I thought I had it made in the shade when I woke up this morning to Head in Progress. And… Yeah… I did return the favor with a few skills of my own once Julia had satisfied her oral fixation. But… Little did I know that later on today I would be able to appreciate her in a clearer light, “Quite Literally!”
Of course, the sex isn’t the only thing I appreciate about Julia. She’s a great cook, would make an awesome general contractor with her skills, and knows computers just as well as I do, “If not more so.”
Julia’s highly respected in her profession and has a mind for the money management end of the practice that is nothing short of awesome. She makes up her mind about things and just, “Goes for it.”
The lady is lighthearted and levelheaded all at the same time. She handles pressure well and manages unpleasant standoffs and other kinds of difficult situations with a grace that is seldom seen in society.
I could go on and on here and probably will again at some point. But I think you get the picture. “Julia’s a Rock Star!”
Anyhow… After we got things underway, Julia needing to meet with a few clients at her office and me having to take care of some general website maintenance for a few good paying clients, we held each other close and enjoyed one more deep passionate kiss before she went out the door. “God, I do love the way Julia loves me!”
Some of my clients have blogs and do pay me well to take the articles they write and post them online. And… given the fact that we’re talking about a price tag of about twelve hundred a month per client for me to run their WordPress powered websites for them… Well… How can anyone complain about being paid good money to do something they’re damn good at, “Without even having to beg for compensation?”
At around 10:00 AM, just as I had finished up posting the last of the content clients had sent me, my doorbell rang. Yup! “Dad was up from Delaware!”
Apparently, he had gotten a call last night from a customer who needed an older pneumatic system overhauled. It was going to be a big job requiring him to stay in the neighborhood for about three or four days. So… We chatted for a while in the living room as I waited for Julia to respond to my texted inquiry as to whether or not it would be ok for Dad to use the Newtonian Gardens apartment I still maintained. Yeah… I am the one who still pays the rent on it. But the place is a part of both our lives. So… Yeah… Even though I know she won’t object to my dad staying there for a few days, I’m still going to seek her joint approval on the matter. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
I lived alone in that 70 West End Avenue apartment for over a decade before Julia came into my life. And after things took off for both of us personally and professionally, she was the one who suggested that we maintain a residence there.
So… After we built this house, I approached the owner, who operates forty-eight apartment complexes in the state of New Jersey, with a deal that was win-win for everyone. It included me entering into a thirty-year lease agreement with him at a fixed rent of thirteen hundred dollars a month and forty-six-hundred-dollar security deposit.
I agreed to maintain and if need be, replace any appliances in the apartment. But I told him I wanted the apartment fully remodeled, complete with washer and drier, “Properly Installed by Professional Contractors!”
You know? I was rather stunned when he said, “Yes.” Apparently, he had been informed that if he didn’t overhaul the buildings on that particular property the state was going to condemn the entire complex. So… Keeping the apartment as a change of venue from time to time for Julia and myself, as well as using it as an additional guest house for visitors… Well… “It was clearly one of those things that was just meant to be.”
Anyhow… Julia got back to me around 11:00 AM while waiting for her next client. She was thrilled to hear that Dad was in the neighborhood and didn’t have a problem with his use of our satellite guest house, as she likes to call it. So… Telling him I’d see him later in the afternoon, “I forked over the keys!”
Once he left to go drop his stuff off there, which was closer to where his job was, I returned to my study and began backing up websites to the cloud. Once that process was completed, I met with Julia at her office for lunch. It only takes me about thirty minutes to walk there and she had three hours to kill before her next clients walked through the door. “Couples council in must be so much fun for a therapist!”
After we had our fill of the pizza she’d ordered along with a few salads while waiting for me, we dozed together on the couch for a while before deciding to take a short walk around the neighborhood where her office was. It always feels good to be walking with Julia, who’s the first woman ever to actually be able to keep up with me. “Maybe Julia being around two decades younger than me has something to do with that?”
She offered to drive me over to the complex where I was to see Dad at around 4:00 PM. But… It really was a nice fall day and I wanted to walk. So, she gave me a big hug and even bigger kiss and told me to be careful. “I love that Julia trusts that I know what I’m doing.”
When I reached Newtonian gardens at four o’clock, I found my dad talking with one of the neighbors. When he saw me walk up, he told me that the real work for him and his electrician would start early the following morning and would definitely be done in two days’ time. I thanked him for the update as we began casually walking around the complex.
As we passed the front of building one and rounded the corner heading towards building three… Uh… Something caught my eye. I actually did a double take before pointing at the red upper half of a red and white fifty-five-gallon drum that was made into a trash can and asked Dad, “Is that the color red?”
He stopped and stared at me before saying, “Yes.” I just stood there looking around. Everything was really blurry, but I could actually see that the sky was blue again and the late day autumn sun had a golden tint to it. I could make out the brown of the brick buildings before me.
I was stunned. I began to explain to my dad what was happening. I told him that the picture was far from perfect and not exactly useful. But for whatever reason, “I could see color again.”
I think we might have both been in a bit of shock, as we both know Retinitis Pigmentosa doesn’t usually start to reverse its effects. Once the retina is gone, it usually stays gone. “But that wasn’t happening here!”
We walked back to the apartment in silent wonderment; not really knowing what to say to each other. At this point it was almost five and getting dark.
After going upstairs for a few minutes to freshen up I told Dad we were going out to dinner, having just received a text from Julia that her workday was done, and she was hungry. When she drove up, we were waiting for her. And… Once in the car we all agreed that the Hampton Diner would be a good place for dinner.
Neither my dad nor I had said anything about what was happening with my eyesight. But I could tell she knew something was up because she kept poking my leg under the table and laughing at me all through dinner. She likes having me cornered in a booth on the bench next to her, “That’s for sure!”
I mostly just sat and listened as we ate, my dad talking about his business and Mom training for the Boston Marathon next year. Apparently, she’s got a personal trainer now and has been hitting the gym after work a few times a week. Her doctors are quite impressed with the change that’s come over her, too, “Which is a good thing!”
After dinner we dropped Dad off at the apartment and headed home. Julia took my hand at one point as she drove and said, “So what’s going on over there?” She asked in a playful tone and added, “What happened to you today?”
I responded, “I’m not even sure where to begin.” Julia laughed and said, “How about you start at the beginning once we get in the house and settled a bit. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a long conversation about an event that will be worth celebrating once I have all the details.” She then gave my hand a squeeze and then placed her back on the wheel.
When we got into the house and settled in for the night, she walked me into the bedroom and sat me down on our love seat. She then sat down next to me and said, “Spill.”
She was gazing at me intensely. After a moment of looking around the room and seeing just how colorful everything was around me, under lighting that was brighter than I could have ever realized before, I finally looked at her and did my best to take all of her blurry form in. She laughed softly, and taking my hands in hers asked, “tell me what you see?”
I hesitated before answering and then said, “Well… I know your hair is light brown.” She said, “Go on?” And I replied, “I’m pretty sure you are wearing a light blue top and black slacks.”
She squeezed my hands and she said, “The top is actually light green. But close enough. My slacks are black.” She then asked how clearly I could see her, and I did my best to explain what I was actually seeing.
She then leaned back on the love seat and sat regarding me for a long time. Then she asked me in a slightly sheepish voice, “When you look at me with your eyes… Do you like what you see?”
I was surprised by the question. But at the same time, I could understand her vulnerability. I pulled her close and told her, “I love what I see. The visual is an enhancement that expands upon the beauty I have always seen whenever I touch, taste, smell and hear you.”
I then told her, “No amount of eyesight would ever make her seem less attractive to me.” I could sense that she knew I meant every word and when she kissed me, I could also sense something else. “We’d be making love all night.”