Chapter 7
Amber
When Daniel shows up and offers to help, I feel like my prayers have been answered. But I don’t want him to get in trouble. And he said that everyone was busy getting ready for tomorrow. Surely that includes him.
“Are you sure? I’ll be able to do something, but I’m almost positive I’m not going to be able to recreate the ballroom of last year in one day.”
“I’m sure I won’t get in trouble. I can give you my word on that. As for recreating the ballroom, I have no idea how. If you know how, I’ll be here to help you to the best of my ability until we’ve got it done the way we want.”
I look at him for a minute, processing his words. He’s basically saying, if I figure out the pictures and know how the decorations were arranged to cause such a stunning look, he’ll help me until I’m done.
I look back at the tinsel. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to be able to do the ballroom the way my boss wants. But with Daniel’s help, it will go twice as fast. Maybe even faster because I won’t have to climb down the ladder, walk across the room, step back up a ladder and tack up the other ends.
I do some quick calculations in my mind, based on experience, since I don’t know exactly how it’s going to go.
“If we try this, I think we’re going to be here until at least midnight. I do think we can get it done, but... It’s going to be a long, hard, tiring day, and I guess I would rather not stop in the middle. It’s going to look terrible unless it’s finished.”
“I’m in. As long as it takes. You can count on me.”
I look at him, standing there, saying those words so easily. He seems like such an easygoing, relaxed kind of person, I didn’t expect this kind of commitment. And color me bitter, but I’ve had so many people who have pledged to help me and then never followed through. If I get started on this thing, and Daniel leaves in the middle of it, I’m done.
But if he keeps his word, he just offered me the possibility to be able to complete this job and I can be back to where I was when I walked in, thinking that this job could lead to many more with a really awesome client.
“If you’re willing to help me, I’m willing to put you to work.” I laugh a little and then indicate all the tinsel on the floor. “What I need to do first is get this all untangled. We can’t put up tangled tinsel, so I’ve been trying to stretch it out into lines.” I indicate the tinsel that I have finished. “And I’m warning you, you have to unknot the stuff, you can’t tell where the ends are, and it’s very frustrating.” There were times I was tempted to just cut it, but if I do, it’s going to ruin everything, because then the tinsel won’t stretch the distance that it needs to.
“I guess we better hide all the scissors, because that’s kind of where my mind is going,” Daniel says as he steps forward, moving toward me with that catlike grace I admired before. He has such an easygoing smile and a relaxed way about him, but I can see the determination in his eyes. I like that. Someone who doesn’t get upset but still gets things done.
“That’s exactly where my mind went too. And I haven’t even looked for scissors, because I know I would be tempted.” We laugh together, and it feels so...cozy. Despite the fact that we’re in a huge ballroom, and I have the pressure of a lifetime sitting on my shoulders, I feel like whatever time I spend working with Daniel is going to be fun.
I explain to him what I was doing, and he picks up a balled-up piece of tinsel from the floor.
“Are you sure these people didn’t knot this up on purpose?” he says after he’s been working on it for several minutes.
“I wondered that myself. I believe you said he left in a huff, and I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised that he did tie it in knots on purpose.”
“Well, I guess he’s punishing the wrong people. But I suppose it made him feel better at the time.”
“I guess I never understood that. I mean, I understand that when someone hurts you, your immediate reaction is to lash out, wanting to hurt them as bad as they hurt you. What I don’t understand is why? Why do we feel that way?”
I don’t know why I’m talking about that. I should be talking about something light and fun or suggesting we put some Christmas music on to get us in the seasonal mood, not like all this tinsel wasn’t effective for putting someone in the Christmas mood.
But he seems to think about it for a moment and then gives me a serious answer, which I love. The few times I’ve dated, the guys that I’ve been with have only been interested in talking about sports and cars and man stuff, which I don’t mind talking about. But I love talking about stuff like this, where we figure things out together or talk about ideas, rather than entertainment or people. It just seems so much more...interesting.
“I think when we’re down, it makes us feel better to see other people that are down around us. Maybe when we lash out, it makes us feel better to have revenge, on the one hand, but also to see someone else hurting as bad as we are. Humans are terrible that way, aren’t we?”
“And I think it’s something that is true from a very young age. When a child is angry, automatically they want to hit and bite and scratch, almost as though they’re doing that without being taught.”
“Yeah. You definitely don’t have to be taught to be bad. I guess I don’t understand anyone who tries to claim that we’re good by nature and it’s only because of our environment or the way we were brought up that makes us bad.”
“I agree. I think it’s the exact opposite.”