"My name is Lauren. I'll be serving you this afternoon. What would you like to drink?"
"Dr. Pepper," we both said in sync.
"And do you guys know what you want to eat already or need a few minutes?"
"The clubs, please," Hazel says, handing back the menus.
"Alright, I'll be right back with your drinks."
I do want to get this re-opened as soon as possible, and there is so much to get done. Am I going to be able to open on Monday? Hazel gauges my concern and tries to comfort me.
"We got this. Pick out the paint and we can get it done tomorrow. The furniture we can handle tonight, and then on Sunday, we can install the shelving units."
"Only problem is, all the new books won't come in until Monday, so we might have to open on Tuesday instead. Yeah, we will do Tuesday to make sure everything is set and ready to go without any hiccups," I reply.
The waitress drops off our drinks, and I start to suck mine down. It's nice to have Hazel be so supportive of this decision, whereas if Liam was still around, he would be talking me out of it at every turn. We continue talking and I pull up the shelving units I've found that I like and they have them at Lowe's. I don't necessarily need all new bookcases, but would like to get new ones for the upstairs kid area. I get a white, two shelf bookcase and end up ordering four of them.
"Here you go. Let me know if you need anything else."
We scarf down our food because we wasted almost thirty minutes looking at units and waiting on our food. It's good as always.
"Listen, I'll get back to work, and once I'm done with my emails, I'll head out early. We won't get another case until next week. Might as well take advantage of the free time by using me to pick out awesome chairs," she says.
"Okay, well I'll go to Lowe's and get the paint then."
I give her a kiss and head back over to the house to get my car and use the navigation to get to the store. There are so many streets that are the same, like Cambridge Street, Avenue, Terrace, and so much more. Why would they do this? It's too damn confusing when you aren't from here.
After getting inside, there are so many blues to choose from and I end up going with the color called blue eggshell. It should brighten the room without being too crazy. The damn curtains are coming off the windows, too, when I get back to the store. Why have windows and not utilize them?
I stop by the store, unlock the door, and slip the paint inside before locking back up. Hazel is off and meeting me back at the house to go shopping. Things are going to be more fun with someone tagging along helping me pick out things other people are going to love. They have to be comfortable, sturdy, but also able to be sat in for a long time. We are in search of the perfect chairs.
"Honey, I'm home," I say, walking in the front door to find her already changed into jeans. "Damn, already? Figured you'd need an hour or so."
"Nope, let's go," she says, brushing past me to the car. "I don't waste no time when it comes to shopping."
The next several hours are jampacked at store after store trying to find the right chairs at a decent price. We end up at K's Furniture and Hazel falls in love with this navy reading chair. It swivels and leans back a bit, and it's the width where you can curl up and read.
"This is the one. We have to get it."
I take a look at the tag and smile. "Just in our price range."
The manager takes the tag, and rings up for ten of them to put throughout the store to be delivered on Monday.
"See. I told you everything would work out. Stop stressing. This should be fun for you."
Hazel can see right through me, and I hate it. Sure, I'm stressed, but more so because George is counting on me keeping the store going, and don't want to let him down.
I close my eyes, and mutter to myself. You can do this.
Hazel's phone rings, and I can hear a man's voice. She walks away from me a bit and can't quite make out what she is saying, until her voice jumps an octave. "Wait, are you serious?"
"What is it?" I ask.
"Thanks for updating me, Jayden. I'll talk to you later."
"Is everything okay?" I ask, holding her hands, thinking something is wrong until I see a smile.
"It got overturned. He is getting out. We did it!" She starts squealing, and jumping up and down. All her hard work has paid off, and another innocent man is getting out of wrongful imprisonment because of her.
"Baby, I told you could do it. Do you want to go to dinner and celebrate?"
She bites her lip, and comes a little closer toward my ear. "I was thinking more along the lines of dessert first."
Your wish is my command.