The third floor apartments are done, the roof top terraces are done, the private garage for tenants are done, now all that's left are the finishing touches on the last three floors and then the revamp of the elevator since it's been mainly used for bringing building supplies up and trash down and we should be able to put these on the market. A lot was riding on this and I had notified my employees of the possibilities. They all understood my situation and supported me when I couldn't be there. I was there working as much as possible though, but I'd be called often by the interior designer to come take a look at samples of what we should put in place.
I'm with her right now, deciding between paint color palettes for the fourth floor apartments. I didn't want them all to be the same, so each one was unique and could appeal to different buyers.
"I think for apartment A, we should go with the modern mint and ivory colors, I think that looks better with the counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms. The mint can be the accent wall in the living room and we can use the mint sparingly in the bathrooms. Maybe above the wainscotting? Then B should get the lace cap and that accent wall can be the dark royal hyacinth."
I inform the decorator of my choices when my phone starts going off.
"My apologies, excuse me a moment." I step away and answer the phone, "Sarina McNeal speaking."
"You sure do have a lovely voice, I'd love to hear it saying my name later."
"Brian..." I chide even as I blush from his comment. "I'm with the interior designer choosing color palettes for the apartments. What's up?" I ask.
Brian lets out a heavy breath, "I have one of my patients who's been doing well. She's joined a theatre group and has some parts she needs to practice, but because of the type of scene it is, she's having issues. She asked me to help her out, but I wanted to run it by you first."
"What kind of scene?" I ask curious.
"It's a argument scene between a couple, but there's some tugging on the arms and the male role is supposed to try and kiss her while they're fighting. I told her, I won't be kissing her, but that's not her problem. It's the fighting part and being pulled close right before the kiss. She's locking up and if it keeps up, she'll lose the part. It means a lot to her."
I struggle for a moment, taking a few breaths. "Could I be present for the practicing? I can sign a NDA." I offer.
"One moment." I hear him move the phone from his mouth and hear him talking to someone, "Dawn, do you mind if she's present for the practicing? She'll sigh a confidentiality agreement not to discuss it with anyone." She responds with something but I can't tell what she says.
The phone moves back to his mouth, "She doesn't mind, she says you don't need to sign anything either."
"Alright, y'all go ahead and practice today since she's already there. I need to finish up here with the decorator. When will you practice again?" I ask.
There's silence on the line for a moment before he responds, "Well, we'll be practicing today until three, if it takes that long. If she feels comfortable going to the theatre where the stage is set, I think she should do it there."
"Which theatre?"
"The McKinney City Performing Art's Theatre."
"Alright, just let me know if you head there and when I'm finished here, I'll stop by." I say with a smile.
Brian again is quiet for a moment, but I can feel him smile through the phone when he says, "Thank you my love, I will let you know. Dawn says thank you as well."
We hang up and I get back to the decorator, "Sorry that took a little longer than expected, now back to what we were discussing."
I finish with the decorator after about an hour, happy with the choices I'd made and letting her know when it came to the staging I would trust her decisions on that without my input. Brian had texted me shortly after we had hung up that they were leaving for the theatre since her theatre partner she'd be acting the play out with was there.
I walked in, standing in the darkened area near the back of the room, watching as a familiar woman was acting out her lines to Brian, another gentleman off to the side watching.
"..It wasn't like I was kissing him! It was just a dance!" She turned to walk away with an upturned arm, when Brian gripped her arm and pulled her closer.
"Just a dance?! Just like your kisses, they're just for me!" He pulled her closer as if to kiss her and then backed away. The woman was shaking visibly and Brian immediately started reminding her to breathe, she was safe.
She nodded and the other gentleman walked over and started rubbing her shoulder, talking to her too quietly for me to hear.
"Why don't you give it a try?" Brian suggested to the man.
I watched as the man did it with her and I noticed as the volume of their voices rose, the closeness of their bodies to hers, is when she'd start shaking.
I quietly walked up closer to the stage and suggested, "Do you have to yell the last part before the kiss?"
They all started at my voice, but Brian merely smiled seeing me. "Hey honey, I see you finished up. Come up on stage." He waved me up and I joined them and he introduced me to Dawn.
She shyly smiled but I could tell she was genuinely happy to meet me. I repeated my suggestion and they gave it a shot. While she still trembled a little bit, she didn't freeze up nearly as bad.
"When you act it out, it could be a stunned moment since she did just get kissed by her love interest?" I suggest.
"That's a perfect pitch too! We could tell Hank that and he'll probably go with it. You could still be the lead, Dawn!" Her scene partner said excitedly and Dawn grinned.
Dawn seemed young to me, even though she looked our age. I don't know if that was mentally or something else. Her scene partner took off to go tell the director that they may have figured something out, leaving us three on stage.
"Thank you, very much for letting Dr. Brian come help me out. We'd been trying to do it the way the director wanted us to, but I couldn't unfreeze myself after the scene. This means a lot to me, I've always wanted to act on stage." Dawn smiles looking around the stage, excitement evident in her bright eyes.
"No problem. So was it domestic violence that made this scene hard?" I didn't mean to ask the question, it just slipped from my mouth.
Dawn's eyes dim, but she still keeps a smile on her face, "Yes, but I'm also a victim..." She tenses as Brian crosses his arms in front of his chest. "... I mean I'm a survivor of human trafficking." She corrected her words when Brian crossed his arms but seeing him nod in affirmation to her for fixing her words, I see she relaxes.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that you went through that situation. I can't imagine how strong you've been to survive that. You should be proud." I say the only thing I can think of, knowing that what I've been through was nothing compared to what she's been through.
"Thank you. I've never had anyone compliment me for surviving it." She rubs the backs of her arms as she hugs herself, and Brian pats her on the shoulder.
"What are you talking about? Does anything I say to you get to you?" He scoffs, playfully sounding offended.
"But you're my doctor, you're supposed to say those kind of things." Dawn rolls her eyes at him. "But thank you for always believing in me." She gave him a quick hug and it hits me. The first time I saw him, he was hugging her at the hospital.
I point at Dawn to Brian, "Isn't she the same one from the hospital?"
Brian looks confused for a second and a light bulb seems to click on in his head. "Yes, that's right." He turns to Dawn, "The first time I ever saw Sarina, was the night I showed up at the hospital for you."
Dawns eyes narrow before looking back and forth when something seems to click in place in her own mind, "Is she the reason why you were stuck looking down that hall for a few minutes?"
Brian blushes and my heart flutters hearing how after he saw me, he was awestruck. I looked horrible that day probably too. "Yeah, I guess you could say it was like an invisible force seemed to pull me towards her."
Now it was my turn to blush and Dawn's cooing at the sweetness only made me turn more crimson.
I really do have an amazing man.