Dive In Deep

by Parker, Ali

  Khloe came into the living room, her hands working to put her hair up in a loose bun on top of her head. “We have to get moving,” she said.

  I gave her a dry look. “I’ve been up and ready for hours.”

  “Well, some of us are human and like to sleep.”

  I filled Leia’s water bowl, added some kibble to the other bowl, and told her to be a good girl while we were gone. A minute later, Khloe and I were in the back of my new car with my new driver who knew to expect a dog on occasion.

  The driver pulled to a stop in the driveway in front of our new house. It was the first time Khloe would be seeing it. The key to the house felt warm in my hand. Likely because I had been squeezing it the entire trip over. I was that excited.

  The house was so much more than a house. It was my future. It was where I would build a home with the woman I loved. I planned on making plenty of memories in the house and wanted everything to be perfect before we moved in.

  The moving truck was expected within the hour. I wanted to get to the house before they did to check it out and make sure all was ready for move-in.

  “I thought you said you bought a small house?” Khloe asked, getting out of the car and staring at the massive columns on either side of the front door.

  “It’s smaller than the one in Lake Tahoe.”

  “It’s beautiful,” she exclaimed.

  “Let’s go in, and I’ll give you the two-cent tour.”

  It felt good to use my key in the door for the first time. I gave her the tour of the house and then showed her the massive backyard.

  “I see why you bought the place,” she said, nodding. “Leia is going to love it back there.”

  “Exactly. Will you add a locksmith to the list of things to get done? I want all the locks changed, and can you also have a security company come out?”

  “I think you’re in a safe neighborhood,” she commented.

  “I might be gone several nights a month. I want Sade to be safe.”

  She smiled. “I’ll have someone come out by the end of the week.”

  We heard a truck rumble up the driveway and knew the movers had arrived. After giving them directions about where to put things, I decided it was time to order some furniture. I called Sade to ask what her preferences were and offered to go when she was off work.

  I slid the phone in my pocket and looked at Khloe. “She apparently doesn’t like furniture shopping,” I said with a laugh.

  Khloe grinned. “Sade isn’t much of a shopper in general.”

  “I suppose not.”

  “I think she must have been dropped on her head when she was a baby.”

  I laughed. “She said you knew what she liked.”

  Khloe scoffed. “Cheap and comfortable.”

  “Well, I’m good with comfortable, but I’m not okay with cheap. She mentioned she liked the way the Tahoe house was furnished.”

  Khloe nodded. “Neutral colors are a good choice.”

  “Great, because we’re going shopping!”

  I wasn’t familiar with the area, and neither was Khloe. We relied on my driver to take us around the city. We walked into a massive furniture store that looked promising. Khloe and I meandered through the huge area, sitting on couches and testing them for comfort. Picking living room furniture proved to be the easy part. I sent a few pictures to Sade to make sure she was okay with what we had picked out before we moved into some of the smaller furnishings.

  A saleswoman was following us around with a tablet, noting everything I wanted and letting me know what could be delivered right away and what would be delivered in a week. I wanted it all then. When she told me there was a wait on something, I moved on until I found another piece of furniture that I could have right away.

  “What about this?” I asked, pointing to a lamp that was unique and appealed to me.

  Khloe curled her lip. “No. That is ugly.”

  I took a picture of it and sent it to Sade. I liked it and something told me Sade would like it as well. I added it to my list, despite Khloe’s protest.

  “Oh, what about this rug?” I asked, running my hand over the faux bearskin.

  She cringed. “No. You are not in Lake Tahoe. That is ugly and very mancave, bachelor pad-esque. Hard no.”

  I chuckled, realizing she was right. The saleswoman bobbed her head in agreement as well. “We sell very few of those. I don’t even know why they waste floor space with it.”

  “All right, we need a dining room set,” I said, my eye catching on a rich mahogany set.

  I ran my palm over the smooth, glossy surface of a table that sat eight.

  “That’s a little big, don’t you think?” Khloe commented.

  I shook my head. “Nope. I plan on hosting lots of get togethers and dinners. I want enough seating for everyone. I’ll get a small table for the kitchen nook, but this is perfect for the dining room.”

  Khloe shrugged a shoulder. “You heard the man. Add it to the list.”

  The woman was practically beaming. She seemed nice enough, and during our visit, we had learned she was a single mom of three. I liked being able to ensure she was going to get a fat commission check. She said she needed to do back-to-school shopping. The sale she was going to make off of me should help with that.

  We spent about three hours at the store and essentially furnished the entire house, including a guest bedroom and my home office. There were still plenty of other things we would need, like kitchenware, but I was sure Sade would want to pick those things out.

  I paid the bill, and we were on our way back to the house to wait for the deliveries and check the status of the movers.

  “That was exhausting,” Khloe said, flopping down on the floor and stretching out her long legs in front of her.

  I laughed. “No shit. I can see why Sade wasn’t interested in going.”

  “You know, most people build up their furniture. They don’t buy it all in one trip.”

  I shrugged. “I have an empty house. I need furniture. I want it to be comfortable. I have a busy few weeks and would likely not be able to make the time to do it later. It’s best to get it all done in one shot.”

  “I suppose.”

  I had texted Sade and told her to meet us at the house for dinner. The bulk of the furniture would be delivered that evening. I wanted her to see it with her own eyes and approve it. Pictures didn’t do it justice.

  “I think pizza for dinner is the best option,” I said after some time.

  “I agree. I’ll order it.”

  I got to my feet and walked outside into the backyard area. I sighed, realizing I still needed outdoor furniture and a grill. That was something I was confident I could delegate to Khloe. When the Tahoe house had been furnished, I had been out of town. I had come back to a home, perfectly decorated by the designer I hired and paid a hefty chunk of change to.

  I realized it had been worth every penny. Shopping was laborious, and I was beat. I wandered around the house, thinking about where furniture would go. I had just walked out of the office space when I heard the door open.

  “Honey, I’m home!” Sade called in a sing-song voice.

  I grinned and walked down the hall to greet her. I threw my arms around her and spun her around before giving her a kiss. “I like the sound of that.”

  Shortly after Sade’s arrival, we heard the rumbling of a large truck coming up the driveway.

  “Furniture is here!” Khloe called.

  Sade clapped her hands. “I cannot wait to see what you picked out!”

  “I sent you the pictures,” I told her.

  “Yes, but I want to see it. And you sent me like a million pictures. I wasn’t sure what you had actually settled on.”

  I laughed. “True.”

  We stayed out of the way as the delivery drivers carried in one piece of furniture after the next. We gave them a general idea of where to place things, with the assumption we would move it around once everything was in.

  “Woah!�
� Sade said, holding up a hand.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “What the hell is that?” she asked, pointing to a very unique accent chair I had picked out.

  “It’s a chair,” I answered. “I don’t know if it’s really made for sitting, but it looked cool—different.”

  Khloe was standing with her arms folded across her chest, giving me a look that said she had told me so.

  “That looks like something out of a medieval dungeon slash torture chamber,” Sade said, staring at the chair as if it would attack. “It’s hideous and alarming in general.”

  I looked at the chair and walked around it. “We’ll send it back.”

  “I don’t want to sound picky, but if you want it, go ahead and keep it—in the garage or your office.”

  I laughed. “I don’t want it. I liked it at the store, but you’re right. It’s more suited for an underground lair.”

  I had the delivery guys carry it back out to the truck. When she spotted the lamp that Khloe had hated, she immediately fell in love. It was my turn to let Khloe know I had been right. Sade approved of everything else. We headed back to the condo in time to beat the pizza delivery. I took Leia out for a quick walk before heading back inside.

  We lay in bed that night, snuggled up as usual. “Did you like the furniture?” I asked her.

  “Yes. I loved it—except that chair.”

  I chuckled. “Noted.”

  Leia was quietly snoring on the floor in the corner. I had bought her a new bed. She was a bed hog, and I didn’t appreciate being scrunched up while I tried to sleep.

  “I’d like to go along to pick out the dishes and kitchen stuff, if that’s okay?” Sade asked. “We can go after I get off work or maybe this weekend.”

  “Absolutely. We’ll need linens as well.”

  “I have—” She stopped. “You’re right. A new home and a new life together requires new linens.”

  I squeezed her against me. “I can’t wait. I hope we can be moved in soon.”

  “We will,” she murmured, already falling asleep in my arms.

  Chapter 64

  Sade

  It was getting harder and harder to go to work and leave Trent at home. I wanted to hang out with him and spend the day making our house into a home. I knew he would tell me I didn’t have to work. I knew he would be more than willing to support me, but I couldn’t do it. I loved my job—most of the time.

  I was deep into a series of slides when a loud alarm sounded. I jumped up and looked around, wondering what the hell was happening. A red light on the ceiling began to flash. I tried to remember back to the days of my orientation to remember what it all meant. Red couldn’t be a good thing.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Holly.

  She grabbed my hand and began walking with me to the breakroom. “Grab your purse. We have to go.”

  “What?”

  “We’re being evacuated. Technically, we shouldn’t be stopping for our purses, but the last time this happened, we weren’t allowed back in the building for an entire day. Our keys, phones, everything was in the breakroom.”

  We weren’t the only ones rushing into the breakroom to grab our personal belongings. Our supervisor was barking at the door to leave it and get out. I didn’t see any glaring emergency and assumed it was likely a drill.

  When we were standing outside the building, waiting to find out what was happening, I saw my boss walking toward us. Sirens in the distance made me believe it wasn’t a drill at all.

  “There’s been a gas leak,” he announced. “The lab is shut down for the day. You’ll be called by tonight about the status tomorrow.”

  “Wow,” I whispered to Holly.

  “It happens,” she said with a shrug. “Usually isn’t anything serious, but they have to do the whole HAZMAT thing. I guess that means we get the day off.”

  I grinned. “I think I could use a day off.”

  “Have fun. I’m going home and taking a nice long nap.”

  I laughed and headed for my car. I was happy Holly had the foresight to grab our purses. Instead of letting Trent know I was on my way, I decided I would surprise them. I stopped at a small store and picked up some pretty flowers. I knew it wasn’t traditional for a woman to bring a man flowers, but he’d done it for me so many times, I wanted to show him how it felt.

  I very quietly climbed the stairs and turned the door handle ever so slowly. I took a deep breath and then threw the door open. “Surprise!” I shouted.

  Leia burst into a flurry of barks, Khloe screamed, and Trent cursed. I burst into laughter. Leia raced toward me and nearly knocked me over with her exuberant hello. I held the flowers high to avoid her smashing them.

  “What the hell?” Khloe asked with a laugh. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Hey, baby,” Trent said, getting to his feet from his place at the table and walking toward me. “What are you doing home?”

  “There was a gas leak, and the lab is shut down for the day. I thought I would surprise you.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked with concern.

  I handed him the flowers. “I’m fine. I don’t know what it was, but we don’t have anything truly dangerous in the lab. Not to mention, there are very sensitive air monitors that pick up anything.”

  “I’m glad you’re safe,” he said, giving me a kiss.

  “Here, give me those,” Khloe said, snatching the flowers and walking into the kitchen.

  I grinned. “I got you!”

  “I hate you!” she called back.

  “What are you two doing?” I asked, looking at the kitchen table that was serving as their office space.

  He shrugged. “Just going over some particulars for the new hotel and dealing with Gabe.”

  I grimaced. “Sorry. I thought Richie was handling that?”

  “He is. I’m just trying to lighten the load for him a bit.”

  “Do you think you have time to go to the store and get the kitchen shopping done?” I asked hesitantly.

  He smiled. “I would love nothing more than to do that. Let me put this stuff away, and we can go.”

  “Are you coming along?” I asked Khloe.

  She shook her head. “No, I still need to get some work done. You two go and have fun.”

  “Are you sure?” Trent asked. “There is nothing so pressing that it needs to get done right now.”

  Khloe offered him a smile. “You two go on. I will hang out with Miss Leia, and we’re going to kick back and relax. I’m telling you I’m going to be working, but really, I’m going to catch up on the shows I’ve been missing.”

  I burst into laughter. “You have fun with that.”

  “I’m going to, and remember, red is out. Neutral is in.”

  I scowled. “I love red.”

  “So do the eighties and nineties and the fifties,” she quipped. “Leave it in the past.”

  Trent laughed. “I don’t think it’s terrible.”

  “Then you may as well get some apples and cherries décor to go with it,” she snapped.

  “All right, all right, point taken,” I said with a scowl. “I still like it. It’s very farmy and makes me want to bake.”

  “You don’t know how to bake,” she replied.

  “That’s not the point. I could be inspired to learn with the right décor.”

  She burst into laughter, clearly not believing me.

  Trent stepped in to settle the argument. “We’ll find something we both like and agree upon.”

  I turned up my nose at Khloe. “Yeah.”

  I knew it was completely childish and didn’t care. Trent and I left Leia in the care of Khloe and headed for my car. I liked driving it and was happy for the excuse to go anywhere. Trent gave me the name of the store we were going to, and the GPS system guided me there.

  “Wow,” I said with true wonder as we stepped through the doors. “This is so much stuff.”

  “I’ll grab a cart,” Trent said. “You should
probably get one as well.”

  I laughed nervously. I knew the way the man could shop. I wasn’t about to let him pay for everything and had already decided I would be offering up at least half of the money. We started in the kitchen department, although walking past the throw pillows was difficult. They were so pretty!

  “Keurig or drip machine?” I asked as we stood in the aisle, scanning the options.

  “I think Keurig is more practical for our busy schedules.”

  I agreed. My shopping method was to look for the lowest priced item and go with it. Not Trent. He read each box and weighed the pros and cons, and almost every time, he ended up wanting one of the more expensive options.

  “Toaster, two or four slice?” I asked.

  “Four. Definitely four. No one wants cold toast. I plan on making lots of breakfasts, and I’m not going to hang out in front of the toaster for hours.”

  I laughed. “Four, it is. Stainless or black?”

  He looked thoughtful for a second. “I feel like this is way out of my wheelhouse. I worry more about what the toaster can do rather than the color. I think it’s best if you choose.”

  “Stainless, it is. We’ll keep it a running theme for the other appliances.”

  By the time we walked out of the kitchen department, both of our carts were full. I couldn’t believe we had picked up so many cooking utensils and pots when neither of us really cooked all that much. We had both gotten caught up in the moment. It had been rather exciting, and I was leaving mostly everything for Khloe at my place.

  When we made it to the checkout, I was nearly floored by the total bill. Trent whipped out his credit card so fast, I didn’t have the chance to offer to pay for any of it. I was a little irritated he had done it but tamped it down. We had another stop to make to pick up some linens. I would insist on paying there.

  “Let’s grab lunch before we head to the next place,” he said.

  After lunch, we went to a bed and bath store. Once again, the number of choices was a little overwhelming. We scanned the aisles, choosing colors for the three bathrooms and then spending a lot of time picking out our bedroom décor.