Cameron
We reached the café and I held the door for her. We sat in a booth and the waitress handed us the menus.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” we both said at the same time.
I looked across the table at her as she opened her menu and looked it over. She was by far a very beautiful woman and I enjoyed being around her.
“You mentioned earlier that you had to go apartment hunting. Why?” she asked.
I closed my menu and set it down. “I received a letter yesterday that they are turning the apartments into condos and I either have to buy it or get out.”
“Ouch. That won’t be cheap,” she said.
“I’m not staying in Los Angeles for any length of time, so I’m not buying it. The thing that sucks is it took me a long time to find that apartment. It’s the cheapest I could find.”
“Where are you from?”
“A place I can guarantee you’ve never heard of.” I smiled.
“Try me.”
“Robbinsville, NC. My parents own a house on Lake Santeetlah.”
“You’re right. I never heard of it,” she said.
The waitress finally came over and took our order. I ordered a big breakfast and Sierra ordered two scrambled eggs and fruit.
“What brought you to L.A.?” she asked.
“Work. Things were a little slow in North Carolina, so I bid on a job here remodeling a restaurant. I got it and then it led to a couple home remodels, the Starbucks remodel, and now your lovely home remodel. I was supposed to leave after the restaurant remodel, but then other work started popping up.”
“Do you like it here?”
“In L.A.? Yeah. It took some getting used to. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the traffic. I’ve never seen anything like it. How about you? I’m assuming you were born and raised here?”
She flashed me her beautiful smile. “Yeah. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m a big city girl. L.A., Chicago, New York. If it’s big, has lots of traffic and people and, most importantly, more than ten shoe stores, I’m there.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You think I’m kidding?” She smiled. “I’m very high maintenance.”
“I can tell.”
Her mouth dropped and she made the cutest face. She threw her napkin across the table at me.
“Now that’s not very lady-like, you big city girl.”
“Who said big city girls are lady-like?”
The waitress smiled as she set down our plates in front of us.
“Have a piece of bacon,” I said as I held it up.
“Hell, no. Do you know how much fat is in that piece?”
“That’s what makes it so good.” I smiled as I shoved it in my mouth.
As we ate our breakfast, she kept checking her phone. “Do you ever take a day off?” I asked.
“Huh?” she said as she looked up. “Oh, sorry. I had to answer a couple of emails. Everything’s urgent in the corporate world. Unfortunately, this is my job and it goes with me everywhere I go.”
I gave her a small smile and the rest of our breakfast consisted of me eating and her picking at her food and sending emails. I felt out of place with her. I guess I wasn’t used to corporate women. I only dated small-town girls. Once we finished our breakfast, we walked back to her house. I opened the door to my truck.
“I’m going to head on home. I’ll draw up the plans for the renovations and I’ll have a final price for you on Monday. I’ll drop it off at your office.”
“Before you leave, can you come in the back with me for a minute? I want to show you something,” she said.
I followed her into the back. Kirsty was in the pool.
“Hey, you two.” She waved.
“Hey.” I waved back.
“I have a guest house.” Sierra smiled.
“That’s nice. Do you want that remodeled as well?” I asked.
“No. Not right now, at least. At breakfast, I did some research. The apartments are slim pickings right now. The cheapest one I could find, even twenty miles away, is over $3,000 a month. So, since you’ll be doing work at my house for what’s going to seem like forever, I’d like to offer you my guest house to stay in.”
“You said you were answering emails.” I laughed.
“I didn’t want you to know that I was looking up apartments for you. Plus, I did send a couple emails out to some contacts of mine who are in the real estate business. Unfortunately, things aren’t looking good for you, apartment-wise.”
“Thanks for the offer, Sierra. That’s nice of you, but I can’t stay in your guest house.”
“Why not?” Kirsty said as she walked over to us. “What’s wrong with the guest house?”
“Nothing’s wrong from what I can see. It looks great on the outside.”
“Well, hold on a second and I’ll go grab the key,” Kirsty said.
A moment later, Kirsty came back and inserted the key into the lock. She opened the door and flipped the switch. We walked inside and I was surprised how much bigger it looked on the inside.
“Look; you have everything you need. Living room, small kitchen with appliances, excluding a dishwasher, a not overly small bathroom, and a bedroom that is fully furnished with a queen-size bed and dresser.”
I looked over at Kirsty and smiled. “Are you sure you’re not in real estate? I think you’d be good at it.”
“Hush your mouth. She’s my assistant and, without her, my life would be complete chaos,” Sierra said.
“I appreciate your offer, but I don’t know.”
“Well, it’s up to you. I was just trying to help you out and since you’ll be working here, I thought it would be convenient. Excuse me; I have to take this call.”
She walked out of the guest house and Kirsty slapped me on the chest. “What the hell is the matter with you?” she asked.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
“Listen to me. This whole thing has me freaked out. Sierra doesn’t do shit like this. All she does is work. She barely goes out. She only dates suits.”
“Suits?” I asked in confusion.
“You know, businessmen. Powerful, corporate businessmen. Her life has been turned completely upside down since Ryan left and I’m trying like fuck to get her back on track. So, you are to move into this guest house because she offered it to you. Plus, I won’t have to worry about her as much for a while if you’re right in her backyard.”
“Why do you worry about her?”
“I just do.”
Sierra walked in and told Kirsty that she needed to call a client. Kirsty let out a big sigh before leaving.
“What’s the verdict?” Sierra asked.
“Yes, I’ll take you up on your offer, but you will charge me rent. I won’t stay here for free.”
A big smile fell upon her face. “That’s fine. I can charge you rent. I’ll have Rosa clean this up first thing Monday morning and you can move in Tuesday if you want. Feel free to use the pool and hot tub whenever you’d like and you can use the barbeque.”
“Thanks, Sierra. I appreciate your help.”
“No problem, Cameron.” She smiled.
I said my goodbyes to her and Kirsty and drove back to my apartment. I couldn’t believe that a few days ago, I saw this beautiful woman that was out of my league standing in line at Starbucks and now I was moving into her guest house. I sure hope I had made the right decision. It was bothering me what Kirsty said about Sierra’s life being turned upside down by some dude named Ryan. Also the fact that she only dated rich, corporate men. I needed to put Sierra out of my mind for the rest of the weekend.