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“ I needed functional.”“ Where do you want your office?”
The layout of the area that was to contain the dressing rooms, wardrobe, security and Eddie’ s office was discussed. Eddie suggested a lunch room with a few more tables and chairs like the ones they now occupied. A refrigerator and another microwave should cover basic necessities. Garage floor paint would suffice in the areas not being raised. Frank was getting a good picture from Eddie’ s description.“ Could you give me a rough floor plan of what we talked about by the meeting on Thursday?” Frank asked.“ I don’ t think that should pose a problem,” Eddie said, as the sound of another delivery echoed through the building.
The stacks of plywood made their way inside with the help of a shorter forklift that fit through the inner doors by a couple of inches.“ Looks like you have this handled,” Frank said, and fired up his motorcycle.“ See you Thursday, after I open this place for the crews,” Eddie said. Frank nodded and roared away. Eddie heard another rig pull in and glanced at his watch.“ I might be out of here by noon,” he thought. A trailer with ten long I-beams came to a stop. The driver checked in and surveyed the situation. Eddie watched as the driver lowered what looked like a small WW II tank from beneath the rig. The thick rubber treads moved by a remote the driver held. A crane lifted the heavy steel pieces and centered them on top of the tiny Sherman tank. The turret secured the long I-beam. The driver guided the, self leveling, robot inside. A simple scissor jack, raised and lowered by a cordless drill, made quick work of freeing the robot. It was eleven forty-five when Eddie was locking the huge steel doors.
Having delivered all over the city, Eddie knew where an art supply store was located. He purchased a T-square, a drafting kit and some large, high quality paper.“ I never thought I would use this knowledge again,” he said to himself. Two years of high school drafting was going to finally pay off. Tanya was home when he arrived.“ How was teacher’ s day?” he asked.“ A little weird,” she said, and mouthed“ Kate.” Eddie understood she did not want to talk about what happened with the children popping in and out. Nicole came bounding into the kitchen.
“ Is it okay if Rich comes over Saturday?” she asked excitedly.“ Rich?” Eddie was not sure to whom Nicole was referring.“ It’ s short for Richard but he doesn’ t like Dick,” she emphasized, and saw a look pass between her parents and examined what she said.“ That will be fine,” Tanya answered, as Nicole began to turn red.“ Don’ t worry. We won’ t embarrass Rich,” Eddie said, trying, but not to hard, to keep a straight face.“ Daddy!” she cried, and ran from the room. Tears poured from her parents as they tried to suppress the laughter. Tanya turned her back to Eddie. She knew if their eyes met, Nicole would hear the laughter and she didn’ t want that on her conscience.“ I have things I need to do,” Eddie said, and left the kitchen.“ Me too,” Tanya squeaked.
Eddie lost himself in his notes and his drawing a good, scaled floor plan. Working through the evening, he paused when Tanya brought him a burger, chips and a cold beer. She figured sitting around the dining room table might prove disastrous. Nicole had not come out of her room since announcing,“ Rich doesn’ t like Dick.” Tanya took food to her daughter. The room’ s furnishings had been rearranged. It was