Chapter Twenty-Six
Caroline
I had just sat down on the couch when I noticed that there was a leak in the ceiling of my front room. It dribbled down the corner of the wall and made a small puddle on the floor. Great. The maintenance crew at the apartment complex was already done for the day, so I knew they weren’t going to get my call until tomorrow morning, and I had no clue how much more damage the leak would have done by then. I grabbed my phone to give Harrison a call. I figured that since he owned a construction company, he may be able to do a little something to hold me over until tomorrow.
“Harrison? Hey.”
“Hey, Caroline. Is everything alright?”
“Yes. Well, yes and no. I am fine, but I seem to have gotten a leak in my ceiling. It must have been due to the rain we got over the past few days.”
“I see. Well, do you want me to come over and take a look?”
“Will you? I know it is last minute, I just don’t want any damage to my things. Maintenance won’t be around until tomorrow.”
“No problem. I am on my way.”
“Thank you.”
I hung up the phone just as the stream of water began to thicken as it dripped down the wall. The apartment complex, for the most part, was pretty well kept. It was a bit on the cheap side because I was unsure of my income before I moved in, but for now, it had to do. At least until my lease was up. I parked myself on the couch and waited for Harrison to show up. About 15 minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I looked through the peephole to make sure it was him. “Hey, Harrison. I’m glad you could come out here.”
He walked inside of my apartment with a small toolbox. “No problem at all. I wasn’t doing anything,” he said as he looked towards the ceiling. He pointed, “Is that it right there?”
“Yup. That’s it. I don’t know how it started, either. I just noticed it before I called you over, so I don’t know how long it has been there.”
He grabbed a chair from the dining room. “May I?”
“Sure. Knock yourself out. However, if you fall, don’t expect to get any money if you sue. This is all at your own risk.”
He laughed as he positioned himself on the chair. “I can manage.” I watched him as he reached towards the corner of the ceiling and felt around the hole. I thought it was sexy how he could come over and fix things whenever I needed him. It added to his attraction. I stole glimpses of his physique as he stood high on the chair. “OK. This is nothing major. Here,” he pointed to the toolbox, “can you grab that little white tube out of there and hand it to me? Please?”
I sifted through his tools until I found what he was looking for, then handed it to him. He squeezed some white putty into the hole and then used a small, spoonlike object to smooth it over. He tapped it with his finger and examined it one more time before he climbed down from the chair. “That’s it. That will hold you over for at least a few weeks. They may have to redo this whole ceiling, though. I imagine that if there was a hole here, another one could pop up any time now.”
“That’s just what I needed to hear.” I exhaled and ran my fingers through my hair. “I knew this place was cheap, but I didn’t expect to get holes in my ceiling within the first month of living here.”
“How long is your lease?”
“Six months. I got it for as long as I thought it would take for me to move out to California.”
“Right.” He slowly grabbed the chair and placed it back into its position alongside the dining room table. I could tell something was wrong with him after I spoke. If we were on the same page, he might have been considering my lease. As of right now, I was still on the fence about whether I should move or not, but my relationship with Harrison complicated the move more than I expected.
“What’s wrong?”
“Um.” He looked away as if he was hesitant to speak.
I stepped closer to him. “Go ahead, Harrison. Tell me what it is.”
“The move,” he said finally. “I was just thinking about your move coming up a little while down the line. Are you still set on going?”
“As of right now, I am. I mean, things could change, but I just don’t know. A lot could change, actually. I guess I am just waiting for some confirmation, one way or the other before I make that decision.”
“What kind of confirmation?”
I walked away from him and took a seat on the couch. I didn’t know that our talk would come like this, but I guessed that it was as good a time as any. “I just want to know where we are headed. I mean, I like you, Harrison. A lot. We have gotten through one of the roughest times in our lives together, and it has been a lot of ups and downs, but I’m comfortable with you. I just don’t want to put my all into something and not know if it will be returned, you know?”
He smiled, then took a seat next to me on the couch. “I understand. I feel the same way. I’ll be honest though; I am afraid of commitment.” As soon as he said those words, I wanted to cry. I guess I had hoped that eventually, we would be together, but it felt like that was just a dream. I braced myself for what he was about to tell me next. “Well, that was before I met you.” He completely changed my train of thought. “After I met you, all of that fear went away. I knew it meant something, especially when I found myself turning women down for you.”
“Turning women down? When was this?”
“At the hotel when you went out with Meghan. A young woman at the bar started flirting with me. Now, normally, I would have taken the bait, but this time, I didn’t. After I had finished my drink, I left the card she gave me on the counter and went back to my room to wait for you to return. Like I said, that kind of behavior is unheard of for me, but now, it just feels natural. It seems right. Knowing that I want to take us as far as we can go. I love you, Caroline. A lot. This is not something that I want temporarily. This is something that I want long-term.”
Tears formed at the bottom of my eyes, and suddenly, I lunged for him and knocked him backward onto the couch. It felt like he just proposed to me, but his words were strong enough to clear the uncertainty from my mind. It was all I needed to hear to let me know that I wasn’t the only one thinking that between us. It was a load off my shoulders. I kissed him on the cheek, then slowly moved to his lips as we sat on the couch. “You don’t know how much it means for me to hear you say that. It is such a relief. I know things felt right between us, but everything that feels right does not mean that it is right, you know?”
“Yes. I know that all too well.”
We sat in the front room talking a little while longer before he decided to head home. “Yeah, it probably is a good thing that you leave. We both have to be up tomorrow for work.”
“How about you take the day off?”
“The day off? Why?”
“You deserve it. You have been working tirelessly ever since you got hired and you have done an excellent job. Take the day off.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am positive. The only thing I require is a dinner date. If we can do that, then everything is square between us.”
“Well…” I closed the gap between us as we stood by the door. “I guess that will be alright.”
“You guess?”
I smiled, then kissed him on the lips. His hand had roamed my body before I brought it to a halt. “No, no, see… that is going to lead to other things, and it is already 11 pm. Besides, we just got another contract, so I know you need to be at work to help get the plans situated. So, let’s save this moment for later. When we both have time to really explore each other the way we want to.”
He mirrored my expression. “Good call, Caroline.” He kissed my lips one last time. “I guess I will see you at dinner?”
“Yes, you will.”
I watched him walk to his car and kept my eye on him until he drove out of the parking lot. It was great that we finally got on the same page with each other. After weeks of worrying, I could finally put that to rest. I grabbed the remote and flopped down on the couch, glancing at the hole that he had fixed a few hours ago. It looked as good as new, but I still wanted to move out of this complex. That was already the third thing that had to be repaired since I moved in, so I knew there would be more before it was all said and done.
Just then, I got another text. I smiled, thinking it was from Harrison, but when I saw Johnathan’s name, all I could do was shake my head. “Are you busy?”
“What is it, Johnathan? I have nothing to say to you.”
Moments later, he called. I didn’t want to answer the phone, but for some reason, I picked up the call. “What is it?”
“Listen.” He took a deep breath. “I just want to apologize for all the things I said to you a while ago. And also, I want to apologize for what I spread at ASU. I was just hurt by everything, and all I wanted you to do was be up-front with me. When you didn’t, I took things too far. I am sorry. I know that won’t make up for everything, but I just wanted you to know that. I did what I could to clear up the rumors, and unfortunately, some people didn’t believe me. But for the most part, your name is pretty clear. Again, I am sorry.”
I felt the sincerity in his voice, and it brought the compassionate side out of me. “I am sorry too, Johnathan. I should have told you in the beginning instead of leading you on the way I did, so as much as I was mad at you, I knew a part of it was my fault, too. So, will you forgive me as well?”
“Absolutely.” There was a pause of silence between us before he spoke again. “Well, that was all I wanted. So, you um, you enjoy the rest of your night, alright?”
“Alright. You as well.”
I hung up the phone with a smile on my face. I guessed that was just more confirmation that I was headed in the right direction with Harrison.