Redesigning Life - Chapter Five (FINALLY!)

Chapter Five

The rest of their workday flew by for Jerrod. He couldn't take his mind off Sierra, and it didn't help that she was still floating around the Liebermann's home making notes in her notebook. He was on autopilot as he and his crew laid down the carpet in the living room and moved onto the den. By the time six o'clock rolled around, both rooms had been finished and they'd gotten the dining room started.

“Hey, Jerrod...what time are we going to quit today?” Greg was standing in the middle of the stripped dining room, cracking his back. Jerrod looked at his watch and straightened up too.
“Now, I suppose.” He was so distracted, he hadn't even realized how late it was.
“Okay.” Greg motioned to the others, who were bagging up the pieces of old carpet. “Time to go, guys!”

It took them another half hour to finish cleaning up the dining room. They lugged the bags of old carpeting outside and tossed them in the back of the truck.
“Same time tomorrow, Jerrod?” Allen looked exhausted, and Jerrod felt a mild pang of guilt for keeping them there for 10 hours.
“Yup, 8 AM here.”
“Okay, see you then.” Everyone dispersed and climbed into their separate cars, except Greg. Jerrod watched as each car pulled away from the curb.
“Greg, where's your car?”
“I rode with Jake this morning.”
“Oh. Well, get in.” He motioned to the truck and the two of them climbed in. Jerrod pointed it back in the direction of the shop and sighed. “Today was a long day, wasn't it?”
“Yeah...yeah, it was. But we had a nice break meeting that interior designer.” Greg had mentioned her simply to see how Jerrod would react. He wasn't disappointed. Blood rose in his cheeks and his eyes darted to Greg's face. “What was her name again? I can't remember.” Greg knew he should stop, but he couldn't help himself. Jerrod swallowed hard before answering, and when he did his voice was far-away.

“Sierra. Her name was Sierra.” Jerrod was staring straight ahead now, willing himself to stop blushing. It wasn't working. He pulled into the parking lot of the carpet store and parked.
“Jerrod.” Greg was staring at his friend, his voice a gentle command. Jerrod turned and looked at him. “What's going on?”
“I don't know, Greg.”
“Do you know Sierra?”
“No...well, yes...I'm not sure.” Greg didn't press for details. Instead, he sat and watched Jerrod, waiting for him to continue. “I ran into her at the coffee shop.” He paused for a moment. “I mean literally ran into her...she was storming out and I was walking in. We collided.”
“Oh my god, dude...how does this kind of stuff happen to you?”
“I don't know. I didn't notice her when we crashed, because I was so annoyed. I just snapped at her and kept going. But she's seriously beautiful.”
“Well, I have to give you some advice, Jerrod...you've always covered my ass, and it's time for me to do the same for you. Don't go for it.” Jerrod was shocked. He hadn't expected Greg to say that.
“What?”
“I saw the look on her face when she saw you. She seriously doesn't like you.” Jerrod didn't know what to say in response, so he was relieved when he saw Kara pull up.
“Well, thanks for the advice, Greg...but it looks like your ride is here. I'm gonna head home now, I'm pretty beat.”

“Ok, man...I'll see you tomorrow.” Greg opened the door and shot a last look back at Jerrod before climbing into his girlfriend's car. Jerrod raised a hand and gave them a small wave, waiting for them to pull out of the parking lot before getting into his own car.

He drove home feeling awful. He was tired, sore, and depressed from the conversation he'd had with Greg.

Does she really hate me? I did snap at her pretty hard, but I was just in a bad mood. She couldn't have taken that as a first impression...I was a stranger to her. I'm an idiot for worrying about this anyway...she probably has a boyfriend. A girl that pretty just isn't single. I'm not that lucky. God, I need a cigarette.

Jerrod had quit smoking the month before, not long after his uncle's funeral. His uncle had died of lung cancer, the result of a two pack a day habit. He'd sat beside his mom as she mourned her only brother, his brain throwing up warning signals; when he arrived home, he promptly threw away every cigarette in his apartment. He'd been without nicotine since that fateful day, and it'd been hell.

Since the loss of Sarah, everything in his life seemed to be hell. He could hardly sleep, barely ate, drank way too much coffee, and did everything on autopilot. The only bright spot in his life was his constant companion, Rocky. That's who was waiting for him as he pulled into the parking lot and trudged up the stairs to his third-floor apartment, his Great Dane face unreadable as Jerrod apologized.
“Sorry I'm late, Rock...lost track of time.” He unpegged the leash by the door and laughed as Rocky perked up. “Wanna go the park?” Rocky's tail started wagging frantically. “I take that as a yes.” He hooked his leash to the loop on his collar and opened the apartment door, struggling to keep his feet as Rocky dragged him out. “Calm down, bud!” When they got outside the apartment building, Rocky settled into a more manageable pace and led Jerrod to the dog park down the block.

When they arrived, Jerrod let Rocky's leash go and watched him trot to his usual tree. He found a bench and sat down to wait for Rocky. His mind was replaying the earlier scene with Sierra, where he'd been too much of a wuss to say anything. He was so busy mentally kicking himself that he hardly noticed the black dog bounding toward Rocky. The two dogs began to play together without so much as a glance from Jerrod; that is, until the black dog's owner came running.
“Blue!” Sierra was hurrying in his direction, a purple leash dangling from her hand. “Blue, where are you?” Jerrod turned his attention to the black dog, whose ears had perked up at the sound of Sierra's voice.
“I think your dog is over there.” Jerrod pointed in that direction as he called to Sierra. He hardly got a glance from her as she rushed to her dog.

“There you are! Don't ever do that to Mommy again, you bad bad girl.” Blue was ignoring Sierra's admonishment and just stood next to Rocky, wagging her tail contently. “Aw, you found a friend.” Sierra turned her attention to Rocky. “Wow, you're a big dog...aren't you beautiful?” She looked around and spotted Jerrod and her expression changed. He walked over and clipped Rocky's leash on.
“So, that's your dog?”
“Yes, this is Blue.” Sierra, obviously flustered from seeing him, busied herself with Blue's leash.
“She's pretty.” So are you.

“Thank you...so is your dog. What's his name?”
“Rocky.”
“He's so awesome. I love big dogs. He's a Great Dane?”
“Yeah, I got him as a pup.”
“Blue's a German Shepherd mix...I picked her up at the shelter one day. She was the last of her litter.”
“I got Rocky from a breeder in New Hampshire. I was on a waiting list for 3 years, but it was worth it.”
“He is truly gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” Conversation halted there as Jerrod tried to think of something else to say. Sierra spoke first.
“Well, I should probably be going. Have a nice night.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked away with Blue trotting amiably by her side. Jerrod turned and walked in the opposite direction toward home, his mind racing.

Back at the apartment, he fed Rocky and waited as he ate. When Rocky was done, the two of them climbed into bed together. Jerrod was exhausted and couldn't wait to fall asleep. In sleep, he could stop thinking about a girl he barely knew in the first place.