“It’s not that big a deal.”
I squeeze his shoulders gently. “It is. I can’t even stitch a button on, let alone design and make a suit.”
“I’ll teach you.”
My eyes bug out of my head. “How to make a suit?”
He laughs. “How to sew a button on.”
I tap his nose. “You have a naughty streak.”
“Yeah? I guess that’s why I need a big strong man to keep me in line.”
“Fuck, Haru.” I use my fingers to tip his face up so I can kiss him fiercely. “You do things to me.”
He smirks.
“You’ve awoken a side of me I didn’t know existed.”
“Your kinky side?”
“Yes.”
“You’re welcome. I’m happy to help you explore it further.”
“Thank you.” I wrap my other arm around him. I’m starting to feel the cold, so he must be too.
“It’s nice here,” Haru says.
The garden is surrounded by buildings, old and new. Buildings constructed in slabs of stone stand side by side with modern brick and glass ones.
“What kind of buildings do you make?” he asks.
“All sorts. Whatever the company I work for gets contracted to do. Private houses, new build developments, offices, schools. The buildings might be different, but the work is the same. It’s one of the things I like about being a brickie.”
“What else do you enjoy about it?”
“The work is repetitive and calming. I know where I start each day and where I’ve finished, which means I always have a sense of accomplishment. It’s physically tiring but not mentally taxing, so I can go home and enjoy my evenings. My teachers told me I should go to uni to become an architect. They thought I should design buildings instead of building them.”
“But you didn’t want to?”
“No. I want to feel an ache in my muscles at the end of the day. You don’t get that sitting behind a drafting table or a computer all day.”
“I’m glad you’ve found something you love.”
“I do. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
“And the world will always need brickies.”
I chuckle. “That’s true. They’ll always need clothing designers too.”
“I hope so.” He looks up at the sky. “I didn’t think it would be this hard to find a new job.”
“Something will come up. You’re too talented to be out of work for long.”
“You still haven’t seen any of my designs. For all you know, I’m the worst clothing designer ever.”
“I know that’s not true. You’re too amazing for that to be true.”
