"We reached an agreement on the work estimate, and they're writing the check for payment as we speak. I can finally get the crew to start fixing up the club!" Lance is ecstatic and a breath of relief escapes me too.
"That's great! Did you have to lower the amount to be paid or what?" I ask curiously, knowing how they were going back and forth over certain items.
"Not by much, I agreed to cover my downstairs tenets repair costs, as long as they paid me the full cost of repairs and replacement of items in my home. So I'm getting around six hundred and fifty thousand to take care of it all."
I pause. "Six..I heard you right? Six hundred and fifty thousand?"
Lance's laughter comes through, "Yes, they waited too long and now that has to include mold removal. They tried to pinch pinnies and ended up spending dollars instead!"
"There's mold now?" I gasp knowing that it can be a horror to remove that, I only had a small area of my home when I bought it. That small area though cost a lot to remove and take care of.
Lance laughs some more, "Yeah, but the guys are already spraying it with bleach water, it's not too bad. Plus it's not black mold, they already tested it. I was just waiting to see if they were going to make me take them to court. Oh man, this is great though! Soon the club will be back up and running! Let's go get lunch together, babe! I feel like celebrating!"
babe? Did he really just call me babe, again?
"Lirael? Are you still there?" Lance's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Uh, yeah, I'm still here, the signal must have dropped, you came in kind of choppy there. What was that bit before? You want to celebrate?"
"Yeah, let's go out to lunch. Are you driving somewhere?" Lance asks still in a good mood.
"Yeah, I am. I needed to go pick up a few items. What were you thinking?"
He started thinking of a few places where Simon and everyone else could meet up at, when I suggested something different.
"Why not BBQ at my place? I mean if it's just to celebrate the good news, and everyone knows my house is not for playtime. I mean, we could do it there."
"Are you sure? That's a lot to take on last minute?" Lance asks, concerned.
"I'll grab some chips, dips, veggie, fruit plates, plus a meat and cheese plate from the deli for snacks. Then the butcher should have some pre marinated chicken, stew beef, a little corn on the cob, fresh veggies and skewers. Keep it easy, if you don't mind donating a few bottles and mixers from the clubs cases, I think we can handle it."
Lance chuckles, "Alright. I'll send out the text first. Let's get a head count before we commit to purchasing. I'm leaving the office right now. Where are you?" I hear him playing with keys in the back ground.
"On my way to Brookshyres. You going to come meet me?" I ask as I turn into the grocery store lot.
"Yes, I'll see you soon."
....
I don't know how we did it, but we pulled it off. By six o'clock, I was welcoming our close friends from the club to celebrate.
"Lirael, you have a lovely home. Thank you for allowing us all here to celebrate this with Lance." Simon rubs shoulders with me over at my back patios little bar area.
Smiling, I finish making my drink, "Well, you know, I did have all this put into it." I motion to the bar and BBQ area, "It would have been a shame to have never used it."
"Oh, are we popping it's cherry?" Simon covers his mouth in mock surprise.
I toss him a wink, "There's always a first for everything."
We giggle at that together before Simon starts playing with his straw giving me a hooded look.
"What's that look for?" I lower my voice and raise a brow at him in question.
"You and Lance have been moving and grooving together all night. There's a vibe about you two...." his playful yet scandalous demeanor has me second guessing what he's seeing.
"What...? Are you being serious?" I take a nervous sip of my drink, "Because it's nothing like that. We'd have to work together to have pulled this off in just a few hours." I motion to my backyard that's for the first time filled with people.
"Okay, I suppose you're right, but I am a bartender. People watching is my thing. I see something different in the way you two move around each other. I will leave it alone though." Simon gives me a one armed hug around my shoulders, leaving it to rest there as he starts asking me about some of the house.
I can't help but have what he said keep going over on repeat in my head though. It has me looking at Lance and asking myself what is it that Simon's seeing?
Lance looks my way, sending me a smile, and caught just smile right back as I turn my focus back to Simon talking about how much he loves my backyard.
Big daddy took over grilling the food, said "I got this, ya'll go have some fun while I grill you up some deliciousness."
Big daddy had brought over a rack of pork ribs, mashed potatoes with gravy, and some greens. When we saw it all, he just laughed and said he brought his own dinner over. Watching that man cook and get everything made though, I wouldn't blame him if he did eat it all.
My mouth is watering smelling it now.
"Simon, hold on. I need to go talk to Big daddy. I need to see if he'll give me a little taste of those ribs. They are making my mouth water right now!" I detach myself from Simon and head on over to my favorite, giant, teddy bear.