by Hart, Renee
“Customers love you. I love you. You know this. They...well, we would just love it if you didn’t dress like your fifteen year old son,” Nicole said. She cringed as she spoke the last sentence, not wanting to hurt Judith’s feelings.
“I get it, Nicky. I don’t wanna let you down. I’ll come in wearing blouses and dress pants. I’ll even put my hair in a bun,” Judith said. She laughed for a second, but it was a pensive laugh.
She didn’t have that many business clothes. Being one of the faces for a branch of a major art company had its perks, and maybe, for the thousandth time, Nicole was right. She probably did need to spruce up her wardrobe. It would get her boss and her son off of her back for one, and she could stop being anxious that a customer might say something negative about what she was wearing.
“You will?” Nicole asked with a hopeful look. She relaxed now that she saw that Judith was taking the critique well.
“If it pleases the queen,” Judith said standing at attention and saluting her boss.
“Great. You dress like you’re son and sometimes you even act like him,” Nicole rolled her eyes, trying to hide a smile.
“Hey now. I am the mater familias, Anton is the one who acts like me.”
Nicole laughed and shook her head. It was true that she always liked Judith. She was so easy to get along with, and she could make a joke out of anything. She shooed Judith away with one hand and watched as Judith slinked out of her office.
Judith made it back to the counter she usually sat at. She started busying herself with her monthly report to see how much commission she was going to get. Not only did Royes Art and Furnishings sell art and art supplies, but sometimes they hosted small gallery openings for up and coming artists, and they also designed furniture mostly for model homes and hotels. Nicole’s parents owned the store, but after they retired she took over the business and kept it alive. Judith had been working there since when Nicole's parents were in charge.
Judith was also one of the few employees that was a chameleon. Her specialty was selling art, but sometimes she would scout local talent to host shows. She could also design furniture and work on proposals for businesses that needed furniture.
There were about 4 others that sold art, 3 co-managers who could handle gallery openings [even if that meant going out of town to find adequate space], half a dozen designers, a team of carpenters, a team in charge of framing the art, and those who brought in art supplies to sell. Not all of them were in the store at the same time, but there were enough people working there. Each had their part, but Judith could pretty much do everything if she had a mind to.
There were all kinds of people that came into the store, all having different needs, and most of them requesting Judith. She knew this place better than anyone. She was probably the most trusted employee there. There was no way she could get fired, even if it came down to her casual attire. She decided to just relax and focus on her work.
Judith heard a faint dwip coming from her computer screen. A new email just came in. It was from the Royes management team. Nicky may have owned this store, but this was a family business that included aunts and uncles around the region who worked more behind the scenes.
“Here’s a chance to win a…” the subject of the email began. There wasn’t enough space to convey the whole message. Every year the Royeses were giving away something or other. Judith had never won because of the fact that she’d actually never entered. This year was probably going to be no different, but out of habit, she clicked it anyway.
“Royes is having an office raffle! One lucky person from one of our 6 branches will win a complete makeover and a $2500 gift card to any of the following 5 stores: DSW, Randall’s Boutique, Burlington Coat Factory, Steve Madden, and Swifty’s Thrifts!
Enter yourself or a member of our staff! The drawing will be on July 13! Good luck!
The Royes Family”
Judith stared blankly at the screen.
“My my this sure is topical,” she said to herself. This was the first time that she paused to even consider entering anything. It didn’t last long, but it was a pause nonetheless. She shook her head and scoffed. Makeovers weren’t her thing. She didn’t want to be told that she wasn’t good enough, and the only way she could be better was if she transformed herself physically in order to be appealing to anyone.
She shrugged and sighed and clicked the little trashcan icon on the top right of the screen.
Just like the other years, she would not be entering any raffles.
Chapter Two
Judith got home early that Friday. Everyone at the office got one day off during the week plus Sundays off. Judith, being the way she was, opted to take only half of her day off. She liked her job so much that she didn’t mind coming in to fill out paperwork or help around the store.
“You’re home early.” Judith’s son was in the living room. He was sitting crosslegged on one of the giant cushions from the couch on the floor, leaning against the couch itself. He was playing a video game.
Usually he was at their neighbor’s house when Judith got home late from work. It seemed like he practically lived over there. He would get home from school and then leave a note to say he was at Max’s, and only come home to eat dinner and then head to his bedroom.
“I’m always early on a Friday; you know this. Don’t you get tired of this mindless junk?” Judith asked, ruffling Anton’s dark hair. Judith had naturally dark hair too, but for the last few years she insisted on being a bleached blonde. They both had green eyes and prominent cheekbones. Anton had always been lanky but now he was starting to get some meat on his bones. According to him, the girls at his new high school thought he was cute, but that just made Judith roll her eyes.
Judith was a little curvy, and she hid her shape under baggy clothes and her silly sense of humor. She had no desire to be skinny like a stick, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable in her own skin. Even her son thought that she was “frumpy” sometimes.
“Never tired,” Anton said only half paying attention. He had just set fire to a person with a ragged bunny mask who was cursing at him and wielding a wrench around. Beyond the Sea played eerily in the background.
“Oh, mom,” Anton called out when Judith was making her way upstairs. “Max invited me over to play some games and have dinner.”
“Does Max’s dad know this?” Judith asked. She was never surprised when Anton said he was going to the neighbor’s, but since he was home early that day, she wanted to make sure he hadn’t gotten into any trouble.
She paused halfway up the stairs and peered down into the living room to look at Anton.
“Yeah, his dad said it was ok. He said you should come too.”
The last sentence made Judith’s heart fly up into her windpipe. Her neighbor Daniel and his son Max moved in just 2 years before. The boys didn’t go to the same school, but they looked so much alike that whenever they were out together people assumed they were brothers.
Anton was taller and slimmer than Max, Max’s face was covered in little freckles. He was also paler than Anton, and his eyes were more blue than green, but they both had the same dark, wavy hair and goofy grins that made them look vaguely like siblings.
Daniel on the other hand had jet black straight hair. When he met Judith it was to his shoulders, but he had long since cut it so short that a bit of the front naturally jutted upward. He looked like an older Freddie Prinze Jr. with broader shoulders and deeper dimples. And even though he had dimples, he still looked completely serious and mature even when he smiled.
Judith had got a crush on him immediately. Which meant she also avoided him as much as she could. The few times they actually spent getting to know each other were nice, but they would have been even nicer if Judith hadn’t freaked out when she couldn’t think of anything funny to say.
“Did he?” Judith finally asked.
“Yeah, he said it’d be good to see you since he sees me so much anyway. I said as long as you don’t emb
arrass me you could come too.”
“Hah!” Judith called below. She kept going upstairs. She didn’t give him an answer, but decided that maybe it would be a good idea to make nice with her neighbors.
***
It had been a painful first few minutes in Daniel and Max’s home. Max and Anton immediately disappeared to the wreck room to play the very same game that Anton had just turned off not more than 15 minutes before.
Daniel and Judith stood near the entrance way in an agonizingly awkward silence. He looked taller, and if it were possible, even better looking than when she last saw him up close.
He was dressed casually, but he wore everything so well. His hair was still short and he was clean-shaven; every time he moved his mouth his dimples would show. He was in a tight red shirt with three quarter sleeves and thick-rimmed glasses. He was wearing jeans and walking around barefoot and that felt so strange to Judith, even though Daniel was in his own home.
“Hey there stranger,” Daniel said clearing his throat. He waited for the two boys to disappear from view before speaking to Judith. He leaned forward to give her a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek but everything turned out to be a jumbled mess. Judith’s face moved and he almost kissed her on the lips. She apologized and moved to get a proper cheek kiss but he had changed his mind and gone in for a hug.
Their faces brushed against each other and their hands intertwined, but they never got an actual kiss or hug. There was an awkward chuckle and Judith cringed with another apology.
“I’m guessing we need to coordinate that better next time I see you,” he said.
“Yeah it’s looking like that,” Judith said. She giggled nervously, but the sound came off almost shrill. She stopped herself and let Daniel lead her through the living room and into the kitchen. Both of their houses were open concept and identical on the outside; it always fascinated her to see how their styles were so different.
Daniel’s house had a lot of wooden furniture. Everything looked rustic, almost like he lived in a farmhouse. His kitchen cabinets were a light wood finish and his counter tops were white quartz. The floors were close to the same color as the cabinets, they appeared to be a bit more faded and gray, and the only modern things were his kitchen appliances and the big screen TV he had situated on the wall above the small electric fireplace.
To the right of the kitchen was the dining room. It had its own entrance that was straight down the hall from the front door, but for some reason Daniel made a left turn into the living room and walked Judith all the way around through the kitchen and the open space that was the dining room.
The walls in the dining room were a purplish gray. In the center was a giant dining table that looked like someone sawed a redwood in half vertically. On the longer ends of it were benches of the same wood and the two end chairs had black cushions on them.
Judith remembered Daniel telling her that he made the table, benches, and chairs by himself. He made his living doing custom wood work and shipping them around the country. He was amazing at what he did.
When Judith found out she laughed and scolded him, reminding him that she had a store that could have done that for him. And he stared at her, stone faced. He told her that his aim was to make and save money, not spend it on something he could do himself.
The smile on Judith’s face collapsed and she collected herself and told him that if he was looking for a job, then she was sure that if he applied for a job at Royes he’d be hired in a minute. He still didn’t even flinch. He let her know that he preferred working for himself and building up his own home.
Judith had felt defeated and shrunk into herself, only to have Daniel burst out laughing a few seconds later. He had been messing with her, but that conversation always came back to haunt her whenever they were alone talking. She had become terrified that she may never be able to say the right thing around him for the two years that she'd known him.
He'd shrugged off his silly joke and chuckled while they spent the rest of the time having lunch out on the back porch, which he of course built himself.
“Do you need help with dinner?” Judith offered once she'd set her things down on the bench in the dining room.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Daniel said. He laughed and breathed a sigh of relief. “Anything beyond mashed potatoes, fries, some form of pasta, bacon, and ribs is downright foreign to me. I kind of wanted to impress you and Anton, but I think I messed everything up. Do you...do you eat meat? Please say yes, because if not, I’m gonna have to yank some flowers from the garden and hope our stomachs can handle them.”
Was he...nervous? That was impossible, Judith thought. She was the one who was the bumbling mess when she was around him. He never seemed to mind her company though. She wished they’d spent more time getting to know each other, and if she wasn’t such a nervous wreck then maybe one day she’d ask him.
“I eat meat. Chicken and fish if we’re being specific,” Judith said.
“Oh thank God. I have chicken. Tons and tons of chicken.”
Judith smiled at his relief. He really did seem nervous about messing up. What was so special and different about tonight that made him seem kind of anxious?
Anton was always at Daniel’s house, and he and Judith would wave and engage in a few random conversations every now and then whenever they saw each other.
“Why would you want to impress us?” she asked out loud as an afterthought. She held onto the back of the head dining chair and leaned forward onto it.
“I wanted you to think I knew what I was doing in the kitchen,” Daniel laughed nervously. He cracked his knuckles, then clapped his hands together. He rubbed his palms up and down like he was already getting ready to eat.
“I’m no Julia Child...Childs? Whatever, you know who I mean...but I make a really mean honey garlic chicken and potatoes,” Judith said. She puffed out her chest proudly. Her arms akimbo, she watched Daniel intently and waited for any sign that he was now happy that she’d come. He must have been, he was the one who invited her after all.
Thankfully, Daniel exhaled from his mouth and ended the breath with a satisfied sigh. She knew what she was doing, and she didn’t make him feel like a failure because he didn’t.
“Question though,” Judith said loosening up a bit and walking toward the kitchen. Daniel trailed behind her, almost as if this wasn’t his home. “If I didn’t come over to cook, what would you have done? Are you just feeding your son bacon and ordering pizza every day?”
“That was shockingly accurate,” Daniel said. He put a hand on his chest to show that her words had wounded him.
“But to answer your other question, I was gonna pour a bunch of beer and salt on the chicken and stick it in the oven. I read somewhere that that was actually delicious and amazing.”
“If you invite me for dinner again I’ll be sure to try it,” Judith laughed. There was some strange confidence swelling within her now that she knew there was a small part of her that she could be proud of when she was around him.
Daniel laughed too and watched her as his chuckles subsided. She was right at home in his kitchen.
“I’m really glad you could make it tonight, Jude,” he said. He paused when she turned around to look at him. When their eyes met they both looked away simultaneously.
“Me too,” Judith said. She turned her face away from him so that he couldn’t see the giant smile that she was trying to hide.
Chapter Three
“I can’t believe they didn’t even wanna sit with us to eat this,” Judith said. Her mouth was full of chicken and potatoes. She had a hand over her mouth to hide the meat rolling around while she was talking to Daniel. The dinner had been a success. Anton and Max had trudged into the kitchen like zombies, grabbed plates, filled them with food, and disappeared from whence they came.
Daniel was stuffing his face too. He closed his eyes when he chewed, and seemed to really enjoy it. He had helped too, in his own way, but he mostly watched as Judith danced aro
und the kitchen with all sorts of ingredients and utensils.
They were playing some Peter Gabriel, The Runaways, and Heart songs while they were preparing the dinner. Judith had a beautiful husky voice that made her sound just like Ann Wilson. She almost felt like she was in her own kitchen. She went from being embarrassed to feeling right at home in Daniel’s company, and all it took was some good music and good food.
“It’s because we’re old squares,” Daniel said when he was halfway finished with his first plate.
“Well I didn’t feel old until you called yourself a square in a serious context,” Judith replied. “Weren’t you born in the eighties anyway? Who was still using that word?”
“Quentin Tarantino,” Daniel chuckled at his Pulp Fiction reference. He made an invisible square with his two index fingers. Judith giggled and started imitating Mia Wallace by dancing with her hands in front of her face. Daniel put his fork down and started dancing like Vince Vega. The two of them doubled over with laughter.
“I’m glad you joined in,” Judith said when she caught her breath, “normally people would just look at me funny.”
“Nah, it was fun. You’re fun, Jude,” Daniel said. He picked up his fork and played around with it for a few moments before piercing a piece of chicken and taking a bite.
“I think you’re fun too,” Judith said. She became flustered again and now her mind was spinning with a million different things, but none of them were of what to say next.
Judith was now suddenly aware of what she must have looked like to Daniel. She looked down at the outfit that she was wearing, and realized that she probably looked very childish to him. She was wearing a turquoise blouse with a paisley pattern, and dark blue jeans. Normally she wasn't so concerned with her looks, but normally she wasn't in the company of her extremely attractive and incredibly kind neighbor. She picked up her fork and twirled it around in her plate for a while.
