After two hours, she had a list three pages long. What should she do first? She was looking out the window and saw a couple walking along the sidewalk, holding hands. A lump formed in her chest and she realized another item to add to her list. With shaking fingers, she wrote “Fall in Love” at the bottom. Then she pinned the list up onto her refrigerator.
Looking around, she wondered where she should start. Sighing deeply, she knew the answer even though she didn’t want to do it. She had to organize her house, buy new furniture and make it a more inviting environment.
She walked out of her kitchen and into the small family room. There were two pieces of furniture; her beaten up old armchair that was now faded and had strings coming out the corners, several springs broken and the fabric was so faded, the pattern was no longer recognizable. There was also a small coffee table with so many scrapes it could barely be classified as whole anymore. The rest of the space was taken up by stacks of books and boxes she’d never unpacked. Why hadn’t she ever seen how awful this place looked?
As soon as she asked herself the question, she knew the answer. She wasn’t ever here long enough to see her home. She worked too many hours.
Darcy was ashamed that she’d been living in this house for over three years and had never finished unpacking. There were boxes all over the room. Some of them still in the middle like the one she’d absently propped her feet up on while sipping her coffee earlier.
“Well, it is time to finish unpacking,” she said out loud. She changed into jeans and an old tee shirt, tied her hair back into a pony tail and started in the family room. Picking up the boxes one by one, she hefted them up and down the stairs to the basement storage room that was, ironically, empty. put most of the books onto the bookcases. her small family room and was amazed by how much potential the room had. Her house was an old cottage style, two bedrooms with a kitchen, one small bathroom and this bright, airy family room that had wonderful windows on two sides. The floors were all hardwood made of a dark wood that glowed warmly. On the far wall was a white, brick fireplace that she’d never used.
By reorganizing the shelves, she was able to
At the end of four hours, she looked around
Surveying the area, she wondered what her next step should be. It had to be something that made her want to stay out of the office and possibly create a more homelike environment here. “Shopping,” she said, knowing that buying new furniture was the only solution in this case. search of new furniture. have to start somewhere. needed a better looking home. She let out a groan at the idea of going from store to store in
She had never been very good at decorating. But she would If she wasn’t going to spend her whole life in the office, she
Darcy showered and changed into a clean pair of jeans, a sweater and pair of tennis shoes. Since she was going to be wandering around furniture stores, she would need to be comfortable.
Three hours later, she was frustrated and discouraged. She’d walked through three different furniture stores and hadn’t been able to make a decision about anything. She sat down on a bench and felt her determination slipping. Work was much easier, she thought.
“Why aren’t you at the office?” a deep voice asked from behind her.
Darcy was so startled she jumped up off the bench and whirled around, wondering who had asked that. Then she saw him. He was only three feet away wearing jeans and a green sweater over a white tee-shirt and looking sexier than any man had a right to. “What are you doing here?” she asked, forgetting to even greet him.
Michael walked over to the bench and sat down. “I was driving by and saw you sitting here looking dejected. I thought it was probably because you missed me,” he winked at her, “so I decided to cheer you up.”
Darcy’s breath caught in her throat. He was teasing her about missing him. Since he’d been on her mind all morning, he was too close to the mark for her peace of mind.
“What do you mean? I’m cheerful,” she said and pasted a smile on her face. It didn’t reach her eyes and he could tell that it was forced.
Michael shook his head and reached out to take her hand. He pulled her down next to him and turned so he was facing her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Darcy considered lying, not sure she wanted someone as confident as he was to know she wasn’t even able to make a decision on furniture for her house. But when no other plausible explanation came to mind, she decided to confess. “I need help.”
Michael’s eyebrows went up at her dejected tone of voice and admission of a weakness. “Okay, that’s a start. Help with what?”
Taking a deep breath, she explained. can’t seem to decide on what would be overwhelming. I’m about to give up.” “I need new furniture for my house but I
right. The whole process seems too
He was cheered by her request, flattered even that she would confide in him. He also liked sitting next to her, smelling the fresh scent of her hair and looking down into her pretty green eyes even if they looked like they were about to spill over to tears. “Don’t give up. This is progress. Normally you’d be at the office now, wouldn’t you?”
At her nod, he continued. “What type of furniture do you like?”
“Comfortable furniture,” she stated flatly. That much she knew.
Nodding, he went on. “That eliminates a lot of stores. What was wrong with this one?” he asked, waiving to the large furniture store they were sitting in front of.
She glanced up at the giant store that had housed an enormous amount of furniture. “Nothing. There were just too many choices. Everything seems nice.”
“But you just don’t want to be stuck with something you might not like in a week so you don’t choose anything, huh?”
Darcy didn’t like the sound of that but knew it was the truth. “Basically, yes.”
“Come on,” he said and took her hand, dragging her towards the doors she’d just exited. “Surely there’s something in here you like.”
They went through the store and he pulled her down onto every chair and sofa they came across. At first, Darcy was flustered when he sat down on the sofas with her. He was too close for her to concentrate on what he was saying. At times, they were so close, their shoulders and arms were touching. During those moments, she wasn’t sure what color the sofa was, or how soft the stuffing felt. All she knew was that he smelled wonderful and he had too many muscles for one man.