Accept

With a little hesitation, Ethan accepts inviting Layla inside.

As soon as she enters, she looks around, smiling widely. “Well, you’ve been busy.” After setting down the bottle and glasses, she reaches lower, beginning to take off her high shoes.

“Oh, you don’t have to…”

“Pish-posh,” Layla waves a hand, “You’re Grandmother would be rolling in her grave if she learned I’d been parading around in her house with my sho- Oh my…” She looks up, her eyes wide as saucers. “I’m terribly sorry, Ethan. That was very ill-timed.”

“It’s okay,” Ethan assured her, fully agreeing with her jest. “Just leave them by the door.”

Barefoot now, Ethan can properly see how Layla stacks up against him. Height-wise, that is. Chest wise it was no contest{if Layla's Secret =true}, and he didn't even want to think about dick wise{endif}. It’s frankly hard to tell, but she still looks taller...

“6’1,” she purrs, obviously seeing Ethan staring at the top of her head. “Or at least that's what my license says.”

Ethan fights the urge to frown. He was 5’11 at best, and clearly beaten.

Layla giggles, moving towards the living room after scooping up the bottle and glasses. “So, how’s it been being back in the Valley?”

“It’s been… Strange.” {if Layla's Secret =true}Very Strange. {endif}Ethan follows, eyes wandering. “I haven't been here since I was in high school.”

“Hmm,” Layla moves towards the couch, setting down the contents of her hands before sitting down. She’s careful with how she positions her skirt, then crosses her legs in a very ladylike manner. {if Gay =1}How exactly she does so gives Ethan pause.{endif}“You went to university, yes?”

“Yeah,” Ethan takes a seat on the far end of the couch, a whole cushion between them. “I graduated in April.”

“Very good!” She leans forward, grasping the bottle. “Aaron is still working on his degree. That poor boy can’t seem to settle and keeps changing his major.”

Aaron.

The name wakes something inside of Ethan’s brain. Aaron is Layla’s son. One of the four main children he played with all those years ago. Aaron. Bobby. Charlie. {if Name Known = True} Alex? No, not her. Another.{endif} Who was the fourth? Ethan can't seem to recall their name, even their face a blur in his memory.

“Does he visit often?” Ethan finds himself drawn to the topic.

“Christmas.” Layla sighs, her expression melancholy. “He’s grown fond of city life, and barely finds the time to call dear old mom.” Fiddling with the seal on the bottle, looks Ethan in the eye. “Hope you don’t mind red. I’m quite the stereotype.”

Ethan chuckles. A middle-aged woman drinking red wine might just be{if Layla's Secret =true} the most normal thing about her{ifelse}the cherry on top about this whole thing{endif}{endif}.

“What about the others?”

“Others?” Layla leans forward pouring the first glass slowly.

“The kids I used to play with.”

“Hmmm, I’m not really sure about Robert…” Layla finishes the first glass before her thought, then moves on to the second. “Last I heard he was traveling. Just up and decided he wanted to see the world. His mother got a postcard from Italy not too long ago. I’ve personally never been, but it's sort of a buckle list item for me.” She glances up, smacking her lips. “Because of the wine, you see.”

“Italy…” Despite not remembering him well, that seemed like something he would do. Maybe. Ethan wasn't sure. “Well good for him. Italy would be, well, not my first choice for travel, but definitely worth the trip.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.” Layla finishes pouring the second glass, then sets the bottle down. Taking both filled glasses in hand, she turns to Ethan offering one. After Ethan takes it, careful not to spill on his Grandmother's couch, Layla holds her glass out. “A toast?”

“To?” Ethan was genuinely asking. Drinking with a woman twice his age he’d only just really met as an adult was uncharted territory for him. {if Layla's Secret =true}And the knowledge he had about what was under her skirt didn't help.{endif}

“To Italy?”

Ethan thinks about it.

“To Italy.”