Dolly (Part three-Max Mitchell series)

SEVENTEEN

"What's gotten into you, smiley face?" Stef asked, over one of our many FaceTime calls.
"I have something to tell you."
"You're pregnant."
"Ha! No. Tom is moving in with me."
Stef let out a loud "Whoop" and I knew she approved.
"That's wonderful. Tommy is moving to New York! Put him on the phone."
"He's in LA. He's packing his things and arranging to have his car trailered here. I told him he may as well put it in my garage, since I don't have a car in the city. He'll be back in a few days."
"What about his place in London?"
"I'm sure that will be next. It's so strange, I've never even seen it."
"He can do what you did. Sell everything and buy what he needs when he moves in."
"It's the easiest way, really."
"I can't wait to give him a housewarming party when I get back, if that's alright with you."
"Speaking of which, when are you coming home? I miss you."
"Not much longer. Today is my last UK show, then back to the US. New York is the last show of the tour."
"It can't come soon enough."
"I know. Congratulations, to both of you. I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks Stef."

I went to my bedroom closet and a sudden wave of giddy excitement washed over me, at the thought of spending every day waking up to the love of my life. Happily, I took armfuls of clothes that I didn't wear day to day, and stowed them in one of the guest room closets. Stilettos, mini skirts and uncomfortable dresses, all banished to the guest room until I needed them for something like a costume party (or if Stef needed to borrow them).

How much clothing does he have?
How much furniture is he bringing with him?
Does he have a lot of shoes?
Which side of the bed will he sleep on?

I needed answers, so I plopped down in the middle of the closet floor and called Tom.

"Good afternoon, Dolly! What's my lady up to today?"
"Just making some room around here. I have a few questions for you. I don't know why we haven't talked about this before."
"Uh oh. This sounds serious."
"It's very serious. It's a matter of me relinquishing some of my personal space to you..."
"Oh yes, then it is very serious."

I proceeded to ask him all of the fussy, detail oriented questions I had rolling around in my head. Just like always, he had the answers and completely put me at ease. He informed me that his casual clothes weren't many, he just had a lot of suits, which I already knew. He had no furniture coming from LA, only a number of books, a large number of books. All that, plus the obvious toiletries and electronic stuff. He also firmly stated that he is not a next-to-the-window sleeper, which was fine with me.

"I have a bit more in London, so maybe you'll accompany me and we can choose what to get rid of and what goes to New York."
"I haven't been to there in years. I'd love to go."
"Fantastic. I have to go, love. Luke is here with the car trailer driver."
"I love you. I'll see you soon."

Whew. What a whirlwind. I finished that day clearing out part of my closet and making space for him in the bedside table, the bathroom and the living room. As if by fate, I'd fairly recently moved a majority of my vinyl albums up to the studio, so there was just the right amount of space for Tom's books right there in the living room.

"Perfect" I said to myself.

Everything was just perfect.

***

"Well, Max. Now that you're up one in residents and your business certainly isn't slowing down, we need to talk about office space."

Wendy, Tom and I were having a laptop-breakfast-coffee meeting on the kitchen island. Clearly, Wendy was beginning to feel crowded. I'd been meaning to figure out the space issue for awhile, other things had just gotten in the way. I never pursued the Los Angeles building. I got preoccupied after the incident and just let it kind of slip away. Considering Tom was now living with me, it didn't seem as necessary to have a base in LA.

"Do you think it would be wise to find a secondary space?"
"Yes. In fact, I've done some investigating for you. Here's a small list of office space properties in the area." Wendy said, rather quickly. She furnished me with a file folder that had a few printed property listings in it. I felt a bit perplexed by her swift and sure response, and I had to wonder what it was about. I quickly gave Tom a look, and his in return looked just as surprised as mine. He gestured as if to say "Do I need to leave?" and my look back was, "Yes. Us girls need a pow-wow." He jumped up, said something about a shower or a nap, and he was gone in a flash.

"Wendy, what's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. Is everything ok?"
"Of course, Max. Everything is fine."
"I appreciate how thoroughly you looked into an office space property, I just want to make sure I haven't done something to make you feel like you have to move to a different space."
She let out a whoosh of air, and I was nervous about what was coming next.
"I am one hundred percent excited about you and Tom...so don't take this the wrong way, but I feel like I'm a bit of a third wheel around here."
I nodded, and let her continue.
"This job has been a godsend, and I couldn't be happier. I just think you've grown in such a way that we need a little more space. Space for me to be better at my job."
"Well, that makes me feel relieved."
"I don't know if you noticed, but one of the spaces for lease is dirt cheap and literally across the street and down a few."
"Well let's call them, and go see it."
"Sure thing, boss."
She promptly got the owner on the phone and we had a showing after a few days.

***

Within one weeks time, Dolly Music Group was expanding into a street level, fifteen hundred square foot storefront space just around the corner from my house. I put Wendy in charge of decorating, and putting things where she thought they should be. She had taken such good care of me, in more ways than one, I was willing to do for her whatever she needed. After our first day of doing actual work there, Tom came to meet me just as I was locking up.

"Fancy a dinner date?"
"God, yes."
"You look beautiful today, Maxine." he said, offering his elbow as we walked.
I was in a long cream colored jersey maxi dress, with accents of barely there peach flowers around the bust and the hem. I had curled my hair in long, soft waves and wore all gold bangles on my wrists and a long gold necklace. I felt super feminine and apparently it showed.
"You're not looking too bad yourself, sugar."
I think the man had every combination of jeans and tshirt down to a science, and looked killer every time. Coming as a surprise to me, we made it all the way to the bakery without a single photographer chasing us down, and it was quite pleasant.

Time was flying by, and before I knew it, we were into the first week of June. Tom had technically moved in, but in my mind it wasn't official until he moved out of his flat completely. The plan for the upcoming weekend was to fly to London, immediately go to Tom's flat, and select the things he wanted to move to New York. Emma had already helped him by cleaning out some of the things he knew he didn't want to take, so that would make our job easier. Every once in awhile, the weight of what we were planning came down on me and it made me a little freaked out and equally giddy at the same time. Tom always noticed when I was stuck inside of my head, and always gave me a minute there, before snapping me out of it.

"Come back to me, Max." he said, and offered a bite of his dessert. "Is everything alright?"
"Of course. You know how I get." I said, wistfully.
"I do...and that's part of the reason I love you so much."