Page 34 of Timeless Pages
Nate spent some time straightening papers on his desk with sharp movements. Once his desk was tidied, his eyes rose to meet first mine, then Evan's. "I think we should give the whole block to Isa."
I pressed my knuckles to my lips to cover my smirk. "I think that's a great idea," Evan replied with a light chuckle. "If that's all you needed, Dom, I'll go call the rep for the theater, and you guys can hash out the details for transferring the properties."
"That was all I had," I said as I stood. Before we could leave the office, there was a knock on the door. My assistant, Allison, opened the door.
"Sorry to bother you, Mr. DeCosta, but you have several packages in the lobby."
"Just have them brought upstairs, Allison," I told her, confused. Receiving packages was part of her responsibilities. I didn't understand why it was difficult for her today.
"I'm sorry, Sir, you don't understand. There are a lot of them. More than one would consider normal," she replied, uncharacteristically timid.
"What the hell did you order?" Nate asked as the three of us made our way to the elevator.
"I really don't—oh, no," I remembered what all the packages had to be. I knew I had gone overboard, but I hadn't thought it had been that bad.
"What did you order?" Evan snickered as he pressed the button to bring us to the lobby.
"Isa said she wanted to have a picnic in the park, so I had ordered picnic things," I replied. "But then I found the camping gear and thought maybe she'd be interested in camping. I might have gone a little overboard.'
"How much is a little?" Nate asked as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out.
We all froze in shock as soon as we stepped out. We didn't have a massive lobby, but it was admirably sized. Taking up a large part of the center of the room, near the reception desk, was a pile of boxes.
"A lot," Evan answered. "A little is a lot."
"Dom, what did you do?" Nate asked.
I stared at the insane number of packages in horror. "I didn't know. I didn't realize," I stammered. "Really, this is the company's fault for not packing multiple items in one box." It was a lame excuse, but it had some merit. There had to be nearly twenty-five little bubble mailers alone. All of which could have fit in one box. "On the plus side, we're now fully equipped for camping!"
Evan started laughing as Nate stared at me, dumbfounded. "When have we ever wanted to go camping?"
"It could be fun," I replied as we gathered the boxes. We took as many boxes as we could and then enlisted the help of the doorman to bring up the rest, and went upstairs to our penthouse.
"What on earth is all of this?" Isa exclaimed when we arrived.
"Dom. This is all Dom," Evan replied, still chuckling. If the fucker kept it up, I was going to have to pound on him a little... or a lot.
I set the packages I was carrying down and looked at Isa sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my neck. "After you told us you wanted to have a picnic in the park at lunch, I came back to the office and ordered some things. But in the process of ordering picnic items, I stumbled onto the camping category and went a little overboard. I don't know if you're interested in camping or not, but if you are, we're equipped."
"That's so sweet," Isa cooed, wrapping her arms around my waist and standing on her tiptoes to reward me with a kiss. Suddenly, I didn't feel so foolish and smirked at Nate and Evan over Isa's head. "I've never been camping either, but I always thought it looked fun."
"You want to go?" I asked, looking down at her.
"Do you have time? I don't want to keep you from your work," Isa replied.
I looked at Evan and Nate. Evan nodded, and Nate looked resigned to his fate. "We have the time," I responded. "Why don't you pack some clothes while we unbox this mess and get organized? Do you have a bathing suit?" Isa shook her head. "We'll stop at the store and grab you one when we stop for groceries."
It took longer than I anticipated to sort through everything and pack the Range Rover. The morning was over by the time we got to the store. "Why don't you three go pick out the food, and I'll run and grab a bathing suit for Isa," I suggested as we walked inside.
"Shouldn't I pick out my suit?" Isa asked.
"Don't worry, Beauty," I winked, "I've got you covered."
"That's what I'm worried about," Isa groaned. "Please, Dom, don't make it too skimpy."
"You realize this whole camping thing is going to be a colossal shit show, right?" Nate asked as Evan dragged Isa away toward the grocery section of the store.
"Where's your adventurous spirit?" I asked Nate as I clapped him on the shoulders and headed toward the women's clothing section.
