“We even care about the owners.”
***
Piper returned at six, immediately realizing she’d made a timing mistake. The counter was jammed with other owners, all paying to get their dogs out of hock. Haley was having an intense conversation with a red-faced man who was pissed about something, and Pearl was doing three things at once, but she caught Piper’s eye, pointed to a glass door by the counter and made a gesture. Piper opened it and walked in, finding herself in the big doggie play space. Four dogs scurried over to her, one of whom was her own. She bent down and picked him up, quickly realizing that had been her second mistake. Two of the other dogs started to jump, trying to get her attention or eat Delta, she wasn’t sure which.
“Yeow!” she yelped when one of them put his paws on her waist, then let them slide to the floor, scratching a stripe all the way down her leg. The second she put Delta back on the floor, the other dogs sniffed at him, did a little play biting, then lost interest and went back to what they’d been doing before she upset the equilibrium. Delta went to the biggest dog, the one who hadn’t jumped, and tried to engage him, almost as though the little guy was showing off, letting her know he could play with the biggest dog in the schoolyard and not back down.
There were all sorts of toys lying around, along with a dozen dog beds. She went to a huge ball, at least eighteen inches high, and sat on it, putting her closer to the dogs’ height. It was kinda cool being surrounded by four happy pups, all getting along well. She played tug with a terrier who was still bursting with energy even after spending the day with a bunch of buddies, then threw a ball for a blonde dog who was probably a lab mix. The room was long, fifty feet or so, with a floor of poured concrete that had been polished, giving the dogs plenty of room to run and fetch on a smooth surface, and no opportunity to ruin flooring.
Piper lost track of time, continuing to play with the old timers, as well as two new arrivals, both excited enough to bounce off the walls for a few minutes when they entered the enclosure. But once they’d all met one another and sniffed each other aggressively, they calmed down and played—kind of like four-year-olds at preschool.
At six thirty, the door opened and Haley entered, as bright and perky as she’d been hours earlier. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I should have told you to come well before six. We’re always jammed when we’re trying to empty out.”
Piper looked down at the dogs running around. “I hate to mention this, but you’ve got some leftovers.”
Haley took a seat on another ball just as big as the one Piper sat on. The lab mix ran over to her and she started to toss his ball, ignoring the slobber that covered it. “Everyone except Delta’s staying over.” She met Piper’s gaze. “If you want my opinion, you’ll take him home. I think he’s too young to leave for an extended stay.”
“I thought that’s what you’d say. When do you open in the morning? Even though it’ll be a drag, I can stay over here and drop him off on my way to work.” She let out a sigh. “I should have refused to help, but since I didn’t, I can’t just blow this off.”
Haley’s relatively blank expression morphed into a warm smile. “Day care starts at six. But we have someone here twenty-four hours. If you need to drop off a little earlier, I won’t charge you—”
“I hope to be sound asleep at six,” Piper interrupted, with a laugh. “I don’t have to leave until ten.” Delta pranced over to her, holding a huge stuffed fire hydrant in his mouth. She reached down and scratched behind his ears. “Are you sure leaving him for a day’s okay?” She laughed. “I don’t know what I think I’ll do if you say ‘no.’ I sure can’t take him to work.”
“Oh, sure. He really liked it.” She looked down at the puppy, smiling at his antics. “He just doesn’t have much autonomy yet.”
Piper took out her phone and gave her schedule a long look. “It won’t kill me to come back over here tomorrow night, since I’m off Wednesday. Thursday’s a little tougher, but Friday’s guaranteed to be a mess. I start early and get out late on both Friday and Saturday.” She looked at Haley, seeing her questioning expression. “Could he stay over on Friday night?”
“We can try,” she said, thoughtfully. “An overnight is a snap for a mature dog, but Delta’s very young.” Putting her fingers down close to the floor, she snapped them a couple of times, with Delta running to her immediately. Then she picked him up and let him stand on her legs for a minute. “If he hates it—” she looked directly at Piper “—I’d recommend a house sitter. I can give you some names.”
Piper thought about that for only a second. No way. Charlie was now famous enough to have to worry about a stranger going through her stuff and selling pictures to a tabloid. “I can’t do that. Well, I can’t do that at my sister’s place. If he hates staying over, I’ll get to work on finding someone who can watch him at my house in the Valley.”
“Then we’ve got a deal.” Haley stood, extended her hand, and they shook on it. Her gaze traveled down, giving Piper what she hoped was an assessing look. “Did that just happen?”
Piper looked down, seeing a thin streak of blood trailing down her leg. “Oh, shit. It’s going to stain my shoes.”
“Come with me.” She swooped Delta up and tucked him under her arm, then led Piper to her nicely but sparsely appointed office with a plate glass window that allowed her to have a view of most of the building. “Have a seat,” she said, rolling her chair over to a cabinet where she pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, some cotton balls and a tube of ointment. Rolling back over, she patted her bare knee. “Put your foot right here.”
“On your leg? God knows what’s on my shoe after being in there with the dogs.”
A gleaming white smile reached all the way to her eyes, making them twinkle. “God knows what’s on my leg. I had to put mesh over my drain to catch the dog hair so it didn’t clog my shower.”
Piper laughed at that and put her foot atop Haley’s knee. Delta was still perched on her other leg, well able to balance and keep an eye on things.
Haley put a dry cotton ball right at Piper’s ankle, commenting, “I can see why you don’t want to stain your shoes. Brand new?”
She knew she should reply, but all Piper could do was wince, even though the peroxide hadn’t touched her. “Is it gonna hurt?” she managed, squeezing her eyes shut.
“No.” Haley laughed a little, then her voice took on a gentle, soothing tone. “Is this the first scratch you’ve ever had?”
“Of course not,” she said, forcing her eyes open while trying to be stoic. “I usually just let them bleed. I hate things that sting.”
“You’ll be fine,” Haley assured her. “This won’t hurt a bit.”
And it didn’t. No sting. “Thanks,” Piper said as Haley’s gentle fingers dabbed ointment onto the long scrape. She knew she should have been embarrassed, but Haley acted like it was perfectly normal to freak out over a scratch, and Piper was all too happy to go along with that. “I’m going to wear jeans from now on when I come over here.” She took a look at Haley’s legs, not a scratch to be found. “How do you keep the dogs from jumping on you?”
She patted Piper’s leg with finality, then rolled back across the floor when Piper took the cue and placed her foot back down. “They just don’t.” After returning her supplies to their designated spots, she said, “I always wear shorts. Less fabric, less dog hair. I try to minimize what I track into my apartment.”
“How many dogs do you own?”
She held up her hand, with her first two fingers touching her thumb. “Zero.” A wicked grin made the faintest dimples appear. “Obviously I love dogs, but I get my fill at the office. When I get home, I don’t want a pair of eyes staring at me, silently begging for attention.”
“That’s like me and hair.”
“Hair?” Haley said, her eyes opening wide.
“Didn’t I say I was a hair stylist?”
“Um…I think I’d remember…”
“A few friends are always h
inting around about my cutting their hair on my day off. Good luck!” She stood and reached for her wallet. “What do I owe you for today?”
Haley waved her off. “No charge. This was just a try-out.” She picked Delta up and kissed his head before handing him back to Piper. “Which he passed with flying colors.”
“Really?” She took her charge card out and made it dance in front of Haley.
“Really. We’ll make a ton off you over time, don’t worry. Today was your last freebie.”
“Okay.” She put her wallet back, then started for the door. “Hey, do you know the neighborhood? I’ve been looking for a good place to have dinner. Someplace casual where I can bring Delta.”
“Yeah, I know the neighborhood.” Haley crossed her arms over her chest, now obviously sizing Piper up. Chills raced up her spine as those warm brown eyes lingered for a moment. “There are some good food trucks at Rose and Lincoln. Nothing fancy or cutting-edge. Just traditional Mexican stuff. But I’ve had good things from every one of them.”
Piper waited for a few seconds, hoping an offer to tag along was forthcoming. But Haley just gave her a noncommittal smile.
“Okay then,” Piper said. “We’ll get out of your hair.”
“No rush. I’m finished for the day.” She stood close and gave Delta a few gentle strokes, with his fluffy white hair rebounding as her hand moved. “We’ve enjoyed meeting you, Delta. Rest up so you’re recharged for the morning.”
“Thanks,” Piper said. “We’ll go get some food and get to bed early.” She dropped another subtle hint. “My sister just moved into her new place and she hasn’t had her electronics installed yet. Delta and I are living like pioneers. No TV to keep us company.”
“Well, he’ll appreciate that. He got a lot of stimulation today. Going to bed early will be good for him.”
“Okay,” Piper said, trying not to show her disappointment in Haley’s failure to offer to fill her evening. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
On the way to the car, she spoke quietly to the pup. “If anyone asks, you didn’t see me strike out.”
***
Lolita was lying on the sofa reading a paperback when Haley entered the apartment. Her roommate read more than anyone Haley had ever met, almost always choosing real books over electronic ones, but that was the only predictable element to her reading habit. She read everything from literary fiction to urban fantasy to the classics, even mixing in some graphic novels when the glut of words overwhelmed her.
This one must have been engrossing, for she didn’t even turn when Haley shut the door. Then she noticed Lolita had on headphones, the kind that covered your ears. Her jet-black, vaguely bouffant Jackie Kennedy style hairdo nearly covered them, but the yellow cord was a giveaway.
Lolita worked in a noisy spot, and often masked the sound with good-quality headphones. Actually, nearly everything she had was good-quality.
Lolita was a bit older than Haley, a little past forty, but she had, as she said, a lot of miles on her. Five years earlier, her sixty-something boyfriend had died and stunned Lolita by bequeathing his wholly-owned car wash to her. She could have sold the lot to a real estate developer and banked a lot of cash, but she truly seemed to enjoy the work. It didn’t hurt that she met a lot of celebrities, since the business was located on Pico, just a few blocks away from the Fox backlot, and it let her be around people—something she seemed to need on a deep level. Haley thought of her as the most extroverted bookworm in the world.
Given Lolita’s bank balance, Haley had been surprised when she’d answered her Craigslist ad to share a one-bedroom apartment. But Lolita hated to be alone for any length of time. Actually, except for the reading habit, she was more dog-like than human, a trait Haley found endearing.
Walking over to the sofa, Haley waved a hand, making Lolita gasp in surprise. She whipped off her headphones and squealed, “You could have snuck in here and plunged a knife into my heart! I wouldn’t have even had time to scream!”
No one ever claimed Lolita lacked imagination. Reality was often out of her grasp, but she could easily conjure up the most outrageous scenarios for her own demise, few of which were probable.
“No knives,” Haley said, holding up her empty hands. “Had dinner?” she sat on the arm of the sofa, assessing Lolita’s outfit. She rocked a body that would have made her very much in demand in the 1950s; large breasts, a narrow waist, and generous hips. Instead of unsuccessfully trying to look like a skinny hipster, she played up her assets, dressing more like Marilyn Monroe going out for a burger than a contemporary woman. To suit her style, she bought everything in thrift stores, usually able to find vintage clothing that hugged her curves better than today’s fashions.
Tonight, a pair of black Capri pants, skin tight, and a pink cotton blouse with three-quarter sleeves, along with black ballet flats could have had her fitting in with the starlets of another era. But she didn’t look out of place in LA, a land where you could adopt literally any look and fit right in.
“I had some cookies just before I came home,” she said. “Araceli and Silvia both have girls in Scouts, and I bought enough to share with customers. There were a few left in today’s box and I couldn’t just let them sit out like that.” She let out a silly laugh. “They might have gone bad.”
“So…no dinner?”
“Oh, I’ll want to eat, but when my mouth’s full of sugar I can’t think about savory.”
“Sweet and sour chicken?” she said, making Lolita’s head cock with interest.
“Perfect. What would you like? I’ll call.”
“Mmm, I think I’ll have the house special soup, the one with chicken and vegetables, and…” she thought for a second “…an order of snap peas and water chestnuts.”
“No spring rolls? Shrimp toast? Steamed dumplings?”
“No, just the soup and vegetables.”
“Spoilsport,” she grumbled, smirking as she took out her phone and hit the speed dial for their local Chinese carryout place. “Now I’m going to have to eat all of the shrimp toast myself.”
Haley went to take a look at the mail and wash her hands, then she got out plates and utensils and napkins. The restaurant was so amazingly fast that they were sometimes at the front door before you’d gotten your charge card out.
“Want anything to drink?” she called out from the kitchen.
“Dr. Pepper?”
Smirking, Haley pulled a soda out of the refrigerator. Dr. Pepper seemed right for Lolita. No kombucha or caffeine-laced energy drinks for her. Old school soda-pop was her standby.
It wasn’t just the drink that was old school. Lolita only liked soda in bottles, and it had to be made with cane sugar, so she ordered it from Amazon. Two cases a week, rain or shine. Haley popped the cap and delivered the soda, then kicked off her shoes to sit in the lotus position on a footstool.
“I think a woman was flirting with me today,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.
“How would you know that?” Lolita sat up and stared at her, clearly interested.
“It hasn’t been that long!”
“Yes, it has. I’ve been here for almost five years, and have never happened upon a strange woman in the bathroom. For all I know, you just claim to be a lesbian for the cool factor.”
Haley smiled, thinking that Lolita would probably pepper-spray anyone she’d brought home if they hadn’t been properly introduced. “I’ve dated women. I just haven’t brought anyone home.” She pointedly eyed her Murphy bed, tucked behind where she sat. “I don’t feel comfortable asking a woman to come home with me, only to plant her in the middle of the living room.”
“I still don’t understand why you chose to sleep out in the open. It’s your name on the lease, after all.”
Haley nodded. She didn’t want to say the real reason: she’d had no luck in getting someone to pay half of the rent when they learned they’d be stuck in the living room. Giving Lolita the bedroom let her squeeze another couple of hundred bucks out of her, an
d when you were focused on creating a nest-egg, every dollar helped. “I like my bed,” she said. “It’s nice being able to lie down and watch TV.”
“So tell me about this flirty woman. I’ll render my judgment.”
“Okay.” She scooted around on the stool, slightly excited. “She was cute, and vaguely gay-looking.”
“Keys on a carabiner gay?”
“No, but she definitely gave off a vibe. Much more eye contact that most straight women give you, and friendlier than she needed to be.”
“Got it. Straight women ignore you and are bitches.”
“Oh, that’s not what I mean and you know it. She was just…I can’t explain it. But I think she was interested. When she asked where she could get dinner, it felt like she was hinting that I should join her.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Mmm.” She shrugged. “She’s a client. You know how it is. What if I read her wrong?”
“Haley,” she said gently. “You spend most of your time at work. If you shut out everyone you meet there, you’re really limiting yourself.”
“I know,” she moaned. “But—”
“No buts. If she comes back and you think she’s interested, offer to get dinner with her. She won’t call Spike and complain that you’re hitting on her, even if she’s straight as a stick. Don’t be dumb!”
“I tend to be dumb,” she admitted, jumping to her feet when the delivery guy rang the bell. She shot a look at Lolita, who’d picked up her can of pepper spray, just in case.
CHAPTER FOUR
ON TUESDAY NIGHT, THE ENTRY door buzzer sounded at nine. Haley jogged to the entrance and peered out the tiny glass window, then tossed the door open and smiled at an anxious-looking Piper. “We’re open all night. You don’t have to rush to get here.”
“Damn,” she sighed as she entered. “I’m so happy to see a welcoming face. I was afraid I’d get a lecture about being late.”
Fame Page 4