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“Entirely.” I smiled and nodded, finally feeling like we’d related in some way. “I tried to do some designs for a living room suite and this cute little dining area, but…it’s so hard to think on a flight that busy.”
“And the kids who were crying in the section behind us. I don’t know how parents travel with them and don’t murder them along the way.”
“You don’t have kids?” I asked, picking up on it and assuming he didn’t want them from the statement.
He shook his head. “I think I’d have liked them, but so far, I haven’t found the sort of person I’d have them with. It’s a lot of commitment, and I don’t want to do a bad job.”
“I feel the same. I haven’t yet found the right person to make me think kids would be a good idea. But I’m also okay with not having them if there’s never the right moment. I’d rather enjoy life and make the most of things than settle.”
“Me too,” he replied, finally looking at me properly again. He shifted in his seat, moving so he could look at me more easily, and I did the same, smiling properly for the first time since I’d gotten on the plane.
“I’m surprised you haven’t really found someone yet. You seem like a sweet person, and Juno speaks so highly of you. Really, no one caught your eye?”
It was my turn to shake my head. “No one at all, really. The odd date and a few people who flirted, but…there hasn’t really been anyone who made me think I want to take anything any further. My career matters to me, and I don’t find many men who understand that.”
He nodded along with me, fully listening and taking it in. I thought I saw a hint of sadness in his eyes, but I didn’t want to pry if he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Have you had any of those terrible dates where you’ve gone on it anyway and then wished you hadn’t bothered?” he asked. “The kind that makes you wish people came with some kind of manual or checklist so you could rule things out before even getting that far.”
“There was this one guy I went on a date with who wanted me to run away with him to some little African country to teach English in this tiny little school because he’d always dreamed of being a hero in this village. Said he wanted a wife so it was respectable, and not to worry, I didn’t have to sleep with him if I didn’t want to, but I would need to teach English and be okay with the tiny mud hut we’d be living in to start with and always being poor.”
“Sounds like one hell of an offer. Come be destitute and build a dream that’s not yours.” He shook his head.
“What’s your worst?”
He thought for a moment, and it made me wonder if he’d had lots of bad ones or only a few.
“I once had a date with someone who insisted that I pick her up from her ex’s house, where she was still living despite them not being on speaking terms, because her other option was a house only worth three million, and it didn’t come with a chef or housekeeper and the cleaning staff only came twice a week and not every day.” He exhaled as if he couldn’t believe it.
I sat back, stunned that it would happen, but it also reminded me of how different my world was. Until Juno started dating Jack, I hadn’t known anyone with that kind of money. And everyone around her seemed to assume Juno and I did and understood their world entirely.
When he finally looked back at me, he’d shrugged off any emotions that the memory produced and was studying me like he was considering saying something again.
Before he could, there was a voice over the intercom. “We’re beginning our descent and will be arriving on time at our destination. Not much longer now.”
I blinked, the interruption making everyone shift and talk more excitedly. Immediately, Lukas gathered up his stuff and went back to his phone.
“I guess I better figure out that problem Daniel has. He’ll need an answer.”
“Anything I can help with?” I shrugged when he looked my way.
“I don’t know. It’s…complicated, but...” He looked at me and frowned, his brow furrowing, caught in indecision. I looked down, knowing that expression. It always came right before I was given some reason I wasn’t good enough.
“You might. You know something about what makes houses appealing, right? What makes them look…like a home and not just a house.”
I blinked as I stared at him. He was looking toward me and smiling. “I try.”
“All right. He’s having trouble with these three houses he wants to consider buying for rental income. His manager wants him to get them in one place, and he wants another, but a third has come up, and it’s possibly an even better investment. I said I’d help look them over and figure out if they’re in good areas or not.”
It was an interesting problem and one I wasn’t sure I could help much with, but he opened the link to the first one anyway.
“Now, they’ve done their homework on location in terms of selling it later. Schools, tourists, that kind of thing. Work is nearby for all sorts of careers, but they haven’t had any of them surveyed yet,” Lukas continued as he showed me the photos and leaned toward me. Talking with him helped take my focus off the descent, but I still didn’t know if I could really help at first.
It wasn’t until he showed me the third one that I began to think of things to say. The first two had been normal houses and the kind you would find anywhere. Nothing too fancy, but not the cheapest, either. Something that could be rented out easily enough but also resold without too much difficulty later.
The third one was completely different and had the potential to be so much more. Immediately, I grew excited. It was underutilized, and with a small extension and a reshuffle inside, it could be exactly the kind of home that worked. I pointed out all the changes I would make, many of them not that expensive or even possible with only well-placed furniture.
It was clear to me that the people already living there weren’t using the house in the best way, weren’t a big family, and had very different needs from average people. They had also chosensome interesting decor that made it look darker and less open than the floor plan implied.
