Today is going to be a day we will always remember. My wife Ashley is turning 30 and I have a great celebration in mind. I could use a hand setting up before Ashley gets home so I head out to my across the street neighbors to ask for a hand.
Mark and Nicole are about our age and are good neighbors, the kind you forget are there most of the time. Nicole seems to like me better than she does my wife. Truthfully, it's kind of obvious that Nicole just tolerates Ashley to keep things happy for everyone. It has not gone unnoticed by both Ashley and myself the couple times Nicole has brought up how she likes the way I see humor in everything and how easy going I am. Once after cleaning up the neighborhood July 4th fireworks, I remember Nicole telling Ashley that I was the perfect next door neighbor.
For most of the world today is a boring late winter Saturday around lunch time and like an idiot Mark left Nicole home alone. He does this most weekends trying to never fully grow up. If Mark realized what a treasure Nicole is he'd be spending today flirting and touching her continuously but he's off with his moron buddies from school, golfing or fishing or some stupid waste of time.
Nicole's left at home, bored, doing some chores around the house that Mark couldn't be bothered with. Between taking care of things Nicole mindlessly scrolls Instagram and Tictoc. One of the photography pages she follows is promoting a St. Patrick's day boudoir themed set they've designed and it's made her a little horny. But then the ring of the doorbell snaps her out of it.
Nicole wasn't expecting anyone to drop in. Maybe it's an Amazon delivery she has to sign for. She opens the door expecting the grumpy FedEx woman she's had to deal with before. Caught off guard, Nicole's face lights up seeing me instead of the sour delivery woman.
"Hey Ethan!" she says between the silly grin on her face.
"Hey there Nicole, so sorry to bother you." I reply back less cheerful than usual. I explain how I am working on hanging some decorations for the surprise party tonight and ask if Mark is available to help with some of the parts that need two sets of hands.
Nicole tries to act like her and Mark both hadn't ignored the invitation texts for Ashley's surprise party for the last week. Neither wanted to go as they didn't expect to know anyone there. We're neighbors and are friendly, but not best friends. Sometimes the 4 of us chat and come over for drinks on the patio occasionally but that's about all. It would just be too rude to out right decline so both Mark and Nicole had just chickened out and ignored the invite.
Nicole explains that she's home alone for the afternoon and didn't expect Mark back for a few hours still. Feeling a bit guilty, Nicole is trying to convince me that she would be just as much help as Mark would be anyway and I should just let her come over and be my interior decorator.
I tell Nicole how nice it is for her to offer to help but I really don't want to bother her. And some of the decorations will need a ladder to hang from the ceiling. I would hate for her to have to climb or maybe get hurt.
Ashley is at her parent's place visiting for the day and will be back later for the celebration. There's probably still time to call a different buddy of mine to come pitch in.
Nicole persists, she's bored anyway, still feels bad for ignoring me all week, and sensing my desperation for help and time crunch she grabs my arm and reassures me, "we got this." Looking at her smile and warm eyes, how could I resist her offer to help!
"Ethan, do you think I need to change? Are any guests or caterers going to be coming soon?" Nicole questions, clearly not wanting to meet strangers in the dry running shorts and strappy tank top she's been wearing around the house.
I reply that I've got the food cooking on the Traeger and that no one will show up until party time. "You'll have plenty of time to come back and get cleaned up later once we've got the decorations and everything worked out."
"Sounds good to me Ethan, let's go turn your place into the set of the Great Gatsby." Nicole encourages, remembering the party theme from the invite text. Farewell to the 20s was the most creative I could think of since Ashley turns 30 today.
"Thank you so much for coming to save the day Nicole, I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew trying to pull this off." I answer, regaining my usual cheerfulness as we set across the driveway.
"This isn't at all what I had in mind for my day at home alone, but it's sweet seeing Ethan work so hard to show his care for his wife. He's one of the good ones." Nicole thinks to herself as they walk in her neighbor's front door.
Inside it's an unorganized mess of cheap Party City clearance aisle decorations mixed with black and gold balloons and gaudy curtains and backdrops. "This is going to be a mess, no way Mark would have been any help here." Noel mutters under her breath.
I apologize for the shock at all the supplies being laid out right in the front entryway. And I try to explain the idea I had and that I might have overshot the decoration online ordering. "That poor FedEx woman had to carry all this stuff up onto the front porch all week. I think she hates us!" I say with a nervous chuckle.
Almost instinctively Nicole goes back into assurance mode, stands beside me, links her arm under mine like I'm ushering her to a seat at a wedding and says, "Walk me through where you see this all going, and we'll make it happen."
The feel of the soft skin of her bare arm wrapped around mine and the welcoming words of assurance suddenly clear my mind of anything having to do with decorating. I'm standing there with my mind in a totally different place until a light elbow in the ribs gets me back on task.
"Right, so the idea is to have a roaring 20s photo station with all the curtains and backdrop right here under the stairway. Then just regular party decorations in the kitchen, dining room and living room." I explain, confident in the plan, but wavering on the execution. "Think we can do it?"
Understanding the plan Nicole takes charge. My first assignment is blowing up balloons while she lays out all the different decorations to get the design just right. I'm running all over the place getting tape, hangers, boxes and tables to make her design come to life.
Now it's time to assemble the frame for the backdrop. I have a couple 6 ft ladders so we can each get on one end to raise it in place.
"Are you sure you'll be okay climbing the ladder Nicole? We can wait for Mark to get home. I think we've made good progress."
"Who knows when he'll be back after hanging out with his school gang. He'd probably just mess up our hard work anyway. Plus, I didn't work this hard to not see it get done. You just try to keep up with me Ethan." Nicole giggles at her own joke.
Nicole has no problem climbing the ladder, what an idiot I was worrying about her. I should have known she'd do fine being that she is in the best shape of anyone in the neighborhood. I secure my side eventually putting everything in place but there is a hangup with her end.
Nicole is fit but too petite to work with this frame over her head. Having to reach up and hold the backdrop in place Nicole doesn't have the grip strength to force the PVC frame into the fitting.
"Come on down, I'll get it Nicole. Sorry you couldn't keep up." I send a verbal jab back her way.
"Very funny guy. If I let go, this frame will fall and the backdrop will crash and get creases all down it. You'll have to bring your ladder over and grab it."
I agree, she's right, again. But the stairs are in the way and I can't fit the ladder next to her.
"We'll just take it down, and figure something out. Come on down." I try to talk her into the sensible decision.
"Fuck that! Come too far to not see this through."
