Chapter 41: 2nd Sunday Afternoon: Part 1

Kara quickly made her way back into the apartment. “Mom?”

“In the kitchen!”

“Okay!” She found her mom sitting at the table, the plans open in front of her. “Any luck?”

“I think so. Are you okay with picking up a few more things while we’re out?”

“I figured you’d want to. What else are we going to be looking at?”

“More wood, sealing primer, that sort of thing. If we have the time, I’d like to look at paint in general too.”

Kara couldn’t hold in her laughter. “We were talking about paint colors.”

“I knew you were ‘talking’ about something. I’m glad we’re on the same page.” She paused for a moment, glancing at her phone one more time. “I’m good to go if you are.”

“Yes, lets.” She followed Clara to the car, quietly getting into the passenger seat. “You gave into dad more easily than I expected you to. And you looked ... uncertain.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t pick up on that ... but I should expect otherwise by now. He’s showing improvement, but ... it can be hard to look past old patterns.” She paused for a moment, turning right. “That’s not why I agreed to this though. I wanted a chance to talk to you about something else.”

“About what?”

“Your friend Vanessa. Her aura was more stable this morning after we talked for a bit, but then after breakfast it went right back to being kind of ... flickering. Is everything okay between the three of you and her?”

“Sort of. She’s hiding a lot of insecurities, and I know why now. But I really can’t share that.”

“The people seem the most confident often are. It is clear to me that she’s struggling with accepting something though.”

“Oh ... how much of that conversation did you hear?”

“Just a little bit of what your friend Laura shared.”

“Okay, so Laura’s convinced that Vanessa is having trouble adjusting to the idea that she’s probably bi. And that might be partially true. But I don’t think that’s the big part of it.”

“She’s technically just dating Emanuel at the moment, right?” Kara nodded her head. “But she seems to be getting closer to all of you. Is she also thinking about becoming your fourth?”

“I think she’s entertaining the idea a bit, but I’m not sure how comfortable she really is with the idea of having multiple serious relationships. Multiple lovers doesn’t seem to be troubling her much, but...”

“That’s not unsurprising. It’s easy enough focusing on individual lovers one at a time, even if you technically have more than one at the same time. But remembering all the things you have to for a relationship is hard enough with one person...”

“Let alone multiple people.”

“Exactly. That’s probably why Bella needed our trio to end.” She turned onto the main street. “And it’s easy enough to stretch multiple lovers to fit a monogamous worldview. At least, it can be done without too much dissonance. But an honest, poly relationship? That’s too different for a lot of folks to understand, let alone accept if they grew up only hearing about fidelity from the monogamous perspective. The fact that she’s willing to consider it is huge.”

“Allison mentioned what her mom said about the whole thing. We’re not expecting any of this to be easy, but the lack of clarity is ... a little worrying.”

“That she can see anything would be comforting to me. Now ... I saw a look I recognize all too well when you suggested making the extra ‘room’. What do you three have planned for that space?”

“I merely pointed out that one of the support beams runs near a very good spot. Do you suppose that could be used for suspension?”

Clara’s raucous laughter filled the car. “You enjoyed last night and this morning that much?”

“Yeah.”

“It should be fine, especially with the additional interior walls going up to the roof. But you should consider two things. First, that it’s not wood; it’s a very tough hybrid metal. So it will be very difficult to drill and tap holes into it with standard tools.”

“How about some of the tools we’re renting?”

“Possibly. The other thing is the direction its running. You won’t have a lot of usable space on it if both you and Allison want to be up there.”

“Is there a way to pull it off that makes more sense?”

“Yes. You can use the beam to help anchor a strong wooden one going the other way. If you make the other two anchor points the wall of the closet and the outside wall, that should be sufficient to support the kind of beam you’d need.”

“We can do that?”

“Only a handful of people will have any idea why we’re putting up a beam that thick in that space. But your father won’t say anything, and I think the only response you’ll get from Vanessa is a nice blush.”

“Actually, considering how many of them were listening to Vanessa’s story earlier, I think they’ll all have some idea of what we’re planning. But it’s not them I’m worried about.”

“It would be really easy to pick up a nice curtain rod and thick curtain. And depending on the color you choose for the paint, it might be possible to match them to the walls around them.”

“Will we have enough time to find all of this? And do you know how big of a beam we’ll need?”

She watched the hardware store approach on their right. “Yes. If we go to the paint department first, hopefully by the time we’re done with everything else they’ll be done mixing the paint.”

“We’re not going with something we can just pick up and place in the cart?”

Clara parked the car and opened the driver’s side door. “We could, but we’ll get a much nicer color if it’s mixed fresh. And we’ll make sure to get more than we think we’ll need.”

Kara’s eyes went wide as they entered the store. “I ... how are we going to find everything we need here quickly?”

“I know what aisles we need to go down for everything ... well, except for the curtains. I don’t remember if they carry them here, or if we’ll need to go to another store instead. But that can wait for another day if need be.” She started toward one end of the massive store. “Maybe we should pick up some carpet samples while we’re here.”

“Just samples?”

“Even with the best timing, we’re not likely to finish with the walls today. The paint won’t take much space, but enough carpet to replace what we tore out will take more space than we have at the moment to store safely.” She stopped behind someone waiting at the counter. “So, what colors did you three discuss?”

“Allison and I like the idea of mostly reds. A darker one for the bedroom, and a brighter one for the rest of the upper floor. And something like cream or a dark ivory for the basement.”

“Accent colors?”

“Not sure. It would be nice to bring a little bit of the dojo into our home.”

“Are you folks ready?”

“I believe so. We’re going to need a lot of interior paint.”

“Renovations?” Clara nodded her head. “How many rooms?”

“Effectively four. Kitchen, master bedroom, living room, and a basement computer room.”

“Okay ... Are there any colors you want to draw inspiration from in the other rooms?”

“Those are all of the rooms that we need to worry about for now. We’ll eventually need to discuss the new master bathroom, but that can wait.” Kara watched a look of confusion spread over the man’s face. “We’re converting a man cave into an apartment.”

“Oh! I see. Are there any colors you’re looking for specifically?”

Clara glanced at her. “She’s the one you should be asking.”

“My apologies.” The man turned to face her. “Do you have a favorite color or color scheme in mind?”

“We were thinking mostly red.”

“Is that one of the dominant colors in the dojo?”

“Oh, you’re going for an oriental theme! I think I know the perfect red for your base color.”

She turned to her mom. “Sensei does use a fair amount of a particular red, but it’s not the dominant color. There’s much more in the way of wood tones and warm yellows actually.” She turned back to the man. “You should consider not using that particular word. There’s a great deal of difference between the various Asian countries.”

“You’re right.”

Uh huh ... I really don’t believe you. Not with that tone of voice. She waited a few moments for a response. My loves? Can you hear me? I guess I’m out of range then. “So, as I was saying, we’re fond of red. I was thinking something darker for the bedroom, and a little brighter for the living room.”

“Dark meaning less vivid, or tending toward black?”

“Less vivid I guess.”

“So” he started, pulling out a book of palettes, pointing at one of them “something like this?”

“That’s ... close, but not quite. Maybe that one?”

“So less bright. That’s a nice choice for a bedroom. Would something like this” he pointed to another palette “be okay for the living room?”

“I think so, but I need to check with someone else first.” She turned to her mom. “Can you take a picture with your phone and send it to Allison?”

“Is she expecting it?”

“I’m out of range it seems, so no.” Kara pointed to both colors. “She’ll know which one is which.”

She heard the ‘snap’ of the shutter, followed shortly by a short chime. “Okay, message sent.” Another chime followed a few moments later. “She’s suggesting one up and to the right for the bedroom, and two down for the living room.” Kara watched a smirk appear on the man’s face. “Also, she confirmed the range issue.”

“They must have been confused when they couldn’t reach me.” The smirk quickly morphed into a look of confusion. “It’s not important. I agree with her.”

“We offer that line in four sizes; gallon, half-gallon, quart, and half-pint. How much do you think you’ll need of each?” She watched Clara pull something up on her phone and show it to the man. “That’s significantly more than you need, to be honest.”

“I’m planning for a generous buffer just in case.”

“Most people don’t think to do that. This isn’t your first rodeo, is it?” Clara shook her head. “Okay” he turned back to Kara “were you thinking the same color family for the basement?”

“We’d like to bring some of the darker red in as an accent color, but not as the primary. Something like cream or ivory maybe?”

He flipped to another page. “That would be these rows. But that might be a little too much contrast. Something like this yellow” he pointed to another one “might be a bit nicer on the eyes. Especially if your only light source is typical overhead lighting.”

“That’s a little two bright I think. Maybe the one below it?” She pointed to the two palettes, waiting for the ‘snap’ and ‘ding’ that followed a few moments later.

Another ‘ding’ announced the response. “One to the right of the one you suggested. She says that reminds Emanuel of the yellow in the dojo.”

“He’s right! Yes, I think she’s right.”

“Okay...” he muttered, followed by a sting of letters and numbers. “Any other main colors?”

“Did Allison suggest anything else?”

“She liked that yellow” Clara pointed to one “and said ‘maybe kitchen?’.”

“Yeah! Will it be hard to match the wood to it?”

The man behind the counter smiled. “A lot of different stains would work quite nicely with that particular shade.”

“That looks good then.”

He turned back to Clara. “I assume you have relative numbers for both yellows.” She nodded her head and showed him the phone again. “We should have those ready for you in about twenty minutes. Do you need any accent colors?”

Clara glanced at her; Kara shook her head. “Not really. If we do, one or two small cans of the premixed stuff should work just fine.” They both watched him start to open his mouth again. “We should have everything else we need for the painting already.”

“Very well. I’ll need a name for the order then.”

“Clara Foster.”

Kara watched his eyes go wide for a moment. “Here’s your claim ticket. Please let one of us know if you need help finding anything else.”

Clara nodded her head and started toward the next aisle. “Has our story spread outside of the school already?”

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that reaction was because of the number of times your father’s been in here lately. And if that’s not it, then it’s something related to our reputation.”

“Oh, okay. Wait, I thought you said you had everything else you needed?”

“We don’t quite, but I can find what we do need faster on my own than he could have helped. It’s mostly a few new brushes, rollers, and trays to be honest. Nothing too hard to find honestly.”

“Okay. What do we need next?”

“We’ll take a quick look at the stains since we’re right here, then grab the primer and carpet samples before we go look at doors. I was thinking a darker, red-ish one for the wood in the master suite and living room and something...” she grabbed a small can from the shelves “like this for the kitchen and basement. Maybe slightly darker for the kitchen.”

“I’ll trust you on that one.” Clara began laughing softly. “What’s so funny?”

“Your spouses said the same thing. In that case...” she scanned the shelves quickly, grabbing several larger cans “this for the darker tone, this one for the kitchen, and one more of this one” she put the small can back and grabbed a larger one of it “for the basement.”

“Don’t we also need a primer or something for those?”

“Not in this case. These take a little longer to dry, but have the primer already mixed into them. But you’re right that we need a few cans of sealer for them.” She added a few more small cans to the cart. “Your father and I have a favorite type of carpet for something like this ... one we should have gone with originally. It’s easy to clean and reasonably soft.”

“Why didn’t you use that one originally?”

“The contractor claimed the one you all tore up would be even better, and less expensive. I was a little skeptical, but your father completely believed him. And I felt there were more important things to really push for my way.” She grabbed a small, thick book from a nearby shelf. “I should have trusted my gut more on that one.”

“Is that how he snuck the TV into the space?”

“Sort of. I assumed he’d chosen his fights elsewhere, and decided to not fight me on that one. I didn’t expect him to physically sneak that in while I was out with the girls. And by the time I realized it was there, it was too late to return it.” She stopped in front of another set of carpet. “Since we need to replace the carpet anyway, this is the opportunity to add a few special touches.”

“Like?”

“I was mostly thinking about the reading nook. We can simply use the same carpet the rest of the bedroom gets, or we can do something to set it apart from everything else.”

“It would be nice to find something like tatami, but only if that would make sense with the sliding doors. Otherwise, the colors are general enough that I suppose just about anything would work.”

“Let’s look at doors then. We can come back to this aisle once we’ve picked everything else up.” Kara nodded her head and followed her. “Hmm ... these are all pretty plain.”

“Yeah. If we got creative, maybe we could do something with that one ... but getting all the doors to match well enough would be...” she paused, glancing down the aisle “wait! That’s it!”

“Which one?”

Kara dashed over to one a few feet down the aisle. “This one. Sure, it’s pure white, but the lines make it look like woven paper. Maybe we’ll use the lighter red for the plain, bottom half ... and some combination of black and gold for the top.”

“Just those two colors?”

“Well, we can leave some of the lines white I suppose. But I’m sure of that this is the right door.”

“And it does have a decent looking locking mechanism. I do think you should run the idea by your spouses first though.” Kara nodded her head; Clara pulled her phone out again and took a few quick photos. A ‘ding’ a few moments later announced a response. “Let’s see ... Allison doesn’t quite see what you’re seeing, but Emanuel seems to agree with you.”

Kara laughed softly for a few moments. “Sensei prefers simple doors when he needs to have them, so I’m not surprised Allison can’t quite see it. Manny and I have seen enough designs like this to be on the same page on this. Did she say that she doesn’t agree?”

“No. Just that she doesn’t see it. She’ll support you two on this.”

“Then, let’s go with it. How many of them do we need?”

“Three of the single ones and one double. Unless you want a different door in the basement.”

“No, I think all of them matching works best. We can always tailor the paint scheme to match the downstairs colors instead for that one.” She glanced at one of the boxes underneath the door. “I assume this is why the cart has such a big bottom part.”

“For this and the rest of the wood, yeah. Pass me the boxes one at a time.”

“Sure.” Kara started pulling the top box off the pile. “These are surprisingly heavy.”

“Enough to need help?”

“No, I think I’m okay. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.” My punching bag is significantly heavier, and I can move that on my own too. Not for terribly long, but still... she passed the second one to her mom it’s strange not hearing Ally or Manny. Not without intentionally putting up any walls, anyway. She finished pulling the final single door out. “Uhm ... I don’t see any double versions of this one.”

“That’s because their technically isn’t one” an unfamiliar woman’s voice started from behind them. “If you want to make a double, just grab two of them. Like most doors, the actual locking mechanism comes separately.”

She turned toward the woman, clad in the store’s uniform. “And how do those work?”

“If you don’t need a lot of security, just like the kind you’d use for a single door. The only difference is that you install the receiving end into one of the doors instead of the connecting wall.”

“The next aisle over, right?” Clara asked.

“Yes. Are you looking for anything else?”

“I think I know where everything else I need is. Thank you though.” Kara watched her slide the last door into place on the pile, then start moving again; stopping in front of a display of handles. “From a mechanical perspective, you have two choices ... either the handles extend out from the door, or are recessed into the door and relatively hidden. The latter kind looks much neater, but it is possible to push them in too deep.”

“We’ll just need to be careful then. The hidden ones look so much nicer.” She pointed to a specific one of the display. “Especially that one.”

“That’s the kind of gold tone you’re thinking about for accents?” Kara nodded her head. “That should be easy enough to match with paint.” Clara picked a box off the nearby shelf. “It looks like these can’t really be locked though.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a small knob on the opposite side of the key lock. If I’m right, then if someone wants to unlock the door, all they need to do is turn it. Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Well ... it’s not like those doors are going to even be closed most of the time. I more want the locks because I know that sliding doors sometimes don’t stay closed. And that’s the sign we’re going to use going forward that we want privacy. The only lock that really matters...” she paused, grabbing a few more of the boxes “is the one for the front door.”

“That one is solid. Your father insisted. And to be honest, I agreed with him.” She started toward the end of the aisle. “Not that he really ever used the lock. I don’t think he knows that I keep the other copy of the key in my sewing kit.”

“Well, he’s going to learn pretty soon I’m sure. Once we’re done with the work and the apartment is ready, I don’t doubt that he’s going to ask where the other key is.”

“I think he’s forgotten that the lock came with two of them.” She turned down the next aisle. “He might suggest we make copies of his original to give to you three, and keep that one in case of emergencies.”

“I ... I’m not sure I like that idea much.” Her eyes started scanning the simple wooden boards surrounding them. “I mean, a lot of it depends on which of you has the emergency key. I trust that you wouldn’t come in to vacuum or anything like that when we’re not home. But...”

Clara stopped in front of a stack of familiar wood, and began grabbing pieces. “Oh, he wouldn’t event think about it. He understands the need for one’s private space better than anyone. And I really doubt he’d want to risk walking in on anything.” Kara watched her consult her phone again. “I assume you three are planning to keep the clothing optional rule in place?”

“More like ‘clothing only when necessary’. Manny’s likely the only one who will want to wear something most of the time.”

“You may want to put a sign to that effect on the front door.” Clara stopped again. “What do you think of this for the upstairs nook?”

“It’s considerably darker than even the darker stain color...”

“And that will further hide that there’s anything up there. That way you don’t have to keep the curtains closed when you don’t want to.”

“That makes sense. Not that most people would think to look up that high.” She briefly glanced up at the ceiling. “Are the main lights adjustable?”

“Mostly, but that shouldn’t be a problem anyway. The ceiling mounted lights are really only in the basement, bathroom and kitchen. It was proving too difficult to find ones for the rest of the space that were bright enough and still looked nice.” She picked up a slightly lighter plank. “Your father was more inclined to keep the space relatively dark anyway. You know, make it feel like ‘a proper man cave’. Why do you ask?”

“Well...” Kara could feel herself starting to blush “the space we ended up in with Rosa yesterday had these wonderful adjustable lights in it. I was thinking it would be nice if we could replicate that in the new nook. Not just because...”

Clara laughed softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. “That would make it a nice study or craft space too. We’ll ... actually, give me a moment.” Kara watched her pull out her phone and quickly dial a number. “Yes, hello! Can you find Karl and put him on? ... sure, I can wait for a few moments.” She turned back to Kara. “Feel free to look around while I discuss a few things we should have already figured out with Pia’s uncle.”

Kara nodded her head and began slowly making her way down the aisle. It would be really cool if we could do a tatami like weave with wood for the reading nook. But the wood would need to be really narrow to make it look right, and really thin to actually weave with. And it would take forever to do properly. But... she stopped suddenly as her eyes fell on a plank of wood ooh! I think that’s the right look for the hidden nook. I’ll bring one back to mom. Anyway... she paused for a moment, grabbing one from the stack I wonder if this store is big enough to carry actual tatami. I mean, Sensei must have gotten his from somewhere. I doubt he would have imported that much of it from Japan.

She quietly returned to Clara and held up the plank. Clara nodded her head and began scanning the aisle. “Uh huh ... yes, that’s right. Sliders or knobs for those spaces, as well as the space above the bathroom ... yes, I’m sure.” Kara pointed to the section where she’d found the plank. “No, this isn’t something I came up with. Consider it a request from the kids directly ... it’s possible, right? Because if it is ... yes, if he gives you any trouble before we get back, you can tell him I authorized it. But you’re sure that we don’t need those yet? Because it’s easy enough for me to pick them up now while we’re still here.” She followed Kara down to the spot and began passing planks of various sizes to her. “Okay. Give the phone back to Allison.”

“Is everything okay mom?”

“Our shopping list just got bigger. But at least this proves Karl actually knows his stuff.” She paused for a moment. “No, everything’s fine. I’m going to pass you to Kara now.” Clara pulled the phone away from her ear and handed it to her. “I’ll finish gathering the wood here. While I do that, head over to the lighting department and start looking at wall lights for the master suite and upstairs nook.”

“Which aisle is that?”

“It should be two or three down that way.”

Kara nodded her head and quickly started toward the end of the aisle. “Darling? Are you there?”

“Yes, sorry ... mom was just passing along some instructions. I wish you and Manny could be here with us.”

“Me too ... but we’re needed here. I thought we were going to stick with the existing lights.”

“Yeah. Isn’t that the sort of thing that’s usually done after the walls are done?”

“Karl said that’s typical, but believes this will make it easier to accurately lay down the new breaker lines. So, do you have any ideas?”

“Since we were able to find the right kind of doors and paint, I’d like to find something with a bit of eastern flair to it. Maybe...” she paused for a few moments as her eyes fell on a small, metal lantern “that! Give me a sec to send you a pic of it.”

“Sure.” Kara took a quick picture of the lantern, wrote the quick message, then sent it off. “Okay, that is beautiful. But I wouldn’t want those everywhere.”

Kara looked closer at the lantern. “Oof ... especially at that price. Maybe one or two for the reading nook?”

“I like that idea. Oh wait ... do these phones have something like Video-time?”

“I think they do. Let me check.” Kara pulled up the app list. “Yeah, they do. It’s called Viduo. I’m not sure if my mom uses it though.”

“Have you ever?”

“Once or twice. My login info should be saved.” She looked up from the phone and back at the metal lantern; her eyes catching Clara pushing the massive cart. “Whoa ... that one’s bigger than I thought it would be.”

“Considering what it needs to support, it’s precisely as big as it needs to be. A little long at the moment, but we’ll get that fixed before we leave here.”

“What’s so big?”

“A surprise, my muse. It’ll make sense when we get home.” She turned toward her mom again. “Uhm ... do you use Viduo?”

“Vid ... oh! Yes. Why didn’t I think of that solution earlier? Go ahead.”

Kara nodded her head, then looked back at the phone. “Ally, I’m signed in now.”

“Same. Call me?”

“Sure. Give me a sec.” Kara cut the call and quickly entered her user name; smiling a few moments later as Allison’s face lit up on the screen. “Can you hear me too?”

“Perfectly. Manny has an idea for the bulk of the lightning by the way.”

“Oh?” Kara pointed to the lantern. “Reading nook?”

“Two there, and one for the master bath maybe. That’s a bit more than I’d want to spend on all the fixtures.”

“Nifty!” She turned back to the phone. “What’s his idea?”

“He suggested making the rest of them. He said to mention “Shoji” style something.”

“Oh! Yeah ... that would be pretty simple actually. They’re basically small wooden boxes with a mostly transparent paper in each face. We can keep that simple white paper, or age it a little with something like brewed tea.”

“Okay, I sort of understand that. But what kind of bulbs would you use?”

“Any kind would probably work.” She turned to her mom. “Any ideas?”

“Yes actually. Would you want those everywhere?”

“Except for the other nook, yeah. That calls for something very specific ... something I don’t think Allison should see yet.”

Allison’s smile turned to a pout. “No fair! This better be a nice surprise.”

“It will be, my muse. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll find a few different styles. Go over to the next aisle and pick out the dimmer switches for everything except the kitchen.”

“Okay!” Kara turned back to Allison. “I ... it’s weird ... being out of range.”

Allison smiled gently. “I figured we’d find a limit eventually. I only wish I knew how far away you are right now.”

“I’m not sure. I’ll try to figure it out on the way home. Anyway...” she switched the app to the rear facing camera “switches time. Did mom fill you in on the paint plan?”

“Nope. But the lantern and sliding doors tells me most of what I need to know already.”

“I’m thinking minimal for all of them. We can always use the gold, black, and yellow paint we’ll have to give the plates a little decoration.”

“So ... the white knob near you? I like it better than the slider.”

“I agree. As long as we can paint it, it’ll look better than any of the metal tones.”

“Are there any rooms that won’t be using a dimmer?”

“Master bath and some of the lights in the basement” Clara started from behind her. “Although, I can see the value of a dimmer in the study.”

“What about the kitchen, mom?”

“It’s switch set is still intact I think; a dull bronze and black affair like this one” she pointed to a switch in front of the rear camera. “At least, I hope it is. I wasn’t the one cleaning up the kitchen debris.”

“Actually...” Laura started, stepping behind Allison “I’m pretty sure I saw something like that in the trash earlier. Pia’s uncle was muttering something about ‘degrading contacts’ and ‘bending way too easily’ when he was over there.”