by Adan Ramie
Chuck raised an eyebrow as a snippet of her dream played out in her head. Stella on top of her, Stella sliding off her and the bed, Stella walking back from the shadows with the leather whip in her hand and a nasty smile on her face...
“Your secrets are safe with me,” she squeaked. She smiled what she hoped was a trustworthy smile, then nodded at the door. “Now you have me curious. Open her up.”
Stella looked at her another moment, then took a deep breath, bent down, and pulled up the door. Chuck could feel her eyes go wide as they took in everything in front of her. The collection would be worth a fortune to someone who knew what they were looking at, and knew where to sell it for maximum profit. Chuck, of course, was one of the probably very few people in the area who could see the value in it.
“Where did you get it all?” she asked Stella in a loud whisper. She took a step inside, reached out a hand, then pulled it back and stuffed both hands into her pockets. “This must be worth a lot,” she said, feeling lame even as the words left her lips and wishing she could take them back.
Stella stepped inside with her, flicked on a light switch, then pulled the door shut behind them. She stepped forward and encouraged Chuck to come with her with a wave of her hand. “Do you think it’s weird?”
Chuck spun in a slow circle, letting her eyes caress the boxes, bags, and plastic cases around her as a small air conditioning unit clicked on somewhere in the back. When she was young and wasn’t yet interested in bucking traditional gender roles, she had started a collection that must have been the same type that formed the basis of Stella’s, but she had abandoned it the first time her sister had laughed and called her a sissy-baby-dolly-lover over the little dolls dressed in animal costumes.
“Well?” Stella asked, and Chuck snapped back to attention.
“I don’t think this is weird,” Chuck said in appreciation. “I think your collection is amazing. How did you manage to accumulate so many in such fantastic condition?”
Stella smiled in such a genuine way, Chuck felt herself starting to blush. “I’ve been collecting them since I was born. Before, even, my mother was buying them to decorate my room. She was a fan herself.”
“Some of them are in mint condition. You have a fortune in this storage space.” Chuck whistled as she took an eyeful of the room again, then looked back at Stella. “So I take it you really do love animals.”
Stella shrugged. “Not animals in general.” She smiled sheepishly. “I have to admit that I have always been partial to dogs, so I can’t say I love them all like you do. But I’m starting to warm up to the others from working with you and researching for this fundraiser.”
Chuck purposefully picked a stray cat hair off her shirt. “A lot of people will say they love animals, but when it comes down to helping them to have a better way of life, most people have a low tolerance. A Facebook post here, a Meatless Monday there, but nothing substantial.”
All the stuffed, plastic, and porcelain figures of every shape and size stared back at them as they looked out across the thousands of dollars’ worth of toys and collectibles. Chuck squinted at something really far back in the room. “Is that a Buster from Year 2?”
Stella nodded and grabbed Chuck’s hand for a squeeze. “It was so hard to find, and it cost me more than it is honestly worth right now,” she said, her eyes starting to glaze over, “but one day, I will be able to pass it on to my child, and that will be worth so much more.”
Chuck sized her up. “I never took you for the motherly type.”
Stella shot a look right back. “I didn’t think you would have such strong opinions on the reproductive choices of other people.”
“I wouldn’t say I have strong opinions,” Chuck said, watching their hands as they separated and Stella wiped hers gingerly on the back of her pants. “Honestly, I don’t know if I have any opinions at all about it. I have never considered children an option for me.”
Stella turned to face her and cocked her head to the side, an incredulous look on her face. “Please don’t tell me you are one of those women who think lesbians shouldn’t have children.”
Chuck laughed and Stella relaxed, if only a little. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just never thought they would be in the cards for me, because of the dreams I had for my future. I have a lot to take care of with the shelter and my big family at home, and that is all I have ever wanted: to bring animals as much happiness as they brought me.”
“I still haven’t met any of your creature family,” Stella said in a mock accusatory tone. She crossed her arms over her chest, and Chuck marveled at the soft sheen of her skin. Even in the dim light of the storage unit, she practically shimmered.
Chuck grinned back at her. “I don’t let a girl meet my pets just because she’s pretty. You have to earn it first.” Despite her bravado, she could feel her face burning, and she turned to look at another fine specimen in one corner. “Is this the rare Spotless with the double tail?”
“The very one,” Stella answered back quietly.
She let Chuck stare a moment longer, then reached out a hand to tap her on the shoulder. Chuck turned and took a step toward her. For a moment, they were less than a body length apart. Chuck could feel the place where their body heat mixed and could smell the mint Stella had popped in her mouth in the car in what seemed like an unconscious habit.
“We should go,” Stella whispered.
Chuck’s eyes shifted down from her guarded eyes to her parted lips. They were small but supple, soft but not gummy, wet but not sticky, and they called to her without words. She knew she should not lean forward and plant her lips onto Stella’s, but the part of her body that could reason was no longer in charge. It had been short circuited by the smell of Stella, the feel of her so close that all Chuck wanted was to get closer, closer, so close that their mouths would touch, their hands would explore each other’s bodies, and they would fall to the cement floor and make love with a million wide, plastic doll eyes staring down at them.
Chuck stepped back and looked down at her hands. She let out a shuddering breath. “Didn’t you say you had some more errands to run?”
“Yes,” Stella said, her voice cracking in a hoarse whisper that Chuck could imagine was filled with desire if only she closed her eyes.
Chuck stepped back and turned toward the car. Stella replaced the boxed animal statue in its spot, pulled out her keys, and followed Chuck out of the storage unit. She pulled down the door, clipped the lock back on, then checked it twice. Then the two walked to the car in silence.
Once inside, Chuck buckled her seatbelt and turned to face a blushing Stella just as Stella was turning toward her.
“I’m really sorry if -”
“Listen, what happened in there -”
They grinned at each other, then Stella turned and looked through the windshield. Chuck licked her lips as she watched Stella try to figure out exactly what she wanted to say. She was so beautiful. Whether blushing with embarrassment or brimming with excitement over a new project, she glowed with an inner light that illuminated her dark skin with something like magic.
Stella took a deep breath and raised her eyes. “I’m really sorry if I freaked you out in there. I’m not sure what I was thinking, bringing you here.” She tapped her phone in its plastic and foam cradle on the dash. “I have pictures of my collection. I could have showed you that way... I didn’t need to bring you here.”
“Don’t apologize,” Chuck protested, and put a hand over Stella’s. “I love it. It’s one thing to see pictures; it’s something entirely different to be in the presence of something so amazing.”
Stella laughed. “Are you sure you don’t think I’m crazy?”
“I have so many pets, my sister the veterinarian calls them a menagerie,” Chuck said, her eyes level on Stella’s face. “If that doesn’t make me seem crazy, I don’t know what would.”
Stella’s voice was soft. “But you love them all. You take care of them and give them a better life t
han they would have had without you.”
“I don’t know sometimes,” Chuck said, then sat back in her seat and gazed over the small parking lot at the front of the row of buildings. “I spend a lot of the day out of the house. They are often left alone.”
Stella smiled and leaned forward to meet Chuck’s gaze. “How can you say they’re alone? They have a lot of interspecies brothers and sisters to keep them company, and they will be getting a new one as soon as we get him well enough to meet them.”
“A part-time brother,” Chuck reminded her.
Stella adjusted in her seat, buckled in, and turned the key in the ignition. “Once you clear me to meet them, maybe I can drop by with Stanley to visit on my visitation days.”
“I think we would all like that.”
Stella drove them out of the parking lot, onto the side street, then slowly gained speed as she pointed the car toward the highway. “Speaking of Stan the man, we need to get back to the errands and get this party started. There is a lot to be done if we want this thing to go off without a hitch.”
“You’re the boss lady,” Chuck said. “I’m here strictly as the muscle, remember?”
WHEN THEY FINISHED running errands, Chuck was feeling wary, and her belly screamed with hunger. They pulled into the shelter’s back parking lot near the loading dock just as Landon opened the back door. Stella waved, turned around, and backed up to the door as the boy waved her in.
“Are they expecting us?” Chuck asked, but didn’t stick around in the car for an answer.
As soon as the car stopped, she jumped out and onto her feet. Between Chuck and the wiry but strong Landon, they had all the supplies loaded into the storage room and Stella’s back hatch closed down in short order. Chuck patted it and leaned a head around so she could meet Stella’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Let me meet you in front. It is nasty back here.”
Stella made a face, but pulled forward and drove around the building. Chuck and Landon went inside and started sorting the supplies into piles. Before they finished, the door opened and Stella walked in wearing sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt.
“How did you change so fast?” Chuck asked, gawking.
Stella smirked. “I have my ways.” She squatted down with the two of them over the last unloaded box, and picked through the remaining supplies. “If we start now, we can have everything set up for this afternoon by the time Mackenzie has all the flyers posted, the e-vites sent, and the calls made.”
Chuck shook her head and looked at Stella. “I doubt it. We have to wait for all the appointments to finish today, I have to walk the dogs and bathe everyone, everyone has to be fed, then the mopping needs to be done to clean up after all that.”
Stella glanced at Landon and shared a conspiratorial smile that Chuck noticed with an uncomfortable sensation of jealousy. Stella nodded at him.
“All the dogs are walked. Gwen and Fiona are scrubbing the last of the tanks now, and have already bathed everything they could hold down long enough,” he said.
Chuck stared at him, then swung her head around to look at Stella. “Is this your doing?”
She shrugged. “Everyone needs a little encouragement now and again, and I happen to be good at dishing it out.” She patted Chuck on the bicep. “You are helping me decorate.”
“My favorite,” Chuck said with a grimace.
IT TOOK THEM A LITTLE over two hours, but by the time they had finished, Chuck was amazed at how much they got done in such a short time. Stella was a natural director, and they worked together so well, it was hard to imagine they had only just met.
They each slumped down in the two remaining chairs in the waiting room and surveyed the progress with hot cups of coffee in their hands. Stella’s smile was satisfied and proud. Chuck’s gaze was more awed and disbelieving. Neither said a word for several minutes.
The waiting room had been converted into a makeshift donation station and staging area. There was a full-color flyer for every adoptable animal in the shelter; they hung all around on streamers that blew in the wind to create a soothing but fun vibe. From the front desk draped a large, simple banner that said, “Stan the Man Needs Your Help!” with a picture of the sick little dog on either side in two cute, pathetic poses.
Chuck grinned and pointed at it. “That’s a nice touch.”
Stella rolled her head around and looked at the sign, then turned her eyes to Chuck’s face. “I thought it would help tug at the heartstrings of the people who show up.”
“You are a genius.”
Stella smiled. “You’re the one who came up with the special adoption gift bags. Now that was a nice touch.”
Chuck was actually proud of her work on the bags. Each tiny bag had been hand-packed with a small bag of homemade treats, a collar if applicable, a small guide to owning the particular pet, a toy or trinket, and a Saving Gracie’s business card. Stella had helped her come up with the full list of items, but she still felt it was her only real contribution to the effort.
“I wish I had your drive,” Chuck said, and pushed her hair off her forehead. “It would have taken me weeks to plan something like this, but you’ve got it ready to roll in,” she checked the clock on the wall, “less than 72 hours. You’re unstoppable.”
Stella turned in the chair and let her arm rest against Chuck’s. “Once this is all over, I plan to spend a long weekend sleeping in, reading, watching sappy movies, and drinking wine in bubble baths.”
The picture of Stella luxuriating in a mountain of foamy bubbles made goosebumps break out all over Chuck, and she sat up straighter to quell the throbbing that started in her pelvis. Did she know what she was doing, or was the comment innocent? Whatever the case, Chuck felt driven to distraction.
“I wish I could take a long weekend,” she said, when a long few moments had elapsed in silence. “But I’ll be here cleaning up and getting the empty beds ready for a new round of rescues as they come in.”
Stella sat up and placed a hand over Chuck’s and squeezed. “I’m hoping this adoption drive will go so well, you will have an empty house here to clean and refill with more lucky critters.”
Chuck grinned. “I never pegged you for the type to say something like ‘critters.’”
“You don’t know me well enough yet,” Stella said. She stood up, stretched languidly, then turned back to look down at Chuck. “Go home and get some rest. First thing in the morning, I want you here helping me put the finishing touches on the outside.”
Chuck saluted her. Stella rolled her eyes, grabbed her bags, and waved to Chuck as she walked out of the lobby and into the parking lot. Chuck watched her get into her car, start it up, wave once more, and drive away. She was still watching the nearly empty parking lot when a throat cleared loudly behind her.
“Kenna, I didn’t know you were still here,” Chuck said.
She stood up. The air in the room had shifted, and suddenly she didn’t feel pleasantly sleepy, but exhausted and agitated at the same time. It was an unpleasant sensation she got more and more often where her ex was concerned.
Kenna closed and locked the door to the back room, then picked her bag up, slung it over her shoulder, and turned again to face Chuck. Her lip curled as her eyes fell on the decorations. “Don’t you think this is a little much for an adoption drive?”
“No,” Chuck said. Even if it had been, she refused to let Kenna badmouth Stella or Stella’s work without the woman herself there to speak in her own defense. “This is one of the things Stella does in her day job. She knows what she’s doing.”
Kenna squeezed her lips together and flared her nostrils, a sure sign she was about to try to start a fight. Chuck stepped away from the chair, and Kenna’s mouth stopped half-open.
“I need to get home and get some rest. I will be back here early in the morning hanging the signs outside,” Chuck said.
Kenna let out a cold laugh, and Chuck couldn’t fathom why she had ever let the woman close enough to be her girlfriend. She had been totall
y blinded by her beauty and lacquered charm, and had failed to see the snake hiding underneath.
“What’s so funny?” Chuck asked, knowing she shouldn’t take the bait, but not able to stop herself. That was her motto with Kenna: she wanted to stop, but she had to keep going back for more, even when it left her bruised and angry.
Kenna stepped toward her and pressed too close to Chuck for comfort, but Chuck didn’t give her the satisfaction of backing down. “Your new girlfriend already has you doing all the work. What’s next, you’re moving all her stuff into your tiny apartment, moving your pets out, and letting her put the collar on you?”
Chuck pulled a breath in through clenched teeth, then let it out slowly. Her eyes unfocused, then came back into sharp focus on Kenna’s smug grin.
“I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?” Kenna said. “You’re already her bitch, and the ink hasn’t even dried on my new lease.”
The one without Chuck’s name. The one she was forced to give up so that Kenna would stop being a raging bitch long enough for Chuck to move all her things – including Charlie and the fancy rats Kenna had complained so much about – into the new, cramped apartment she currently occupied.
“I am doing this fundraiser and adoption drive for Saving Gracie’s, and for Stanley.”
Chuck was surprised at how calm her voice sounded. She wanted nothing more than to drive her fist into the space between Kenna’s pointy nose and her screwed up mouth, but she kept her hands down and her blood from boiling over. Another physical altercation and Kenna’s restraining order would go back up. It would cause hell for Saving Gracie’s, and Brenda would be more than pissed at having to hire someone else to take Chuck’s place because she couldn’t keep her hands to herself.
“Stanley is the crusty old Yorkie, right?” Kenna asked.
Chuck cracked her neck. “He’s going to be as good as new as soon as he gets all the treatments he needs. Then he is coming home with me to meet his new family.”