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“Work on the tenant lobby was about to begin on the ground floor, but the protesters were making it quite difficult to move forward. We should be done by the end of the week, all things being equal.”
“You never mentioned that the protesters still hung around. I thought the authorities were taking care of it?” I asked him,
“They were, but they couldn’t do anything to peaceful protesters.”
“Not even an injunction that kept them away from the property?” I asked, but Ethan did not know, and I grunted in frustration. “Look into that possibility.”
Just then, my phone rang beside the computer. I glanced towards it, away from my screen, and saw it was my closest friend, Dan, who was also a contractor. He had his own construction company and worked with me from time to time on some of my projects, mostly personal ones. I’d given him the contract for the new building I’d shown Vanessa a while ago.
I texted him last night that I wanted to make some changes to the structure, and he did not respond until now.
“Ethan, I have to go. I want you to look into the injunction and let Greenberg know what they think about going that route. And keep me updated on everything else.”
“You got it.”
The screen went blank as I hung up from the conference call to pick up Dan’s call.
“Hey.” He said as I picked up.
“Took you long enough to get back to me,” I said to him, although my tone was sarcastic.
“Sorry for the delay, man. Beulah had an ear infection, and Rosie and I had to take her to the doctor.”
Dan was married to his high school sweetheart. They’d gotten married a while ago, and I was always envious of their relationship. I’d hoped for my own with Gigi, even though I knew marrying her meant it would take a while before she was ready to have children. And that didn’t stop me from proposing to her still. I guessed I had no one else but myself to blame for how things turned out.
“Oh, sorry about that; how’s she doing now?” I asked about my god-daughter.
“Better now. Thanks, man.” Dan said before he continued, “You were calling about the house, yes?”
“Yeah. I knew I sent you some changes in both the interior and outdoor backyard; wanted to know if you got them.”
“I did, and I thought the house was going to be yours alone. I did not know you were going with a family-oriented property.”
“Well, contrary to what you might think, I have plans to start a family someday.”
“I know that, man. I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
“You weren’t. I was busting your balls.” I said, and we both chuckled.
Dan had been there for me after Gigi left. Back in New York, before I moved here, he saw me at least twice. And then he called me every day for the first week to check in. Our friendship went way back; even though we came from different backgrounds, we stayed friends through the years.
“So, what brought about this change? I did not know you were seeing someone new after Gigi.” Dan asked,
“Who said I was seeing someone new?”
“Please, you forget I’ve known you since college. And I knew how you looked when you’re happy and when you are being a grumpy little shit.”
I laughed hard at Dan’s accurate description of how my mood had been before Vanessa moved here. She’d brought so much joy into my life that only those who knew me before and after I knew her could immediately tell the difference.
When I said nothing, Dan insisted;
“I can’t wait to meet her since you’re already so protective of her. She must be something.”
“She is,” I said. She’s special.
We then talked shop for a few long moments, going over the adjusted plans for the home. Vanessa did not know, but her words when I’d shown her the model had planted a seed in my heart, a seed that was being watered and fed by our progressive relationship.
Just then, a soft knock interrupted my call with Dan, and I excused myself from the call, knowing immediately that it was Vanessa. It was my lunchtime, and she was bringing me lunch. I hung up after promising Dan we would talk later, and then I asked her to come in.
