"Fuck off." Jade West mumbles under her breath, hitting the decline button on her phone once again.
It's the fourth phone call she's received, and ignored, from her father since Friday afternoon. She hasn't answered a single one of his text messages either. At this point, she's not sure how much clearer she can make the message: She doesn't want to speak to him.
She slides the phone back into the back pocket of her jeans and looks around her living room once again. Yes, it's still a mess, just as it had been this morning when she started trying to organize it. In a perfect world, there would be a place for everything and everything would be in its place by now...but moving across the country and trying to start a new teaching job almost immediately after hasn't really left her with much free time to organize everything.
Suddenly, the apartment's buzzer goes off, signaling that someone is downstairs. The sound makes her jump, she still hasn't gotten used to it. She's been here less than a month and she hasn't had that many visitors yet.
"Hello?" She holds down the the button to respond
"Uh, hey." The voice on the other end says "Is this Jade's apartment?"
"That depends on who you are..."
"It's Beck." The person responds "Beck Oliver? I'm Tori's friend. I'm supposed to help you with-"
"The shelves, right. Sorry, I lost track of time." She apologizes, pressing the button to let him into the building "Come on in."
Hartford hadn't been her first choice on the list of places she could relocate to, but it wasn't a bad option. She was able to get a job in a good school in a good district, housing was relatively affordable, and it's not that far from New York City. Someone could make the argument that she already 'knows' a few people in the area as well. Her childhood best friend, Cat Valentine, had been college roommates with a woman who went to high school in the area and then returned after college. Jade had only met Tori a a few times, but she figures having an acquaintance or two is better than knowing no one.
There's a knock at her door and Jade moves quickly to open it, not wanting to leave Tori's friend waiting. He's already helping her out on his day off, and doing so for free, so she wants to be as hospitable to him as possible...but then again her apartment is a mess so she supposes she's already not off to a great start.
"Hey." She opens the door "Sorry again about that."
"Not a problem." The man smiles "Can I come in?"
"Of course." She steps aside to make room for him "Uh, sorry the place is a mess...I'm still unpacking."
"Not a big deal, I've seen worse." He laughs "I'm Beck, by the way."
"Jade." She tells him "S'nice to meet you."
"You too." He nods "So uh..."
"Right." Jade moves a few boxes out of the way "So these are the shelves, if you wouldn't mind hanging them. I tried my best to mark where I want them to go...I'm just not that great with tools."
She wishes that she was, it would make her new 'I'm an independent woman who can make it on my own' mentality slightly more believable and achievable.
"I can do that." Beck assures her
"Thank you so much again." Jade tells him as he begins working "I know it's Sunday and people like to have Sundays to themselves and everything."
"I don't mind." He admits "I actually enjoy stuff like this, it's why I do what I do."
"Tori said you're a carpenter?"
"Yup." Beck responds "I have a workshop that I work out of sometimes, but most of the time different contractors or companies hire me to work on site."
"I'm sure you have some interesting stories."
"Oh I absolutely do." Beck smirks "But I'm sure you do too. Aren't you a teacher?"
"I am, yeah."
"What age?"
"High school english."
"God..." Beck laughs "I have such respect for you, I could never teach high schoolers. I just...I remember what I was like as a high schooler and I was one of the better behaved ones."
"They're not so bad." Jade admits "You just have to build relationships early. Then again it's only my second year doing this...so maybe once I'm not the 'young and fun' one anymore they might turn on me."
"Somehow I doubt that."
Jade can't help herself from staring at Beck as they're talking, and she hopes that he's too busy with his work to notice. She just hadn't expected him to be so...attractive. Just by looking at him, she can tell that he does a lot of work with his hands...and probably works out regularly. His arms are muscular and when he lifts his arms above his head and his t-shirt rides up just the slightest...she can see that his abs are toned too.
"Jade?" The sound of him saying her name pulls her from her thoughts
"Hm?" She answers him
"I asked you why you chose Hartford." He repeats his question
"Oh, sorry." She apologizes "Kinda zoned out there for a second, uh...well...to make a long story short...I was looking for a fresh start. I had lived in Los Angeles my whole life and went to college there...and I wanted something different for myself. So I taught there for a year to save up some money and then...I moved as far away from there as I could."
Which is true. Originally she had wanted to go to New York, since Cat spoke so highly of it and seemed to enjoy living there so much. But the cost of living was entirely too high, at least for someone on a teacher's salary, so she opted for Hartford...which is technically farther from LA than New York would have been. Now 2,891 miles stand between her and her father, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
"I admire the hell out of you for that." Beck tells her as he begins attaching one end of a shelf to the wall "Seriously, moving somewhere completely new where you don't know anyone? That's so brave."
"Well, I know Tori and Andre a bit." Jade reminds him
"Well, where you don't know that many people then." Beck corrects himself "Still, it's very admirable. I've thought about leaving here a few times and I've never been able to go through with it."
"What's stopping you?"
"My whole family is here." Beck sighs "Everything that is important to me is here. It's too much to give up. Maybe one day I'll go somewhere else...but not any time soon."
Fuck. Jade thinks to herself
He's attractive, he's nice, and he cares about his family.
"That's admirable too." Jade tells him "Seriously, you don't find many guys our age who actually give a shit about their families."
"I've been told I'm not your typical twenty-five year-old." Beck chuckles
"Good, because typical twenty-five year-olds tend to suck."
She hates herself for flirting with him, or at least attempting to flirt with him. He's too nice of a guy, he probably has a girlfriend. She doesn't need to add anything else new to her life right now either. A new city, new apartment, and new job are more than enough.
"I probably should have asked you before I started drilling holes in your wall but...is your landlord okay with this?" Beck asks her "Are you going to lose your security deposit?"
"I just have to fill in the holes when I move out." She responds "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
"Well, if you ever need help with anything like that...I'm more than happy to do so." Beck offers "Like I said, I enjoy stuff like this. We can swap numbers if you want."
"Okay." Jade nods "Sure. Yeah, I think that's a good idea."
"Oh that's smooth." Andre grins as Beck recounts his time with Jade later that evening "Nice, man."
His parents had taken Chelsea and Aspen for the afternoon, eager to hear how their granddaughter's first week of second grade had gone, and to spend some quality time together. Beck had invited them back to his house for dinner, and invited Tori and Andre over as well. Now that they've eaten, his mother and Tori are playing with the girls on the swing set in the backyard, his father is inside watching a baseball game on TV, and he and Andre sit on the back deck talking.
"What do you mean?" Beck raises an eyebrow at him
"Offering her free labor so that you could get her phone number?" Andre clarifies "Wait, were you not trying to flirt with her?"
"Well, no...not exactly." Beck shrugs "But..."
"But what?"
"I dunno..."
"Yes you do."
"I found her rather...attractive." Beck finally admits "And she seemed really nice. If she does call me to help her out again, I'd be more than happy to have an excuse to see her again."
"You like her!" Andre grins "Holy shit!"
"So what?" Beck shrugs "Nothing is going to happen."
"How do you know?"
"Because I just do, okay?" Beck sighs "I can't...let anything happen."
"Says who?"
"Andre-"
"Dude..." Andre's tone turns from playful to serious "It's been over a year. You're allowed to move on, you deserve to. Everyone seems to understand that except you."
"If I didn't have the girls to think about, then maybe I would." Beck tells him "But I do have them to worry about, and they have to come first."
"They would want you to be happy too, wouldn't you think?" Andre reminds him "C'mon dude, call her. Ask her to dinner or something. She doesn't know that many people in the area and worst case scenario, she says no."
"It's been a long time since I've asked a girl out..."
"You're making excuses."
"Alright, alright." Beck surrenders, pulling his phone out of his pocket "I'll call her."
"I'll give you your privacy." Andre tells him, standing up from his chair "I think I'll go see what the cool kids over on the swing set are up to."
"Don't say anything to Tori in front of the girls, please." Beck warns him "You know how Chelsea-"
"I won't say a word." Andre assures him "Promise."
Beck waits until Andre is far from earshot before he even unlocks his phone. He quickly navigates to Jade's contact, but pauses before pressing the call button beside her name. As he had just told his friend, it's been a very long time since he's asked a girl out. The last girl he asked on a date was, well...his daughters' mother.
Mustering all of the confidence he has, he takes a deep breath and hits the call button. He raises the phone to his ear, praying that Jade answers before he loses his nerve.
"Hello?"
"Jade, hi." He greets her "It's Beck...Beck Oliver."
"Yeah, I have caller ID." She chuckles
"Right, of course you do. Everyone does." He laughs nervously "Uh...are those shelves still holding up?"
"Yeah, they're great." Jade tells him "Thank you again for helping me out with that."
"Yeah, of course." He nods "Like I said, any time."
"Is that...did you only call to check on the shelves?" She asks
"No...not exactly..." He hesitates "Look, I'm a little out of practice so I'm just going to be blunt. Would you like to get dinner with me on Wednesday night?"
"Like...as a date?"
"If you're okay with calling it that, yeah." Beck clarifies "I just...I really enjoyed talking to you today and I'd like to get to know you better."
"Wow, okay. Sure." Jade agrees "Yeah, I'd like that. Dinner on Wednesday sounds great."
"Really?" Beck can't stop himself from sounding surprised "I mean...great! Good, yeah. I'll pick you up around six? Or is that too late for dinner? I know the start of the school year is always crazy for teachers and I don't want to-"
"Six is great." Jade cuts him off with a laugh "I'll see you then."
"Great, it's a date." Beck smiles, turning towards Andre and giving him a thumbs up "I'll see you on Wednesday."
"Have a good night, Beck."
"You too, Jade."
As he ends the call, Beck realizes he had forgot about the adrenaline rush that can come over a person when they ask someone out and receive the answer they want. He's both excited and nervous. He has a first date on Wednesday night, his first first date in almost a decade.