Charlotte
I get off the phone with Tommy, turn around, and see Jarvis staring at me with an enigmatically irritated look on his face. "Sorry. I needed to take that."
"How is Tommy lately, anyway?"
"He's fine." I bite my lip. Why do I feel guilty?
Last night, I finally took Isabella's advice and kissed Tommy. He was right. Doing something helped rather than sitting and thinking about it. It's weird. I understand emotions and when other people feel them, but I can't bring myself to talk about anything romantic. I'm not even sure what I feel for Tommy, but I do know I'm attracted to him. Plus, he's always been there minus that tiny amount of time when he was upset with me. But this past year has brought us closer. I trust him, which is a big deal.
The same cannot be said about the man standing in front of me. Does he still have feelings for me? He certainly didn't look happy Tommy called, even if he didn't say anything out loud. I have to somehow figure out how to tell him Tommy and I are going steady. I wonder if that means I'm going to lose his friendship again. That is...if we are friends again. That might change when he finds out about Tommy.
"Well, let's get going, and I'll show you the place." He looks at the ground. He bought new shoes? They look new. He never buys new shoes, new anything.
"Okay. Yeah. Maybe I'll get a few ideas, too."
Even from outside, the place is bigger than I expect it to be. "Wow, Jarvis!" He already has some parts of it set up.
He laughs nervously. "Yeah. I've been busy." He pauses. "But this isn't the best part! Follow me."
We go to one of the doors in the back of the room.
He smiles, liking that idea. "It kind of is. This isn't officially part of the store. It's a bonus."
We stand in a kind of small room at the top of the stairs with a door in front of us. "The building is over 100 years old. The original owners lived above the store. It's been renovated a few times, I think, but... well, it needs work again." He opens the door in front of us. He's incredibly nervous. This means a lot for him to show all this to me.
Seeing the refrigerator and stove, I turn around and smile at him. "Not only a store but a house as well."
"Well, uh, an apartment. Yeah. These two doors lead to bedrooms. Although, I'll make one an office, and the door next to the front door leads to a bathroom."
"You really did do it!" I beam at him. I want to throw my arms around his neck and happily hug him, but I hold back. I don't want to send the wrong message.
"Yeah." He smiles, but he's incredibly sad. I need to change the subject.
"So let's figure out what you need in the order of shelves."
"Sure." He follows me back down the stairs.
He has a workbench outside the back door to the place. I'd wonder if he did that on purpose to encourage me to hang around, but the thing looks like it's been here a while.
"Charlotte, you don't have to get it all done today." I hear his voice behind me.
"But I haven't even finished one yet!" He's paying me 30 simoleans for each shelf after paying for the materials.
"So come back and finish it tomorrow."
Uh huh. Perfect excuse for me to come back.
He continues, "How about I feed you and then we call it a night? You have school tomorrow, right?"
"Fine. Go cook or whatever. I'm going to finish this one."
There! Finished it! Jarvis has a wall shelf. It's incredibly simple, actually. And he's paying me 30? He's overpaying me. Jarvis overpaying? That's not like him. My inner voice gets quickly silenced. Yes. I know why.
We sit down to eat out here at the old picnic table.
My phone chirps.
Everything okay?
I smile. It's Tommy. I'd texted him earlier and told him I was hired to do some woodworking. I... didn't mention who with, though. I should probably tell him that in person since he likes Jarvis about as much as Jarvis likes him.
"Tommy's real, uh, attentive, huh?" Jarvis says.
My head snaps around to find him reading my phone over my shoulder. I give him a 'how dare you!' look.
"Plum. I'm sorry."
I text Tommy back that everything's fine and eat in silence.
I see out of the corner of my eye as he smiles nervously.
"Can I just say I'm sorry every day for the rest of my life?"
"That depends," I answer. "What are you sorry about?"
He turns to look at me. "Everything. I'm sorry I'm a jerk. I'm sorry I developed feelings for you and then abandoned you. I'm sorry I hurt you. I just want to start over. Can we do that?"
"I'm going steady with Tommy," I tell him. I guess there's not a good way to do it. This is so awkward. I want to be friends again, but only if he's not going to be too upset.
He clears his throat. "I... figured as much."
I turn my head and look at him. He looks at his hands as they rest in his lap. I suppose I can give this a try again. "I need to get home. I'll be back tomorrow."
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