[Kitsumi]

Callie took one look at them and felt horribly guilty. "Let me at least help carry the drawers up, please?" she asked. "I hate sitting here and letting the two of you do everything."

Although Jack looked like he wanted to say no, Matt quickly spoke up before his friend could.

[Kitsumi]

"I certainly won't stop you if you want to help," Matt said. "Just don't try to carry two drawers at a time. They might not be heavy, but you don't want to scuff them or cause any dents on the walls. That stairway is almost too narrow to carry up furniture."

[Kitsumi]

"Got it," Callie replied. "I'll just bring up one at a time. You two take a little break. Once I get all of the drawers up here, then you can go and get the bedside table. Sound good?"

"Fine," Jack conceded. "But don't you dare try taking that table up yourself."

[Kitsumi]

Matt had been right. The drawers for the dresser may not have been very heavy, but they were larger than she had thought. Callie had to be careful to keep from banging the drawer against the wall as she walked up the stairs, taking double the amount of time it normally would.

[Kitsumi]

Jack seemed to notice how long it had taken Callie to climb the stairs. "It's harder than you thought it would be, isn't it?" he teased. "This is why I insisted that you let Matt and I do all of the heavy lifting. It's pretty tough work, even for us."

[Kitsumi]

Not wanting to agree that he had been right, Callie shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Oh no, it's not that hard," she said. "I'm sure that I could have helped with the bookshelf and the dresser if you had let me." That was probably a lie. She couldn't imagine lugging those heavy things up the stairs.

[Kitsumi]

"Well it's too late for that now, since I'm already here," Matt said. "And I'm ready to get back to work. Jack, how about you?"

The other man nodded. "Yup, let's do it." He turned to face Callie. "Don't worry about the rest of the dresser drawers. We'll get those too."

[Kitsumi]

"Oh come on," Callie tried to insist. "You can at least let me carry the rest of them up."

To her surprise, Matt agreed with Jack. "Actually, it would probably be better if you stayed up here," he said. "The stairs will just be more crowded if all three of us are on them."

[Kitsumi]

Sighing, the woman gave in. "Fine," she said. "I'll just sit here and do nothing. So fun." The sarcasm was clear in her tone, but Jack ignored it.

"Atta girl," he said. "Enjoy your relaxation while you can. Tomorrow, you start pulling your weight around here. We can even make a chore list if you want."

[Kitsumi]

Callie knew that he was kidding, but she was actually happy to start helping out. She didn't want to feel like a freeloader. Paying rent wasn't enough of a contribution, she needed to actually help out around the apartment. She didn't want to be a bad tenant who just did nothing.

[Kitsumi]

The men were just finishing bringing up the last of the furniture when the buzzer indicating a visitor at the front door went off. "Food's here," Callie called. "I'll go get it." She paused to grab a generous tip from her purse, and then went downstairs to meet the delivery person.

[Kitsumi]

"Thank you!" Callie cheerfully said goodbye to the man who had dropped off the food. As she closed the door, she peeked into the bag, silently counting the takeout boxes. Everything seemed to be there, so she happily went back up the stairs, where the men were finishing setting the table.

[Kitsumi]

"Whoa, you guys are actually going to eat at the table like civilized people?" Callie teased. "I thought for sure that you would try to convince me to sit on the couch and eat straight out of the takeout container while we watch television."

Jack's eyes widened. "Wait, that was an option?"

[Kitsumi]

"Not anymore, it's not," Callie said. "Now that I see the table set all nicely, we're going to sit down and have a nice dinner."

Holding his hands in front of his face, Jack let out a mock gasp. "The horror!"

Matt whacked his shoulder, saying, "Shut it, what if she takes the food back?"

[Kitsumi]

This time, the look of horror on Jack's face was quite possibly real. "She wouldn't do that," he said. Then, looking up at Callie, "Would you?"

The woman grinned evilly. "Don't try me," she said. "I may not be able to take the food back, but my appetite grows every time I'm teased."