“It’s not that,” Chloe said. She was a petite girl with long blond hair she usually wore in a braid halfway down her back, and had lovely blue eyes that just now were full of tears. She bent her head and Lori saw twin tears fall. Lori gestured her toward a supply room and Chloe followed her in.
“This job can really get to you if you let it,” Lori said. “I had plenty of shifts when I was a new nurse when I would cry afterward. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. You wanna go get a decent cup of coffee?”
“I think I just need to transfer to a different department,” she said. “I can’t work in this ER.”
“Tiana is a hard boss, but she’s fair. I think it’s not easy for her, being the boss and one of the only black nurses in the department. Or in the hospital, for that matter. But if she’s being too hard on you, I can talk to her. She isn’t as much of a hard-ass as she pretends to be. I promise you.”
“Tiana’s OK.” But now the tears were falling fast and furious and the girl didn’t even try to hold them back.
“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong,” Lori said. She grabbed a box of tissues from the shelf and ripped into them, not particularly caring that this would throw off inventory. Chloe wiped her eyes but more tears fell as fast as she could clear them away.
“I really don’t like working with Dr. Charles. At all,” she said. “The job was fine before he started. I felt like I was really doing pretty well here. But I don’t want to work with him.”
A suspicion of why this beautiful young girl didn’t like working with Dr. Charles began forming in Lori’s mind.
“Chloe. Has Dr. Charles been … inappropriate with you?”
“At first I thought it was an accident. I was leaning over a counter and he rubbed up against me as he passed. I didn’t think too much of it. But it just kept happening. He keeps pressing into me, and today he pressed himself really hard against my butt and pulled my hair and said, ‘Oh, yeah, I like this braid.’ Then when I protested, he said he was just joking around and I shouldn’t be such a tease. I said I hadn’t done any such thing and he said every time I walk by him I’m ‘shaking my ass’ at him. But I swear I haven’t been. I’ve been trying to avoid him but sometimes I just can’t. But nobody is going to believe a brand new nurse over a doctor. So I applied for a transfer to inpatient, but I don’t know if I’ll get it. And I just can’t stand working with him much longer.” Chloe’s face was blotchy with tears and Lori felt remorse for not having said anything when she could have.
“It’s not your fault, and I agree you shouldn’t have to work with him. Let me tell you what he did to me on his first day,” Lori said, and recounted the story. “I didn’t report him because I was afraid nobody would believe me and because I thought, after all it takes to become a doctor, I didn’t want to derail his career just when it was getting started. I thought I’d give him another chance. But now I regret it. We should both report his ass, and we should do it now.”
“I just started working here a month ago,” Chloe said. “And he’s a doctor. And I hate to say it, but he’s really good-looking. Why will anybody believe us? They’re going to say we wanted it.”
“I didn’t want to do it either, but now he’s doing this to you. And if he’d doing it to us, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to learn he’s doing it to other nurses, too. There are two of us now. But you’re right, it could get ugly. But Harriet — you know Harriet, right? — heard my story. She’s got our back. And nobody messes with Tiana’s nurses. She isn’t a pushover. I don’t think Dr. Charles is any match for Tiana Brooks.”
“Well, OK,” Chloe said. Her tears had finally stopped, and she blew her nose. Lori took out her phone and texted Tiana to meet them in the supply closet. Tiana texted back: “WTF? I thought you were home”
Lori texted back, “Please be discreet. It’s important”
It took a few minutes, but Tiana arrived.
“I know you two nurses are going to have a good reason for hiding in this supply closet,” she said. “And this box of tissues? This is probably 80 bucks worth of tissues that I bet haven’t been logged,” she said.
“Screw the box of tissues,” Lori said. “Listen, we’ve got a problem. It’s Dr. Charles.” The two women told their stories.
“HR is going to have a field day with this one,” Tiana said. “But you’re right, I’m not putting up with this. This is a medical facility, not a place for Dr. Charles to get his rocks off. I’ll document this and make some phone calls and I’ll work with HR to open a case. I would expect he’ll be put on paid leave while they get to the bottom of it. I don’t want him in this ER, and let’s hope they agree with that. We can’t be taking care of patients and watching out for Dr. Grab-Ass at the same time. Uh-uh, not with my nurses.”
Lori shook Tiana’s hand and Chloe followed her lead.
“Thank you, Tiana. I knew we could count on you. It’s going to be an interesting day tomorrow for sure.”
Chapter 13
It was interesting, yes. Just as he was about to start his shift, Dr. Grab-Ass, as Lori now thought of him, even though he had been more of a Dr. Press-An-Ass, or in her case, Dr. Force-A-Kiss, was escorted out of by two HR representatives. He did not go quietly. As they passed by the nurses station, he saw Lori and bitterly called out to her.
“Thanks, you teasing bitch, for ruining my career! Ten years and $200,000 down the drain! And I just put money down on a new house and now I’m not going to be able to buy it. But just so you know, I warned the real estate dude about you. So there’s that, anyway,” he said. The force of his hatred hit her like a strong wind and she took an involuntary step backward. Harriet was by her side and placed a steadying arm around her. Lori wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have lost her balance without it. And then Dr. Grab-Ass was gone.
Tiana poured a cup of the awful floor coffee and pressed it into Lori’s hands while Harriet helped her to sit down. Everyone — staff as well as patients and their family members — was staring at the spectacle that had just unfolded.
“That was botched,” Tiana said. “You weren’t supposed to see that. However, he’s gone now.”
“What will happen to him?” Lori asked.
“Not your problem. Not my problem. Our problem is taking care of our patients, and we’re going to get back to it. Take a break. Drink your coffee. And then get back to work. You’re a professional.” Tiana turned around and went back to work. Harriet stayed with her. “What did he mean, he warned the real estate agent?” she asked.
“Oh,” Lori said. “That explains something. I seemed to be hitting it off with the agent who sold me my house, and then all of a sudden he was cold as ice and I couldn’t figure out why. Now I know what happened, at least.”
“Jake? Estelle’s boy?” Harriet asked.
“You know him?”
“I don’t really know Jake. I do know Estelle. I helped take care of Josh for a while back in the day. Sad case. I haven’t seen her in a while. Mostly we exchange Christmas cards and that sort of thing. When you take care of a family going through something like that, you can get really close to them. That lady was a rock. I don’t know if she was always that strong, or if having that experience made her strong, but she handled everything better than most.”
“I just met her briefly, but I liked her a lot,” Lori said. “I liked her son, too. Too bad Dr. Grab-Ass ruined that for me. But at least I know what happened. It was bugging me.”
“You feel like getting back to work? That’s the best way, you know. Just get up and get back to work.”
Lori did.
It was only hours later when she returned home to her own house that she let herself exhale. The upholstery lady would arrive soon, and Lori loaded up her new dishwasher and did a bit of picking up in preparation. She was never going to be a neat freak, but she was doing much better at keeping up with things here than she ever had at the apartment. Maybe it was a pride in ownership thing. Regardless, she didn’t want the up
holstery lady to judge her badly, or think that she wasn’t going to be particular about the appearance of her work.
The woman arrived, right on time, and reacted just like everyone else who had seen the inside of the house.
“I’m Catarina,” she said, and shook Lori’s hand. “Groovy pad you have here.” Catarina Loveridge was a petite woman with delicate features, totally free of makeup. She wore a red beret, from which an impossibly long dark braid emerged in the back. Lori thought very few women could pull off a beret, but it looked completely natural on Catarina.
“I’m Lori. Thanks. I just bought it, and I’m just not quite ready to update it yet. I probably will eventually, but for now I want to keep the funky vibe going.”
“Why ever change it?” she said.
“Why indeed?” Lori said. “It’s growing on me, to tell you the truth. But you’ll see that the sofa really has to have something done to it. The fabric has to be replaced. It’s not like I’d ever find another piece of furniture to fit these specifications.
“Nope, that’s where I come in. I can recover this, and I can replace the cushions.” She lifted a cushion and pushed down. “You’re going to want me to replace these old coiled springs, too. You know this isn’t going to be cheap, right? I’ll basically be taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together. It isn’t just a matter of throwing new fabric on top, which is what a lot of people assume.”
That was exactly what Lori had assumed, but she didn’t want to admit it. “Of course,” she said.
Catarina took some measurements and wrote some figures down on a clipboard, then chewed the end of her pencil. Then she named a figure that made Lori gasp. “Plus the cost of the fabric,” she said. “Depends a lot on what you pick. I have some samples in the van.”
“How long will it take?”
“I am gonna estimate three weeks. I don’t have a lot of other jobs going on right now, and will be able to get started about the time I get the fabric. Depends on how long it takes to get the fabric to me. But yeah, three weeks seems about right. Which is insanely fast, I hope you know. When I’m busy, it can take at least twice that long. I can get the springs done while I wait for the fabric to arrive.”
“Sounds good,” Lori said, although actually she had guessed it would only take a week.
“I’ll grab the samples,” Caterina said, and retrieved a pile of swatch books from her van. “If none of these work for you, I have more back at the shop.” As it was, her arms were full of them.
“You’re going to want something vintage, obviously. Anything contemporary is going to look totally wrong,” she said. “I’d start right here with this sample book.” She and Lori began thumbing through the fabric swatches.
“You could actually go with another gold velvet,” Caterina said. “It goes with the current décor. And honestly, even if you do update the room somewhat, gold can be almost a neutral color. You’d be able to do a lot of different things working around a gold sofa. And I can just about guarantee this one will be in stock, so I won’t have to wait forever for it or come back and ask you about a second choice. But think about it. This isn’t something you want to pick without being sure.”
“I’m already sure,” Lori said. “The more I think about it, the more I think I’m going to keep this look. Why should I try to take a unique house and make it look just like everyone else’s?”
“Good answer,” Caterina said. “You should see my place. It’s not for everyone, but I like it. I didn’t decorate to suit the next owner. I decorated it to suit me.”
“What style?” Lori asked.
“Early bohemian fairy tale, I call it. With a dash of shabby chic. Lots of midnight blue velvet and silver with some bits of deep red, and plenty of gauzy stuff and velvet. Fairy lights woven into all the silk flowers. Everything is over-upholstered and very comfy. I made most of the furniture myself. You expect someone to come out do a tarot reading. And sometimes, in fact, I do.”
“Sounds interesting. I’d love to see it someday.”
“I live right over the shop. Come on over someday and I’ll give you a tour.” And with that, she cast a wary eye over the different segments of the sofa. “I might need to hire some muscle to help me get this into the van,” she said. “And it’s for sure going to take a couple or three trips. Got any muscle around the place?”
“No, but I’m decently strong, and I’ve got a friend’s teenage son helping me out, and he’ll be here after school. I think we could move some of it ourselves, actually.”
“All I need from you is a down payment, and we’ll get started,” she said. Lori wrote her a check, trying not to wince, and the two women lifted an end piece and got it into the van. Lori was surprised the woman, who was quite thin and maybe 5-foot-2, could be so strong. She did her best to pretend it didn’t take all she had to get the second piece into the van and was relieved to see that there was no way a third piece would fit. She didn’t think she’d have been able to muster up the strength. Then they tossed all the sofa cushions into the back of the van. That left four more segments for Tommy to help get to the shop later on. He’d probably arrive in David’s truck, so Lori explained it might be possible for them to drop off the rest later. “I’ll order the fabric as soon as I get back to the shop, and if there’s any issue, with it, I’ll let you know. Enjoy your house!” she said, and she was off.
Tommy did come in David’s truck, and he was able to load up the rest of the sofa with only minimal help from Lori. The two of them made the short trip to Fairview’s struggling downtown. As in most old downtowns, many of the shops were shuttered. However, a bit of a renaissance was going on, with several antique and craft shops and a coffee shop. Even a small bistro was holding its own. A small jewelry shop had been there forever, and at the corner was Catarina’s upholstery shop, Loveridge’s. The window contained a small selection of reupholstered pieces on display, one holding a sleeping gray cat, but there wasn’t really a showroom. This was a working shop, with several pieces of furniture in various stages of rehabilitation. Toward the back were some broken-down pieces that looked like they were more suited for the junkyard than anybody’s living room. Caterina was busily taking apart a small upholstered chair. Lori could see where the woman’s muscles came from — this wasn’t a genteel craft by any means.
The three of them got the rest of Lori’s sofa into the shop, and Lori asked the woman if the offer for a tour still stood.
“Sure thing,” she said. “It’s upstairs.” She led them up a staircase to the second floor. The door was standing open. When they crossed the threshold, they entered a fairyland.
“Wow,” Tommy said.
“Yeah. Just … wow,” Lori echoed.
“It wouldn’t be for everyone, but I like it,” Caterina said. The living room was lighted by a large number of small clear lights that were woven into silk flower arrangements and ino the branches of the two trees that flanked the large plate glass window. At first she assumed the trees were artificial, but then she noticed the lime tree bore several fruits large enough to harvest. Caterina noticed her looking at it.
“Enough light comes through here during the day to keep the trees happy. One is lime and the other is orange. I use the limes for making gin and tonics. The oranges are pretty sour but I eat them anyway. There aren’t any at the moment. But the orange blossoms smell amazing when they do their thing.” The effect of the trees framing the window was charming. But no matter where you looked, there was something to catch your eye. The window was dressed only with wispy bits of silk around the edges. The furniture was a mix of dark blue velvet and some ruby red velvet. There were dozens of gorgeous pillows scattered everywhere. Several large pieces of sculpture looked as if they were done by the same artist. The same was true of the paintings. A vintage violin hung on the wall. The floor was highly polished wood with numerous oriental carpets competing for attention. Several leather-bound books sat on an ornately carved wooden chest being used as a coffee tabl
e. Lori saw one was on philosophy, one on astrology and a couple of others were in some foreign language.
“This is amazing,” Lori said. She peered further into the huge apartment; a good-sized, sunny kitchen was in the back, with more live plants and a large wooden table that could easily seat a dozen. Like the kitchen table Lori had grown up around, the chairs were mismatched, but the effect here was charming rather than haphazard. Each was different, but all harmonized together thanks to either a touch of upholstery or a seat cushion that Lori was sure Catarina had custom-made and added to each. Lori didn’t want to be so nosy as to ask to see the rest of the place, but she was curious to see if Catarina’s bedroom was as unusual as the rest. She was betting it would give her own bedroom a run for its money.
“And I thought I had an unusual place!”
“You do,” Catarina said. “I would hazard a guess that we might have the two most unusual living rooms in town. Isn’t it nice not to be just like everyone else?”
“Usually,” Lori said.
“Always!” Catarina said. Tommy cleared his throat.
“Oh, I guess I need to get back home so Tommy here can get back to work. He’s going to paint my kitchen, among other things.” Catarina led them downstairs, explaining as she went that there was no problem getting the gold velvet, and the time line she’d given her still looked do-able.
“Cool,” Lori said. I would like to have it done before I have my housewarming party. I haven’t set a date yet, but you’re invited. You can see everybody admire your handiwork.”
“Sounds good,” Catarina said. Before Lori and Tommy were even out the door, she had picked up what looked like a small crowbar and returned to taking apart the furniture she had been working on when they arrived.
Chapter 14
Tommy and Lori were working hard on the back yard. Lori had finally concluded that she was going to have to sacrifice her fingernails to the cause; she wore gloves, but she had still broken several nails and had to clip them all short to match. Her project today was pulling up hundreds of red bricks that had made up a little path through the back yard. She intended to put down a new bed of sand and re-lay them according to the directions David had given Tommy. It was slow going, and very dirty. She was thankful to be hiding away in the backyard. She knew her face was smudged with dirt because Tommy had laughed at her. She had formed her hair into a messy bun and covered it with a bandana she’d specially purchased after realizing she needed to keep the dirt out of her hair and the sweat out of her eyes. It was an unseasonably warm fall day. Tommy realized he’d left a tool he needed at home. He described it as a “poundy thing,” which apparently he would need to use to compress the new sand before they put the bricks back in place. Without it, according to David, the new brick path would become uneven in no time.
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