Friday morning arrived, and Vince was still flying high.
For the past three nights, he and Lace had not only spent hours exploring each other’s bodies, but had slept deeply after, entwined together like a couple of sated kittens.
Vince had never considered himself a cuddler before, but with Lace, he couldn’t seem to get enough. And it seemed, neither could she.
Of course, he knew that might all change come next Tuesday when Lace started her infusions again. The week and a half off from her treatments had given her a tremendous boost in energy, and being the optimist she was, Lace was hoping she was over the hump of feeling like shit. She was half way through her treatments, and he’d caught her giving herself pep-talks that the second half would be easier.
Vince sure hoped so.
He wasn’t as certain as Lace, but no matter what happened collaterally as she completed her regimen, he’d support her in every way possible.
If that meant metaphorically holding her hair while she barfed, he’d be there. If it meant no sex because she was wornout, he’d back off on physical contact, taking his cues from her. And if she didn’t want to sleep in the same bed…
Well, Vince wouldn’t like that at all, but this wasn’t about his needs. It was about Lace’s preferences.
If she needed space of any kind, he’d give it to her.
Lace had left a little over an hour ago, and since then Vince had showered, changed into his clown duds, and was scrolling on his phone, downing his second cup of coffee.
Statler would be arriving soon to start sheet-rocking and blue-boarding since his plumber, “Pipes”, and his electrician, “Dizzy”, had both finished their roughs the previous day.
Which meant that the space would begin to look like an actual bathroom again, instead of a hole in the house.
Vince had no complaints. Things were moving along very quickly.
Yesterday, he’d actually brought home a slew of samples from which Lace could pick things out. Every item from tiles, to paints, to wallpaper had been spread out in front of her. She’d made her decisions so effortlessly, it boggled Vince’s mind.
He’d thought she’d go with the timeless black and white scheme she’d previously mentioned, and mostly she did, except she’d actually opted to add some color.
The floors were going to be a muted, black and white pattern, but the vanity she picked was a vibrant shade of blue. Stat would match that with a custom-built surround for the drop-in tub.
Three of the walls would end up white, but for the fourth, Lace had chosen a bright burst of blue and green flowered wallpaper that Vince never would have picked. But mocking up the finished room on her phone, Lace had shown him what the final product would look like, and he’d been blown away.
In the shower, the tiles on the floor were a light, natural stone with a green vein running through them, and the walls of the oversized walk-in would be tiled in a color that wascalled Crocodile; kind of a cross between the blues and greens she’d used elsewhere. Vince never would have had the nerve to pick anything that dark, but Lace assured him it would look awesome, especially with the lights that Dizzy was installing.
Vince didn’t even try to put in an alternate opinion. He’d applauded everything she chose, and appreciated the hell out of it.
He never would have been able to do any of it on his own. If left to his devices, everything would have been white.
There was a perfunctory knock on the front door, and Stat walked in.
The man and his crew weren’t much holding to ceremony these days, coming and going as they pleased. The exception to that was when Lace was around.
Vince and Stat had talked it over, and both agreed that her down-time needed to bereallydown. No noise. No commotion. So when the crew was working late and she’d walked in, they’d always packed things up and been on their way before she put on her hostess hat and started offering them food and drink.
Right now, however…
“Coffee?” Vince asked.
Statler nodded, but didn’t stop as he walked directly toward the coffee machine.
Tonka, who was with Stat today, simply dropped his tool bucket on the kitchen floor and grabbed a stool at the island, a few down from Vince.
“Just help yourself, Stat,” Vince teased with a grin. “I left enough for both of you.”
Statler snorted. “Because you want to ply us with the good stuff before you let us touch anything today.”
Yeah.Statler could be a bit of a grump before he had his caffeine.