Monday morning started with my alarm going off bright and early at 6:30 AM. I rolled over and turned off my offending alarm. I slowly sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand attempting to make both eyes open. I decided that I should get up and take a shower and get ready for work. After a long hot shower and feeling more awake I dressed in a flowy pale yellow sundress and matching high heel sandals. I dried my hair and swept it up into a loose bun and quickly did a light makeup on my eyes and lips. I grabbed my purse, the manuscript off my nightstand, and my keys and headed out of my bedroom and down the stairs. I hurried out the front door and made my way down the walkway to my SUV. Before I climbed into my SUV my phone started ringing and when I answered the phone a deep voice on the other end greeted me, "Good morning AJ." At just the sound of his voice, I found myself smiling, "Good morning Adrian." "I just wanted to let you know that I am at the house getting started and I wanted to touch base with you and let you know that if you need anything just let me know." "Oh thank you I will." "Alright well, you have a good day and I will talk to you later," he said as we hung up. On my way to work, I swung quickly through the drive-thru of the local coffee shop and ordered a large coffee and a banana nut muffin. After arriving at the office I deposited all of my things on my desk and stepped into Mary's office to give her the manuscript that I had finished over the weekend. I stepped to her door and knocked on the open door, "Good morning Mary, how was your weekend?" Mary looked up from her desk and motioned me in, "Good morning AJ, my weekend was good how about yours?" We exchanged a few pleasantries and I gave her the manuscript and she gave me a new one to work on. I went back to my desk and started on the little bit of correspondence that I had on my desk and the filing that needed to be done. After about a couple of hours I had nothing really to do so, I decided that I would go ahead and enroll in my classes. After filling out what seems like a ton of paperwork online I was officially enrolled as a college student. By the time I finished, it was lunchtime so I slipped out and decided to go and try a cafe down the street that I had seen last week. They seemed to specialize in burgers and fries so I decided that was just what I wanted. After lunch, I headed back to the office and the rest of the day seemed to fly by in a flurry of phone calls and paperwork. At 5 PM I gathered my things and said my goodbyes to Mary and headed out the door. As I was driving home I decided that I would swing by my house and see how much work Adrian had completed today. As I drove up the gravel driveway I was shocked to see that Adrian's truck was still parked in the driveway. I slipped out of my SUV and walked through the front door, I heard music coming from the master bedroom so I headed up the stairs. When I got to the bedroom door I paused in the doorway and saw a shirtless Adrian painting the walls that he had scraped the old wallpaper off of. He was a handsome sight to watch with his muscles all shimmery with sweat as he stretched up to roll the paint on the walls. I blushed as Adrian turned around and caught me watching him. "Hi Aj, how was work?" he asked with a smile. I stammered, "Good." and then quickly added, "I was just stopping by to look at the progress, I didn't know that you would still be hard at it." He beamed a broad smile at me. This man's smile was definitely doing something to my hormones and made my breathing hitch. "Well, I know that you had said that you wanted to move in right away so I wanted to get as much done as possible for you," he said. That is so sweet, he was actually listening to me when I told him that. I was so shocked because for me I have been used to men not listening to anything that I wanted. "Thank you," I said. "Of course, no problem. I think that with the way things are going you might be able to move in this weekend if you want to," I said. "That would be wonderful I am so excited," I told him with a smile. "Well, I will leave you to it, and by the way, it is looking really good so far," I told him. "Thank you, AJ come by anytime to check up on me," he said with another dazzling smile. With that, I blushed and turned, and headed back down the steps. As I stepped out the front door and walked down the path to my SUV I was wondering to myself why is it that this man can make my hormones go wild with just one smile. I drove home with thoughts of Adrian still playing in my mind. When I arrived at the house I noticed that Carl and Joy's cars were parked in the driveway. I parked and grabbed my things and slipped in the kitchen door. Joy was standing at the stove stirring something and Carl was sitting at the kitchen table. I greeted them both before I went upstairs to change clothes and put my stuff away. After changing into shorts and a t-shirt I went back downstairs. "Hey there, did you get stuck in traffic on the way home?" Joy asked me when I stepped into the kitchen. I smiled at her, "No I decided to stop by the house to see how much Adrian had finished today." "Oh, so how is he working out?" Carl asked looking up from the newspaper he was reading. "Wonderfully, he is so awesome," I said grinning from ear to ear. Joy looked over at me and waggled her eyebrows and said, "I know right." I blushed at her and Carl cleared his throat as he said, "Hey, I'm right here ya know." Joy walked other to him while laughing and kissed him and then said, "Babe you know I only have eyes for you." I just laughed at them. They were always joking with each other and they gave me a glimpse into what a true marriage was supposed to look like. "Anyway, Adrian thinks that I should be able to move in this weekend," I said with a smile. Joy looked up kind of sad at me and said, "you know that you don't have to be in any hurry." "I know but it is time for me to get into my own place and besides I will only be down the road and you will still be seeing me all of the time," I quickly said trying to reassure her. She walked over and hugged me and said, "I know but, I am going to miss you." I hugged her back. It had been so nice being here with her because she was like the big sister that I never had and I could never repay her and Carl for taking me in when I had no one. "I am going to miss you all too," I said before releasing her. I helped her set the table and Carl poured us some drinks and we all sat down and talked about our days while we enjoyed our dinner. After dinner, I helped load the dishwasher and said goodnight to everyone, and slipped up the stairs to my room. I slipped into my nightgown and brushed my teeth before climbing into bed. As I laid there drifting off to sleep I was thinking of just how good Adrian looked while I had been watching him work.
