“Is Jim going to be here, or should I come back later?” he mutters awkwardly, still standing in the doorway.
“Sorry, he’s had to go out, so he’s left you in the capable hands of his daughter. Hope that's okay? I know the plans as well as he does. We’ve been working on the ideas for the design together.”
“Oh, okay. Yes, of course, sorry. I didn’t catch your name?” He is so serious and looks annoyed to be dealing with me instead of my dad. Well tough luck, buddy, I know this stuff as well as any man so you're just going to have to deal with me.
“I’m Elena.” I reach out and shake his hand with a firm handshake. “Come on and I'll show you through to the site.” I walk him through the house and out onto the back deck to the backyard.
“Impressive yard,” he calls back to me, taking a look around.
“Yeah, it was the best place to grow up. My brothers and I spent most of our time out here.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. So, Jim wants the villas built starting from this line?”
“That's the one. He’s got some grand plans for an outdoor patio and pool area once you're done, so it can cross over the line. Is that all going to work?”
“No worries. I’m just going to take some measurements and have a look around. You can go inside, I don’t need you for this. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
“Oh, okay, I’ll just be inside then.” I probably should ask him if he wants something to drink, but his attitude towards me has kind of pissed me off so I’ll just make one for myself instead.
I sit at the kitchen counter inside, waiting impatiently for Blake the builder to finish up. This guy is insanely hot, but he seems like kind of a dick. Oh well. Luckily I’m not looking anyway. I inhale my coffee, it smells so good.
I look over at the yard. It really is huge. We were so lucky as kids to have this as our playground. I can't imagine what it's going to look like with these three beach villas all lined up. The pool will be nice when it's finished. I'm looking forward to that part. As kids we had it all. A massive trampoline and a swing hanging from the mango tree, and when it rained, we would get a little creek flowing down the back. We spent most of our time out there playing. My older brother Theo was the leader of all the mischief we got up to, and my twin Drew and I just followed along. The number of times I got the blame for something he orchestrated. Somehow Mum always believed him.
The tree swing was my favourite. I wouldn’t admit this to my brothers, but I would sit in that swing and imagine we were in a fairyland. I was the fairy princess, of course, and all of my fairy friends lived up in the mango tree above. Their tiny houses were the mangos. It makes me sad to think it's all going to be torn down in the next few weeks. It feels like everything in my life is changing so fast at the moment. Things that used to feel so comfortable and safe are gone and now this yard will be too.
I'm an emotional mess. Why am I crying over this? I swipe away the stray tear that escaped with my hand. I’ve got to pull myself together. I’m so emotional at the moment. What’s wrong with me? I never cry.
“Elena, I’m all done.” I flinch, spilling my coffee all over the countertop.
“Sorry, you scared me.” I was in my own little world and didn’t even see that Blake had come back inside and was standing right in front of me. I hop up and start to wipe up the mess.
“Sorry, are you okay?” he asks, trying to help clean up the mess.
“Yeah, I’m fine, you just startled me.”
“It looked like you were upset about something.”
“I’m fine... It's just all the changes to our house. You know, all the memories. I can't imagine coming down here every morning to see villas instead of the yard we grew up in.” I don’t know why I’m feeling this way. I'm a total mess, how embarrassing.
“You still live with your parents?” he utters in surprise, throwing me a raised brow in question.
“Don’t be so judgemental! I am recently back living with them, yes,” I protest, standing my ground. Who does this guy think he is?
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just surprised. You seem like the independent type who’s got it all together, that's all.”
“I am! But things haven’t gone my way lately.” I sigh sadly.
“Shit happens. It couldn’t be all that bad, though, could it?” He offers me a kind smile. "Sorry I was kinda in a bad mood when I arrived here today, family stuff, I shouldn't have been so rude to you, though. I feel bad now."
"It's okay, don't worry about it."
"So, what brings you back home living with your parents, then? If you don't mind me asking." He smiles; his face has softened, and his eyes are now warm and friendly. Maybe I was too quick to judge this guy.
I sigh. "My life kinda fell apart in the space of a day. I was living in Sydney working my dream job as an interior stylist until I threw it all away because I couldn’t work for my dragon boss anymore. Then, would you believe in a cruel twist of fate, I arrived home early to walk in on my fiancé with his face buried in another girl's pussy! Pardon my language. This was three months before we were supposed to get married." His face says it all, shock, pity, sympathy. "So, yeah, I’m back at home living with my
