Famous? Just a little.

8 Decorating

Amy and I both couldn't wait for the furniture to arrive. Every day at least one of us wondered when it was going to happen. On Friday we got the call. We both didn't have to work the next day, so we ordered it for the morning. They arrived on Saturday and Amy opened the door.

"Finally!" she said to the two men standing in front of it. "Do you know how long we waited for this furniture?"

"Is it that important for you?" one of them asked.

"It has different reasons," I explained. "Come in." I coughed and quickly closed the door behind the men. I was freezing and I had a sore throat since I got up.

After they had carried everything in, we decided to call Colin and Bradley straightaway. I took my phone, I would do it, as I had Colin's number. I hesitated.

"What?" Amy asked.

"I'm nervous," I admitted.

"Do you want me to do it?"

I thought about it, then shook my head. "No." I called him. After a short while I heard his voice.

"Hello?" My heart immediately made a little jump.

"Hi, Colin. It's June."

"Oh, hi, June. How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?" Next to me, Amy shook her head.

"I'm fine as well, thank you." There was silence for the next three seconds. "Is that why you called me?" he asked then. I could hear that he was smiling.

"Oh no, sorry." I was glad he couldn't see me blushing. "I, um, just wanted to tell you that our furniture has arrived. If you would like to help us decorating, you could tell us which time would be best... But of course you don't have to! Don't feel forced!" Amy rolled her eyes at me.

"No, it's fine. We told you we would like to do it. I have rehears... er, I mean I have to work today. But I'm done in late afternoon. I could ask Bradley if he has time and then call you back."

"That would be great."

We ended the conversation and I told Amy what he had said. We sat next to my phone for almost 25 minutes, before it started ringing.

I wanted to take the call, but Amy grabbed the phone and held it away from me. "No!"

"What?"

"Wait a few moments," she said. "He is not supposed to think that we sat here and waited for him to call us."

"But that's exactly what we did."

"I know. But if you let him wait it looks like you've been busy. It makes you interesting."

I shook my head. "I'm not doing that. Give me the phone."

"No!"

"Amy!"

We had what Merlin and Arthur would call "horseplay" when I tried to get it back, till I finally won and could talk to Colin. He told me Bradley and himself had time to come over to our place tonight, so they would get here after work, if that was alright for us. Of course it was.

And that's what happened. They arrived and took a look at our furniture, first of all. Maybe I should describe it to you, as it was pretty special.

In terms of furniture I liked old-fashioned stuff. I told you I grew up in the countryside - we kept a couple of cows, goats and chicken at home, so you could almost call it a farm. I used to spend a lot of time outside when I was a child. My dad and I even listened to country music. I suppose that shaped me.

As usual Amy preferred something entirely different. She liked modern stuff, an impression of urban elegance. We combined it.

She chose a black leather couch with a small glass table. I chose the big shelf and the TV-sideboard - both made of light-coloured almost white wood, rustic, with ornate elements. I also decided for curtains, pillows and a carpet with soft floral prints. Amy picked a high dining table with bar stools, also black. We got a black-and-white picture of New York to decorate the wall, as well as a clock that looked as if it was hundreds of years old.

It might sound weird, but the contrast actually made it interesting and special. It was chic and cosy at the same time. The extravagance of city life mixed with country charm. That's how I described it in my diary. I felt like I had written a furniture magazine afterwards.

Remember the time when I said in our own way, being so different, Amy and I complemented each other? Well, with the furniture it was exactly the same.

"How do you like it?" Amy asked the guys, talking especially to Bradley.

"It's different. But cool. I think with the right decoration it'll look great at the end." He walked around the room, trying to look professional. "I think the sofa should be over there. "

"No." Colin shook his head. "It should definitely stand over there."

Amy thought about it. "I'm afraid I agree with Colin at this point. Sorry, Bradley."

Bradley looked like she had offended him personally. "Now that really hurts me, Amy." He dramatically placed his hand on his heart. Then he turned to me. "June, what do you say?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Please think carefully about what you say next. Consider the possibility that you make Bradley cry." Colin grinned.

"I will make you cry, Cole, if you keep saying things like that."

"Oh no." Colin pretended to be scared. "Don't hurt me!"

Amy and I laughed. It was great having them here.

"Okay," I said. "Why don't we start with the bookshelf? We can hardly put it in the middle of the room and we can't forget the windows too, so I guess the best place for it is... here." I pointed at one of the walls. Surprisingly, everyone agreed with me, so we discussed the table next and put both to the right place then. That's how it started.

The next time was really funny. Colin and Bradley went around and pretended to be experts in decorating, though all of us knew they weren't. They said something about the acoustics of the room, the flooring and other nonsense and we acted quite silly and said things like "Oh, good to know that" or "Your knowledge is really impressing", while we tried not to laugh about the "technical terms" they made up. They had to move every piece of furniture for about five times till everyone was satisfied. I have to say the room looked really good in the end, although no one of us had any actual idea of decorating.

"Thank you for your help," I said.

"It's been great having some experts here," Amy added.

Bradley sighed. "It's been fun. But I think we should tell you the truth."

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I'm updating today because I've got already 300 reads and I want to show you that I appreciate it.
It might not be the best chapter so far but I hope you like it anyway. The end is pretty much a cliffhanger, I know. I'm sorry, but I have to keep your interest (does it work?).
So what do you think will happen? Are Colin and Bradley really telling them the truth about their job? And how would June and Amy react to that? Are they revealing their own secret...? :)
Vote and comment if you want to know the answers.
Do you actually like the furniture? Just wondering :)

Niska