The sun is shining through the window in the hallway, which seems a bit odd for the morning. I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen. It's already after noon. Shit, I slept in. I should've been to the shop at quarter to eight this morning. I rush back upstairs to see what percent my phone is. Three percent is good enough to turn it back on and see if I received any calls or texts. I turn my phone on and hear a knock at the door.
I run to the window in the hallway and see Luke's truck parked outside. He must have been trying to reach me all morning. I bet that's why he came here or maybe he came for lunch. Either way, I am excited to see him. I wake up Ris and head down to answer the door. I try to make myself look halfway presentable before opening the front door. I open it to see Luke standing there in his work uniform.
He has on black slacks, a black t-shirt underneath a Rob's Restoration button up with his name on a patch on the side, and his hat is on forward-facing. I haven't seen him wear one of my dad's shop shirts yet. It looks good on him and hugs his muscular arms very nicely. I notice that he has some grease on his arms and face; he must have been working hard this morning.
"Hi, your phone is off, and you weren't at the shop this morning. I couldn't remember if you said you were planning to come in or not today. So, I thought I would come to check on you," he stammers.
I try to pull myself together in the best way I can after just waking up. I can only imagine how disheveled I look right now. My shadow on the ground proves my thought. I look like Beetlejuice!
Slightly embarrassed by my appearance, I reply, "I just woke up, I forgot to charge my phone last night, and it died."
Luke steps into the house and wrangles me by my waist.
"Is Ris still here?" he asks while looking around the house.
"Yea, she's upstairs either sleeping or packing up her stuff," I reply while looking into his gorgeous bluish-green eyes.
Luke kicks his boots off and walks us back to the couch; he smells of Aqua Di Gio, old spice swagger, and a dap of grease. He presses his lips against mine. I don't want to make out with him since I have just woken up and haven't brushed my teeth, but I don't want to deny his affection right now either.
"Ali, Ali, it's Barrett!" Ris yells as she comes barreling into the living room with my phone in her hand.
Luke looks at me, confused, then over at Ris. She is slightly clothed but wearing more than what she had on at the cabin when she barged into our room.
"My boss, Barrett Azguard," I whisper to Luke.
I grab my phone from Ris and go into the kitchen to talk to my boss.
"Good Morning, Barrett," I say.
"Good Morning, Allison! How are you doing?" he replies.
We engage in conversation about how everything is going with me here since I left for my father's celebration of life over a week ago. I receive ten working days of paid leave for such an occasion. I am technically supposed to return to work this Thursday. I tell him about what is going on at my father's business and how it has now been handed down to me. He asks what I plan to do now, and I told him that I honestly did not know because everything is still so fresh. He says that I will always have a job at Facade since I am one of the best new designers there, and a lot of clients specifically ask for me. Barrett mentions that I should take a short leave of absence until I can get everything figured out with my dad's shop. He tells me to come back to the city on Thursday, and we will get the paperwork started with HR for my leave, and he will have IT work on getting something set up so I can work from home. What a great idea! I won't be out of the loop, and it will be like I am still at work, only remotely. I agree with Barrett's proposal and tell him I will see him sometime Thursday afternoon.
I head back into the living room where Ris is laying on the couch watching TV, and Luke is sitting on the bay window, staring outside.
"So, what did the boss man want?" Ris asks as she sits up on the couch.
Luke turns to me, just as interested in what I am about to say.
"I am going back to work Thursday," I reply.
Luke's face saddens, and he looks toward the floor then back out the window. I expected Luke to react this way but was not sure he would be affected at all.
"Barrett is going to have one of the IT guys set me up with a way to bring everything back here so I can take a leave of absence for a while until I figure out what's going on here and with my dad's shop," I say smiling and feeling quite excited.
Luke looks a little upset that I am going back to the city period, but he should be happy that I am here at least another three months. Ris is excited as she has missed me at our little apartment and work. She rushes upstairs to shower and get ready to head back to the city. I walk over to Luke and grab his arm. He puts his hand on my hip.
"Glad to hear that we have some more time to spend together," he says, smiling.
"Yes, I believe we do," I reply.
I give him a peck on the lips
