June 1st 2020

Chapter 153
Their Construction of Progress

6th week of construction

"I don't see why I have to be blindfolded to see some bare walls and a floor," Maya advanced as slowly as possible, feeling out the ground with her feet so she would not trip. Lucas was leading her in the right direction, his hands on her shoulders, so she could not have been in any trouble, she knew, but the blindness effect made it hard for her not to feel the tiniest bit like one wrong move would send her faceplanting.

"Have you seen those yet?" Lucas asked.

"No…" she responded after a second. "Fine, just be careful, kind of need my face for stuff."

"Yeah, me too," he replied, making her laugh. "Right, you're at the door now," he informed her.

"Is it open… No, door knob, okay… Locked… Not locked, good, my nose is getting itchy from this thing."

"Such a diva," Lucas smirked, relieving her of the blindfold.

The studio wasn't done, not entirely, but by now at least the structure had been completed, inside and out. All that was left to do was a bit more landscape outside and then getting the interior from blank walls and an empty floor to what would officially be the Hex, Maya's studio. The space had gone from a hole in the ground, to a foundation, and walls and a roof, windows and a door, all those things that needed to be done in order to get it to this point. It was her blank canvas ready to be turned into something more.

"It would feel a bit weird if the first thing I said in here to be swearing, wouldn't it?" Maya blinked as they walked in.

"I won't tell anyone if that's what you feel like," Lucas chuckled.

"It really didn't look that big from the outside. I mean I know it's empty right now so that's…" He didn't catch the word, but he had a general idea of what it would boil down to. She was in awe, and a moment later she was giddy, spinning on her heel to face him again. "We actually did this, we… wow…"

"Can't wait to start playing in here, can you?" he smiled, coming up to put his arms around her waist.

"I can feel the music already," Maya grinned.

"You're going to sit in here with your guitar as soon as I'm gone, aren't you?" She nodded. "Do you want me to just go now so you can get started?"

"No…" she said, her voice declared, in a very 'yes' sort of tone.

"Fine, fine, can't disrupt genius," he sighed, borrowing some of her dramatic airs and earning a look from her which promised flattery would get him very far.

He was on his way off to Houston today, to meet up with his friends and classmates for a bit of pre-finals review. It was really starting to hammer in the fact that he was about to finish his second year in this program, which would get him halfway through, and just two years out from being done with school. In two years, he would be working at Sullivan Stables full time. It was the plan for him to at least put in a day every week, from the coming fall and through those next two years. As far as the summer coming up, with the end run to the wedding, no arrangements had been made for when he would begin just yet.

He had been on the road for all of a half hour when his phone lit up with an incoming Skype call. As he allowed it to connect, the car soon rang with his fiancée's voice.

"So I was going to call you on video, but since you're driving, it's probably for the best if I stick to just a call…" Maya declared. There was a slight echo around her, which he took to mean she was still inside the empty studio.

"Good thinking," he agreed, smiling nonetheless. "So, how's it going back there?"

"Oh, you know…" she sighed, as the sound of guitar strings was heard through the speakers. "Apparently I'm a genius or something, so I've been making some genius music out here, all by lonesome." Lucas heard barking. "And Trix and Lou and Archer. But they're no help, not for this anyway. Couldn't leave them on their own or they might have gone in the flowers… again…"

"Got a new song coming, huh?" Lucas asked, picturing her sitting on the floor, the dogs either sitting near her or circling the empty floor.

"Oh, I have several, that's what geniuses do! Want to hear?" she asked with a grin in her voice.

"Could not want to hear anything more," he promised.

For the next hour or so, amid discussion of these new 'masterpieces,' and of ideas for the studio interior, and of when he might be expected back from his study session, Lucas was treated to one song after another, most of them, he assumed, composed on the spot. Calling them songs might have been pushing it in some degrees, as they seemed to have the singular intent of making him laugh. The further on they went, they then shifted into having a new intent, which was to make him blush and make him glad that he was alone in the car.

"Hey, I'm almost at Bishop's now, I think we have to cut the concert short," he finally had to tell her.

"Do you want me to give you an encore of that last one tonight?" she asked, with what had to be a sizable smirk, as she imagined the look on his face, especially as it took him a moment to reply.

"If the genius would be so kind," he spoke then, making her laugh.

"I always am. See you tonight, love you."

"Love you, too."

He was greeted at the door by Leona, Bishop's girlfriend and Maya's former co-waitress over at Isabel's. She was on her way out off to work and realized, upon seeing him and asking after Maya, that she meant to tell Bishop and the others to call in if they wanted something for dinner, and she'd have it sent over. Lucas would take in the message, as he told her, and so she was off. He was still watching her dash off down the hall when the elevator doors opened ahead of her and deposited Josie.

"I'm not late, am I?" she asked, looking at her phone for the time as she approached.

"No, you're good," he assured her. After all this time, there were still those small moments where he had to remember how the girl had gone from being equated to Voldemort to now being a genuine close friend of theirs. But she was that, to the point where he took the opportunity to invite her to the 'grand opening' of the Hex, which she happily accepted.

"Hey, there you are," Bishop greeted them as they walked into the apartment proper and found the rest of the group had arrived. Ramona, Simon, and Robbie were looking at something on Robbie's phone. "What do you think, they want to order a couple pizzas," Bishop informed Lucas and Josie.

"Right now?" Lucas asked.

"I just had lunch," Josie shrugged.

"It's always pizza o'clock," Robbie informed her, which got a chuckle out of Simona and Ramona and an approving nod from Bishop.

"Fine by me," Lucas reached into his pocket to get a couple bills but was waved off at once.

"My place, my treat, man, pull up a chair," Bishop gestured to the table as he went to put the order in. Lucas and Josie joined the table, each reaching into their bags to take what they'd need. When asked what they were looking at, Robbie turned his phone around to show a video of little half-brother Scott running around and chasing after a soccer ball, sending it flying with wild, slightly unpolished kicks. He didn't seem so concerned for his accuracy so much as his ability to send the thing shooting off ahead of him, or sideways at times. He took a spill and got right back up, running again.

"Wow, look at him go," Lucas smiled back to his friend, who could not have looked happier.

"So, he's doing well," Josie asked.

"Couldn't be better," Robbie breathed. He had known the boy less than a year, but you wouldn't have known just by looking at him. The introduction of his father's secret second family and his half-brothers had been chaotic at best, but by now… The instant bond created between Robbie and Scott had just sort of expanded, taking in the other boys as well, and the boys' mother. Robbie would not see his father. The others, they were innocent in this, innocent as he and his mother was, but his father had kept them in the dark like this for years, and nothing he could say or do would convince him to forgive.

"That's amazing," Josie smiled at him. "I'm really happy for you both."

"Thanks," Robbie nodded at her. He still had no idea, none of them did, except for Lucas. None of them knew that the reason little Scott was out there running like a spaz after that ball was sitting right here at this table.

Josie had returned to school, just as she'd said, at the start of the winter semester. She had her whole story down like the world's best actress as to why she had been away all this time, and it was taken without the bat of an eye. Lucas didn't give her away, went along with it and respected her wishes to stay anonymous, though he could just picture how happy, how grateful Robbie would be if he knew she was his brother's donor.

"Anyone need to swap a paper around for proofreading?" Simon asked once Bishop joined them again, holding up his own hand.

"I just finished mine this morning, barely slept," Josie raised her hand, too. "There's probably a typo on every line."

"Leona looked at mine last night," Bishop chimed in. "She is a correction ninja," he added with a smile, thinking of his girlfriend.

"I'm not done yet, but I'll finish it tonight, if anyone wants to look anyway," Robbie followed.

"I'm good, Ben looked mine over for me after I finished it the second time. I think my laptop is officially dead, took half my work along, so it's a miracle I managed to hang on to what I got." It took her a moment to realize what Lucas had already caught, even as the group turned to look at her. She had never mentioned Ben to any of them, not until now, and when she caught it, her eyes flicked to the side, to where Robbie sat. From the look on his face, Lucas would guess that he had suspected his ex-wife had started seeing someone but hadn't been certain until now. And now that he knew, after the surprise had worn off, he just looked happy for her.

"Is he also a correction ninja?" he asked, tipping his head toward Bishop.

"No, he does construction work," Ramona smiled.

"He's been working on Maya's studio," Lucas provided, which led to Ramona sharing the story of how she'd met Ben and started seeing him.

This took them until the pizza arrived, after which they all jumped into their proofreading and reviewing in earnest. They worked through the afternoon, and through dinner from Isabel's, and into early evening. As they were all leaving, and in the spirit of moving forward, Robbie worked up the courage and asked Josie if she would go out with him. Caught by surprise, for reasons only Lucas knew here, she hesitated briefly. Then, she said yes.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners