Page 26 of Ever After

Lia picks up quickly. It only had to ring once. “Wow, I was starting to think I was chop liver to you now that you met some fancy guy on your fancy vacation.” I knew she would have some smart-aleck remarks. That’s why we get along so well. We are always straightforward with each other and not one of us gets mad about it.

We’ve been friends since our elementary school days. She knows everything about me, and I know everything about her. Both of us grew up without a father and neither of us had siblings. Our similarities connected us, and we’ve been inseparable since. The only difference between us is she never settled down young, and I did. I was worried it would change our friendship, but thankfully, nothing has come between us.

She’s much more carefree that I am and decides on a whim without thinking of the consequences. She deals with those later. Growing up with a single parent had its benefits. She knew she never would depend on a man. Education was important to her, that way she knew she would have a good job to provide for herself if anything were to happen and she ended up alone. At times, her mom struggled to make ends meet after Lia’s father walked out on them. Lia was only a toddler. Supposedly, it was too much for him to handle. Her parents were eighteen when they started dating, and never had a clue in the world what to do next after high school. What they didn’t think would come next was a baby.

“I know. I’ve left you out of the loop. A lot has gone on in such a short amount of time. I would still rather tell you everything in person.”

“Fine. I’m assuming you made it to his house?”

“Yes.”

“How is it?”

I’m debating if I should tell her his house is empty. She’s going to think he set me up since she doesn’t know him. Lia is already iffy about this whole situation, even though she wants me to get out of my comfort zone. Believe me, this is way out of my comfort zone.

“It’s a nice house. He just moved in, so there’s a lot of unpacking and decorating to do. He also needs to get more furniture.”

“So, you’re going to play house with him?”

“No. But I will help him. He’s been there for me when he didn’t have to be. It’s the least I can do.” Hearing a noise coming from behind, I turn, and look over and see Jay standing by the sliding door.

He stops in his tracks. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were on the phone,” he says, whispering.

“It’s okay. I’m going to get off.” He shakes his head and walks back into the house. “Lia, can I call you later?”

“You know you won’t call me later. You’re too busy playing house,” she says sarcastically.

“Love you too. I’ll talk to you later.”

When I walk back into the house, I find Jay in his office.

“Hey,” I say.

“Good morning,” he says. “Anything you want to do today?”

“It would be a good idea if we get you some furniture.” I look around his office and note there isn’t much in here, either. There’s only a small desk and a chair. I immediately second guess my idea. What if we run into people he knows? I could say I’m his interior designer.

“Sounds like a plan.” He gives me a wink. “I’ll finish some work while you get ready.”

The clothes I brought were enough to last a week. I’m having a hard time finding something to wear. Everything has already been used. At least I brought enough bras and underwear. I usually always bring extras just in case.Just in case what? I pee my pants?I think to myself. Who knows, but I guess it’s a good thing I did. Never know when you’re going to meet a stranger on vacation andplay housewith him. Always expect the unexpected.

I feel like we’re going through a maze as we zig zag through the furniture store. It has everything anyone could possibly need for a house. Jay wasn’t too sure what to get. On the way over here, I was showing him some ideas on Pinterest. “What do you want to look at first?” I ask.

“Let’s go with the big items to get those out of the way. I can take my time with decorating.” He grabs my hand and leads me to the dining room tables. I’m hesitant at first to reciprocate hand holding. We’ve never held hands before. I figured he’d be worried in case we run into someone, but I’m assuming he doesn’t care.

Jay finds a washed-out dining room table pretty quickly. I told him it would be easier to decorate around neutral colors. His couch is already a light gray color. Jay grabs my hand again and we head over to the couches to find a coffee table. I’m surprised at how comfortable I am holding his hand out in public.

As we are walking over to the couches we both take a seat on one of them and put our feet up on one of the coffee tables in front of us. Jay rests his head on my shoulder. I bring my hand up and run my fingers through his hair. A soft yawn comes from him.

“Are you tired?”

I feel Jay’s head nod. I look down at him and his eyes are kind of closed.

“What time did you wake up?”

“Five o’clock.”

“Why did you wake up so early?”

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