Page 25 of Change of Plans

“I trust your judgment,” Chuck said. “But why are you asking me about this on a Sunday night?”

“I wanted to get your permission to approach an important client with ideas to change his plans,” I said.

“You’re the lead architect,” Chuck told me.

“But you’re the boss,” I said, feeling more secure, now that Chuck hadn’t just shut me down.

Chuck chuckled. “I appreciate your respect, Theo,” he said. “And I admire the lengths you’re willing to go to for this man you like.”

I blushed hard. “He’s worth it,” I said.

“It sounds like it,” Chuck said. “If it’s permission you need, I hereby give you my permission to do whatever it takes to win this guy over.”

“It’s not that at all,” I said, having a hard time deciding whether I was more embarrassed or excited that I could go ahead and do something that would really help Common Grounds. “I just want to do the best job possible.”

“And you are,” Chuck said. “You’re doing a fantastic job, Theo. As an architect and a person. Carrie, my wife, has me on this kick where I’m focused on giving people more positivefeedback and encouragement, so I’ll say this. It’s an admirable thing, going the extra mile for love. That young man of yours is lucky to have you.”

“Oh, it’s not—” I was about to say that it wasn’t love, but that would have a lie. Part of me thought it was too soon to throw around big emotions like that, but another part argued that I’d known Diccon for months, and that love hit you when it wanted to, not when you were ready. “Thank you, sir,” I said, forcing myself to relax. “I’ll set up a meeting with Jameson as soon as possible and get this all taken care of.”

“Excellent,” Chuck said. “And if it makes you feel better, I’ve had word that the office refurbishment will be done by the end of this week, so we’ll be back to normal by the end of the month.”

It was good news all around, and after we said our goodbyes, I hung up with more confidence than I’d gone into the call with. That was more than I had hoped for. It propelled me to get out a sketch pad and to jot down a few ideas about how to change the layout of the construction site.

I was so absorbed in my work that I nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone rang close to nine o’clock. Even more startling, Diccon’s name showed up on my screen.

“Hello?” I answered the phone with probably too much eagerness.

“Hi,” Diccon replied, sounding hesitant, which wasn’t like him at all. “Have you got a minute?”

“Yeah,” I said, blowing out a breath and standing to pace. I wasn’t going to be able to stand still during this conversation, especially if it took a bad turn.

Diccon drew in an audible breath, then said, “I’m sorry for freaking out on you the other night.”

Those words alone did crazy things to my insides. “It’s alright,” I said, shoving a hand through my hair, then keepingit there as I walked aimlessly through my apartment. “I should have mentioned about the construction project sooner.”

“No, I shouldn’t have flown off the handle like I did,” Diccon said. I could practically see his face screwed up in frustration with himself as he talked. “I think I was just tired and keyed up over…over our date.”

I smiled. That sounded like a good thing. “I guess we’re even, then,” I said, hoping my smile came through in my voice. “Since I freaked out on you and ran out at open mic night.”

Diccon laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, maybe we should work on the whole not running away thing.”

“We should,” I agreed.

A long silence fell between us, like we both had a ton of things to say but didn’t know where to start. I wanted to tell Diccon that I understood if he didn’t want to give things a second chance, but I really hoped he would forgive and forget because we were good together. I wanted to tell him he was totally the kind of guy I could fall in love with.

He surprised me completely by saying, “So, listen. I was looking over the flier that the guy from Jameson Industries dropped off at the café earlier in the week, and I think I see a potential solution to make the construction period less painful for the café and the other businesses along that strip.”

“Oh yeah? I was just looking at the same thing, too,” I said.

“You were?” Diccon seemed as surprised as I was.

“Yeah. I thought a lot about the things you said the other night, and I knew there had to be a solution.”

“What did you come up with?” Diccon asked.

“Well, for one, Jameson could move the construction entrance to a side street so traffic for the businesses won’t be so bad.”

“No way!” Diccon laughed. “That’s the same idea I came up with.”