"Okay, Lirael, I'll talk to you later. I've got to get back in and talk with John and one of the contractors. There was a problem with some of the layout changes we had to make to accommodate the load bearing walls in one of the larger apartments." I get off the phone with Lirael before heading inside the building.
"Hey Ms. McNeal! Heard you got married?!" One of the guys at the site who works for one of the contractors greets me. We've had to discuss and go over changes with him before the wedding a few times now.
"Hey George. Yes, I did." I smile at him, "Ms. is now Mrs." I flutter my eyes and wave my hand as I head upstairs, as he shouts congratulations.
I enter the elevator and head up to top where I'm supposed to meet up with them and walk down the hall. It's a bit dusty and guys are walking about doing their jobs who stop and wave a hi to me or nod. I nod in return, feeling like I'm walking on sunshine. I don't know what it is, but ever since Brian and I said I do, I feel like I've been living every woman's dream come true. I'm successful enough to financially stable, I do what I love, I have a great relationship with an amazing, smart, sexy and considerate man....
My heart feels like it going to burst from all the joy that is inside of me. I'm also nervous right now too. I have something in my purse that I need to take care of after this meeting. I don't want to get ahead of myself though.
A giddy giggle escapes me, which I quickly cover with a cough as I approach the end of the hall where the apartment that has the trouble is. I enter the open door to find John already there, talking with our contractor.
"Hey, guys. So tell me where the issue is for the design." I immediately focus on the problem at hand and find out that the second bathroom plumbing is the problem. We had to move it but the HVAC guy has duct work going through the area that can't be rerouted without costly additions. The plumbing guy has some thoughts but those ideas have their own issues too. This being one of the top floors adds a whole slew of issues on top of it. Too many elbows and it'll have back up issues which will cause problems with a host of other apartments.
After a few hours of us tossing ideas back and forth and going over the other changes in the plans that had been made, we come to a decision and change the layout of the bathroom flipping the tub area and placing the toilet next to it and the sink on the same wall as the tub, no longer having to work around HVAC ducting and with the least amount of elbows.
We wrap things up and I start out the door to go grab some lunch and head back to the shop. John comes jogging out after me catching my attention.
"Hey John, what's up?" I ask as we enter the elevator.
"I was wondering if you're as hungry as I am and want to grab some lunch? I have a commission piece I'd like you to make for me." He smiles warmly, sticking his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall of the elevator, completely at ease... and happy.
I noticed he seemed more relaxed earlier even with the issues going on. I decide to join him for lunch and interrogate him discretely about what's happened.
"I'm starving actually. Where shall we go?" I ask him. We discuss where to go and head over to the restaurant in our separate vehicles. After being seated at one of those circular booths and our drinks brought to us, we get to looking over our menus. We place our order and I start my interrogation.
"So, you want me to create a piece for you? What would you like? A chain? Ring? Watch?" I ask, sipping my iced tea.
He picks up his white wine and gingerly takes a sip. "None of the above... actually." He sets his glass down. "I want you to create a pair of earrings. Emerald as the main stone, diamond accents, nothing too large that its heavy on the ears, but something that'll hang and twinkle to catch the eye."
I nod, "What style would you like me to create this in?"
He looks at me confused and I pull my phone out to show him, "Think of what they normally would wear and if you've seen them dressed up, what they wear. This is Edwardian, Art deco, Art Nouveau, Retro, and Modern styles."
We look through the options and he decides on a modern or an art deco style. I open my purse and pull out a small sketchbook and pencil that I always have on me and start sketching a rough idea of what to create. We make a few small changes and he seems happy with it as our food shows up and I place my sketchbook to the side. We eat and talk about how things have been going, if I'm still enjoying the honeymoon phase of my marriage which has me chuckling.
"I've been enjoying it very much, thank you." I reassure him as we get ready to leave. I go to place my sketchbook in my purse and not paying attention, pull the handle causing the contents to fall out on the booth's seat.
"Shit." I mutter under my breath and John chuckles.
"Here let me help." He reaches down under the table and grabs something that fell on the floor as I gather everything else back up.
He clears his throat and pushes the pregnancy test towards me on the seat.
"Are we hoping for some happy news?" His eyes twinkle in mischief and I blush.
"Maybe." I mutter, shoving the test into my purse again, feeling the heat of my embarrassment across my upper body.
"Are you going to do it tonight to check with him?" He asks.
I didn't think about that before honestly. "Uh... no... I wasn't planning on it. I was planning on doing it and surprising him tonight at home." I say as we head out to our vehicles.
"Would you like to come over and do it at my place? That way it's a bit more private than at your work?" John offers.
I think about it for a moment before slowly nodding. "Alright. That's not a bad idea. But on one condition." I cross my arms over my chest, showing him I mean business.
He chuckles, "What's the condition?"
I smirk, "You tell me who's the jewelry for."
He seems to contemplate it for a moment. "Fine. Once we're at my place and while we're waiting on the result."
I stick out my hand, "Deal." We shake and head on over to Johns place.
His place is a spacious three bedroom, three bath condo in one of the places off of Mckinnon street. While it was aesthetically appealing and had great amenities, it still had a cold and aloof atmosphere. Which worked for John, I guess.
Once in his apartment, he offered me some water, which I took from him gratefully. I opened up the package and read the directions, making sure I didn't need a container or something to collect anything. After asking for something I could use, John pulled a disposable plastic cup from a cupboard and I excused myself after drinking the entire glass of water.
I was suddenly nervous. What if it was positive?
My heart started to flutter with excitement.
What if it was negative?
That flutter immediately dimmed.
"Only one way to find out, Sarina." I mumble under my breath and take a seat. I stick the test into the cup, like it says and then pull it out to set it flat and take care of the cup and wash my hands. I leave the test on the counter and set a timer on my phone and head out to the living room.
"Alright. In ten minutes, I'll know." I say taking a seat on the plush sofa across from him.
"Nervous?" John asks, a smile creeping across his face.
"A little." I admit, "Now, quit trying to divert the conversation. Who am I making the jewelry for?"
He sighs, setting down his glass in front of him before running a hand through his dark hair. "It's for someone you know. You have to keep it between us though. I'm still not sure how serious she is about us, but I have .. we have made progress." He looks down at the floor, a smile spreading across his face, a memory flashing through his thoughts. He shakes his head, snapping himself from his reverie.
"I know not what you speak of." I give him a lopsided grin, which makes him do a double take before he shakes his head again.
"What was that about?" I ask, cocking my head to the side confused, feeling my hair bounce across my shoulder in the process.
"Nothing, you just looked .... you gave me a look like David would back in the day. It caught me off guard."
"Oh." Is all I say, waiting for him to go on, even though my heart pangs at the thought of my brother.
"It's Tori." John finally says, giving me a tight smile as I begin to squeal excitedly, "Please, don't say anything though. I just got her to admit her feelings for me two weeks ago."
I clap my hands together, "Oh! How long have you liked her?" I ask, wanting more details.
He groans, "I should have know a simple answer alone would not suffice." He chuckles, "I've liked her since we were introduced about two years ago, but I've been interested in her more that friends since the night of the showing at your building. But she's kept me at arms length and the more she did that, the more I wanted to show her I was not her ex. I thought I fucked up right before your brother died, we had a few too many to drink, and I told her I cared about her."
"Did you guys end up in bed together?" I ask, curiosity growing in me.
"No, almost did. We were pretty hot and heavy when she suddenly stepped back and started getting dressed, talking about how she could not do that with me. Caught me off guard and confused me at once." He sighs, rubbing his face with his palm. "However, I didn't give up. I couldn't, I had to prove to her what I felt was real. That I am different."
"Awww... John... I never pegged you for being a hopeless romantic." I exclaim, beaming at him, my heart swelling at the thought.
He clears his throat. "Yeah, well, if you know something is worth the wait...." he clears his throat again, picking his drink back up.
"So you guys finally did it two weeks ago?" I giggle at him.
He spits his drink back into his glass, coughing now as he regains his composure. "No. Sarina. We haven't. Like I said, she finally just admitted her feelings for me. Her ex husband fucked her up pretty bad. I want to, but I'm not going to force the issue with her."
Suddenly my phone starts going off and I take a large gulp of air, suddenly frozen.
"The test. It's done." I get out. Now, extremely nervous of what the test is going to say.