Page 35 of Enemies with my Bestie’s Brother
Grayson
“Totheleft!No,to the left, bozo!” Whitney calls out with laughter as I twist the couch the wrong way.
I’d love to say that I did it on purpose, but I am apparently very bad with my lefts and rights.
The loveseat that matches the couch has finally come in, and Whitney opted for herself and I to move it into the apartment after the movers brought it up. We’re so lucky that freight elevators are a thing. One time, I watched a documentary that mentioned that the first high-rise building ever was built in 1885 in New York. I’ve always wondered how they managed to get furniture up all those floors without a freight elevator like this one.
We set it up against the wall. This room is lighter in color than the other rooms, with a sort of shadowy gray paint on the walls. The sofas are a deep green, as is the accent rug between them. The tv stand that also came in today is a deep walnut color. She picked up some more plants for the room, one of them being some sort of beady looking one hanging in the corner by the loveseat. She called it a string of pearls I think, which is an interesting name for a plant.
I did end up hiring a gardener after all, which Whitney poked immense fun at, considering that I had an entire explosion about how there is always so many people in here, and now I’m hiring just one more to take away my privacy. But, you know what, I’m okay with it if it means that a bunch of plants don’t die at my hands. It’s a lot of responsibility for someone that’s never even had a cactus before.
“Okay, perfect. Now we just need to hang up the show piece. It’s great.” She runs to the frame on the counter and picks it up. It’s a giant painting, with swirling brush strokes of shades of green covering the entire canvas. It’s also sprinkled with white dots everywhere, “for contrast,” as she said. Whatever that means. I’ve never been much of an art person, so I’m more than happy to let her deal with all those sorts of things.
“Will you hold this leveler here for me?”
She directs me to the place just above the nail in the wall. She puts the painting on it and I balance the leveler on the painting. It’s perfectly even, the liquid inside equal on both sides.
“Ta da!”
“It looks perfect. Thank you, Whitney.”
I grin at her and she smiles back before nodding her head.
“Alright, are you ready to go shop for the kitchen?”
“I one hundred percent am.”
I said this, even though I truly couldn’t think of anything more boring than shopping for ladles.
“Whataboutlemons?Mymom used to have a lemon-themed kitchen.”
“What, when you were twelve?” Whitney asks, furrowing her brow in disbelief.
I count back the years and nod.
“Yeah, actually, exactly when I was twelve. How’d you know that?”
Whitney rolls her eyes at me before laughing.
“I was being sassy. That style is outdated! This is going to be sleek and modern. Plus, lemons don’t really go with the whole ‘dark and moody’ vibe that we’ve got going on in the apartment already.”
That does make sense, although I was hoping for some lemon nostalgia. Mostly, this really neat lemon clock that my mom had. Although, I guess basing a design around a clock isn’t necessarily the best idea.
“So, what are you thinking then?” I ask her.
“Well, I definitely want it to blend with the green theme we already have in the living room, since it’s all open concept. But, I want to stain the cabinets a dark wood, and make it look almost vintage. That’s very in right now, and we can do a Victorian tile backsplash. It will look seriously incredible!”
She stops to look at something, and I examine her. She’s so passionate about this job, and it’s seriously admirable, especially since it must involve a lot of research.
“Whitney, what are your dreams for this business?” I ask suddenly, not even expecting the words to leave my thoughts.
She turns, her eyes wide and questioning.
“Hmm, I guess that I want to move it to the city someday. Maybe not even San Francisco, but a city in general would do. I want to service clients who will let me have complete free reign, to just do what I want. You would probably have a hard time believing this, since you’re such an easy-going client, but most people are extremely particular about what they want, and it’s not always what I think would be best. But, that’s just part of the job, you know? Working to make other people happy with the product you’re giving them. I guess it’s the same for any product or service, isn’t it?” She smiles and shakes her head as she continues down the aisle.
She says that she would prefer any city, but is that really true? She’ll obviously be using my apartment in her portfolio. Will she feature it as “the best San Francisco has to offer,” or something like that? Am I a stepping stone to her? Even though I’m not one hundred percent sure about the feelings I have for Whitney, I know they’re more than a simple little crush. I know without a doubt that even if I could go back to my life without Whitney in it, I wouldn’t want to. Everything is better with Whitney here. My days are brighter and filled with more laughter than I ever would have thought they could be. Her smile is contagious, and constantly showing up in my mind.
It’s not even just me. My mom adores her, and she’s Penny’s best friend. Truly, I know for sure that I would be so disappointed if I never saw Whitney again.
