3.

~ The town house had only three bedrooms and two baths. None of these including what would eventually be done to the basement. The two smaller bedrooms and jack and jill bathroom, would be the last thing on the list to fix.

This was the easiest project to complete. New carpet, paint and new electric outlets for the bedrooms. New toilet, sinks and bathtub for the shared bathroom. As such, Ariadne had stuffed the rest of her antique furniture into the two empty rooms. She reasoned she would save money by not using a storage house. All her antiques were still wrapped in their packing blankets and bubble wrap. The rooms crowded and stuffy from lack of use.

~ "There it is again, running water." Arthur said coming out of the master bathroom.
"It's an old house. It's always creaked a little." Ariadne said looking through her iPad.

"It's strange, I just finished my shower and I can still hear running water through the rest of the house." he told her. He pressed an ear to the wall. Trying to listen where it was coming from.
"Maybe we need a new hot water heater." Ariadne sighed. "We'll have to get one of those super eco friendly ones. The kind that heats up water really fast and cost thousands of dollars."

"Maybe. I hope that's all it is." Arthur agreed. "I hope we don't have to replace all the pumping."

"Our contractor said the pipes were alright." she sounded worried again and Arthur was quick to reassure her.

"You're right. It's just an old house. Sound is funny in older homes." he agreed.

She smiled, and he felt contentment at the sight of her in their bed. She looked perfectly coifed, even when they were only going to sleep.
"Let me show you the wallpaper I had in mind. "It's a little pricy, but it's perfect."

He climbed into bed with her, looked over at her iPad and saw her Pinterest decorating board.

At first, he hoped she was joking. The wallpaper was emerald green with gold embellishments. How was that better than the horrible bicentennial wallpaper they had now?

"See, it's a Moroccan design. Very bold, very elegant. But not too trendy. I think it will work if we only do the main wall in the kitchen with this paper, and make the back splash a mixture of emerald green and gold mini tiles." she said happily.

"Oh." Arthur didn't like it. How to break the news. "I thought white or beige was would be best. I mean to sell it."

"I know, but this is very elegant." Ariadne told him. "We keep the hardwood floors but stain them a darker color. It makes the kitchen and dinning room much more in sync."

"You want to do the dinning room in this wall paper to?" he asked. No, this wasn't going to work. If Truman Capote and his little friends were going to buy this house, maybe. But not a normal family.
"Oh yes. The dinning room and kitchen are pretty much the same room. If we tear down the cabinets that separate them, it will feel more open. I also think the cabinets should be done in a dark brown. But not black." she said.

He couldn't see her vision. All he saw was hideous wallpaper that would cost a fortune and would look awful. It was the kind of wallpaper a prospective buyer would look at and want to rip out.

"I don't know. What's wrong with painting the whole thing white?" he asked.
"What?" she laughed.
"I men white is good. They can paint it anyway they want then."

"White is cheap, Arthur. We're re-doing a high end home here. This isn't a rental property for college students." she said.
"Ariadne," he scrolled though her design board. Everything looked nice, but far too magazine ready and not realistic. "This wallpaper you're talking about might not appeal to everyone. We have to make this for a broader audience."

"Arthur, you're not looking at the big picture. Once they see all this color and how elegant it is, the wife will think of nothing but hosting dinner parties in the dinning room." she argued.
"Ariadne, the only people who would appreciate this wallpaper are a couple of gay guys and even then they would probably hate it."

She gasped in horror and he knew he had said the wrong thing. Her eyes grew wide in shock that her taste in interior design questioned.

Arthur let out a laugh. He couldn't help it. How rare was it for her that someone didn't blindly love her style?
"I'm sorry, honey." he said. Still laughing.
"I can't believe you don't like my wallpaper." she said pitifully.

He couldn't stop laughing at that.
"It's not funny, Arthur."

"Sure it is. Think about it. In forty years, the new owners of this house will hate it and wonder what you were thinking." he laughed.

He couldn't stop now. The idea that her 'oh so glamorous' wallpaper would be thought of as ugly one day, was too funny.

"In forty years from now, they will look back at this wallpaper and say, 'oh my, she's just like Jackie Kennedy with her interior design'!" Ariadne fumed. "You just have no sense of style."

"You are absolutely right, beautiful." he laughed.

He felt better now. About everything.

"Don't patronize me." she said hotly.
"We'll go to the home improvement place tomorrow and we can see if they have a less expensive option that looks like that. You might like it more. I think the idea for the floors and cabinets are good." he said. A bubble of laughter still rising up.
"I really don't like you sometimes." she told him. The remark was more childish than hurtful. Like a little kid pouting because they didn't get their way.
"I know. But whatever we do for wallpaper, buyers better like. Otherwise, we'll be looking at it for the next forty years." he told her.

"Think we'll be looking at it together?" she asked. A little smile on her lips.

"Of course." he said. "We'll be old and grey and I'll still love you, and still hate that wallpaper."

~ Arthur was barely asleep when his phone rang. He had been dreaming of something that made him worried. Of shadows and running water and breathing. But when his cell phone went off, the dream seemed to fade away like smoke.

"This is Arthur." he said into his phone on the second ring.

He heard Ariadne moan and roll over. Their bedroom was dark and still. He looked at the time, his body awake but his mind still asleep.

'This had bester be good.' he thought to himself. 'It's two int he morning.'

"Arthur, this is Lee." came the voice of the night shift security leader.

"What's happened? The alarm went off?" Arthur asked.

"Sir, there was a bomb." Lee said. "The international wing was bombed ten minutes ago. We need you down here right now."