I had just moved into my new condo in the middle of a local trendy urban village, mostly for the conveniences. There were numerous restaurants, microbreweries and shopping all within walking, or stumbling distance if the entertainment went later into the night. While it was a thoroughly modern facility, two large bedrooms, a master bath that had to be nine hundred square feet alone, with a jacuzzi tub the size of a small pool, all top of the line stainless steel appliances and surround sound throughout, it had that cold feeling about it. I mean, it was bare bones with a couch and chair in the living room, a queen bed in the master bedroom, and a couple of bar stools for eating at the kitchen island counter.
But as far as entertaining others, 'when the moment is right' as the popular commercial states, I'd like to bring them to a comfortable place. As luck would have it, my very good and long-time friend Scott was married to a very successful, and much in demand interior decorator, Ms Denise Davidson.
Denny, as she liked to be called, was an attractive, slender but energetic woman with a quick mind and wit, and self-deprecating humor to match. At parties, when introduced, more often than not she would say she married Scott, a successful financial planner in his own right, because her initials would be double D, which is the only time anyone would associate those letters with her. Of course, after that comment everyone would look down at her 32B breasts and get the joke.
So it was at one of these parties where I told Denny I needed to enlist her help in getting my condo a little more user friendly.
"Oh, absolutely yes! I was going to say something to you about it," she responded. Then she went on, "Pick a weekend in the very near future, for heaven's sake, so I can get a feel for what we want to do. I know you travel a lot, but if we can do a Friday afternoon thru Saturday afternoon, I'll have a good idea which direction we should go."
"Uh, did you just say 'Friday THRU Saturday," I asked.
"Yes silly," Denny replied. "I'll have to spend the night."
"Huh? Wait, does Scott know about this? You routinely go off and spend the night with clients?" Then I realized how that just came out. "Sorry Denny, that sounded much cruder than what I meant..."
"That's funny, but no. Usually I'll spend the day with my clients, DAYS only," she said with emphasis.
"Actually, three days in a row to get a sense of their particular style, which I read through their actions. Almost all are women, although I do have male clients. So you're not my first," she said with a quick wink and broad smile.
She continued, "But because of your schedule, I'll need to spend the twenty-four or so hours with you in a more compressed timeframe. Got it?"
"As long as all concerned are okay with the arrangements," I added, even though I knew Scott trusted both of us implicitly.
"I could use a day or so away from the kids, Scottie can handle it," Denny said matter of factly.
So it was the following late-October Friday when Denny was scheduled to spend the night. I'd been home since a little after noontime; Denny showed up in smart looking seasonal outdoorsy attire, which was prescient. On Friday evenings I like to attend the local high school football games because I like to get out in the crisp fall air and have a hot chocolate or two. And do a little MILF shopping, to be honest. Mostly I look, but there have been times where relationships have been explored further. However, tonight I'd be on my best behavior since Denny would be accompanying me.
Denny also came carrying a garment bag, as well as a smaller tote full of clothes. I told her to please place them in the master bedroom, anywhere she was most comfortable with, since I'd be sleeping on the couch during her stay.
With that she laid out the ground rules, "Act and do things as you normally would. Try and pretend I'm not here, don't change a thing just because I am."
"Well, I could come across rude if I pretended you weren't here, and I'm not going to ignore you. So we'll talk, normally, like adults do. But we'll go ahead and do the things I had already planned to. With that said, we're going down to the high school to watch a game, I'm glad you dressed appropriately," I commented.
I also said, "As far as tomorrow, I typically get up at six a.m., have a light breakfast, and walk the mall in downtown DC. I'm usually on the Metro by seven-thirty, get off at Arlington and walk across the bridge, all the way up to the Capitol, and back on the Metro at Union Station."
Denny nodded in agreement.
"Once back home, depending on the time, I'll either do lunch and then grocery shopping, or shop first, then lunch. But we can decide then," I said.
