Metamorphosis

Chapter III

A Fresh Perspective

“Come on, Trixie. I can’t wait to show you the paint I chose for my room.”

Tad pulled Trixie by the hand to Spider’s old bedroom that was now officially his.

The previous evening, Tad had carried the decorating supplies through the barely lit apartment, absent-mindedly walking around furniture that was no longer there. When his brother, Spider,  had moved out a few weeks earlier, Tad was unsure how to proceed with the half empty place until Trixie suggested that he now spend some time thinking about what he liked or reflected his interests. With a not-so subtle push, she had urged Tad to take over his brother’s room and totally redecorate it, including painting the walls and infusing the apartment with his own preferences. With the decision made, Tad and Trixie plotted their design for the new room. A trip to the hardware store and a few other purchases cemented their vision, and on Saturday morning, they would set their plan into motion.

Saturday turned out to be a bright and sunny day.  In preparation for painting, Tad had covered the carpeted floor with several drop cloths and had removed the mini blinds that hung at the window. Noting Trixie’s growing anticipation, Tad quickly stepped over a paint roller and a pile of rags then knelt down and opened one of the paint cans.

“Look.” He stirred a dark sage color.

“Ooh, that’s pretty.”  Trixie squatted down to get a closer look.  “That will look great with your new bedspread.”

“But wait!  There’s more.” Tad opened another can and showed her a creamy beige color.

“Two colors?” questioned Trixie, her brows slightly furrowed.

Tad nodded.  “The green is for the wall that the bed will be against and the beige is for the rest of the room.  What do you think?”

Trixie sat back on her heels and studied the four walls in the bare room.  “I think it will look perfect.  Those two colors are nice and soothing, which you’ll need as long as you’re living with Mart.”

Wincing, Tad replaced the top on the can of paint.  “That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for your brother.”

Trixie patted his arm.  “I know.  But based on my experience, it’s the best I can do.”

Tad stood up.  “Thanks, I think. So, let’s get to work.”

Trixie hesitated.  “But, Tad.  I told you I’m not a very good painter.”

“And that’s why I’m not letting you paint.  Here.” he placed two rolls of  green painters’ tape into her hands.  “You get the taping done.  Start on that woodwork.” He pointed to the wall that he planned to paint green. “

“Aye! Aye! Captain.” Trixie gave a mock salute then started on her task.

Tad carefully stirred the paint then poured it into a roller tray.  After setting a pile of newspapers underneath the pan, he was ready to begin but stopped when he saw his girlfriend’s work.

“Uh, Trixie, you said you weren’t a good painter.  Are you a lousy taper too?” he asked as he surveyed the baseboard that had long gaps between the strips of tape.

“No.”  Trixie stood up.  “Why?”

“You’re supposed to put the tape along the entire baseboard.”

“Really? You need me to tape all the from one side to another? You can’t even paint a little bit without the tape being there?”

Tad shook his head.

“Fine.” Trixie crouched down, tore off several more lengths of tape and completed her task.  Then she stepped back and watched as Tad carefully painted around the edges of the wall, then rolled it out to a smooth finish. When he was done, she clapped her hands.

“Gleeps! It’s perfect.”

Tad stood next to her and admired the freshly painted wall. “Let’s get the other walls done so we can see the whole effect.”

He covered the green paint can, then opened the beige.  After carefully stirring it, he poured it into a clean roller tray.  Trixie quickly taped off the rest of the baseboard and Tad got to work.

“Oops.”  Tad frowned at the paint that had dripped out of the roller pan and into the dropcloth.

“Want me to wipe that up?”  asked Trixie.

Tad studied the droplets then shook his head. “I’ll think we’ll be okay.”

He continued rolling paint onto the walls while Trixie trotted back and forth in the room, adding tape to the baseboard and keeping the drop cloths straight.

“Trixie!” cried out Tad, his paint roller suspended in mid air.

“What?”  With two pieces of tape dangling from her fingers, she stopped and looked up, puzzled by Tad’s shout.

“Look at the floor!” Tad laid down his roller and knelt down in front of several small footprints that crisscrossed the room in a calming shade of blissful beige. “You stepped in the paint and now you’re tracking it all over.”

Eyes wide, Trixie winced before exclaiming.  “I told you I wasn’t good at painting.”

Tad looked at Trixie in disbelief.  “Walking through paint is not actually painting, unless you’re Jackson Pollock.”

Trixie wrinkled her nose. “Who?”

“Never mind,” replied Tad, clutching at his dark hair.

Trixie knelt down and carefully dabbed at one of the footprints.  “It’s still wet.  I’ll clean it up.  You just keep working.”

She turned and moved toward the door, small, faint tracks trailing behind her.

“Trixie!”   Exhaling loudly, she stopped and turned.  “Now what?”

Tad pointed to the floor.  “Take your shoes off before you go any further.”

“Aye!  Aye!  I’ve got this covered.  Don’t worry about a thing.”

She quickly kicked off her sneakers, then padded down the hall and into the kitchen where she prepared a bucket of soapy water.  Returning, she grabbed a rag and vigorously scrubbed at the footprints.  When she was done, she stood back and admired her work.

“There.  Footprints are all gone.”  She stared at the carpet, then frowned.  “Wait a minute.  You can see where I scrubbed because the rest of the carpet is so dirty.  We’re going to have to clean the carpet when you get done with the painting”

Tad set down the roller and wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. “We’re going to have to what?”

“Clean the carpets. They’re filthy.  But don’t worry about it.  You keep painting and I’ll just run out to Crabapple Farm and get Moms’ carpet cleaner.  I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Trixie turned to leave but Tad stopped her. “Uh, won’t you need your shoes?”

“Oh, yeah.” Trixie quickly slipped her shoes onto her feet.

“Trixie!” said Tad.

“Now what?”  Trixie turned, an exasperated look on her face.

“Aren’t those the shoes that have paint on them?”

“Yeah.” She looked down.  “Oh, yeah I guess I’ll just have to go barefoot.”

“I think that it’s illegal to drive barefoot,” advised Tad. “At least that’s what Spider said.”

Trixie shrugged and grinned mischievously.  “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”

Tad started to protest, but Trixie stopped him.  “I’ll stop at my place and get some shoes.  Gleeps, Tad, you’re turning into an old man right before my eyes. Next thing I’ll know you’ll have hair growing out of your ears and you’ll be wearing dark knee high socks with your sneakers.”

“Just go,” said Tad with a brief wave of his arm.

A short time later, Trixie returned with the cumbersome carpet cleaner.  She lugged it down the hall and into Tad’s room where the four walls were now completely painted. Tad had folded the drop cloths and stacked them neatly in the middle of the room and deposited the used painting supplies in a trash bag.  As he was tapping the paint lid into place, Trixie interrupted the quiet.

“Okay.  Let’s get this carpet cleaned.” She frowned at the pile of new purchases for Tad’s updated room. “Gleeps! Now I’m going to have to move all the new stuff back into the living room.”

After making several trips, Tad and Trixie had emptied his room.  Trixie went into the kitchen and prepared the cleaning solution.  Back in the bedroom, she snapped the parts of the carpet cleaner into place then turned on the machine.

“That thing sure is loud,” shouted Tad.

“What?” yelled Trixie.  “I can’t hear you over the carpet cleaner.”

Rolling his eyes, Tad pointed toward the doorway.  Trixie followed his motion and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll clean the hallway too,” she shouted.

Tad shook his head, then gave up and went to the kitchen to get something to drink.  A short time later, he heard Trixie shut off the carpet cleaner so he went back to the bedroom.

“What do you think?” she asked, as she stood admiring the clean carpet.

“Nice!” Tad nodded his head in approval.

“Now, go get your fans and we’ll get this dry in no time.”

“Fans?”

“Yeah,  You know, fans.  Like what you use when it’s hot.  We’ll set them in the corners to make the carpet dry faster.”

“But I don’t have any fans.”

Trixie stared at Tad.  “What do you use when it gets hot?”

“The air conditioner.  Doesn’t everybody?”

Trixie sighed.  “Fine.  I’ll go get some fans.  You clean up the machine while I’m gone.”

Trixie left the carpet cleaner in the middle of the doorway and took off.  Tad studied the machine and fiddled with the various attachments but couldn’t figure out how to get the container full of dirty water free. Finally, he went into the living room, sat down and turned on the tv.  He was in the middle of his favorite sports program when Trixie returned, carrying two big box fans with her.

“Here.”  She handed Tad one.  “Let’s get these plugged in.”

She led Tad down the hall then stopped.  “Why is the carpet cleaner still here?  I thought you were going to clean it up.”

Tad stepped past Trixie then set his fan in one corner.  After plugging it in, he started it, sending a blast of air across the damp rug.

“I couldn’t figure out how to get it apart.”  He took the other fan and set it in another corner while Trixie snapped off the latch that held the water container in place.  She dumped the contents then dragged the machine back to the living room.

“Hey!  Do you think we should clean the carpet in the living room?” she asked, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room.

“No.”  Tad flopped down on the couch and glared at Trixie.  “No more cleaning or painting.”

“Okay.”  Trixie set the carpet cleaner by the door, then pulled a large bag over to where Tad sat.

“Now what?” demanded Tad.

“This.”  Trixie pulled out a collection of simple black frames.  “These are for your memory wall.”

Tad dropped his head back.  “Can’t we rest for a minute?”

“No.  We have a lot to do.”

“I think we need a short break.”

Trixie shrugged.  “I thought that’s what you were doing when I walked in.  Now, here’s our next step: Let’s send the pics you want printed to the drug store.  Then, while you’re getting your clean bedding from the laundry room, I can run over there and get them,”

“Is there anything else, Miss ‘can’t rest for even a minute,’” teased Tad.

Smirking, Trixie sat back on her heels.  “As a matter of fact, there is. Let me show you what I got to hang above your bed.”

Trixie left the apartment but returned a few minutes later carrying an old, large metal compass. Propping it against the wall, she stepped back and grinned. “What do you think?”

Tad nodded approvingly.  “Nice.  Really nice.  Where’d you get it?”

Trixie looked up at Tad from under her eyelashes.  “Where do you think I got it?”

“Some little antique shop in town,” Tad leaned over and nuzzled Trixie’s ear.

“Of course.” Impatiently, she pushed him away. “Now, we can get this cleaned up and then we can…”

“You’re really not going to take a break, are you? Do you even know what the word ‘rest’ means?”

Trixie shook her head.  “Nope.  And no resting. We’re going to do this just like I’ve seen on tv.   You know, transform a room in one day.”

“You do know those shows have a staff of millions who do all the work, right?”

“Gleeps, Tad,  we have to get your room done today.  Mart’s moving in tomorrow and I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to put his stuff in your old room, which is still full of all your junk. And, by the way, your old closet is still packed too.”

Tad groaned.  “I forgot about that. When I get done with my new room I’m going to have to start cleaning my old one. Right?”

“‘Fraid so.  And Mart’ll probably bring so much junk that it’ll be piled all over the place.”

Tad winced.  “Tell me again why he was the best candidate.”

Trixie counted with her fingers. “Two reasons:  Tawny and Franco.”

Tad stared at the frames that were spread out on the floor. “Tell you what.  Let’s send the shots I want to the drugstore, then go to Wimpy’s and grab lunch.  On our way home, we can grab the prints, come back here and frame them. Then, by that time, the walls should be dry enough for us to move the furniture in there.”

“Don’t forget your closet.  We didn’t paint that, so we can move all your junk from your old closet into your new one.”

“You want to move my junk?” questioned Tad as he waggled his eyebrows and grinned at Trixie.

“You know what I mean.  Now let’s get to work.”

The two pored over the photos of the family and friends Tad had on his phone. After selecting a dozen shots, they sent them to the local pharmacy to be printed.

“Done and now I’m officially hungry” said Trixie, jumping to her feet.  She started toward the door but stopped when she saw the carpet cleaner. “We should probably drop this back off at the farm.”

“You’re right again.” Tad picked up the bulky machine and carried it down the stairs and placed it in the trunk of Trixie’s car. The two swung by Crabapple Farm, dropped off the cleaner, then went into town.

* * * * * * * * *

After having their fill of hamburgers, onion rings and sodas, Trixie and Tad stopped by the drugstore and got their photo prints, then returned to the apartment that now smelled like scented cleaning solution and fresh paint. When they arrived, Trixie dashed into the bedroom to see how it looked.

“Tad!” she exclaimed.  “Come see your room.”

Tad hurried to the doorway where Trixie stood.  He looked at the freshly painted wall and the clean carpet.  He knelt down to check if the carpet was dry and found that it was.  He moved the fans around the room then lightly touched the walls.

“Yep. The walls are dry. What do you think of the colors?”

“Gleeps, Tad.  They look great.  I can’t wait to put all the new furnishings in here.   Should we move your furniture in now?”

“Let’s wait a bit more.  In the meantime, we can frame the photos and then empty out my old closet.”

Trixie danced excitedly.  “I can’t wait till we’re done.  This is going to be so amazing. You’re going to love it.”

For the next several hours, Tad and Trixie were busy.   First they spread out all the photos on the living floor, framed them then arranged and rearranged them until Tad found a display he liked. Then they emptied out his old closet, traveling back and forth between the two rooms with armfuls of clothing, shoes and other miscellaneous items.

“I must say, this walk-in closet is certainly better than what I had before.  I had no idea Spider had such a nice room,” said Tad as he hung up the last pile of shirts.

Trixie came and stood next to him.  “Gleeps, Tad.  Look at this space.  You could fit all my stuff in here if you wanted to.”

Tad looked down at Trixie.  “Did you have a change of heart? I can always kick Mart to the curb.”

Trixie shrugged.  “Well, the closet is nice.”

“Trixie!” Tad palm-slapped his forehead. “Is that the only asset you see in this room?”

Trixie contemplatively placed her index finger on her pursed lips and studied the half completed room.  “Well, I do like the new color and obviously the new bedspread is nice because I picked it out and the big metal compass is just so...so…”

Tad grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Anything else grab you?” he murmured as he ran a string of kisses along her neck.

“You mean besides you?” she kissed him back.

“You know, Belden, you didn’t answer my question.  Do you wish you were moving in here?”

“Sometimes.”

“Good.” Tad kissed her again, then released her.  “At least we’re on the same page.”

Trixie spun around.  “Now, before we make up the bed, we need to hang that compass.”

Tad went and got a tool box from beneath the kitchen sink and pounded a sturdy nail into the wall. After hanging the large piece, the two stood back and assessed the appearance.

“I think it’s perfect,” she said.

“Me too.  Let’s get the rest of my furniture moved in, make the bed and hang the photos.  Then we can have a nice relaxing dinner.”

The two got to work and by the end of the day they had a completed  room with a soothing color scheme, muted linens, and a wall full of family photographs.

“Wow!” exclaimed Tad as he leaned against one side of the door frame at the entrance to his room. “This looks amazing.”

“It sure does,” agreed Trixie as she leaned against the other side of the doorway.

“I’m not sure I’m ever going to want to leave this room.”

Trixie giggled.  “I guess that’s one way to avoid my brother.”

“Let’s go eat.  How about some pad thai?”

“Ooh, perfect, Tad.”

The two admired their work a few minutes more, then turned to leave.  As they were walking down the hall, Tad stopped.

“What?” asked Trixie.

“I was just thinking.  I have this brand new room, new sheets and bedspread and nobody else in this apartment tonight.”

Trixie stood on her toes and gave Tad a slow kiss.  “Why do you think I wanted to get everything done today?” she whispered huskily.

“I like the way you think, Belden,” answered Tad.

“Me too,” quipped Trixie.

Taking Tad’s arm, the two left in search of dinner as they savored their respite from the day’s hectic activities.

NEXT...