Page 2 of Love Under Construction

“I hate to leave good company, but we made dinner reservations, and I don’t want to be late.”

“Go,” I playfully shoo her away. “I’m almost done here and will be heading out myself.”

“Feel better; I’ll see you tomorrow at the cookout?”

Ah yes, the Memorial Day residence party at 425 Madison. “You bet.”

Gwen disappears, and I’m left alone once again.

I slip the last of my papers to grade into my bag and shut everything down for the weekend. With my bag now slung over my shoulder, I head for the exit and the train station. Who knows, maybe I’ll even grab take-out on my way home instead of boring myself with a microwave dinner or putting forth the effort to cook a full meal just for myself.

Standing outside of 425 Madison, an hour later, I take a deep breath and smile. Walking up to this building never gets old. Knowing I paved the way for myself to make it here, fills me with pride.

I doubt I’ll ever forget the day I walked into this building to check out a space to buy. There’s such an energy floating around this place. Lots of up and coming young people like myself inhabit the 36 floors of luxury here.

Slipping the key in the door, I can already hear Peaches whine. My girl is waiting for me and excitedly circles around my legs as I walk in.

“Hello my pretty girl, were you good today?” I coo at her while rubbing the top of her head. Peaches is a lab mix that I found at the SPCA before I moved to NYC. It was love at first sight. She’s been my best friend and loyal protectors every day since. The best part is that she was already housebroken when I adopted her. The worst she does is chewing up my shoes when I forget to close my bedroom door. I hard lesson that I’ve learned twice.

“Give me a second to change and then we can go for a run.”

At the word, ‘run’ Peaches yelps excitedly, her tail waggle so fast that her whole butt wiggles.

“I know, you love your runs. Just a few minutes, Peaches.”

She follows me into my bedroom, waiting patiently as I change my clothes and slip on my running shoes. I head to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water for us both and her leash from the hook. Peaches sits obediently while I hook the leash to her collar and then we’re off.

As we walk down the hall to elevators and pass Harley’s door, my neighbor at 508, Peaches pauses briefly and sniffs then whines.Interesting.

“Come on girl.” I tug at her leash and with a huff, she relents and continues walking.

Chapter 2

Jameson

“Alright,Jay let’s make this quick. The Yankees play at eight,” Harley grunts and nods to the truck bed full with boxes.

One hour and maybe six trips back to the parking garage later, all my stuff is in the apartment I now share with Harley. It’s not much, but it’s everything I need. My bedroom furniture was delivered yesterday, and it’s not like I need any other furniture, Harley has that covered with his leather couch, recliners, and a massive tv.

The apartment set up is pretty nice for two bachelors. There’s a full kitchen off to the left when you enter, a breakfast bar with two stools set up on living room side of the open kitchen wall. The bedrooms are off to the right, and I thankfully won’t have to share a bathroom with Harley. He has his master suite, and I’m responsible for the one in the hallway. I can live with that.

“Welcome home,” Harley grabs two beers from the fridge and hands me one.

I pop the top on mine and take a long pull. “This isn’t the part where we hug like a bunch of girls right?”

He flips me the bird and heads for the living room. “Stay out of my room, no borrowing my clothes. No, you can’t play with my gun or my handcuffs. Don’t ever wake me up, unless the building’s on fire. In that case, I expect you to carry me out of here. Other than that…you can see where everything is. The rest of what’s mine is yours.”

“You’re too kind man.” I punch his shoulder and take a seat on the couch to watch the game. When the Rays score their first run, I’m sure that Harley’s ready to kick me out.

“One more rule. You can’t root for any team but the home team,” he grunts.

“Tampa Bay is my team,” I remind him. He rewards me with another single finger salute. “Better get used to it man, never miss a game.”

“Why the hell did I agree to let you move in here?”

“You needed help covering the astronomical mortgage on this place.”

“Touche. Last damn time I buy a place for a woman. I still can’t believe she left me high and dry like that.”

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