AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With that, we rinsed off the dishes and put the leftover pasta and pesto in the fridge. We decided to just run the dishwasher in the morning, and Maria was almost happy to be leaving the house.
“Well, I’ll be happier hanging out here again when he’s not around,” Maria admitted. “I’m not a big fan of your landlord there. He’s… he’s far too isolated for my tastes.” She wagged a finger at me. “And he might be cute, but I’d steer clear if I were you.”
“Maria!” I practically started giggling and half-shoved her out the door. “I can guarantee that isnotsomething you have to worry about.”
“Good.”
With that, I waved to Maria as she walked out to her car. She waved goodbye to me before she drove away.
I walked back inside and then realized that it had gone absolutely silent in the house. Part of me had hoped that this would only be the case when he was away, but it appeared that he was content to continue whatever schedule he had been using before I came into the picture. It was rather isolating, but I was determined to break through that.
Instead of just taking it on the chin, I walked over to the master bedroom and knocked on the door.
“Jesse, she’s left if you would like to eat at the table or something,” I said. “I’m sorry. I did try to warn her that you don’t like to be interrupted at dinner or answering questions.”
There was no response. I couldn’t even hear him shuffling towards the door to say something to me.
Instead of waiting for something to happen, I decided that I had done my part. If he didn’t want to forgive me for doing my best to stop Maria, then that was his problem.
I walked back to the kitchen to start the dishwasher. I stopped when I heard the master bedroom door open.
Jesse walked in, put his plate in the dishwasher, and then walked back to his room.
“Wait!” I said, attempting to stop him from returning to his room. “I have something else I’d like to-”
The door slammed before I could finish speaking.
“To say…” I finished, letting the words hang in the air.
I let out a sigh. Then, I went to start the dishwasher. Fine. If he didn’t want to hear what I was doing tomorrow, then he could learn when I showed up at the fire station. I had a feeling he had been asked to come to the same meeting I had been since it was all about the annual fundraiser for the local fire stations.
Perhaps working on the fundraiser together would allow us to see that the other wasn’t so bad. Or, at least, allow me to give him a better chance to get to know me.
After starting the dishwasher, I went up to my room. A glance at the clock revealed that it was only seven p.m. I didn’t know exactly what time Jesse went to bed when he had meetings at ten in the morning, but I imagined that he would still go to bed as if he were getting up at four-thirty.
It was entirely too early for me.
However, I respected that he had a routine. I connected my Bluetooth headphones to my desktop and decided I was going to finish this pair of earrings before the meeting tomorrow.
They were almost done. I just had one more line of beads to finish on one of the earrings and to add the posts to the felt backs.
These were smaller, and would cost less to sell. They were also easier to whip up for fundraising. I would, of course, create some that dangled because those always sold well, but there was a reason I was doing more than just the stand. These designs took time to bring to life. With being asked so late in the game, I had already put my intentions on my site. Prices hadn’t raised any to cover this, but I was glad to see the sales rolling in and people noting in their orders that they had actually ordered more than they had originally meant to because of the cause I was raising money for.
Being honest usually helped in these situations.
As I watched my show – a typical sitcom where the lead was always frustrated in love – I strung the last of the beads onto the thread I was using.
Once they were all on, I tied it all off in a knot on the back and found some good-sized posts that would hold these up. It was less of a post and more of a hoop earring clasp, but it worked. People ordering from me knew that I didn’t do small beading. These were always the smallest that one could order, and I didn’t keep much of them in stock because I found them too easy to make.
The logic said I should be making them far more often, but I liked the challenge of the bracelets, necklaces, and the heavier earrings. Besides, they often didn’t have complicated patterns because I kept all my jewelry simple. It was all supposed to be something that could be worn every day.
A couple of hours later, I shut off my computer and the lights. It was bedtime. I had to be up early tomorrow, and I didn’t want to get to the meeting late.
The next morning, I woke up and found Jesse still home. He was in the kitchen, making some waffles with a waffle maker that I had somehow missed when I moved in.
“Those smell delicious. Have enough batter for two there?” I looked over curiously, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
He glanced over at me.
