Chapter Thirty – NOW

 

 

The next morning over bagels for breakfast, I show Kyle the email I received last night before I joined him in the shower.

“I think I need a bigger place,” I say.  “And this looks perfect.  There’s room for Celia to have her space, for Matilda to play and have a swing set, and for us… if we decide to take things to the next level,” I say, adding the last past an octave quieter.

He looks over the email and then clicks on the pictures.  “It’s nice,” he replies, nodding.  “Funny, ‘cause I’d been thinking about it, too, but I didn’t want to scare you off,” he adds with a charming grin.

“Never,” I tease.

“We need a bigger home, though,” he states.  “In the next year or two, I’m going to make you my wife.  Then you’re going to make me a dad.”

“Really?” I squeak.

“Yep.”

My heart flutters in my chest with excitement.  I so want that.  I want all of it.

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Good.  So call the realtor.  Let’s see when we can check it out,” he encourages.

I dial the number on the email and wait with baited breath.

“Hello, Melissa speaking.”

“Hi, this is Olivia. I received an email about a house for sale in Greenwich.  It’s a five bedroom, two level home.”

“Yes, that’s correct.  What can I tell you about it, Olivia?”

“My partner and I would really love a viewing.  When can that happen?”

“Well, if you’re free this morning, I can show it to you at eleven?”

“Oh, wow. Um, yes, that would be great!”

“Excellent.  Give me your cell number, and I’ll text you the address.”

I give her my details and end the call.  Seconds later a text comes through with the address, and I tell Kyle.

“Better get ready then,” is his reply.

 

The house we are viewing is just ten minutes from Kyle’s, and roughly the same from mine.  We arrive a few minutes before eleven and check out the yard while waiting for Melissa.  It looks like a nice street, every house is clean and the lawns are manicured.  Some kids are playing a few houses down, and I really like the family-orientated vibe I’m getting.

“You must be Olivia?” a lady says, as she walks out the front door and onto the porch.  She’s dressed in a black skirt and matching jacket.  Her short, blonde hair is styled and she looks friendly.

“I am. Melissa?”  I walk up the steps to greet her.

“Yes, lovely to meet you.”  She shakes my hand.

“This is my partner Kyle,” I say, introducing them.

“Okay, come on in and I’ll show you through.”

Once we walk inside, directly to our right, is a large bedroom with a bathroom beside it.  It has beautiful French doors that open up onto the front porch.  Further inside is a beautiful big great room, with wood fireplace surrounded by a stone feature wall, and massive windows overlooking the backyard.  The lawn is beautifully green and lush with large, shady trees and there’s even a fire pit.

“The kitchen is just beautiful, isn’t it?” Melissa says as she shows us through the dining area and into the generous L-shaped kitchen, with marble countertops and an enormous oven, complete with a pantry the size of my current bathroom!

“Wow!” I murmur.  “It’s stunning.”

“This door leads into the two-car garage,” she says, opening a door off the kitchen, before showing us through the laundry and out onto the back deck where a large Jacuzzi proudly sits. Then we go back inside and Melissa leads us upstairs.

Another four generously sized bedrooms await us, all with walk-in closets, along with two more bathrooms – one off the master bedroom, and another between two of the other bedrooms.  There is also a small study and a reading nook overlooking the street below.

I turn to Kyle.  “I’m in love,” I state.

“Babe, we’ve only looked at this house,” he replies softly, trying to be the voice of reason.

“I don’t need to look at any others. This is it.”

“I’ll leave you two to discuss for a moment,” Melissa kindly offers and she disappears down the stairs.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” I reply with a nod.  “Honey, I love it.  I feel like this is home.  There’s room for Celia, and Matilda will love reading in the nook.  Plus, there’s space and two spare bedrooms for when we have babies,” I say.

His eyes go soft.

“The yard is beautiful.  We could even get married here,” I say, voicing the visions I had the minute I looked out the windows of the great room.

His mouth claims mine. “Let’s put an offer in.”

 

I squeal a little and then he takes my hand and we rush down the stairs to find Melissa.

We decide not to tell Matilda, but we do tell Celia.  She’s excited and I show her the pictures on my phone that I snapped before we left.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she says in awe as she swipes through the photos.

“Fingers crossed.”  I smile, holding up my hand with two of my fingers twisted.  “We should have an answer within the week.”

“Excellent.  Oh, your mother called while you were in the bathroom,” she says.

“I better call her back then.”  I call out to Matilda, knowing my parents will want to talk to her too, then I dial their number.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, Liv.  How are you?”

“Great!  We’re looking forward to the party,” I say, avoiding tell her about the house.  I’ll tell her if and when our offer is accepted.

“Excellent. It’s coming up fast, just two weeks away.  When do you think you’ll be arriving?”

“Our flights are booked for the tenth,” I tell her.  Matilda looks up at me with excited eyes.  “Matilda wants to say hello.”

I hand the phone to my daughter and let her chat for a little while.  Then I talk again for a few minutes more before ending the call.  I’m looking forward to seeing my family.  I haven’t seen my siblings in a couple of years, and it’s been almost a year since I saw my parents.  We’re booked in for a five night stay at the Marriott and I can’t wait to see the Falls.

 

Monday comes around fast, and when I check my emails, I discover a host of angry emails from a single customer.  In fact, she has emailed eleven times, and each email details the exact same complaint.  Why send eleven emails?  Why not just one?

My name is Dawn, and I was treated extremely poorly on Saturday by one of your employees at the Doonside store.  Not only was I ignored for a full five minutes, but when I finally gained the attention of the employee, she was rude and barely helpful.  If I’m going to spend my money in a store, I expect the upmost respect and kindness.  I won’t be visiting your store again, and I suggest you see to it that your employee finds work elsewhere.

 

Each email is the same complaint, just different wording.  I read them all, before replying to her with an apology and offer her a gift voucher for the inconvenience.  Finally, lunch break comes and I meet Meg at the café near the office. I arrive first, so I order while I wait for her.  Minutes later my food arrives, and seconds after that, Meg slides into the chair across from me.

“Don’t judge,” I warn as she eyes my plate with judgy eyes.

“Wasn’t going to say a word.”

I stab my slice of chocolate cake with my fork and bring it to my lips. 

“You’re having cake for lunch?” she questions.

“It’s a chocolate kind of day,” I mutter, sipping my chocolate shake.

“Well, I won’t let you suffer alone,” she says as she orders the same as me.  I laugh at my friend’s dedication.  “How was your weekend?”

“Good. Great, actually.”  I pull out my cell and bring up the realtor email.  “Kyle and I put an offer on a house.”

“What!” she gapes.  “Oh, my god.”  She grabs the phone from me and looks at the picture.  “Wow, Liv. It’s beautiful.  I hope you get it!”

“Me too.  I’ve already started planning in my head,” I admit through a laugh.  “It’s not far from your place, either.  Maybe two minutes.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Enough about me.  How was your weekend?”  I finish off my cake while she talks.

“Good.  Mike and I spent the weekend together.  We had sex.  It was… uninspiring,” she says with a sigh.

“That sucks.” I frown. 

“Yeah, but the positive is, he’s really good with his mouth.  Like, really good.”

“That is a positive,” I agree through a breath of laughter.

We finish off our lunch while chatting some more and then make our way back to the office. 

“I was dreading you going away next week,” she says as we reach the elevators.  “I need our lunchtime catch-ups to keep me from going insane thanks to my boss.  But, turns out, he’s going on vacation before you and won’t be back for three weeks.”

“That’s good.  It’ll be a lot less stressful for you.”

“Yep, and I’ll finally get a chance to show management how capable I am.”

Meg’s boss has a habit of treating her like an intern.  He basically spends his days ordering her to get coffee, or to make sure the copiers are full of paper.  She’s so talented and creative, but he’s too much of an ass to see past his own ego.

“See you tomorrow,” I say as we exit the elevator and go our separate ways.

When I return to my desk and log in to my computer, I groan.  There’s an email from Dawn, the lady responsible for this morning’s eleven emails.

 

Olivia, I can’t say I’m thankful for your generic emailed response.  A little humility would go a long way in ensuring your apology has the desired effect.  The offer for the gift voucher, while thoughtful, is unwanted.  Accepting it would mean entering your store again, and as I said in my original emails, that won’t be happening.

Good day.

 

I scroll down to find my reply attached and I scan through it again

 

Hi Dawn, thank you for your email.  I’m so very sorry that you had an unpleasant experience at our Doonside store.  I will definitely contact the store manager and ensure that employees are made aware of your concerns.  Your feedback helps us improve, so thank you.  I would like to extend a gift voucher to you for your troubles, in the amount of $50.  Please let me know your postal address.

Regards,

Olivia Blakely

 

Ugh. What an ungrateful bitch.  I don’t see how my reply couldn’t have the desired effect.  Some people just can’t be pleased.  Rather than replying to her again, I move on to the next email.