Page 23 of Some Things Never Change

“But I hardly ever do anything.”

He shrugged. “Not like I care. I like having you as my assistant.”

“Even if I only put one single block on the foundation?”

“So? I’ll still be happy with that.”

“Good thing you’re not paying me to help you then.”

Andy laughed, shaking his head. “Want to build a moveable Ferris wheel with me tonight?”

“A Ferris wheel?”

“Yup, I recently designed it and haven’t had time to build it. I’ve been too busy getting the house ready for your arrival.”

Andy is obsessed with designing his own projects through a Lego project building software program. He had built various things, from miniature Lego versions of our parents’ homes to bridges to dragons, over the years. Even though I have never had much patience when it came to his Lego projects, I would gladly be his assistant if it helped him gain confidence in displaying them again.

I smiled. “Of course. You don’t even need to ask.”

Chapter

Nine

We ended up sitting on the ground and in front of his coffee table with the necessary Lego pieces all in front of us. As we flipped through the instructions, Andy directed me on which parts I could help build. The simply designed Ferris wheel was easy to put together. Within an hour, it was done and ready.

What took the longest was when we went back to his office to make Lego replicas of ourselves. Andy is always incredibly organized when it comes to all the Lego blocks and pieces he owns. He neatly stored them into many sleek, nondescript drawers and bins in his office. If I didn’t grow up knowing him, I wouldn’t have expected pieces of Legos to be in the big drawers behind his desk.

As I sorted through parts for the perfect long black hairstyle for the replica of me, I realized the only finished Lego project he had on display was tucked away in his office. It was the big grand piano set I got him for Christmas. Aside from that, his office and home were bare of anything built of Legos. Hopefully, things would change now that I've encouraged him to leave his hard work out for me to marvel at.

“When we’re finished with the replicas of ourselves, we should leave the Ferris wheel on display on the kitchen island,” I suggested. “I want to play with it in the morning before heading to work.”

The Ferris wheel moved like a real one at the twist of a knob. Because of this, I was excited to put the Lego version of me on what we built and give it a spin.

“Sure,” he said. “Glad to know at least someone will be excited to wake up on Monday mornings.”

Without saying anything, he placed the hairdo I was looking for directly on the mini figure I was holding onto. His warm fingertips lightly brushed and tickled against my fingers, sending a small jolt of tingles up my arm. He held my figure and my fingers in his big, smooth hand for a moment before letting go.

“She looks exactly like you, Tink.”

I laughed, looking over her perfectly straight long hair, big doe eyes, and red smiley lips. “She’s hot, isn’t she?”

“Hm, I think the real person’s hotter, though.” I looked up at him only to roll my eyes and he let out a teasing, playful laugh. “Come on. Let’s go put mini us on the Ferris wheel for a ride.”

We came back to sit on the floor of the living room with a random movie playing on the TV. Andy was the first to select his passenger cabin as I picked my own. He let out a small scoff, offended that the mini me wasn’t sitting with mini him.

“Aren’t you going to sit with me?” he asked, as he turned the knob and the ferris wheel started to move.

“Why would I sit with you when I could have an entire cabin to myself?”

"You have a point there. But I have to warn you, the view from the top is better with me. You’re going to regret not sitting with me."

I laughed. "I highly doubt that. The view is exactly the same. Besides, this girl is pretty content in her own cabin. Look at how happy she is."

As Andy continued to turn the Ferris wheel, I couldn't help but feel astonished that I was now here. Soon I was going to start working at a new design firm and live a new life here under warmer and sunnier blue skies. I was excited about this change.

“Yeah, you look much happier here.”

“I’ve barely been here for a few hours, though.”

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