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“If you just watch those interior decorating shows when they run into the stores and grab everything saying how cute it all is, then it just fits, you’ve got the wrong idea when it comes to the way this all works,” I told him with a laugh. “There was a time when I would idolize those makeover shows and see the hosts running into the different stores and just grabbing the sheets and pillows and saying how it was all going to fit – then it did.”
I took another bite of my food before I continued. “What you didn’t see was the time and effort that went into planning what the room was going to look like, going into the stores and making sure they had what was wanted in stock, then placing them in such a way that they were able to run into the store and just grab them as if they were pulling together the design as they went along. It’s really not the way it works.”
“I’m seeing that now,” Greyson said. “I mean, I’m telling you I would much rather be flying a plane and just telling people that we’re there or that we’re not going to make it to where they wanted to go that day due to the weather than deal with these things you have to do on a daily basis.”
“I guess you have to weigh the pros and cons,” I admitted. “When you do finally pull together a room and see how the client falls in love with what you did, it really is magical. I mean, I can see why there are people who put up with the crazy brides when they plan weddings, or the people who really go all in to pull off other wild surprises for people. You have to get enough satisfaction out of what the client’s reaction is for it to be worth it in the long run.”
“I can see that. I just don’t get that kind of reaction when it comes to seeing the people I work with being happy. Like, don’t get me wrong. I would love to see each and every person I fly having the time of their lives. But when it comes down to it, my job is to get someone from one spot to another safely. At the end of the day, if that’s what I’ve done, I’m happy with the job I did.”
“Well, to your credit, when you do that, it’s what the client wanted. But you’re not getting clients coming to you and spilling their guts when it comes to some dream place that they just want to get to and you are the one who has to make it all happen. Not that you don’t make dreams come true for some people who want to feel like they’re flying, I just, I don’t know, you know what I mean,” I said.
I hoped that he did. I really found myself rambling on more than ever when I talked to Greyson, and I knew it had an awful lot to do with the way he and I connected. I couldn’t get enough of his smile, and when he would laugh, I felt like my entire world lit up. I didn’t know what it was about him, but he just had magic in the way that he did things.
I couldn’t get tired of the time that he and I spent together. I was sure of that. And there was a part of me that wanted to pretend that this wasn’t a work situation, and we weren’t here because of the same person paying us both a lot of money to do it. I could even forget about that promotion I was after with the time I was getting to spend with Greyson.
And we were only halfway done with the day, too.
It was the first time in as long as I could remember that I felt the day was going by too quickly in the sense I wanted to spend more time out there shopping. There had been plenty of times in my life when I had to deal with a deadline, and I felt that the day was slipping by much too fast for me to be able to make the deadline that was looming over me.
But this was an entirely different situation.
With Greyson, I was having a blast out shopping for the furniture. I loved to hear his commentary on what I was looking at, as well as his commentary on the things that I turned down. He could make me laugh at almost every turn, and I was sure I would never get tired of shopping with him.
We had managed to make it through two more stores in the afternoon before he had me laughing so hard over a piece of furniture that we’d found I was nearly in tears.
“You know, I wish I could hire you to just come along with me and be my second opinion,” I said when I had managed to get control over myself once more. “You have such a hilarious way of talking about this stuff, it makes me really have a tough time seeing it as art and not as some sort of a joke that people are trying to make to their friends.”
“I’m just saying,” Greyson said, sticking to his guns over what he’d just said about a certain piece that reminded him more of a sex toy than a lamp, “I don’t think you would put this in your bedroom with any intent other than to advertise what it is you want to do with your partner. I think you should really think carefully when you put the bulbs in certain places on these things. I don’t know. I’m just a pilot.”
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing you know planes a lot better than you know how to design the inside of a building,” I told him. “It’s not my job to discern all the deep dark desires of the sculptor when they put these things together. I’m the one who just comes around and gives them money so I can make my clients happy.”
“I don’t know what kind of clients you’re dealing with, but I can’t see anyone who wouldn’t be happy to get something like this as a toy, if you know what I mean,” he said.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing once more. I had found several pieces in this store that made me think they were going to work for what I was doing, and I had to talk to the man who owned the company before I would be able to seal the deal.
But, I wasn’t going to be able to do that if I wasn’t able to keep a straight face talking to him, and Greyson was making it incredibly difficult to keep a straight face talking about anything right now. I just wanted to be able to talk to the owner about getting a good price on the furniture, but it would be hard enough with the way Greyson was looking at me to even be able to talk about any of the pieces in the store without laughing.
Still, I was glad he was there with me.
It really made my job fun again.
With the pressure that was put on this particular gig, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to really think about how I would pull this off and stay in budget. I worried I was going to have to push the client to spend more than they wanted, and that wasn’t at all what I hoped for. The happiest clients were those who came in under budget, not over.
And most of them expected me to be the one to wave around the wand that made their furnishings cost more of what they wanted, and less of what the price tag stated.
“So what got you into this in the first place?” Greyson asked as we continued to walk through the store.
“You know, it was really just the self-expression,” I admitted. “I was the top of my class when I graduated, and I was set to become a doctor. But, that’s not what I wanted to do with my life. I knew my parents weren’t thrilled when I told them that this was the direction I would be heading, but I was also sure they would get over it.”
“Oh, parents really should let their kids do what makes them happy. At least, that’s what I think,” Greyson said. “I mean, I bet you would have been a great doctor, but I can see that this makes you happy, and I’m glad you went with this instead. Even if it is the weirdest job on the planet.”
“Hey!” I laughed. “You only say that because you’re really bad at it.”
He gave me a cheesy grin, knowing I was teasing.
“I would have gone with the first couch and table I saw back in the first store,” he admitted, and I laughed once more.
“And that in itself tells me that you’re not the best at this. I mean, sure, if you were designing a nursing home maybe. Not a hotel that’s supposed to be breaking barriers down and everything,” I said.
