Page 88 of Unmasking Love
"Do you just want the address or do you want the full itinerary?"
"The full itinerary, I actually hate surprises."
"Fair enough," I say as I pull out onto the road. "First, I'm picking up the coffee order I placed for us a few minutes ago. Then we're driving out towards Bethesda for an upholstery workshop. We're going to restore an antique chair."
"That sounds fun!" Harper says. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For planning this day."
"I'm taking you out on a date, why wouldn't I plan the day?" I ask as I pull up to the coffee shop.
"My dates before have been just dinners or movies or going to each other's houses. There haven't been a lot of activities, I guess, so this is new and exciting."
"You've really been dating terrible men, Harper," I lean over and plant a kiss on her cheek. "But not anymore, you're with me now and I'm going to show you what a real relationship looks like."
She smiles and I can see the light sparkling in her eyes. I know today isn't the day but I want to know everything about her. I need to understand her on a deeper level, more than anyone else has before. A good starting place seemsto be just treating her like she's special. Reminding her she's worth the thought and effort.
I return to the car with her coffee concoction and my black drip. She's humming along quietly to the radio, it sounds like country music. I turn up the volume from the steering wheel.
"Oh, sorry, we don't have to listen to this," she mutters as she leans over to turn the dial down. I reach over and slap the back of her hand. Her eyes fly up to mine in shock.
"Sorry, but don't turn it down. I want to hear the music you like."
"But, it's country."
"Who told you country music was bad?"
"No one."
"Mmhmm," I hum as I turn it up a notch higher. She turns to look out the window as I start to drive and when the next song starts I catch her tapping her fingers to the beat. We listen as we drive to the warehouse and as we pull into the parking lot she turns to me.
"What kind of music do you like?" She asks.
"I mostly listen to alternative rock, but I spent a lot of time in the Edmonton area and that's cowboy country so I've always had a soft spot for country music."
"Yeah?" She asks, hopeful.
"Absolutely. And even if I didn't, if you like it, I'll listen to it whenever you want."
She blushes and when I meet her at the back of the car, I interlace her fingers with mine and walk us into the studio.
***
"Ithink wenailedit," Harper jokes and I immediately laugh. I've always been a sucker for puns and dad jokes.
The workshop was awesome. First, they walked us through the different elements of an upholstered piece. Then they came around and helped each group individually. Our chair was from the 1970s and we had to replace everything, including one of the arm rests.
The instructor cut the wood for us and Harper really wanted to use the automatic sander. I've never seen anything cuter than the way she concentrated behind safety goggles.
We've just finished putting on the new layer of foam and batting, using the staple gun to get everything secured. Now we need to pick the fabric we're going to use so we follow the instructor over to a table covered in scraps.
"We have everything here in a longer bolt. You could do the same fabric on both the seat and the back of the chair or you can pick something different to use on each. The choice is yours. Let me know if you have any questions."
"Thank you," we say and Harper starts to thumb through the samples.
"So, where are you going to put this chair?" She asks me.
