Everything to Everyone

by Sherryl Hancock

  “Yeah,” Harley said, nodding. “It’s one of the Mornings on the Seine series,” she said, grinning. “My favorite, actually.”

  “This isn’t the one you see most often,” Shiloh said, looking at the painting again.

  It was beautiful, with vivid greens and blues.

  “No,” Harley said, shaking her head. “It’s Morning on the Seine in the Rain, a reproduction, of course.”

  “Well, yes, I’m sure, but it’s a really great one…” Shiloh said, shaking her head noting the brush strokes and texture of the oil paint used. “I imagine this cost you some money.”

  “Yeah,” Harley said, grinning fondly, “it did.”

  Shiloh looked around again. “This room is really amazing too,” she said, gesturing around her, then leaning to look around the corner to what had to be the master bathroom.

  “Go take a look,” Harley told her, grinning.

  “Okay,” Shiloh said, smiling as she walked toward the opening.

  The bathroom was huge, and a line from the song “Rockstar” came to mind, “bathroom big enough to play baseball in.” It had a steam shower with multiple heads set high and low. It also had a large bathtub with a marble surround. Everything about the bathroom screamed modern and expensive, but also seemed to fit Harley, as the tile and marble were all earth tones.

  Shiloh walked back out to the bedroom and sat on the edge of Harley’s bed, facing her.

  “You really have done well for yourself, Harley,” she said, smiling. “You should really be proud.”

  Harley grinned, but shrugged. “It’s just a house. I bought it pretty much this way.”

  Shiloh canted her head. “Really? ’Cause the artwork I’ve seen and the décor looks very much like the Harley I know.”

  “Well, okay, I bought the furniture and stuff, sheesh,” Harley said, grinning.

  “You have really good taste,” Shiloh said.

  “And that surprises you,” Harley said. It wasn’t a question.

  Shiloh looked back at Harley for a long moment. “Yeah, I guess it does. I don’t know why though.”

  “Because you thought my dad was a biker, and he actually is,” Harley said, grinning.

  “Still…” Shiloh stammered. She knew that was exactly why she was surprised that Harley had such good taste.

  “It’s okay, Shy,” Harley said, her tone sincere. “I like that I surprise people.”

  Shiloh looked back at the other woman, a wide smile on her face. “I can see that,” she said.

  Later as they sat down to dinner, the doorbell chimed. Harley pulled her iPad over to her and opened a window on it. Shiloh, who was sitting across from Harley at the dining room table, could see that she had a home security system on it.

  “Oh shit…” Harley said, sighing.

  “What?” Shiloh queried, leaning over to look at the iPad to see who was standing there.

  She saw a girl with long dark hair. She looked very young and was dressed in raggedy jeans and a short midriff exposing top.

  “It’s Julie,” Harley said. “Will you do me a favor?”

  “Sure, what do you want me to do?” Shiloh asked as the doorbell rang again.

  “Just go with whatever I say, okay?” Harley said as she hit the unlock button for the front door.

  “Okay…” Shiloh said, her voice trailing off as the girl walked in.

  She dropped her bag and walked over to Harley, leaning in to hug her. Harley hugged the girl quickly then sat back, pointedly putting her hands on the arms of the chair as she looked back at the girl. Heedless of Harley’s inspection, Julie kissed Harley on the lips quickly. Harley pulled her head back, a look of annoyance on her face.

  “Julie,” she cautioned.

  “It was just a quick kiss, Harley, geeze chillax,” Julie muttered as her gaze fell on Shiloh. “Who’re you?” she asked then, her tone outright rude.

  “Julie!” Harley exclaimed, her voice chastising.

  Julie glanced at Harley, then lowered her eyes. “Sorry,” she said simply.

  “This is Shiloh,” Harley said, looking pointedly at Shiloh, her look warning Shiloh she was about to say something shocking. “She’s my girlfriend.”

  Julie’s head snapped up and immediately turned to look at Shiloh, her look very obviously assessing.

  “Seriously?” Julie asked her tone showing that she didn’t think Shiloh was acceptable.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” Harley asked her look openly shocked at Julie’s disrespect.

  “I’m sorry,” Julie said, immediately looking contrite, holding her hands up defensively.

  Shiloh and Harley exchanged a look. Harley could read both hurt and offense in Shiloh’s eyes and she felt bad that Julie’s sharp tongue had caused it. It made her voice come out sharp when she spoke to Julie.

  “What are you doing here, Julie?” Harley asked. “We talked about this…”

  “I know, I know,” Julie said, her look suddenly desperate. “But you gotta hear me out…”

  Harley opened her mouth her look warning Julie that she didn’t intend to do that.

  “Harl, please!” Julie said, her voice strident.

  Harley blew her breath out, her face composed in a cynical mask. “Fine, what is it this time?”

  Julie gave her a surprised look. It was apparent Harley wasn’t responding the way she usually did. Shiloh wondered about that, but kept silent as she watched the scene before her.

  “It’s José,” Julie said. “He’s been all over me again, and I can’t seem to get him to leave me alone…” Her voice trailed off as she saw Harley’s glower.

  “You’re supposed to stay away from that guy, Jules,” Harley told her.

  “I know, but that’s what I’m saying, he’s like all over me…” she said. Her eyes lowered then. “He wants me to work for him again.”

  “And you can’t do that either,” Harley said sharply.

  “I know!” Julie practically shouted. “But what the fuck am I supposed to do?”

  Harley looked back at the girl for a long minute. The only sound in the room was the drip of water from the kitchen sink. Shiloh saw Harley’s head twitch slightly and knew that Harley had heard the water and was now having a hard time focusing on anything else. She stood and walked over to the sink to turn the tap off. It was part of her ADHD; the smallest sound could draw Harley’s focus and drive her crazy at the same time. Shiloh was used to it now and knew her triggers.

  Julie’s eyes followed Shiloh’s actions, and she looked at Shiloh like she was crazy. She had no idea that Harley had ADHD and that things like that would drive her crazy.

  Harley too had tracked her movement, and Shiloh now had a slight grin on her face, her eyes sparkling in subdued amusement. Thinking about what Harley had asked her to do, Shiloh moved to stand on the other side of Harley, opposite from where Julie stood. She put her hand on Harley’s shoulder, smoothing her hand across the back of Harley’s neck affectionately, looking directly at Julie as she did.

  Julie’s eyes widened slightly and her lips twitched in obvious annoyance. She could see Harley’s pointed look, but didn’t want to deal with that at that point.

  “I just need a place tonight,” Julie said quietly.

  Harley’s lips twitched in consternation, but she finally nodded.

  “Fine,” she said evenly. “Go.” She nodded her head toward the stairs.

  “Thanks Harley,” Julie said, her tone still quiet.

  She picked up her bag and headed up the stairs. Harley and Shiloh watched her go. Shiloh looked down at Harley then, moving to sit in the chair next to her.

  “So what’s the story there?” Shiloh asked quietly.

  Harley glanced at the stairs, then looked back at Shiloh.

  “She was the first kid I took in,” Harley said. “And at first she was really sweet, and she ended up staying here for like a week…” She shook her head. “Somewhere along the way she developed a crush on me I guess, and that’s where thing
s went bad in a hurry.”

  “Bad how?” Shiloh asked.

  “Like one night she climbed into my bed, claiming she was afraid… I let her stay… It’s a big bed, right?” Harley said, looking at Shiloh in askance.

  “Yeah, it’s huge, and if she was on the other side of it, there were miles there…” Shiloh said, nodding.

  “Right,” Harley said, looking slightly relieved. “But next thing I know I wake up and she’s right there, and touching me.”

  “Oh crap,” Shiloh said, her eyes wide. “How old is she?”

  “Well, she’s seventeen now, but she was sixteen then. Regardless…” Harley said, shaking her head.

  “What did you do?”

  “I stopped her, of course, explained that she was too young, underage, whatever…” Harley said. “And I basically told her she couldn’t do that because I’d get my ass arrested.”

  “Okay…”

  “Yeah, she was fine for the rest of that stay, but every time since then she’s tried to make excuses to get into my bed. Sometimes she’ll just be there when I wake up… It’s really not a good thing. So I finally just told her she couldn’t stay here anymore… But every so often she shows up and there’s always a good excuse.”

  “Or lie,” Shiloh said, her look pointed.

  “Right,” Harley said nodding.

  “So that’s why I’m your girlfriend now, huh?” Shiloh asked, grinning.

  “Exactly,” Harley said, widening her eyes as she grinned. “I’m hoping she won’t try it if she thinks my girlfriend is here.”

  “Even with me in another room?” Shiloh asked.

  Harley shrugged. “Hopefully she won’t notice or care.”

  “Okay…” Shiloh said, grinning.

  That night, however, true to her history, Julie climbed into Harley’s bed. She saw that this “girlfriend” wasn’t sleeping with her, so she figured it was that other chick’s loss. She moved carefully so she didn’t wake Harley up too soon, and looked down at the sleeping woman. Harley was wearing a black tank top and black underwear. Her tan made her skin glow against the white sheets. Harley lay with her head turned to one side, her left arm thrown up over her head, her right extended out to her side.

  Julie wanted Harley so much and she knew that if she could just get her to see that age wasn’t that big of a deal, she could be with her. She just had to get her past this stupid age shit, that’s all.

  She’d tried before, but she’d never been armed with this knowledge before. She smiled as she looked at Harley again, she knew she it was going to work this time, she knew it. Julie was on Harley’s right side. She leaned down carefully, and kissed Harley’s neck, sucking gently at Harley’s skin as she moved to press her body along the length of Harley’s. Harley’s reaction was instant. She groaned in her sleep, her arm now under Julie’s neck, pulling her closer. Julie continued to kiss Harley’s neck, her hands sliding up Harley’s chest, and it was obvious that Harley’s body was responding. For a moment, Julie was sure that she had her.

  Harley woke with a start, her body alive with sensations. For an instant, she reveled in the sensations, then it suddenly clicked in her head who was likely causing them. She wrenched her body away from Julie, shifting away from her with surprising agility.

  “What the fuck?” Harley exclaimed, her anger replacing her shock as she looked down at Julie. “Are you crazy?” she practically yelled. “What the fuck is wrong with you!”

  “You wanted me!” Julie yelled back, her look triumphant.

  “Yeah, till I realized who you were,” Harley said her tone derisive.

  “What is going on?” Shiloh asked from the bedroom door.

  Harley looked over at Shiloh, shaking her head. Then she looked back at Julie. “Go back to your room, now. Or leave.”

  Julie looked defiantly back at her, but then she nodded and got up and left the room.

  “Well, that didn’t really work, did it?” Shiloh said, looking chagrinned. She gave Harley a sympathetic look. “You okay?”

  Harley lay back, blowing her breath out loudly. “Yeah,” she said, her tone tired.

  Shiloh looked down at her boss. She could see that it bothered Harley immeasurably that Julie had lied her way into her bed again. She had no idea what to say, however, so she just waited to see if Harley wanted to talk.

  After a full minute, Harley sat up and got off the bed. She opened the sliding door and walked onto the balcony. She picked up her cigarettes and lighter from the table, and lit one. She stood at the railing and smoked. Shiloh joined her.

  “You don’t have to hang out with me,” Harley said evenly. “I’m okay.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.” Harley grinned. “Go back to bed.”

  “Okay,” Shiloh said, nodding.

  Shiloh turned and left. Harley stood smoking for another few minutes, then eventually went back to bed, though she wasn’t able to sleep. It was a long night.

  ***

  Dakota started the job for Cassandra a week after the fight with Jazmine. All the contracts had been signed and returned in short order. Dakota was pleased that Cassandra wasn’t on the site at all the day she started. She’d received a few text messages from Cassandra telling her she was in New York, but to go ahead and get started.

  It was another week before Cassandra showed up at the site. Dakota was talking to one of the sub-contractors when Cassandra’s car pulled up to the curb. As she finished the discussion with the man, Dakota’s eyes fell on Cassandra as she climbed out of her Mercedes. Cassandra walked over to Harley, all polish and perfect hair, to Dakota’s jeans, t-shirt, and work boots.

  “You do love to get dirty,” Cassandra said mildly, but her dark eyes sparkled with flirtation.

  Dakota narrowed her eyes at Cassandra, but didn’t respond to the double-edged statement.

  “Do you want to see where we are?” Dakota asked her tone businesslike.

  “Of course,” Cassandra said, her tone not indicating any offense to Dakota’s rebuff.

  Dakota walked her through the house, showing her the progress they were making refining the wood and the tilework in the bathrooms.

  “We’re probably not going to be able to save all of this subway tile,” Dakota said, squatting down to touch the hexagonal tiles on the floor. “But we can probably save at least half, and I can find some good reproductions to fill in with.”

  Cassandra just waved her hand airily. “Don’t worry about saving it, replace it all,” she said, her tone off-handed.

  Dakota made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. “Cass, this is friggin’ vintage tile…” she said in disbelief. “You don’t just rip it out and replace it! I’m trying to keep this house as authentic as I can.”

  Cassandra looked surprised by Dakota’s rejoinder.

  “Well,” Cassandra began, blowing her breath in an exasperated sigh, “fine, do whatever you want then.”

  Dakota stood up, looking annoyed at Cassandra.

  “What is this, Cass?” she asked, her tone frustrated.

  “What is what?” Cassandra asked impatiently.

  “This,” Dakota said, gesturing to the house around them. “What are you really trying to do here?”

  Cassandra looked back at her for a long moment, her dark eyes searching Dakota’s. Finally, she dropped her eyes, shaking her head.

  “I told you,” she said softly, not looking at Dakota. “I wanted to apologize to you for what happened… I knew that you wanted to work on a Craftsman, so I’ve had my agent looking for one.” She shrugged.

  Dakota looked at Cassandra, her blue eyes measuring and wary. She wasn’t sure if she trusted her, but Cassandra wasn’t usually one to hide her motives. She did what she did, and the people around her dealt with it.

  Finally, Dakota sighed. “So you really don’t care what I do with this house,” she said, sounding defeated.

  “That’s not true, I do care,” she said sadly. “I just don’t know anything about all
of this…” she said, waving her hand at the house.

  “Would you let me teach you?” Dakota asked, surprising herself.

  Cassandra raised her eyes, and Dakota could read surprise in them as well.

  “You’d do that?” Cassandra said.

  “If you stop wearing high heels and skirts to my job site,” Dakota said with a grin.

  Cassandra laughed softly, nodding. “I might be able to do that.”

  “Good,” Dakota said, smiling.

  That night Dakota told Jazmine about the encounter.

  “So now you’re going to teach her about Craftsman houses?” Jazmine asked, careful to keep the jealousy out of her voice.

  Dakota was busy looking at something on her iPad, so she didn’t see the slight flicker of jealousy in Jazmine’s eyes.

  “Hmm?” Dakota murmured, then looked up. “Oh, yeah, I guess. We’ll see, she’s not exactly much of a student,” she said with a grin.

  Jazmine nodded. “Well that ought to make the job harder.”

  “Well, I don’t see the point in it, if she’s not going to care about the result.”

  Jazmine nodded again, and changed the subject.

  The next day, to Dakota’s utter shock, Cassandra showed up to the work site in jeans, a blouse, and boots that were a bit fashionable, but generally resembled work boots.

  “Wow,” Dakota said, blinking repeatedly, “I didn’t even think you owned a pair of jeans.”

  “I didn’t,” Cassandra said, winking at her. “But now I do. So teach me.”

  “Okay,” Dakota said, leading Cassandra back to the bathroom she’d been showing her the day before.

  Kneeling down, Dakota took Cassandra’s hand and pulled her down as well.

  “Okay, this is subway tile. It became popular at the turn of the twentieth century and was named subway tile because, well, duh, they designed it to be put in subway stations. They originally came in two sizes, three by six rectangles, and four by four squares. Eventually they came out with these patterns,” she said, touching the hexagon tile.

  Cassandra nodded, trying to take everything in as Dakota talked. Later Dakota told her about wainscoting and things like picture rails and chair rails. Cassandra listened attentively the entire time. By the end of the day, Dakota was tired of talking, but Cassandra was excited about the work. Even when Dakota went home, Cassandra stayed behind to walk through the house.