“Not in the studio.” He laughs before pointing to the house. “In there. I’m going to set it up in the morning. I made sure there wasn’t anything wrong with the plumbing or electrical yesterday.”
That bit of information is shocking. That’s normally something I would do. He hands off all those tasks to me. Maybe he’s practicing for the week I’ll be gone. Either way, it still kind of hurts that he didn’t put me in charge of that.
“That’s great.”
“Yeah. Speaking of, I’ll need you to distract her while I spend time out here getting everything set up.”
“Why do I have to distract her?”
Not that I’m not capable, but it feels weird to have me do it.
“Well, not just her.”
Good gravy. I would have rather dealt with the utility people. How in the hell did I get turned into a glorified babysitter?
“I’ll lead them in a particular direction then I’ll leave them to their own devices.”
He sighs, but knows he’s asked too much of me. “Actually, we may send them to Dallas for a bit. Tell them we need them to pick out some stuff for the studio. It’s not technically a lie.”
“See two birds one stone.” This is an option I’m encouraging because as much as I love everyone, it’s not how I want to spend my day.
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”
“Glad you figured it out.” And it means I’m off the hook for entertaining people for the day. Besides at some point today I need to start packing and looking for a place to stay while we’re here.
Even though I doubt things will progress past friendship with Paula, I don’t want to hang out with her in a house full of band members. They aren’t bad to hang out with…but they have a tendency to be loud for no reason. There’s always an instrument being played or random signing throughout the house.
Honestly, it’s a lot like how it was when I hung out with my theatre crew in high school. Now that I think about it, it’s probably the reason I feel so comfortable there. But alone time is a necessity. I know Paula has been around a loud intruding family most of her life, but it seems like it’s not what she likes to surround herself with at this point in time.
“Let’s get some of this stuff done.”
I have no clue what he’s talking about, but I’ll do whatever he points out. Most of the work on the studio is being done by the construction crew. There are things in the house that most likely need to be done, especially with his big event planned for this evening. Hopefully itall turns out great for him. I know his girlfriend will love it no matter what he does.
The bell above the door of Whoopsie Daisy rings as I struggle to open it. The bags are awkward to hold as I shove my way through. The group of people hovering around the counter tells me this is probably a bad idea. I definitely should have called before I showed up with food.
Both Paula and Emily are taking care of folks at the counter, and I hang back until they get through as many people as they can. I knew Valentine’s Day would be busy for them, but I never thought they’d be slammed like this.
People seem to go all out on showing their partners they care about them this one day during the year. Maybe they should do it year-round so they don’t have to run themselves ragged.
From the outside looking in, it might seem like I’m hating on them, but I’m not. I’ve never been in a serious relationship during this holiday. Or in a while to be perfectly honest. Getting burned by one person too many will do that to a guy.
“What are you doing here?” Paula’s voice breaks through my thoughts.
Shaking my head to snap out of the state of my love life, I smile and lift up the bags.
“You said you hadn’t had a chance to eat. I’m here to remedy that.”
She eyes almost bursting bags. “Did you buy the whole restaurant to feed me?”
“No.” I readjust my hold on the handles. “I figured if you hadn’t eaten, nobody else had either. I just hope it’s enough food for everyone.”
Paula glances to Emily and has some sort of silent conversation. After a few seconds, she moves to an area of the counter and lifts it up. She nods for me to come back, and I do. She closes the counter and moves to my side before sidling up next to me.
“You didn’t have to do this.” She points to the bags in my hands.
Worry that I’ve overstepped gnaws at me. I have a feeling most people in her family haven’t done anything to help Paula. At least, not without it pertaining to the business.
“I know. But you said you hadn’t eaten, and you didn’t know when you’d get a chance to grab lunch.” I hold up the bag in question. “Now you don’t have to think about it.”
