“Yeah, I’ve got some new equipment I need to go pick up but I need some muscle,” I spoke into the phone. I listened to my dad as he answered. “Yeah, T is going to come with me.”
“It’ll have to wait until this afternoon. I have a call with Matthew later I have to take,” Taron chimed in.
I turned away from him as I struggled to hear my father’s response. I listened to him for a few minutes before he said he needed to go. I ended the call and looked at Taron. “What did you say?”
“I said I can’t go with you until later. I have a call I have to take at 12,” he said slowly. “I can help but it has to wait.”
I gave a small nod as I noted his tone. “Okay,” I answered as I shifted my gaze to the time on the clock. It was a couple minutes after 11. “I mean we could just go now. It won’t take but thirty minutes or so. We’d be back in plenty of time. It’s stuff for my studio. A new backdrop and stand.”
“No, we can’t. I don’t have time right now,” Taron retorted quickly. He huffed and left the kitchen. I stayed in my spot at the end of the island as I heard his footsteps grow quiet as he climbed the steps.
I frowned as I pocketed my phone. I hesitated before I turned and followed him. At the top of the steps, I stared at the closed door to Taron’s office. I gripped the doorknob and slowly turned it, looking in the room.
“What?”
I stopped in the doorway, not bothering to move further into the room. “I don’t understand why we can’t just go take care of this stuff now. We’d be back in plenty of time.”
“I don’t want to risk being late. You don’t know that the shop will have everything ready. You don’t know what traffic will be like. And I don’t want to be stuck in the car while I’m on this call, Rose.” Taron sighed as he opened his laptop and I could see him shaking his head. “I told you we’ll take care of it later.”
“T, there’s still an hour before you have this call.”
“You’re not listening to what I’m saying.”
My feet shuffled as I stood in the doorway, listening to Taron. “I am listening,” I said quietly.
“No, you’re not. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had to repeat myself three times,” Taron countered. He sat with one leg crossed over the other in his office chair.
“If you had waited till I was off the phone-“
Taron huffed, annoyance in his eyes as he stared at me. I forced myself to look away as he spoke again. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll talk about it later. I have a call I have to be on in three minutes and I can’t keep arguing with you.”
“I’m sorry,” I muttered before turning on my heel and retreating back down the steps and into my own office. I shut the doors and turned the lock as I started to pace.
I never did well with confrontation when it came to people I cared about. But this… It was our first legitimate fight. It started this morning, arguing over something stupid. I could see the clock on the wall, minutes slowly ticking by.
I tried my hardest not to pay attention to the time. I knew exactly how long Taron’s call would take. I knew when I’d be free to talk to him again.
Finally I forced myself to sit down at my desk. I needed a distraction. My anxiety was growing the longer I waited. I lifted my hands to the keyboard on my laptop but stopped to stare at them as I realized how bad they were shaking. “Come on, Rose,” I muttered to myself as I signed onto my laptop.
I pulled up the most recent set of photos I had done, starting to look through them and making edits as I needed. When that wasn’t enough, I grabbed my phone and connected it to the speaker across the room. I turned the volume up a little louder than I probably should have as the sound of Shinedown filled the room.
I kept myself busy for a while, finally distracted enough to no longer pay attention to the time passing by. Photo after photo, I touched them up and saved them. I was proud of myself and the way I had gone back to what I knew but there was an inkling of frustration growing in my chest as I thought about the camera equipment that I still needed to pick up and all it did was bring back the argument.
I leaned back in the chair and covered my eyes as I groaned, staying in that position as I listened to the song that played.
I heard a knock on the door but didn’t bother to respond. I was still frustrated and irritated, maybe a little hurt from the argument earlier. Even though it was so dumb.
“Babe?” I listened as the door creaked open, my hand still covering my eyes. “Can we talk?”
I let my hands drop to my lap and looked to Taron in the doorway. I searched his face to try and figure out where the conversation could possibly go but I prepared myself for the worst. “Yeah,” I answered quietly as I stopped the music. “How was the call?”
“Good,” he answered. “Another movie idea. Potentially a 4 year thing.”
I nodded and looked away, shutting the laptop. “That’s good.”
“Yeah…” Taron grew quiet. He stayed in the doorway for a few minutes before finally stepping into my office. “Listen- I just wanted to-“
“Tell me I should’ve been patient? That I shouldn’t have kept asking?” I finished for him as I met his gaze.
Taron shook his head, his brow furrowed in confusion. “No, that’s not what I was going to say at all.” He came around the desk, leaning against it as he looked at me in my chair. “I didn’t come in here to belittle you. Is that what you think I came down here for?”
It was my turn to grow quiet. I gave a small shrug.
“I didn’t.”
“Oh.” I chewed my lower lip as the thoughts stirred in my mind.
“I came to apologize,” Taron went on. “I had my mind set on what I needed to do and I didn’t stop to think about how picking up that studio equipment was as important to you as me taking that call. I’m sorry if I made you feel like your stuff was unimportant.” He sighed as he put his hand up to his face, resting over his mouth for a moment before it shifted to his chin. “I’m sorry I got so short with you.”
I looked up at Taron and reached for the hand that was against the desk. “I’m sorry I kept asking about it.”
Taron pulled me up, managing a soft smile. His hands found my waist before kissing my forehead. “The entire call I was sitting there thinking about you. I felt bad for blowing you off like that,” he sighed. “So let’s go pick up that stuff and I’ll set it up for you when we get back.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I answered. “That would be great. Thank you, T.”
