Jacob – Past
I’m in the middle of painting a wall when I hear Layla’s voice. She’s about an hour early. I turn and see her talking to Keith. He’s walking her over to me.
“You never told me your girlfriend was this pretty,” Keith says.
“Did he tell you we’re business partners as well?” she asks.
Keith looks at me, confused. “Aren’t you both seventeen?”
“He is. I’m not seventeen for another two months. The week before school ends, actually,” she tells him. “We’re young business partners.”
“I see.” Keith rubs his jaw. “And what is this business you’re in together?”
“We’re building an app,” I tell him, brushing another stroke of white against the wall. “It’s a competition for school. We’re graded on it.”
“We’re going to win the competition,” Layla says confidently.
“Well, if Jacob’s business skills are as good as his workmanship, I’d say you’re in with a good chance.”
Layla smiles at that.
“So how many houses are you building here?” she asks.
Keith sits on some low scaffolding, and she joins him. He opens his flask of coffee and offers her some.
“About two hundred, and then we’ll build more.”
“What got you into the construction industry?”
My back’s to them so she can’t see me smiling. Keith will be loving every minute of this.
“I grew up loving excavators.”
“Excavators?” she repeats.
“Yeah, excavators.” Keith laughs. “I started out like Jacob, learning all the trades I could so I could always get work somewhere. Then I got an opportunity for a grant to open my own construction company. It’s not the biggest, but we’ve grown considerably in the last seven years.
I have plans to expand, and I get to live somewhere like this. ”
“I love it,” she says.
“What about you, kid? What do you love?”
“Baking,” she answers. “But my dad won’t let me consider it for a career. So, a major in business studies is the proposed compromise.”
“Here’s the thing, kid.” Keith’s voice drops, and I know he’s about to give her the kind of advice he often gives me.
“Your dad isn’t the one that will be doing that job for the next forty, fifty, however many years you’ve got breath in your body.
Not many people will tell you this, but don’t spend your life pleasing other people.
Even your dad. If you can bake for a living and that’s what you want to do, then bake the best damn cakes anyone’s ever had. ”
“She already does,” I say.
“The best?” Layla smiles. “You’ve never told me that before.”
I should have.
“I have now. I’m pretty sure they’re the best in the world.”
“In the world, huh?” she says. “I’m going to use that as my marketing slogan. My boyfriend says these are the best cakes in the world.”
I laugh. “You can’t use that as a slogan.”
“He’s right, kid. Slogans need to be punchy,” Keith adds.
“Fine.” She folds her arms, “I’ll have to shorten it to best cakes in the world, then.”
Keith laughs, and so do I. His phone starts ringing and he excuses himself to answer it.
I finish up the wall I’m working on.
“You good to close up today, Jacob? I’ve got to head home early.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Layla, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you’ll come around more often, and bring some of those best cakes in the world with you, please.”
She laughs. “I will.”
Keith leaves.
I start tidying up.
I walk out to find her with her feet dangling over the edge of what will soon be the pool.
I sit beside her.
“I love it here,” she tells me.
She lies down on the ground, and I do the same. We turn onto our sides, facing each other.
“What do you love about it?” I run my hand down from her neck to her hips.
“Everything. I love the floor to ceiling windows that make you feel like you’re outside. I love the pool. I love the driveway, and how it’s hidden from the street. And that kitchen would be perfect for baking in.”
“We’re going to live somewhere like this someday.”
“We?” She raises her eyebrow.
“Yeah, we.” I smile and move closer. “We’ll live somewhere with everything you like.
It’ll have a big kitchen with an island for you to bake, and it’ll be back from the road like this, with a gate, so when we come through the front door, away from the world, we can block it all out and feel at home. ”
“I’d feel at home anywhere with you.”
I kiss her, my fingers caught in her hair.
“Layla?”
“Yeah?”
“I-I love you.”
She touches her lips to mine.
“I love you too, Jacob Evans.”