It’s Only Temporary by Iona Rose

Bianca

My phone rang pulling me out of my concentration. I picked it up and glanced at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number.

“Hi Bianca, it’s me Sarah. I hope it’s okay to call you. I got your number off my brother.”

I let out a delighted laugh. “Sarah! What a nice surprise. It’s more than okay that you’ve called. How are the newlyweds getting on?”

She laughed. “Everybody I talk to wants to know that and I suppose it’s for a good reason. I thought I knew Brian to a T but I didn’t know the man dumps his socks on the floor and is okay with them living there.”

I burst out laughing. “I’ve heard the same complaint from my sister.”

“Does she have any tips?” Sarah said.

“I’ll have to ask her for tips. I don’t have that problem yet so I didn’t pursue a possible solution.”

She sighed dramatically. “In the meantime, I suppose I’ll just bear with it. Speaking of relationships, I have to say, I haven’t seen my brother this happy in a long time. Are you sure there’s nothing romantic going on between you two?”

“God, I don’t know how to answer that question. There’s something but we haven’t defined it yet.” I hoped that I was right and there really was something special between us.

I was sure that Connor was wary after coming out of a long relationship.

“You don’t need to define it right now. Just enjoy getting to know each other and everything will fall into place.”

She went on to ask after my ankle. I’d gone to one review and so far so good. I had three more weeks to go and the cast would be off. I’d even started to get used to my new normal of rarely leaving the house and walking with crutches.

Sarah was easy to talk to and conversation flowed for the next half hour. When we finally said goodbye, a happy bubble stayed with me all morning as I worked.

After a concentrated effort of working on a jewelry piece, I glanced at the time. It was five minutes to eleven. I grabbed the notebook and leafed through the sketches I had made for Jenna. I hoped she would like one of them. It hadn’t happened to me yet, but my nightmare was having a client who liked none of my sketches.

The doorbell rang and I took a deep breath before pulling myself to my feet with my crutches. I hobbled to the door and pressed the buzzer to let Jenna and her fiancé into the building.

Two minutes later, a knock came on the door and I opened it with a wide, welcoming smile on my face.

“Hi, you must be Bianca,” Jenna said. She had an all-American girl look about her and I could have bet that she had been a cheerleader in high school.

“I am and you must be Jenna,” I said, stepping to the side to let her enter the house.

Her fiancé followed her in and I shut the door.

“This is my fiancé, Jerry,” she said when I turned to face them.

I turned to greet her Jerry and my smile froze. I knew him. Very well. We stared at each other in frozen shock.

“Do you two know each other?” Jenna said looking from me to him.

I was horror stricken. Jerry was a great guy but I remember him scaring me off at the speed at which he wanted to move things along. After dating for three months, he wanted us to talk about the future.

I had quickly broken it off and moved on with my life. Obviously, I hadn’t been that into him else I’d have been heartbroken over the decision to end things with him. I had moved on very quickly after that. He’d been a nice guy but he hadn’t been the guy for me.

Jerry cleared his throat. “Yeah, actually we do. Bianca and I dated for a couple of months a few years ago.”

There goes my new client, I thought. I waited for the awkward silence that I was sure was going to follow that declaration. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Jenna. Then to my surprise, I heard a giggle and I raised my head.

She had clamped a hand to her mouth to try and stifle her laugh.

“You should see how you two look,” she said, laughing openly now. “Relax. It’s not like I thought I was Jerry’s first girlfriend. You’ve both moved on, right?”

“Yes of course,” I say. “I’m engaged too.”

“See, there you go. No need to feel uncomfortable. I love your designs,” she gushes giving me the opening I need to shift the conversation to professional matters.

I can’t wait to tell Connor about it in the evening.

“I have a few ideas for the necklace and bracelet,” I said leading the way to office down the hallway.

We sat down and I handed the notebook to Jenna. Jerry went and stood behind her and as they studied my sketches, he gently massaged her shoulder. Every so often, she flashed him a loving look, making me feel like a peeping Tom.

I was happy that he’d finally met a woman who wanted the same things as he did. Pangs of longing came over me as I watched them. Just what would it feel like to really be engaged? To know that you were going to spend the rest of your life with the person you loved?

The image of a laughing Connor sprouted into my mind. He was easy to be with and he made life exciting just by being around. I imagined myself married to Connor. The thought did not give me heart palpitations.

Jenna said something to Jerry and then raised her head to address me. “I love this one.” She was pointing at the second design of the matching necklace and bracelet.

“Will it go with your dress?” I said.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I have several dresses to choose from.”

I raised an eyebrow and she laughed.

“It’s one of the perks of owning a bridal store,” she says.

“Oh how cool,” I say.

“Thanks. Look at that,” Jenna says, catching sight of the signature jewelry I was making for our online store.

“We sell those on our online store,” I tell her. I turn on the computer to show her.

“All your pieces are so unique,” she says leaning forward to stare at the screen. “They would be perfect in the store.” She looks up at Jerry. “What do you think? Our customers would love them. It would be like a one stop store and if someone wanted a custom-made piece, we would direct them to Bianca.”

“Makes sense,” Jerry said.

My heart pounded with excitement as I listened to them. They threw ideas between them and then Jenna turned to me and chuckled. “You must think we’re insane.”

“Not at all,” I said. “I’m intrigued.”

She explained to me then her idea of carving out a section in her store for my jewelry. We could work out a commission for them for every piece sold. We threw ideas back and forth. I reminded myself to be cool until I saw the actual store. For all I knew, it could be tucked away in a location that rarely saw any business.

“I guess the only thing remaining is for you and your sister to see the store and then after that we make a formal, legal document,” Jenna said.

“Sounds good,” I said happily.

We agreed that I would go to the store the following day in the afternoon. The first person I thought to call was Connor but I figured he was busy at work and texted him instead.

Me: Exciting news. Will tell you this evening.

I hit send and then it dawned on me that I was assuming an awful lot. He probably had plans for the evening. I quickly sent off another text.

Me: Or tomorrow if you have other plans this evening.

He texted me back almost immediately.

Connor: Nothing would keep me away.

I smiled, pleasure swamping me.

Me: I’ve got leftovers from yesterday.

Connor: I’ll make a fresh salad.

Me: It’s a date.

I called my sister next and she squealed when I told her the news.

“That will sort out our next phase of expansion,” she said. “We’ll be in a physical store but without the added cost of overheads. How perfect is that?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. “For all we know it’s on a back street somewhere.”

“Sis, if this woman can afford one of your custom pieces, then for sure, her bridal store is not on a back street somewhere.”

She had a point there.

The hours dragged and by the time Connor arrived home, I’d looked at the clock on the wall a hundred times. When I heard his key in the lock, I gave up completely. I swiveled my chair around and followed his footsteps as he walked down the hallway.

The door was slightly ajar and he peered in before entering. It struck me anew just how handsome he was.

“Hi gorgeous,” he said, coming to kiss me on the mouth as naturally as a husband returning home after work.

Would that how it would be for us or would the magic end when the initial excitement ended and the real work of being in a relationship began?

“Hey,” I said and got to my feet.

Connor pulled me into a hug. He smelled so good. I wrapped my hands around his waist as my body molded against his. That was all I needed for my body to get other ideas. But first, I had to tell him about my meeting with Jenna and Jerry.

“Coffee?” he said.

“Let’s go and make it.”

I followed him out of the studio and to the kitchen.

“Sit, I’ll make the coffee,” Connor said. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing his muscled arms.

“You spoil me,” I said, ignoring the buzz of attraction ringing in me.

“You deserve it,” Connor said as he got the coffee machine going. “So, tell me about your meeting.”

I grinned. “It was crazy. A little weird at first. Can you believe that Jenna’s fiancé Jerry is my ex. We dated for three months. I almost wet my pants when I saw him.”

I wait for Connor’s laughter but it didn’t come. Instead he turned around and frowned.

“Ex. I hate him already,” he said.

I laughed. “Jenna was totally cool with it. She’s an awesome woman. She said she didn’t expect to be Jerry’s first girlfriend and as long as we were completely over each other, she was good.”

“Is he completely over you?” Connor asked.

It was cute the way he thought that Jerry would still have feelings for me. “Oh yeah. I think at the time, we both knew we were wrong for each other. Anyway, that’s not my exciting news.”

I rubbed my hands together.

“Wait. Let me pour the coffee,” Connor said and dashed about the kitchen in a comical way that made me laugh.

He placed the mugs of coffee on the island and slid on the stool next to mine. “I’m ready.”

“Jenna happens to be the owner of a bridal store downtown and she wants to have our jewelry in the store. Sort of like a one stop store for her customers.” I could barely contain my excitement.

Connor’s eyes widened and then his mouth widened into a grin.

“I’ll be damned! You’re going places woman,” he said and then draped an arm around me and pulled me close for a side hug. “Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”