The Road Trip

Chapter 23: Secret Plans

This update is dedicated to KhatelynObuta and boojoie ... You have been asking me nicely to update...so here it is.. A special shoutout to my hun, salvatore26 ... you have your special moment here btw..

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Travis' POV

I have been working on the house that I wanted to build for Jackie and I. Our love nest is already taking shape and my parents were delighted that I was already taking steps in making sure that Jackie and I were going to tie the knot sooner than later. 

My staff has been wondering who this secret client was. I never told them anything about Jackie yet. I wanted to surprise them as well. Whenever the guys would go out for drinks, I'd refuse their invitation and work on the blueprints with my architect and engineer friends instead. She wanted to have the rustic-feel of a lake house and I am going to deliver just that. I bought a land that was facing a lake just an hour drive away from my own pad and I wouldn't mind leaving my old house for this one. 

It was a breathtaking site to behold. It was a two-storey  house fronting the lake and we were going to have a deck built. I always fancy waking up in the morning sitting on the deck, having breakfast with the girl that I was going to spend the rest of my life with. There were four bedrooms including the master bedroom and three spare ones. The interior was painted with white that contrasted the wooden theme of the whole house to give it a more spacious feel. 

Looking at the house made me feel giddy. Yes me, a grown bearded man giddy just because of the fact that this was my girl's dream house.  I couldn't wait for her to come to Canada and spend some time with me during Christmas. Me and her sitting in front of the fireplace, making plans of what we would do during the wedding and where we'd go for the honeymoon. 

"It sure is creepy for a guy to keep on smiling by himself," my best friend Dylan came. He was bringing some beer over while we were going to discuss the floor plan for the house. 

"Well, if you had a girl like mine, you wouldn't mind smiling all day."

I stood up and got the beer that he handed me. We were sitting in the living room and the sofas were moved to the side to give us a bigger room in working. Dylan and I had a deadline to meet in making the house. I have to finish it before Jackie comes in the winter so that a friend of mine who did pretty well in interior designing could check it out and work on it. 

"So does she know it already?" he asked as we checked on the blueprints.

"What part of surprise don't you get?" came my sarcastic reply.

"Actually, this is something that's so grand for you, bro. I never thought I'd see this day. You settling down with a girl who's got a golden heart."

It was true. Dylan and I had those days of being bad-ass kids who didn't care much of who was crying after we left them. We were known to be the heart breakers in high school and went on living the reputation til we both got to uni. 

"Jackie is so special dude. That visit to the Philippines made me see a different kind of life that I never thought existed. She was just there waiting for someone to open her heart up after being hurt by that dumb excuse of an ex. He played with her and when I saw that guy, I swore I wanted to kick his butt but Jackie just looked at me and that look told me that she didn't want any trouble." I stood and got my phone from the table. I opened my gallery and checked our photos together.

"Ugh... look at you, getting all sappy and getting misty-eyed just looking at the picture of the both of you."

"Once you'll find your own girl that you would like to settle down with, you're going to be all sappy, lover boy!"

Yeah. I wouldn't mind getting mushy despite this muscular build that I had. Jackie's smile gets me every time. Makes my defenses go crumbling down and my heart all mushy. I was looking at the picture that we took in the water park together. She was just wearing her bikini top and her short pants, her hair tied up and she was wearing her sunglasses.I, on the other hand, was holding the phone, shirtless and was just embracing her from behind. Her carefree smile in the picture made me miss her more. I miss kissing her head before sleeping at night. I miss holding her close. 

Just when I was about to sit down, there was a knock on the door. I went to the door and saw the person that I've been waiting for to arrive. Jackie didn't know any of this and this was going to be a surprise when she finally comes to Canada.

"Hey Travis! It's good to finally meet you in person and not on Skype," came Jona's greeting.

"I thought you weren't coming. Come in, " I took her luggage inside. "Sorry I couldn't pick you up from the airport. I was really beat from the office today and I had to continue making sure the floor plans were taking shape."

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm a big girl. No need to fuss about me."

I led her to the living room where Dylan was waiting. His back was turned to us and he was looking intently on the floor plans. "Hey, Dylan. We got company."

"Who is it...now?" was his reply as he looked at Jona. It looked like Jona captured Dylan's interest.

"Oh... where are my manners. I'm Jona, Jackie's best friend. I'm here to help out with the interior designer."

He hastily wiped his hand on his shirt before he handed his hand to her for a shake. "I'm Dylan...uh... Travis' wing man...I mean right hand."

It was a sight to see that Dylan was shutting up for once. He was keeping his eye on Jona for the rest of the time that he was holding her hand. He's got it bad and he doesn't even know it. He was already holding her hand too long and I had to clear my throat to save Jona from further embarrassment. 

"Sorry... uh.. would you like to see the plan that we made for their love nest?"

"I'd love to."

The two of them were talking quietly as I just stood beside them. Dylan was surely not expecting that Jona was coming over. I actually asked her to come to Canada for a short while to help me choose the furniture and other accessories that Jackie might like for the house. I was lucky that she was there to help. The three of us had an interesting discussion during dinner and when it was time to sleep, Jona surprisingly stayed a bit longer to talk with Dylan. 

Other than making a house for me and Jackie, I think I'll just make my girl prouder with my matchmaking skills.