Amari
"Well thank you for this." I said grabbing my clothes from Tyler.
He sat the bag of burgers and fries he had bought for everyone down.
"No problem." He said awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Thank you for looking after Danielle."
"No problem." I mumbled looking around. "Did we have a meeting Today?"
"No." Tyler shook his head. "I was just coming to check on how far you've gotten."
We had already started working on his Hotel. I wanted to get it done ahead of schedule because knowing him, he'd have some things he'd want changed at last minute.
"Well, I'm having someone look at your pipes before we start with the new bathroom stuff. Might have an electrician swing by Today as well, but that's probably gonna be it." I said looking over my clipboard. "Is there anything you want done Today specifically?"
"No." He shook his head looking around. "I think you got this."
He started to leave, but paused at the door.
"Actually, when do you think you'll have the lobby furniture?" He asked.
"In here or just in general?" I asked flipping some pages on the clipboard.
"In general." He said. "I want to see them before they're here because I'm thinking about getting floor to ceiling windows put in down here for more natural lighting. I might want to change the entire color pallet, actually."
"I can take you to see them..." I scanned the papers. "Thursday."
"Alright. That's a plan." He nodded.
"Alright." I said.
"Enjoy the rest of your day." He said.
"You too." I mumbled and he left.
"Where do you want me to put this?" A worker asked.
"Uhm... Follow me."
Tyler
Enjoy the rest of your day? Really?
She can't enjoy the rest of her day because I have her working on the hotel all day.
"Hey!" I heard someone call and I turned to see who it was.
It was Justin.
"Hey." I waved at him.
"Is Amari still here?" He asked.
"Yeah." I nodded glancing at the bag of food in his hand. "Bringing her lunch?"
"Yeah, I am." He nodded.
"I actually just bought them all lunch." I said. "You know, to show gratitude for them getting started so quickly."
"Really?" He asked nodding his head. "Well, I'll still take her this."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Some homemade pasta." He said. "What'd you bring?"
"Hamburgers." I said.
"That's cool." Justin shrugged. "But it's no homemade pasta."
"I guess not." I faked a laugh.
"Anyway, I'll see you later." He waved walking away.
"Yeah." I waved back.
Amari
"What an ass..." Justin mumbled walking into the building.
He looked around until his eyes landed on me and he smiled.
"I bought you some lunch." He said pulling Tupperware from the bag he was holding.
"Ooh. Pasta does sound good right now." I said grabbing it from his hands and kissing him. "Thank you."
"What about your hamburger?" He asked.
"What?" I asked before realizing. "Oh. I'm not eating that. It smells great, but probably has poison in it."
"Poison? Why would Tyler be trying to poison you?" Justin laughed.
I thought about it before shaking my head.
"No reason." I said. "You got a fork?"
"Nope." He said. "I forgot it."
"Nice." I nodded. "How am I supposed to eat this?"
"With this." He pretended to pull a fork from behind my ear and I snatched it from him.
"You're a loser." I said pulling my phone out and texting the group chat of workers that it was lunchtime.
"That's effective?" Justin asked.
"Yeah. They all have their phones." I said. "Either listening to music or talking on them."
Tyler
"What a douche..." I mumbled getting into my car. "It's no homemade pasta. Asshole."
I started the car and sped off.
Who does he think he is?
Guy gets deployed a few times and thinks he's above everyone else.
For his information, Hamburgers are Amari's favorite and I got them from her favorite restaurant.
Thursday
"Right over here." Amari said leading me through the warehouse and to the white and gold furniture I wanted. "What do you think?"
"I mean..." I trailed off studying it. "I'll have to see it in a natural lit setting since that's how the lobby is going to look."
"Yeah..." She nodded. "I can have someone move it over to the hotel Today and you can have that full effect. Alright?"
"Sounds like a plan." I nodded.
The more we saw each other, the more civil we became. She was actually treating me like a client and I was returning the respect she would give me.
We'd continue communicating about the plans even when we weren't together. I sort of missed her during those times.
"Okay. Nathan will transport the couch." She said walking back over to me. "All we have to do is meet him at the hotel."
"Alright." I nodded.
The plumbing was nearly complete and the flooring was being pulled up. At this rate, my Hotel could be done by April if not late March. She had a lot of man power going into this.
"What about the paintings I asked you to get for me?" I asked.
"Working on it." She said. "The soonest we can have them in our possession is by the end of the month, but I have Lisa talking to them about getting it here earlier."
"Great." I nodded.
"Okay. He's about to come in and get the couch. We can head out now." Amari said walking away.
I watched the way her hips swayed perfectly before following her.
Stop. You're a married man and she has a boyfriend.
Not that you care too much about him.
How had I gone from hating her to wanting her so quickly?
I guess I never really got closure on us.
"So we're meeting at the Hotel?" I asked going over to my car.
"Yes..." Amari said typing on her phone. "See you over there."
We both got into our own cars and began the drive to the hotel.
Amari
I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't say anything.
All he had to do was see this couch in the lobby of the hotel and then I could go home and handle other business.
"Sit it right..." I walked around to see where the light would hit the best. "Here."
Nathan and his buddy moved the couch to where I said and Tyler stepped back to examine it.
"What's your vision for it?" He asked crossing his arms.
"I don't know." I smiled nervously. "This is a beautiful space already, but what I'm about to do with it..."
"Just give me a quick run down." Tyler said turning his full attention to me.
"Okay." I laughed walking over to the couch and staring at it. "Polished floors. Like, crazy polished to the point you can see the individual light fixture's reflections. Soft white lights with white furniture and granite floor panels and walls."
I looked over to the walls.
"Or..." I started again. "Hardly polished floors with dark wood furniture and wall patches. White furniture still and keep the floor to ceiling windows, but cut into squares. You know?"
He went to say something, but a held a hand up and stopped him.
"Light wood furniture, golden lights, polished floors, light fixtures on the walls, potted plants, the white furniture, and a single textured painting above the couches..." I nodded. "Yeah. Something like that."
I turned to look at him, but he was already staring at me.
"Go for it." He said.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Go for it. Go ahead and do whatever you want." Tyler said looking around. "I trust your judgement."
We both froze and allowed his words to hang in the air.
He trusted me? Still? After all that had happened?
"Are you..." He cut me off.
"I'm sure. I'm positive." He nodded.
"Okay." I smiled at him. "Alright."
"Okay." He nodded.
After we got everything settled and figured out we headed out and started on our own ways.
"You know Hunter's home." Tyler said as we walked over to our cars that were parked beside one another.
"Really? He didn't even text me." I said.
Hunter had been keeping me updated on his travels and his life. We had fallen off for a while at the beginning, but when he saw me at a store, he set things straight. He told me that he didn't care how bad things were between Tyler and me. He'd always be my brother and if I said anything different, he and Angel would pull up and fight me.
"Yeah. He's staying at my Mom's house if you feel the urge to go visit." He said staring at his feet. "Mom kind of misses you too."
"Maybe I will." I said. "If I ever find the time to."
"Okay. I'll let them know." He said. "See you Tomorrow?"
"Actually, I was gonna have Lisa show up without me. I was gonna have her take over the entire process for a three days." I said. "Justin and I are driving out of town for his Mom's birthday."
"Oh." He nodded. "Have fun, then."
"Thanks." I nodded. "Bye."
"Bye."
He watched me drive off before he got in his own car.