The Project

Julia was in the middle of straightening her hair when the doorbell rang. She dashed down the hall to open the door. "Hi Steven. I'm not quite ready but come in if you like." She rushed back to the bedroom without waiting for his reply. "I like your dress," he called out.

Ten minutes later she had her hair under control. She touched up her make-up, put on a pair of heels, and found some greenstone earrings to match the dress. She also put on her favourite perfume. When she emerged from the bedroom Steven was waiting patiently in the lounge.

"Hi," he said shyly. "You look…amazing."

"Thanks. It must be those eighty-seven extra vitamins I told you about," she joked self-consciously. "How about you - isn't that a new shirt?"

He was wearing a blue shirt but it wasn't the one he bought with her. "Yeah, I couldn't keep wearing the same shirt every day so I went back and got another one."

"Well, it was a good choice."

Steven looked around the interior of her home with interest. "You did a really good job with the renovations. It looks much better than the outside."

Julia showed him around her kitchen and open-plan living area. The new joinery was a rich, dark wood grain to match the original wooden floorboards, which she had sanded and polished herself. "I got a builder to do the kitchen but I was able to do most of the cosmetic work," she said modestly.

"Yes, I recognize that green paint from your hair."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" she said in mock exasperation.

He just smiled and shook his head. His eyes roamed the room and came to rest on a Victorian sideboard. "You like antique furniture too?" he asked casually.

"Of course," she replied. "It wouldn't look right to have modern furniture in a Victorian cottage. Although, I made an exception for the dishwasher."

It took Julia a while but she finally managed to tear him away from admiring her handiwork. It was a nice evening so they decided to walk to town rather than call a taxi. Downtown Wellington was already quite crowded and there was music coming from several bars and nightclubs. She put her arm through Steven's and his pleased smile grew wider.

They found the bar she was looking for and it didn't seem to have changed much since she was last there. There were wide open windows facing the street and it looked busy but not too crowded. It was warm enough inside that Julia could take her jacket off. She found seats for them at the bar.