A moment later, both of Simon's and Bloemenhof's pickups entered the yard. They took the side road to Annerieke's house. Simon, Sjaak and Huib jumped out of the cars and opened the flaps of both cargo boxes. Together they lugged the desk and the cabinet, which fortunately was made up of smaller cabinets, from Simon's office inside and upstairs. They put them in the places Simon pointed out.

"And the boxes with the stuff from your office, are those the boxes that are in the living room?" asked Huib.

"That's right yes, those are from the office. If we take those upstairs first, then we can take the boxes with kitchen stuff and such off the pickup later and put them here in the living room. I'll be going through those with Annerieke soon."

"Sounds good," said Huib with a serious face, "that's what you call a romantic activity!"

With difficulty Sjaak managed not to burst into laughter, especially when he saw that Simon was looking at Huib with a frown. Huib kept his face in the fold, as if he really meant his remark seriously.

It took a moment for Simon to catch on to him. He shook his head, "Dude, I still have to get used to this craziness of yours, and also need to get used to 'romantic pursuits'." Laughing, he made the motion of quotation marks with his fingers at the last words. "No kidding, you with your goofy antics, my life has really turned completely upside down, guys. And that's wonderful huh, I don't regret it for a second, but as with such a comment of yours, I do have such a slight shock for a moment, wonder what's going on, whether I'm doing the right thing."

Huib put his hand on Simon's shoulder, "Dad, you're doing fine, like I said before, you're making my mother happy, and that's enough for me. But I do like to tease you a little. I don't mean anything ugly by that, just a little fun. You'll just have to get used to it!" He gave Simon a friendly slap on the shoulder and picked up the first moving box. "Come on guys, upstairs with that shit!"

Simon laughingly shook his head and gave Sjaak a look of understanding. Sjaak grinned, "It takes some getting used to, Simon, but you have a great son to Huib, I assure you!"

Simon nodded, "Yes, I know that, but I notice that I am still a bit unsure about how people mean things. Being teased with your girl...and at my age!"

Laughing, they both grabbed a box and followed Huib upstairs.

.

A moment later the boxes of office stuff were upstairs and the boxes of kitchen stuff and other knickknacks, as Simon called it, were in the living room.

 "Simon, will you walk with me upstairs?" asked Huib, "then I would like to know from you how you want the new desk and the new cabinet. About the same as your current furniture?"

"Well, I've just had a look at that. I have more room here than in my previous house. And I've always found my desk a little on the small side, so it would be nice if you could make a bigger one. I was thinking, where it is now, and then from wall to wall. Do you think that's feasible?"

Huib looked for a moment and hesitated. "In itself it is, I can make it as big as you want. But I can't make it at that width and then get it the stairs up here. What comes to my mind is this: How about I make it into three parts, the middle piece about this wide," he measured it out with his arms, "and then on either side a piece that you can connect to it. Then we put the middle piece here, and then I attach the loose pieces to it here on the spot. How does that look to you?

"I don't have to think about that," Simon said. "Super convenient! So yeah, just do it the way you had in mind."

"Will be fine, Dad!" Huib measured the length there was from wall to wall and subtracted a centimeter on each side so as not to damage the wall unnecessarily. He put the length and width of the desk into his mobile. "And the cabinet, also a little bigger than the one you have now?"

"Yes, that's possible, maybe just add a piece like this part?" Simon pointed to a narrower section of his closet, where he kept folders in drawers. "And the layout of the whole closet I'd like to have about just like it is now. And that extra piece I think would be handy to have those drawers in there, too. After all, the number of folders grows with each new assignment." He pulled open a drawer to give Huib an idea.

"So in that extra piece also drawers, that’s clear! And you definitely want all the drawers to run in one of those rails again?" Huib looked at Simon questioningly.

Simon felt another one of those embarrassments coming on. This time about the idea that he might be asking Huib too much. "Is that feasible, do you think?" he asked uncertainly.

"Sure, no problem at all. At the hardware store they also have such rails," Huib looked for a moment at what type of rails there were.

"Do you like these rails?" he asked to be sure. "There is also a slightly coarser rail, for drawers that have a heavier load to carry." As he spoke, he moved the drawer in and out.

"It does run well doesn't it?" Simon asked.

"Yes, it runs fine by itself, but these drawers aren't full yet. If there's more in there, I think he'll need a slightly coarser rail."

Simon sighed, "Boy, I just don't know. Building a house is my stuff, but these cabinets, I don't know about that. So far this is fine, but I notice that my records are quietly getting more folders. Do whatever seems right to you, the coarser one is probably better, but I'd rather leave it to you."

Huib smiled, "I assume that you will continue with this work for years to come, and that you will get more folders as a result. So yes, I think we'll take the coarser one, if only to be sure."

"Well Huib, do it! And another thing, about the finances... just because I get to call you my son now, doesn't mean you have to do it for me for free. I'd like you to prepare a normal bill for me, agreed? Let's just keep this businesslike."

"Is good Dad, I'll make you a quote first, neatly as it should be. Then I'll also have my administration in order later. Then I'll start on the nicest part of the job: buying the stuff and making something beautiful out of it. Do you have a preference for a decoration? For something special?"

"I should have expected that question from you, because you don't supply standard stuff. But honestly, I don't know," Simon said. "Can I leave that to you too?"

"Will be fine, I'll give it my thoughts. It has to be practical, but may also be beautiful. When I've thought of something, I'll tell you."

"Good, do that," Simon laughed happily, "where did Sjaak go anyway?"

"I think home, to Lisa. He was talking about it on the way, he's pretty worried about her safety."

"I can imagine that, it's also quite a lot that sweet child has gone through."

"Well, way too much..." sighed Huib with a deep wrinkle in his forehead.

To chapter 167. Simon and women

Or to the Table of contents