Private Emotions – Promises (The Private Emotions Trilogy) (16 page)

“Don’t put yourself out as I really want to do this myself but I wouldn’t say no to a little help from my friends.”

“Great, I’ll make a few phone calls and I might even be able to wrangle you an overseas distributor for your dresses. Don’t quote me, but keep your fingers crossed.”

Barry said, “I worked through high school as a painter and if anyone else wants to help me, I am sure that we can have the place painted in record time. Don’t worry, we won’t do anything without your permission first.” I heard that statement before and the very memory of Ethan telling me that about our sex life was making me smile inside.

Standing in the middle of my space…my space…I watched my friends painting, laughing and getting messy all at the same time. “Okay, we are losing daylight people and if you are finished with the horseplay, I think it’s time to get back to work.”

They all looked at me and then at each other, and then turned to walk towards me with their brushes and rollers covered in paint. Their intention was obvious and I began to scream as they boxed me in to a corner. Yup, I was now officially covered in as much paint as they were. “Thanks, guys, that was really pleasant.” I was being sarcastic and they all started to laugh at the sight of me.

We continued painting for a while longer before calling it a night. “Thanks, guys, I could not have done this without your help.” The paint all over their clothes and faces made them look like a work-in-progress for an art class. We all said our goodnights as they smiled and slowly made their exit.

Once they had all left, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and looked back to see Ethan looking more like a Smurf than a human being. We definitely made this painting party something that everyone enjoyed.

The fact that most of the place was already painted was a good sign that we would be finished before the grand opening. All my friends were willing to get a little messy and that showed me how much they cared for me.

“Maybe we could do the same thing for you when you open your gallery? I might just have an idea to give it that special extra touch, but I don’t think that I’m going to tell you until we get closer to your opening.” His hands moved lower until I was wrapped up in his embrace and could feel his body pressing into mine.

“Hmmm, I do love surprises and I think you are going to love what I have arranged.”

“I just want you to know that I wouldn’t be comfortable with surprises from anyone else, so for the time being I will allow you to have your little secret. In the meantime, it is getting late and we both have to get up early in the morning. Tomorrow is my last day before I pull off the shackles of working for someone else so I want to make sure that I complete all my work and leave Michelle in good order.”

“It must be a little scary to throw yourself into something so new.”

“It is, but with each passing day I am looking forward to seeing where it will go and I could say the same thing about you and your new business venture.”

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that we are both taking major leaps of faith. It’s nice to have each other to lean on.” We kissed passionately in the middle of my unfinished boutique and I felt so alive, so hopeful and so completely happy.

We drove off in separate directions and even though I could have gone back to his place it was probably better this way. There would be tomorrow night and the night after that. I smiled to myself as the comforting thoughts of spending many nights with Ethan flooded my mind.

The next day was a bittersweet one for me as I ended the day and closed up the shop for the last time in my life. I took one last look at my past, turned around and walked confidently towards my future and whatever it might hold.

“Emily, wait, I wanted to give you this today but we got so hammered with unexpected orders that I didn’t get a chance to do the honors.” Michelle had a box in her arms and it was wrapped up in gold paper with a big red bow on the top. “This is just a little something to say thank you for your dedication and it might be something that you could use at your own boutique. Just don’t open it until you’re ready to open the doors. I think you will find something quite unexpected.”

“I’m not sure what to say other than thank you and I hope we can stay in touch. I consider you a friend as well and I hope we can continue that friendship for years to come.”

“That’s it, I said I wasn’t going to cry but you had to go and say something like that.” Wiping her eyes, she gave me a hug, walked back to her office and closed the door behind her.

There was time for a quick coffee before I had to go over to the boutique and join the others to finish the painting. I walked through the door and noticed that everybody was hard at work, except there was no sign of Ethan or Mark anywhere. Ronnie saw me, came over and said, “If you’re looking for Ethan and Mark they had some last minute details to go over about his book, but they promised me that they would be here within the hour. In the meantime, we have a paintbrush here with your name on it.” While I was away, it appeared that the dress racks had come in and were now situated in the corner of the room where the painting was already done.

“Yes, I think it’s time for me to get my hands dirty with the rest of you.”

A little over an hour later, Ethan and Mark finally showed up and they weren’t alone. They had five pizzas with them. As they entered into the space everyone stopped what they were doing and immediately converged on the aroma wafting towards us. We all sat cross-legged on the floor, devoured our pizza and then went back to work for a couple more hours before we called it a day.

This time after everyone left, Ethan and I went back to his place and enjoyed a lovely dinner while we talked about our new ventures. We went to bed that night and curled up around each other in a loving embrace. The comforting feel of his body felt like home to me. I could never get tired of this feeling and hoped that it would last for a long time to come.

It was a busy few days trying to get all the other necessities sorted. Thankfully, I found a local company that was going to custom fit the fixtures that I had chosen. We bounced some ideas off each other and they proposed a great offer that not only saved me a little money but also gave the shop a sophisticated and old-world charm.

We were both exhausted as we threw our energies into making our individual ventures a reality. We had just enough strength to give each other a quick kiss before collapsing into bed and falling asleep.

One morning, I decided that I would do something special for him for being there for me. I saw that he was still asleep and decided that I would make breakfast for a change. There wasn’t much in his refrigerator but there were enough leftover ingredients to make an omelet that we could both enjoy.

“Ooh, a woman in a man’s shirt is very sexy, you aren’t trying to seduce me are you, Em?” I noticed that he started calling me ‘Em’ more than Emily. It was probably his way of showing me that he was more relaxed at the thought of having me in his life now.

I said coyly, “This was the first thing that I saw and it doesn’t hurt that it smells like you.” It didn’t hurt either that he walked in here with just the pajama bottoms and nothing on top. We ate and talked about so many things that it was hard to keep track of the conversation sometimes. How wonderful it was to be with someone who made me feel like I could spend my whole life with him.

The next few days were concentrated on getting the shop up and running. I couldn’t believe that in two days I was going to open the shop to the public. Mark had called a couple of friends from the local radio station and they were promoting my big day over a three day period. If that wasn’t enough, I had reached into my savings and put out an ad in the local paper that would run simultaneously with the radio promotion. I also created the relevant social media accounts and was rapidly gaining friends and followers as the days and nights went on. The hype around the opening was getting around town and people were starting to stop me in the street to tell me how much they were looking forward to attending the big day.

Even though my time was limited, I spent the rest of it modifying the creations that I had in my closet. I would use these as my initial pieces to put on display and if all went well it would be enough to fill the shop.

I wanted to have a special pre-opening with my friends as a way of saying thank you for all their help and support. This time, no one would be involved in the planning because I wanted the sentiment to come entirely from me.

I got to the shop as early as possible and as I was placing the white tablecloth on the table in the middle of the room, Barry and Maria showed up. They were a little earlier than I had expected but I did not mind. When they saw what I was doing they didn’t hesitate to help me light the candles and set out the silverware. I did not have the time to prepare the meal myself so I ordered it from that cute restaurant in Locket Lane that Ethan and I had visited some time ago. I remembered how we had rushed out of there after only having the wine so that we could rip each other’s clothes off and make passionate love. I could not help but smile. Although in the grand scheme of things we had not been together long, we still had created so many beautiful memories.

The pre-launch evening was everything that I wanted it to be and more. The people who meant the world to me got a chance to see the finished product before everyone else. I still could not believe that all of this belonged to me. The road was a hard one but a rewarding one at the same time.

Ethan said, “I know you’ve been busy all week but do you remember that I told you that I had a surprise for you? It would be the crowning piece to your opening.” He took my hand and led me out into the night air as the others followed. He pointed towards the sign above the door. There was a black tarp over the sign that I put there. It was not exactly what I wanted but it was too late to do anything about it, or so I thought. “Okay, if you will do the honors my dear, Em.” He handed me a cord and as I pulled it the black tarp fell onto the ground at our feet. There was a collective gasp from the crowd as they saw what was underneath it. Looking up, I was amazed at the beautiful black and silver sign for my boutique. It was exquisitely done and the silver design gave the sign that same old-world feel like the rest of the shop.

“I created the design and had a friend of mine make and install it today before you got here. This is my contribution to your success.”

“Wow, that is so much better than what I had up there and I love the black and silver design. Very chic Mr. Sterling, very chic. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you pulled this out of my head because this is exactly what I would envision to bring customers to my door.”

“You deserve all the happiness in the world, Em. Three cheers for our host and newest entrepreneur to the community.” Everyone followed Ethan’s lead and they all raised their glasses to toast the new adventure that I was about to embark on.

At the end of the night I opened the gift from Michelle to find a winged angel. I decided to place it on the window for good luck and prosperity. It would also be a constant reminder of how far I had come in my journey in becoming the person that I was today.

The day had finally arrived…the day of my grand opening. I stood at the front door as I cut the ribbon and a round of applause rang out and people started entering the shop. All my friends were there including Sophie and her wife, and even Kelly’s parents, Julia and Scott. It would have been perfect if my mother could have made it but she had other commitments. It was unlike her to miss something this important to me so I hoped she was ok.