fell, reaching for
a box of cereal. So, I take her to General Hospital, and