Chapter 219 - Time Is Money
Aaron left the office at exactly 4:30, eager to meet up with the love of his lives. He wanted to be there the moment she clocked out. A few people tried to stop and talk with him but he brushed them all off. He didn't have time for such trifles.
He was waiting right outside the lab door at 5 PM and when it opened he was disappointed to find someone else. The girl sized him up.
"Are you looking for Keeley?"
"Yes."
"She's putting her stuff away. She'll be out in a minute." The girl paused hesitantly before speaking again. "Are you the cat sitter?"
Cat sitter? So Keeley had told this girl about him. They must be friends. He tried his best to be cordial.
"That's me."
She lowered her voice and looked around to make sure no one overheard. "Talk to her! Tell her the truth about how you feel."
This advice was completely out of the blue. Exactly how much had she told this girl about him? She wouldn't tell anyone about their rebirth, he was fairly certain of that.
"…I'll take that under consideration."
Aaron couldn't do that now when she was barely accepting him as somewhat of a friend again. He wanted to but didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
If she asked he would gladly tell her anything but until she did it was probably wise to keep it to himself. He had already freaked her out the day before by being honest. It was why he had been so surprised she actually agreed to move in with him.
"Aaron," Keeley said in surprise as she appeared in the doorway. "You're here right on time."
"You said five so I came at five."
The girl shot her coworker a wink. "You two have fun now. See you tomorrow, Keeley."
Keeley simply scowled at her back as she walked away. They definitely had an interesting conversation about him earlier. He was dying to know what they said but couldn't exactly ask.
She slung her purse over her shoulder and followed him out to his car without saying another word. Aaron was the one who was forced to break the silence on the way to Brooklyn.
"How much stuff do you have? My trunk isn't that big."
"Not much. I can leave the majority of my things with my dad. I only really need to bring over clothes, books and movies, and cooking utensils. For someone with such a big kitchen you really don't have that many useful things in it," she said with a smile in her voice.
Why would he? He only ever reheated things that other people made. One of the things he looked forward to most about her moving in was her cooking. If he was lucky, he would be able to enjoy it at least some of the time.
"I had to cream butter and sugar with a spoon the other day! Do you have any idea how difficult that is?"
"No."
"Well, it's hard. Get yourself an electric mixer, it could come in handy someday," she lectured. "And on that note, considering how big your apartment is there is hardly any furniture in it at all. Are you a minimalist or something? How hard is it for someone as rich as you to get enough furniture to fill a room?"
She already knew he bought the place with her in mind so he may as well be honest. "I thought you could do it."
Her jaw dropped. "Me? Why would I—oh."
She must be remembering that he wanted to marry her again. Originally he had fully expected it would happen if he was persistent enough but now it was a pipe dream.
Keeley stayed quiet for a few minutes before speaking up reluctantly. "If you want my design input so much I could give it to you. I do enjoy decorating things. Consider it a favor for letting me stay with you."
A half smile appeared on his face. "That would be nice, thank you."
"You're welcome."
Silence permeated the car. Aaron hated quiet car rides. It reminded him too much of being in the car with his parents. He didn't normally listen to music but he turned on the radio just to have something to hear.
He flipped to a completely random station since he didn't know anything about music stations. If he listened to the radio at all, it was the news.
A catchy top 40 song was playing and to his surprise, Keeley quietly started mumbling the words under her breath. She hadn't sung in the car in front of him in about forty years.
"You don't have to be embarrassed. You can sing along if you want to," he encouraged. He had really missed that.
She shrugged and increased her volume though she was still a bit hesitant. She wasn't dancing along like she used to. Aaron still considered himself lucky that she was comfortable enough to do that much when he was present.
When they arrived at the Hall family's apartment, Keeley's dad wasn't home. She urged him to be quick. There weren't that many boxes they needed for the time being, just clothes, books and cookware so it was possible to make it all down in two trips with both of them carrying things.
"Why is this so heavy?" Aaron grunted as he lifted a box. It wasn't even that large but it weighed a ton.
She snickered. "I have books and DVDs in that one. The weight really adds up."
It was a good thing this place had an elevator. He couldn't imagine walking down thirteen flights of stairs carrying that box. It would be a miracle if he managed to get to the elevator and from there to the car without dropping it.
He couldn't show weakness though—not in front of her. She would definitely make fun of him.
Aaron wasn't used to manual labor. He should probably take advantage of the fitness center in his building more often. Weightlifting might help with this sort of thing in the future.
"How many books do you need? Isn't that what libraries are for?" he asked.
"Libraries don't always have what you need when you need it," Keeley said.
She lifted her knee to support the box she was holding in order to use the other hand to press the elevator button to go down.
"Don't tell me you don't own any books. I thought you spent most of your free time reading."
"I have a few but I usually stick to an e-reader. It's easier to keep them all in one place and you can rent books from the library that way as well without even having to leave home."
She raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes you're frighteningly efficient."
He shrugged. "Time is money."
"Really? Because it seems like you have nothing but time."
"Only when it comes to you. You're a special case." She looked at him and flushed slightly when she saw the earnestness in his face.
They dropped the boxes off in Aaron's car and headed back upstairs for the rest. As they were fetching the next batch, the sound of a key clicking inside a lock could faintly be heard from the other room.