Chapter 19
It didn’t take long to walk the short distance, and there Edie was, waiting with her back against the brick exterior of the pub, where she said she’d be. Her blonde hair hung loose, prettily framing her face, and when the wind blew slightly, the strands lifted off her brow to flutter around her in wisps. She wore jeans with a flouncy white top tucked in at the waist, giving her a sort of business casual look.
Suddenly Joanne felt overdressed in her skirt suit. Even though it was Friday, she couldn’t really dress down to show houses—had to look her best at all times for her clientele. Quickly she shrugged out of the teal bolero blazer she wore, leaving her dressed in a black, knee-length skirt and teal and black sleeveless patterned shirt. Not exactly bar-hopping fashion, but looser than the real estate agent look she’d been rocking a moment earlier. She ran a hand through her hair, tszujing it up to make it look fresher. She hoped. If only she had thought to ditch the low-slung pumps…
But as she approached, she saw Edie had traded in the Timberland boots for black flats and smiled. After all, this was a date.
“Hey!” she called as she came closer. With a grimace, she added, “Sorry I’m late. I had couple who didn’t want to call it a day!”
Edie grinned when she saw Joanne. “It’s fine. I finished up a bit earlier than I thought I would myself because the business owner we’re doing landscaping for forgot to call Miss Utility, and none of the lines are marked. So we can’t do any digging until Monday, after they come out and mark where everything is. It’s all underground and if we cut something, things could get ugly.”
Joanne rolled her eyes and made a face. “Let me guess. You only told them weeks ago this had to be done, too.”
With a laugh, Edie admitted, “Just about. They knew from the beginning it had to be done, and those lines stay on the ground forever. If they’d called before we got started…”
“And the owner’s going to try to blame you,” Joanne said, holding up the tickets for the evening’s show.
Edie opened the door, holding it aside for Joanne to enter first. “Oh no, he knows full well after our little talk this afternoon that he’s completely to blame. In fact, he also now understands what the term ‘liquidated damages’ means, and knows if this delays our completion past the original deadline quoted in our contract, then any restitution will be coming out of his pocket, not mine.”
Joanne stepped into the dim light of the brewery, instantly awash with noise from the other patrons crowding into the eatery and the band beginning to warm up on stage. The air was stuffy and close, and tinged with the smell of burgers and grease. She leaned back against Edie as the door shut behind them, partially to be heard and partially to stay near her date. “What exactly are liquidated damages?” she asked, raising her voice.
Edie began to explain. “When a project goes over deadline, usually the contractor has to pay a certain amount specified in the contract—”
“Help you ladies?”
A server appeared in front of Joanne as if by magic, a young man dressed in hipster clothes—skinny jeans, vest and tie, and a slouchy, unbuttoned shirt showing a white undershirt beneath it. His look came complete with an affected goatee, horn-frame glasses that looked as if they were more for show than necessity, and an honest-to-God fedora perched at a rakish angle on his crown.
Joanne held out the tickets. “We’re here for the show.” As he took them and disappeared again, she half-turned to Edie and, leaning closer so she didn’t have to yell, joked with a nod in his direction, “Looks like it’s starting a bit earlier than I thought.”
Edie glanced at the server’s get-up and grinned. “That’s what all the cool kids are wearing nowadays, didn’t you know?”
“I know it looks silly.”
Joanne turned back around as the server returned, thick menus in his hands. “Right this way, if you please,” he said with a smile of his own. “I have a nice table with a great view of the band that we cleared away for you two.”
Without thinking, Joanne reached behind her and, a moment later, Edie’s hand curled into hers. Together they followed the server through the crowd towards the promised table and the night ahead.