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I need to do this before it’s too late.
“Buttercup, can you come here for a second?”
I put the schedule I’ve been trying to figure out for the past few hours down on my desk and make my way into Henry’s office.
“What’s up?” I ask, leaning against the doorjamb as I take in how much of a mess his office is. Sometimes the stark contrast between Henry and my dad is staggering. If Dad’s office looked anything like what I’m looking at right now, he’d stop everything and clean it until there wasn’t a paper out of place.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he mutters, not looking up from the paperwork in front of him. “I know this room is a mess, I know you want to comment on it but for the sake of both of our sanities, let’s just leave it alone.”
If it weren’t for the big smile on his face, I would have backed out and left him alone. But I stay and try to ignore the gut feeling I have to pick up all the papers that are strewn all over the floor and chairs.
“Fine. What do you need?” I ask again, hoping to get out of this room as soon as possible.
“Can you bring these contracts to Mel for me?” He hands me a folder full of paper and I eye him questioningly.
“What are these for?”
“They’re lease agreements.”
I open my mouth to argue that she isn’t supposed to pay rent yet, not until she gets her feet under her, but Henry holds up his hand to get me to stop. “I know she’s not paying me right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a contract that is legally binding. In those papers it states that she has a year of rent-free space and after that year is up, she will have to pay a fee that we both will negotiate fairly at the time.”
I take a breath and sink back against the doorframe.
“Now, bring those to her so she can sign them, so we can get all this legal shit done and over with.”
I nod my head, leaving his office and heading upstairs.
“Mel!” I scream over the loud music that’s blaring from inside what her office will be. When she doesn’t answer, I smirk, walking over to the doorway and see that she’s dancing while also trying to paint the back wall. I walk over to her phone and turn off the music just as she spins on her heels.
“What the—” she mutters right before she sees me and starts laughing. “You scared the shit out of me.”
I quietly laugh as I head farther into the room and lean against the desk that is currently sitting against the only painted wall.
“You know, painting might be easier when you stop dancing and actually paint,” I mock, smiling when she sticks out her tongue like a four-year-old. “It looks good though.” My eyes scanning the room and taking in her design choices.
“Thanks,” she says, putting down her roller and walking toward me. “What brings you up here?”
I hand her the file and she opens it, smiling.
“You know he said he would draft these up a week ago. I’m guessing from the state of his office that he’s a bit behind?” she mocks, as I smile, nodding in agreement.
Just then my phone vibrates in my pocket and when I see that it’s an email from Henry and not a text from Josh, I sigh, my shoulders sagging.
“What’s up?” Mel asks, sitting down on one of the office chairs in the corner. “You seem bummed.”
“I texted Josh that I wanted to talk to him,” I say, looking at my phone one more time to see if he at least read the text, but still nothing.
“That’s good! What did he say?” Her enthusiasm is making my nerves even worse the longer I know he hasn’t answered me.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’? Like he hasn’t answered you?”
I nod, saying nothing. “But that doesn’t mean anything babe, maybe he’s busy?”
I thought that too, for the first couple of hours. But it’s been almost five and still nothing.
“Yeah… maybe,” I mumble, putting my phone back in my pocket and trying to forget about the fact that my boyfriend might be ignoring me.
