Loved and Alive

Chapter 19

~~~~ 2 months later ~~~~

I roll onto my side, bringing my head to rest on Robert's chest as he looks away from his phone. "Babe, it's barely six, what the fuck are you doing?"

"There's a problem at the studio with some blocking for the show. And apparently part of the set broke." He says, clicking and shutting the screen off, setting his phone on his nightstand.

"So you have to go work?" I ask sleepily.

"Unfortunately. Which means our lazy day plans are on hold."

I groan, rolling off of him so he can get up.

"What's the extent of the breaks?" I ask, sitting up as Robert gets dressed.

"Not sure, a lot of cracked wood pieces." He says.

I pull the blanket back and get up, starting to change clothes. "We're making a stop at Home Depot."

"We?" Robert repeats as I brush my hair out.

"Yeah, I've done wood work and repairs. I can help." I say with a shrug.

~~

I set the plastic bags down, pulling my hair into a tight ponytail.

"Rob thank god you're here!" Nick runs over, stopping when he sees me. "Kayla? What brings you here?"

"Oh, well I heard you had some set pieces break,"

"Yeah, we're gonna have to scrap it, it took so long to come together too." Nick says.

"That's actually why I came. I used to help my dad with our old wooden furniture, I might be able to fix some of the damage." I say.

"Robert, you're dating an angel! Follow me, dear angel, Rob, in the practice room." Nick motions me down the hall.

"Dating?" I look at Robert, taking my bags of goodies as I walk past him.

Nick leads me to a large room filled with props and set pieces. "It's right here." He point to where Jeff, Jon, and Curt are struggling with pieces of wood.

"Okay, step aside, let me look." I order, setting the bags down.

I look over the pieces, my lips pursed in thought before I slowly nod. "Okay, I'll need a few extra hands, but I think I can get this back together by Monday."

"Kayla, you're an actual angel." Nick says before disappearing.

"So you work with wood? A woman of many talents!" Jeff says.

"Yeah, keep it in your pants, I'm taken." I joke, digging into the bags.

"What do we got?" Jon asks.

"Wood glue for smaller cracks, liquid nail for bigger, clamps in five sizes, applicators and scrapers." I say, pulling everything out as I go down the list.

I stand up, tearing open the pack of disposable work gloves, taking a pair and passing the rest around.

Tugging the gloves on, I crouch back down and take one of the containers of wood glue, twisting the cap off then grabbing a handful of applicators.

"Jeff and Curt, wood glue duty, I'll show you what to do, then you do it and know if you mess up it's all your fault because I'm an excellent teacher." I say as dip one of the applicators into the glue, mixing it up.

I spread the wood glue on a crack, working it in, then twist around and grab a scraper, getting rid of the excess.

"Simple."

I nod, motioning to Jon as I move onto the liquid nail and the bigger breaks.

~~

I peel my gloves off, the dried glue cracking and flaking. "Okay, we've done what we can. These need twenty-four hours to set and take hold."

"That was actually really fun." Jeff says as he pulls his gloves off. "You're just full of surprises."

I nod, bringing a hand up, covering my mouth as I yawn.

"Yeah, a whole lot of surprises!" Jon exclaims, grabbing my wrist, tugging my arm and stretching it out. "What the fuck is this?"

"What the fuck is what?" I ask.

Jon lifts my hand, pointing at the ring. "The fuck is this?"

"Is that an engagement ring?" Jeff asks, grabbing my hand and looking at the ring.

"Yeah, didn't Robert -" I stop as all three look at me.

"C'mon." Jeff practically drags me out of the room, to the practice room where the rest of the cast is.

"Robert Manion, you have some fucking explaining to do and you better start right fucking now!" Jeff shouts.

"Uhh, what are you talking about?" Robert looks at the small group, pushing me forward.

"When the hell did you propose?" Jon demands, as Jeff holds my hand up.

Robert flushes red, suddenly the center of attention as he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck. "I - I thought I told you all."

I sigh, pulling my arm away from Jeff and face the room. "So, apparently Robert is unreliable, but you were all invited to our engagement party his family is insisting on. It's in three weeks at our apartment." I announce.

Mariah grabs my hand. "This is so gorgeous!" She squeals. "You have to tell me how it happened. I bet it was romantic!"

"It was! And a total surprise." I say.

"He managed to surprise you? How?" Mariah looks at me curiously.

"That's what I'm asking!"

"I'm stealing her, be back after lunch." Mariah says to Robert, looping her arm through mine.

I blow him a kiss, walking with Mariah out of the studio.

"You better wait!" Lauren yells, running up with Jaimee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah! Finally my knowledge on how to fix wooden objects has a use! Um I did a lot of wood working shit with my dad so I know a bit about that topic.

And I actually forgot until like 20 minutes ago that it's Friday!

Okay yeah that's all from me, have a good weekend, enjoy the Super Bowl if you watch the game and ya know just live life and be chill.

Xoxo later my dears!!