Fame

by Susan X Meagher

  She rolled over, with Delta letting out a grumpy sigh. She wouldn’t tell Charlie that he’d had no interest in leaving once they’d gotten upstairs. But that’s what happened when you bought a dog, then took off for a long trip. No one wanted an absentee mom, especially not a very dependent little doggie.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THE NEXT MORNING, DELTA STOOD at the bottom of the outdoor spiral staircase, looking up at Piper with relief as she quietly said, “Hurry up.” It was kind of funny, since he couldn’t have possibly peed any faster than he was currently doing, but she was following Haley’s directions carefully, repeating the phrase every time he went.

  The doors to the house were open, and they walked over, with Delta rushing ahead, overjoyed at finding Charlie in the kitchen.

  He sat up on his little back legs, then hopped like a bunny, making both of them laugh. “I’ve got to think of a term for that so I can make him do it when I him want to,” Piper said.

  “I’m hungry.” Charlie was sitting on a stool by the counter, and she let her head drop until it rested on the surface. “How are we gonna do this, Pip?”

  On the short walk over, Piper had been ready to call the whole deal off. Her belly rumbled from hunger, she was a little faint, and her head ached like a bitch. But seeing Charlie’s sad face stiffened her resolve. She put an arm around her shoulders and smiled when Charlie shifted to lean her head against Piper’s chest.

  Sometimes it didn’t feel like they were both adults. Every once in a while, Charlie was the cuddly little girl she’d been when Piper had just been legally named her guardian, and it almost always brought a tear to Piper’s eye.

  “It’s only two more days,” she said, realizing, as she spoke the words, that two days really wasn’t much to complain about. Of course, Charlie would have to continue to eat fewer than a thousand calories until she lost ten pounds. The cleanse was just a kick-starter for her, rather than a one-shot like it was for Piper.

  “I miss coffee,” Charlie moaned.

  “Me too. Maybe we should go out. Avoiding temptation’s got to help, right?”

  Charlie started to pull herself upright, moving very lethargically. Once she was vertical, she started to push away from the counter, then perked up noticeably. “Your present!”

  “Oh, right,” Piper said. “No big deal. We can do that later.”

  “No, no,” she said, starting to bubble in her usual way. “We can use your present right now!” She grasped Piper’s hand, bent and picked Delta up, then started for the garage. Once the door was open, she put her hand on Piper’s shoulder and pushed her along until they stood in front of two shiny new bicycles.

  “You bought me two bikes?” Piper asked, cocking her head.

  “One for each of us,” she said, beaming. “We haven’t had bikes since we moved out of our place on Tiara Street. Remember?”

  Piper choked up. Once their mom had been diagnosed, the wheels fell off the wagon. She missed a lot of work, even though she struggled mightily to keep it together. Then she had her hours cut back, and not long after, she’d been fired. Or, as they’d so nicely put it, her job had been phased out. Months passed with every bill looming like a demon, and soon they’d had to move, leaving that nice, two bedroom, two bath apartment on Tiara and squeezing into a one bedroom with a dining nook on Oxnard in North Hollywood. Charlie’s single bed fit into the nook, but Piper was consigned to a pull-out sofa until their mom died.

  Even though they’d only moved a few blocks, it was a massive change. Oxnard was a feeder route for the on-ramp to the freeway, with a steady stream of cars funneling down it twenty-four hours a day. Since Charlie had just learned to ride her bike, Piper decided it was simply too dangerous to let her practice without close supervision. So she sold both of their bikes, using the few bucks she got to buy Charlie an iPod, which she adored. She could still envision the kid, entertaining herself for hours, singing along with the songs Piper loaded onto the device. To this day, she didn’t know if Charlie knew how bad things had been. The kid had always been able to find the sunny spot on the gloomiest day.

  “Of course, I remember,” Piper said, very glad the garage was dark enough that Charlie couldn’t see the tears filling her eyes. “I’ve got a bike at home, but I don’t ride it much.”

  “Too many hills,” Charlie declared. “But here, it’s as flat as a pancake. Let’s load Delta up and go to the bike path.”

  “Load…Delta?”

  “Uh-huh.” Grinning, she produced a wicker basket that clipped into brackets on the handlebars. “I thought you’d like to carry him,” she added. “This pretty blue bike’s yours. I got your favorite color.”

  “Are you sure this is your dog? As the days pass, he seems more and more like mine.”

  “He’s clearly mine,” she said, smiling brightly, “since I just got the bill for all of his day care. Haley’s expensive,” she said, her eyes growing wide. “I hope we get a discount when you start sleeping with her.”

  “Obviously, that’s the whole reason I went for her,” Piper said, straight-faced. “I’m just going to string her along until I can find a lesbian vet I can charm.”

  “You could if you wanted to,” Charlie said, giving her a sharp slap on the butt.

  “Don’t want to, though. Sorry.”

  Charlie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Let’s go drink our juice and hit the road.”

  ***

  The ride wasn’t a complete success, but that was mostly because they’d had to cut it short to get home and rid themselves of all of the damn juice—the stuff ran through them like lightning!

  Once they’d gotten their digestive tracts somewhat under control, Piper guided her sister up to her office, where the decorator had created a clean, bright, perfectly ergonomic environment for a working woman. Charlie had little patience for the mundane task of checking her email, much preferring to goof around looking at videos of animals doing odd things. But Piper supervised her, sitting her down and forcing her to make decision after decision.

  It took most of the afternoon, but the in box was clear by the time they’d finished. Looking at her watch, Piper saw that it was after five, and she hadn’t called Haley, which she thought she’d agreed to do.

  “I’m going to see if Haley wants to come over, if that’s okay,” she said.

  “Don’t be weird,” Charlie said. They were in the kitchen, now just a repository for food they couldn’t eat and juice they didn’t want. Actually, Piper was pretty sure she was never going to look at a blender again, just to avoid flashbacks. “You don’t have to ask permission, Pip. Besides, you’ve got your own apartment.”

  “I’m polite,” she said, studiously avoiding the green drink that she had to get down as her last “meal” of the day. Texting Haley, she waited for a few minutes to get a reply. They went back and forth, then she said, “She’s going to come over after she stops and gets some dinner.” Sighing, she added, “I hope it’s nothing I can smell on her breath.”

  “Maybe she’ll be nice and eat something you don’t like. That could be nearly anything that grows in the ground,” Charlie added.

  “I like potatoes, and corn, and most fruit.” She glared at the green bottle. “At least I did before yesterday. Now even the thought of kiwi kind of turns my stomach.”

  “Such a baby,” Charlie said, reaching over to pinch her cheek.

  “Says the woman who was whining about coffee just this morning.”

  “Whatever. Finish your drink and get it over with. One more day, and it’s back to burgers and fries—for you.”

  “I won’t eat anything good in front of you,” she promised. “But a burger and I are going to be very well acquainted by Wednesday night.”

  ***

  Haley had no idea where to park, finally driving back over to Lincoln to stash her car. She ambled down the alley, thinking she was at the right house, but having no way to get in. Texting Piper, she waited a minute, hearing footsteps scampering across the po
ol surround, along with a puppy happily yapping. “I hear you two,” she said, smiling when the gate opened.

  “Why didn’t you come in the front?” Piper asked.

  “Um…because I didn’t know there was a front. There’s a front?”

  “Yeah. Want to see? It’s the best part of the house.”

  “Nope, the kitchen is,” Haley decided, despite not having seen the upstairs. She grasped Piper’s shoulder and pulled her down for a kiss. “I just ate a big, juicy…salad for dinner. Lots of spinach with some other green vegetables. Nothing you’d want,” she added.

  “You have the makings of a very good girlfriend,” Piper said, adding another kiss. “Right, Delta?”

  He whined a little then shook his head, the way he did when directly addressed. “Good boy,” she said. “Want to go for a walk?”

  He raced into the house, almost tripping over his feet, which still didn’t always do exactly what he told them to do. When Haley and Piper arrived at the front door he was staring at his leash, which hung over the knob. “Good boy,” Piper said again.

  She attached the leash and opened the door, leading the way to a perfectly charming front garden, with a table and chairs and lots of succulent plants in big, ceramic pots. The yard was protected by a nice wooden fence, with yet another gate. Piper held it open, and Haley walked out to find they were on a sidewalk, with more houses behind tall fences just a few feet away. “What in the heck?” she asked.

  “It’s a walking street,” Piper said. “That’s the whole reason Charlie bought the place. Now ask me if she’s ever been out walking.” She grinned. “The answer is ‘no.’”

  “I had no idea this existed.”

  “There’s only a couple of streets. But they’re kind of cool. It’s nice to not have cars rolling by, but since it’s public, anyone could be out here. That worries me a little, but I’m trying to convince myself a stalker wouldn’t be able to figure out which house is Charlie’s.”

  Haley took her hand and they started to walk, seeing that some of the neighbors had added bohemian chic touches, like crocheted covers for a mailbox, or unique art for their fence. But most of the places simply had some type of climbing vine covering a plain fence. That made it super green, and very appealing to Delta, who had to lift his leg every two feet, leaving a little love note to the other dogs who would pass by. It was important to him to make the latecomers think he was a big guy, so he almost levitated to get his few drops of pee up as high as he could.

  As they walked, Piper put her arm around Haley’s shoulders. “Did you have a good day?” she asked.

  “Not bad at all. Fairly compliant owners, fairly calm dogs. Everyone showed up for their shift, and no one had an emotional meltdown.” She met Piper’s eyes and smiled. “Actually, that made it a very good day. How about you?”

  “It was good, but I kept thinking of how I could sneak over to the shop and watch you work. Would that have been weird?”

  “Very,” she said, tucking her arm around Piper’s waist. “But I would have liked it.”

  “My sister bought me a bike for my birthday. We can go riding when she’s not using hers—which will be most of the time.”

  “Cool. Have you wanted a bike?”

  “No, but it’s not a bad idea to have one. The path is really close, and it’s a nice way to get your heart-rate up a little bit. I’m told that’s a good idea,” she added, giving Haley a sly grin.

  “It is. And I’d love to go. I haven’t had a bike in years.”

  “Maybe we should go now. I’ve got a basket for Delta,” she added, rolling her eyes. “He likes it.”

  “I’m game. We can watch the sunset.”

  “Let’s do it.” They turned and went back to the house, where they were greeted by Charlie, who was sitting at the outdoor table, texting.

  “Hey!” she said, just as bubbly and energetic as Delta when he first saw you. “I didn’t know you’d left, Pip. All of a sudden, everyone was gone.” She reached down and scooped up Delta, who’d been dancing around excitedly, to let him stand on the table. “My little man was gone,” she crooned, allowing the puppy to frantically lick her face.

  “I didn’t say I was leaving?” Piper asked. “Damn. Haley shows up and I forget everything—even simple manners.”

  “You’re back now,” Charlie said, smiling up at her. She kicked a chair out with her foot. “Have a seat. Even though we can’t eat or drink anything interesting, we can still talk, right?”

  “Um, we were going to—”

  “Sit around and talk,” Haley interrupted, smiling when Piper shot her a grateful look. “This little garden is so nice. I didn’t even know it existed.”

  “It is nice,” Charlie said. “I was just sitting here thinking of how lucky I am to have something like this.” She blinked those guileless blue eyes at Haley. “Know what I mean?”

  “Sure,” Haley said, taking a seat. “We’re all lucky. Just being born in a first-world country gives you a big break.” She smiled back at Charlie, who seemed to be hanging onto her words like she was a great philosopher. “But you’re luckier than most.”

  “Sit down, Pip,” Charlie said. “Unless I’m stopping you from doing something fun.”

  Haley blinked in surprise, amazed that Charlie was not only sensitive enough to guess she might be interrupting their plans, but didn’t seem like she would try to guilt-trip them into changing them. That was not typical starlet behavior.

  “We didn’t have anything big planned,” Piper said. She looked across the table, obviously choosing to let Haley decide what they’d do.

  “I’d love to just hang out,” Haley said.

  Charlie reached across the table and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Fantastic!” she said, almost giddy. “I really want to get to know you better.”

  That comment made Haley’s mouth drop open for a few seconds. She’d been around many young actors, and the one thing most of them shared was a desire for you to get to know them better. Or at least learn their likes and dislikes so you could cater to them. Was Charlie really a different breed?

  “Great,” Haley said. “I’d like that, too.”

  “Pip says you’re from Kansas,” Charlie said. She leaned over, placed her elbows on the table, then set her chin in her palm, allowing her to focus on Haley like she was revealing the meaning of life. “Tell me all about it. I’ve never been there.”

  “Well,” she said, sparing a glance at Piper, who was smirking, “it’s in the plains, you know, so the landscape is very different.”

  “Plains means…what?”

  “Um, it’s just a long stripe of flat land that runs from Canada all the way down to Mexico. It’s wide, too. Starts at the Rockies and extends to the Mississippi.” She tried to think of what made the area unusual. “Very few native trees. Not a heck of a lot of water. The plains are where the buffalo roamed,” she added. “Thousands of miles of unbroken land, where they could…well, roam.” She shot a look at Piper, who had covered her mouth to hide a laugh. “I’m not a geographer,” she said, giving her a slap on the arm.

  “Is it nice?” Charlie asked.

  “Well…I don’t think anyone moved to the plains for the climate or the topography, if I’m going to be honest. As I said, it’s flat, and can be really dry because of the wind, which can really whip through. It’s bracingly cold in the winter, and can be scorching in the summer.”

  Charlie’s head had cocked, and her eyes were slightly narrowed. “What’s nice about it?”

  “There’s a rugged kind of beauty, especially when you get out of the city. My mom grew up on a farm pretty far north of Wichita, and I used to sit on a fence and just look out at all of that land.” She let out a sigh. “It was covered with short grass in the spring, and it looked like it went on forever.” Shivering at the memory, she said, “It made me feel small, but in a good way. I could easily see what made people move west, especially after being jammed into big cities on the east coast. All of that
open space must have been pretty thrilling to experience.”

  “But your family didn’t farm, did they?”

  “No. My dad’s folks have been city people for generations. It’s my mom’s side who still live an hour’s drive from the hustle and bustle of Wichita.”

  “You must miss it,” Charlie said. “LA can be so frantic.”

  Haley let herself think for a few seconds, finally shaking her head. “I love my family, and I’ll always miss them. But I couldn’t wait to leave,” she admitted, chuckling.

  “But why? I grew up with a freeway on-ramp as my backyard,” Charlie said, winking at Piper. “I always had this fantasy about having a ranch. You know. Lots of land, no neighbors.”

  “Not me,” Haley said. “The first time I saw the ocean, I knew I’d never return to Kansas. LA can be awful of course, but as long as I can get to water, I’m happy.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Me, too,” Charlie said. She let out a contented sigh, and Haley waited for her to say more about that. But she tossed the ball right back. “If you had all the money you could want, where would you live?”

  “Hmm, that’s a tough one,” Haley said, thinking. “I guess I’d go tropical. LA’s too dry for me. I’d like to live somewhere that got a lot of warm rain, you know?”

  “I think I do.” She laughed softly. “But I haven’t traveled much. I’m happy here, even though I’d like all of the grumpy people to leave. That would help with traffic, right?”

  “If all of the grumpy people left, you’d be able to get across town in ten minutes,” Haley agreed. “And wouldn’t that be nice?”

  ***

  When it got too dark to see, Charlie hopped up and went into the house to find some candles she hadn’t yet set out. Piper grasped Haley’s hand and said quietly, “Are you really okay just sitting here all night?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “If your sister was any nicer, you wouldn’t be able to convince me she wasn’t a robot.”