It was huge, probably four feet across and five feet tall, and the colors were striking. It was one of the “new age” art pieces that Christina had fallen in love with when we were together and had just bought the house. Personally, it wasn’t my style, and in fact, I had always hated the damn thing, but she was all about the eclectic style and owning really expensive things so she could tell her friends how expensive they were.
That being said, I had zero knowledge or skill in decorating, and had I not conceded to letting her take over decorating control, it probably would have looked like a giant man cave with brown leather couches and all sorts of animals over the fireplace. I would have been impressed, the boys would have been impressed, but it would have been unlivable for the women. For me, regardless of whether I liked it or not, it was never unlivable, so I just went with whatever Christina wanted. In reality, I went with whatever Christina wanted for our entire relationship, which was probably part of the reason that I ended up where I was. Nonetheless, I had zero skill in the area of décor, so I was more than happy to pass it off to Christina, and all of my buddies were jealous that while they were curtain and couch shopping with their significant others, I was able to either get caught up on work or lounge around on the new furniture that she had delivered. I felt like it was a win-win situation for me. That was, until Christina was gone, and I was stuck staring at her decorating choices for hours upon hours every day.
Just as that thought ran through my mind, my eyes widened, realizing that maybe asking Alissa what she was interested in might not be necessary at all. The answer was literally staring me in the face in the form of an extremely loud and obnoxious giant painting on my living room wall. I didn’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Alissa was an interior decorator and owned her own company. I was a newly single man, living in my ex-wife’s torturous design studio. I could totally ask Alissa to give the house a makeover, offer my services to get everything done, and be able to spend some alone time with her.
I wasn’t sure how Kayla would take to the house being redecorated, but whether she liked it or not, she needed to start moving forward. Living in her mother’s shadow was definitely not helping either one of us. I couldn’t sell the house, but I could make it look completely different than what it had before. Besides, Kayla’s room was still decorated from when she was 5. She would feel better with a completely new room as well, and she could even help in picking out the style she wanted, especially since she was interested in design. Now, all I had to do was figure out the perfect way to bring it up to her so it didn’t sound too businesslike, but still made it look like I was interested in helping her and learn about what she did. I could afford to take a couple days off from work. I hadn’t since Christina had left, and I needed a break before the summer heat hell started and I was in the triple-digit weather, working my ass off.
I put away the liquor and headed up to bed, formulating my plan as I went. This had to work. I was relying on it to be what got me close to Alissa. I figured, even if she turned me down personally, we would end up with a better living situation, so something good would come out of it either way. Hopefully.
Chapter Eight
Alissa
It was late in the morning, and I was more than happy to be working out of the home office for the day. The woman with the home she’d bought and wanted redone finally made her mind up and ended up loving what I did with the dining room. She allowed me to go nuts with the rest of the house, as long as I took her thoughts into consideration. The men were there painting the house while I was sitting at my home office, ordering all of the furniture that would be going into the house in just a few weeks. This was the really exciting part, where everything started to slowly come together. After the walls, the floors would be done, and then, I would have all the light fixtures changed. Once that was complete, I got to do my magic. I would sweep through the house with all of the rugs and furniture first, and then I would start hanging all of the accents. When I was done, I loved sitting back and staring at the before and after shots right before the big reveal. It was exhilarating on so many levels.
I grabbed my coffee and headed down the hall to my office, deciding that working in yoga pants and a T-shirt was more than professional enough. My hair was thrown up on top of my head in a messy bun, and I hadn’t even thought of applying any makeup. I sat down at my desk and opened my computer and notebook, excited to start buying the pieces. Before I could type in the first site, my phone rang, and I looked down to see that Ryan was calling me. I hoped that everything was okay. I wasn’t supposed to be watching Kayla at all this week.
“Hey, there,” I said with blushed cheeks.
“Hey, how are you?”
“Good, just sitting down to do some ordering for a client,” I said. “How is my little monster?”
“Ha,” he said, snor
ting adorably. “She is as feisty as ever.”
“I really wish I could get through to her,” I said, sighing. “I’m starting to think she just doesn’t like me.”
“It’s not you, I promise,” he said. “She doesn’t like me at all. She has been through so much over the past year, and she is resentful to adults in general right now.”
“I can understand that,” I said. “Is she at school?”
“No,” he replied. “It’s spring break, but I enrolled her in this week-long camp program that the school recommended. It’s like therapy with art. She seems to have liked it so far, but she really doesn’t have a choice since she isn’t old enough to stay home by herself.”
“Yeah, I can’t remember when my mom left me home alone for the first time,” I replied. “Maybe I was like 14 or so. I know that my older sister babysat me a lot when my mom had to work.”
“My parents didn’t trust me for a second,” he replied. “When I was old enough to drive, they left me home alone for the first time.”
“Yeah, my mother didn’t trust my sister, but she trusted me,” I said, laughing. “I’m pretty sure when she was babysitting me, I was really the one making sure the house wasn’t burning down around us. Bella is a bit of a free spirit, and I’m pretty sure I got high by accident when I was about 12 just from hanging out in her room with her and her friends for too long.”
“I’m pretty sure Kayla is doomed,” he said, laughing. “Between my haphazard brain and her mother’s inability to sit still, she won’t be left alone until she is 18, and even then, I might install a nanny cam to watch over her.”
“Oh my gosh,” I said, laughing. “That poor girl.”
I set down my pen and concentrated on our conversation. It was surprising to me how easy talking to Ryan had become. I was never big on talking on the phone with anyone, and I was that girl that was super excited when texting became a thing. With him, though, I could totally see myself spending hours talking about nothing in particular. He was a lot like me with his sense of humor and ease of words, and I found it almost refreshing. I could tell that flutter in my chest was back, especially when I found myself leaning dreamily forward onto my hand and listening to his deep voice talk about Kayla’s accidents and clumsiness as a baby. I had never been the flighty girl that fell all over herself for a guy, but with Ryan, it was like I couldn’t help myself. I was practically drooling.
“So, then I went upstairs and found her in a pile of clothes,” he said. “She had gone through all the drawers and taken everything out, building a pile so she could jump off the bed like Superman. Suffice it to say, I was rarely left alone with my own child as a toddler. Luckily, she has a bit more sensibility to herself now, and I can leave her out of sight for more than a few minutes and not worry that she has repainted the house with her finger paints.”
“Oh, my gosh.” I laughed loudly. “Being the youngest, I never got to see those things, but from my mother’s stories, my sister used to do the same thing. Mom told me that she came upstairs once and found me and my sister in the bathtub sliding around. Bella had taken the vegetable shortening from the cabinet and lathered us up completely, and we made our own slip and slide. I can’t even imagine how hard that was to get off the walls.”
“Your poor mother,” he said, laughing. “Hey, I did have a question.”
“Okay, shoot,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes.
“What is your work schedule like?”
“Um, like today?” I was a little confused. “I’m working from home today and then spending the week managing the guys putting in floors at a client’s house. What’s up? You need me to watch Kayla?”