Squeezing Aaron's hand a little, she wondered to herself why she had been so freaked out that he wanted to get a bigger, more permanent place. There was nothing scary about it, she realized—it was exciting.
There were two archways off the kitchen, one straight ahead and one off to the right—he showed them the one straight ahead of them first, and the door to the right was a breezy, sea shell themed bathroom. Opposite the bathroom behind the other door was a nice sized pantry for groceries, which Julie definitely liked.
Then he took them back through the other kitchen arch, which led them to a beige and white colored living room.
The carpet was shaggy, cream colors with specks of tan in it. The walls were a creamy white with thick wooden molding at the tops and bottoms of the walls. The room was empty, but it wasn't hard to imagine what it would look like with a grandfather clock in the corner, maybe a big potted plant. There would be a big comfy couch in the center, perfect for cuddling.
"What do you think so far?" Aaron asked her.
"So far I love it," she told him. "Unless there's a gaping hole in the floor of the bedroom, I'm thinking I approve."
"Oh, I didn't tell you about the hole? Ted says it gives the room dimension."
Giving him a dry look, she said, "Very funny."
After finishing up the tour with the other bathroom and the bedrooms upstairs, Julie was completely happy with the house. Ted rattled off some more nice things about the neighborhood and what a great deal it was, but Julie didn't need to hear anything else, she already knew she liked it.
Not wanting to put her on the spot, Aaron told Ted that he would get back to him, and then Aaron and Julie left. As soon as they were in the car, Aaron said, "So, overall, what did you think?"
"I really like it," she said with a nod. "It's absolutely great."
"Great enough to live there?"
"Without a doubt," she stated.
"Good," he said. "You already know I like it, so I'll tell Ted and we can get the process started."
"Are you sure we can do this?" Julie asked. "I mean, with the new restaurant and the apartments and everything?"
Nodding, he said, "We're completely capable."
"'Cause, I know I'm not capable of buying anything right now—in terms of money, it's totally out of the question."
"Well, it's a good thing you have me then, isn't it?" he teased.
"I just want to make sure. I mean, really, I don't even have an inkling of your financial position, and that's fine when it's none of my business, but I don't want you to think that you have to get a bigger place if that's going to be stretching our budget too thin. There is no reason that we can't fit where we are for a while, at least until you make sure everything—”
"Julie," he said, interrupting. "I assure you, I can afford it. I wouldn't try to buy it if I couldn't."
"Don’t forget I'm going to have to go on maternity leave eventually—”
"Julie, when have I ever let you give me any part of your income?"
"Well, you haven't. But I'm just saying, if things got tight—”
"They won't," he assured her. "Look, if it will make you feel better, when we get home we can go over my finances—since they’re more or less our finances—so that you’re not in the dark anymore. Now, do you want to go see the apartments first, or would you rather go home?"
"Apartments," she answered, feeling a little relieved.
Nodding, he put the car in reverse and backed out.
---
The following day Debbie had some urgent matter she needed to deal with and she needed someone to cover for her, and since Aaron had promised to let Julie work with Leigh at some point, he told Julie she could cover Debbie's 11 to 4 even though Leigh would be there until 2.
Julie hoped that things with Leigh would be more normal, but that didn't seem to be the case. As their shifts overlapped, Leigh merely avoided Julie—not rudely, she just didn't speak to her more than she had to.
When Julie was making a batch of tartar sauce at 1:30 to prepare for dinner, her general feeling of optimism in restoring her friendship with Leigh began to waver.