It was Saturday, and Nick and Jess were in her room.
Nick held the level and the stud finder against the wall. "And the whole fence, the entire fence, was straight, but inclined ever so slightly downward at a pitch of 2 degrees. So even though the fence started out the height of my dad, by the time we finished it, it was like three and a half-feet tall. It was so short, we had to wave at our neighbor every time we were in the backyard and close the bathroom curtains when we wanted to shower."
"You know, Nick? Despite all that, what I hear is a lovely story about how you spent a summer with your dad and put up an entire fence that went all the way around your backyard." Jess finished hammering the nails for the frame, put away the hammer, and looked at her handiwork.
Nick laughed. "Okay, Jess. As long as you remember the difference between straight and level." Nick put the level and stud finder back in the tool-box. "Well, Jessica, the proof is in the mounting."
Jess looked at Nick, shocked. "Excuse, me?"
Embarrassed, Nick blurted, "The picture. I mean hang the picture on the nails you just drove into the wall. See if it's level and holds."
"Oh." Jess picked up her frame and hung it on the wall. "So, Teach? How'd I do?"
Nick pulled out the level and aligned it with the top of the frame. They watched as the little air bubble bounced from side to side and slowly settled in the middle between the two guides. "Well, Jessica Day, if your intent was to have an ink print of a turtle hung on the level, I would have to say you've succeeded. Congratulations!"
"Aww, thanks, Nick." She high-fived him. "It was all thanks to my fixit fluffer."
"Yuck, no!" laughed Nick.
"Handy-job man?" teased Jess.
"Worse! You're getting pretty close to Jar territory there, Jess."
"Fine, my Handy Man. Thanks, Nick."
"You're welcome, Jess."
Nick and Jess left her bedroom. Nick put the toolbox back in his room, and Jess went into the kitchen and took two bowls and two spoons out of the cabinet. Nick came out of his bedroom and joined Jess in the kitchen.
"We have cereal, oatmeal, eggs and bananas. What's your pleasure?"
Nick went to the cupboard and drew out two mugs. "Oatmeal with bananas. Tea?"
"Yes, please," Jess answered. Nick put the tea-kettle on the stove and turned on the coffee maker.
The two made breakfast, moving around each other in the kitchen amicably preparing their meal. It had been a month since their conversation in the bathroom, and Nick and Jess had settled into a routine. Tuesday, they would chat about what project they would tackle around the house. Wednesday and Thursday, Nick would make sure they had all the materials they needed. Saturday, like clockwork, Nick and Jess would meet in the kitchen at 10am and start their project.
The first Saturday, they worked on stopping the leak in the kitchen sink. The next week involved fixing all the legs of the chairs of the dining table (a casualty of one of Winston's pranks), and last week, Nick and Jess rehung the closet door in her bedroom. Each Saturday, they would do their project and then, when they were done, they had breakfast together.
A soft click came from Schmidt's room, and Schmidt entered the room, yawning.
"Hey, morning, Schmidt. Coffee?" offered Nick.
"Thanks, man, but I've got my seaweed shake. I'm good."
"There's oatmeal and fruit too, Schmidt, if you'd like." Jess pushed the bananas over to Schmidt.
"Thanks, Jess."
A key turned in the front door, and Winston entered the apartment. "Morning guys, or should I say, goodnight."
"Hey Winston." "Hey, man!" "Winston!" the three replied. Winston waved and walked to his room.
"So how'd it go last night, Schmidt?" Nick asked.
"As usual, Nick. I crushed it. Work hard, play hard, you know?"
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Jess.
"Tuxedo fashion show, Jess. It's where all the stylish gents get the early scoop on tuxedo trends for the upcoming season. The gossip is the bowtie is making a big comeback this year," gossiped Schmidt.
"Aww. I love bowties. I think they're cool," Jess enthused.
"I'm glad you said that. I have a sample. Wait here," said Schmidt as he ran back into his room.
"Well, this should be interesting," said Nick as he continued to sip his coffee.
Winston, now changed into sweat pants, a t-shirt, and a robe, walked into the kitchen. "Hey, anymore oatmeal? And where did Schmidt go?"
"I made enough for everyone. Here Winston, help yourself. And Schmidt went in his room to show us a bowtie from the upcoming Spring Tuxedo season" explained Jess.
Unfazed, Winston started eating his oatmeal. "Cool. Thanks."
Schmidt came back into the kitchen. "Okay, so here is the bowtie. I like it because it parallels my cheekbones and highlights my strong jaw." He held the bowtie to his neck. "On the other hand, here is the skinny tie. I feel like the skinny tie draws attention to my chest, which, you have to admit, has some definition to it. Which one do you prefer, the bowtie or the tie? Bowtie or tie? Bowtie?" Schmidt held the bowtie to his neck. "Or tie." Schmidt held the tie to his neck.
After a beat, all three spoke in unison. "Tie." "Bowtie." "To be honest, I can't imagine even wanting to wear one of those things. Too fancy for me, blech."
Grumpily, Schmidt said, "Thanks, guys. Looks like I have to get an opinion from a fashion professional. Like a designer. Or maybe a model." Schmidt grinned. "A Model!" He grabbed the bowtie and tie and ran back into his room. "I'll text Cece!" he threw over his retreating shoulder.
The roommates smiled and continued eating their breakfast. "Winston, how was work?" asked Jess.
"Work was good. Really good. The show went smoothly, and I got a couple of callers in at the 5am hour. And later today, I'm supposed to meet Daisy, so things are pretty good right now."
"That's great, Winnie," said Nick.
"How about you two? What was your project this week?" asked Winston.
"Nick taught me how to stud find and level things," said Jess.
"Yeah, we just hung some more of the frames around the loft and fixed a few that were a little off," said Nick.
"That's great, guys. With all the work you two have been doing this last month, the apartment looks really great."
"Thanks, Winston." "Thanks, man."
Winston finished his breakfast and put his bowl in the sink. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. Leave everything in the sink—I was last today, so I'll get dish duty tonight, all right? Good night!"
"Night, man!" "Night, Winston."
Jess and Nick sipped their tea and coffee in companionable silence. "Hey, Nick?" asked Jess.
"Yeah, Jess?"
"Winston was right, the apartment does look great, thanks to you."
"Well, you're the one doing all the work, I'm just helping out. And after all, it was your idea."
"Yeah, but you really know how to take care of things, and it means something to you. I can tell," Jess said. "Say, someday, you'll have a house, and I visit but I lose your address. I'd still be able to find you because I'd just look for the best maintained house on the block and I think to myself, 'I bet that one belongs to Miller.'"
"That, or it would be the one with the weird, slanting, infinite staircase fence," laughed Nick. Nick was happily embarrassed by Jess' unabashed praise. "Thanks, Jess. "
"Anytime, Nick," said Jess. She looked over at Nick and smiled at him. Jess finished her oatmeal, dropped her empty bowl and spoon in the sink and headed back to her room.
As she walked by Nick, she thought about the story he told her this morning. She thought about young Nick and a fence that started out tall but ended up short. She thought about adult Nick, who watched the Walking Dead with her when she was scared, protected her from non-homicidal students, and had spent every Saturday morning for a month showing her how to fix stuff. She thought, again, about the kiss they shared.
As she walked back to her room, Jess stopped next to Nick and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Nick?"
Nick looked up at her.
"Good job, kiddo," she said. She squeezed his shoulder and continued walking back to her room.
Suddenly, Nick's throat caught. He cleared his throat and turned to her retreating form. "Hey, Jess?" asked Nick.
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to say that I . . . really enjoyed fixing things this last month."
"Me too, Nick."
"No, I mean, I like the fixing things part, but I also like the part where, you know . . . "
"The part where?" asked Jess.
"The part where we talk. And share stuff. I like when you ask things about me, and I like knowing that you know some stuff, you know, about me."
"I like that you feel okay telling me stuff. And I like knowing more about you too."
Nick blushed. "Hey, Jess? Do you think we could ever do the other thing? You know, where I get to find out more about you? Or maybe you teach me something? Or something?" Frustrated, he rubbed his face with his hand. "Look, that came out weird. What I'm trying to say is . . ."
"Yeah, Nick. I think I'd like that," said Jess. "Although, to be clear, are you, you know, asking me on a daa-a-ate?" she asked uncertainly?
"NO! I mean, it's not a date, not that I wouldn't date you, I mean obviously we've established that I think you're attractive. I just mean, you know . . ." Nick trailed off helplessly.
"How about cupcakes? Baking's kind of my thing, and I had a new sugar-free red velvet cupcake recipe I wanted to try out," Jess suggested.
"Baking? Yech. Is there anything else? Do you do secret kung fu? How about water skiing? Or birdwatching?" asked Nick.
"Sorry, Miller. It's baking or the road. Or knitting. Or we could recreate that Carly Rae Jepsen video with the kids' musical instruments?" offered Jess.
"Okay, okay. Baking it is. At least I can eat something afterward, right?"
"Right. Okay, then, 10am sharp, next Saturday. And son? We're goin' get your cupcake on. ON!" Jess laughed delightedly and walked back to her room.
At the sound of Jess' laughter, a warm feeling came over him and something inside of Nick clicked into place. Where his grumpiness usually was, a month of her smiles and laughter had made a home. Putting his bowl in the sink, Nick cast one last look around the loft at all he and Jess fixed and smiled.