by J. M. Miller
“Okay,” a girl’s voice replied from around the corner.
“Hi, LJ. Have a seat,” Simone finally addressed me, though she made no movement to shake hands.
My aunt must’ve referred to me as LJ to everyone. “Hi,” I replied, deciding not to correct my name as I took a seat in one of the studded leather chairs in front of her desk.
Emily, the girl from the other room, walked through the open doorway. She was the same redhead from the Mega Thrift who was wearing my pea coat today in school.
She works here?
Emily’s eyes looked me over as she handed the paperwork to Simone. She stayed at Simone’s side and silently watched me with a blank expression.
“Thanks,” Simone said to her without looking. “So, LJ,” she began with a tight smile. It was one that wanted to be friendly, but it was strained. She slid the papers over the desk toward me and continued, “Since you aren’t legal owner of the Stockton property yet, I have to have you fill out the normal employee forms. You’ll find a W4 inside also all applicable documents dealing with pay and employment information. If you have any questions, I’m sure either your father can help you or you can come back and see me.”
I leaned forward, grabbed the papers, and responded as nicely as I could. “Thanks.” It was apparent how unwanted we were on this property, and how unwanted I was is this room. It shouldn’t have bothered me. I was used to fighting for acceptance, and I knew how to throw my own weight around when needed. But I never did enjoy a cold shoulder, even when I was the one giving it.
“Emily and I run the office up here,” she said pointing a finger behind her to indicate Emily, whose thin lips smirked in response to Simone’s brief recognition. “You’ll have to learn everything eventually, but for right now you’ll be working the grounds to become familiar with the property.”
Emily smirked again, and I knew we couldn’t be friends. She was everything about my past that I wanted to let go. Once upon a time, we would have been sitting with the same group of people at lunch, tearing through weakness with our evil glares. Now I just wanted to vomit, and the nausea wasn’t just from my stomped ego. Looking at her was like looking in a mirror. It was painful to see who I’d become. When I was younger and my family life was in the early stages of disintegration, I’d wanted to belong to something so badly that I latched onto people who brought the worst out of me instead of the best. No matter how many people I tore down, I was still a weak follower.
I wouldn’t be that person again.
I nodded. “Thanks so much for letting me start early. I’ll do my best.” There wasn’t anything I could do except suck it up. We were here now. We had a place to live. And I still needed to be strong for Gavin no matter what I’d have to deal with.
Simone blinked a couple of times, as if unsure how to respond, though her face remained impassive. Was she expecting me to argue? Did I look as though I would? She picked up the phone again and punched a few numbers, keeping her small eyes on me.
Emily went back into the closet room and pulled the gray pea coat from around the corner, purposely checking the pockets as she stood in the doorway. She was parading it in front of me. There was no way she remembered me from the Mega Thrift. She’d been so focused on the clothes, she wouldn’t have noticed if an actual designer had been standing in front of her. Was she simply judging me by the clothes I was sitting in now? She had to know that I had money before. Maybe she was flaunting that I no longer did.
“Nice coat,” I commented, knowing that’s exactly what she wanted to hear.
She smiled and peered at me from under her tipped eyes. “Thanks. It’s this season. Burberry.” Her voice was light, cheerful, and almost convincing.
I kept my mouth shut with a reflexive grin. It’s last season. At least I knew how easy it was for her to lie. Of course, I was lying too, by way of omission. But telling her the truth would only lead to trouble. I didn’t need to go there.
“Hey,” Simone spoke into the receiver. “Get up here.” She hung up the phone and addressed me again. “I expect you to have those papers finished in a couple of days. Just leave them on my desk if I’m not here. Are you planning on any extracurricular activities at school or will you come straight to work?”
“Nothing at school,” I replied easily. I hadn’t been involved in school functions since I was stranded at cheerleading practice in sixth grade. I was Gavin’s age. Dad had landed his high-paying job and Mom had recently started her own extracurricular activities, which caused her to frequently forget to pick up her daughter. I stayed home more often after that. I never wanted Gavin to feel as forgotten as I had. I would never forget him.
“Good. Weekends are usually busy here. Weekday events and weddings are sporadic. Any time a wedding is on the property, including weekends, I expect everyone to disappear, unless they’ve been tasked to work. Do you have any questions for me?” Simone asked moving her eyes to the clock on the wall.
“None right now,” I admitted, watching her focus switch again to the papers in front of her.
“Emily, Mr. Scott and Ms. Monroe should be here in a few minutes for their consult appointment. Can you make them a wedding packet?” Simone asked.
Emily nodded then disappeared into the closet again.
I was ready to leave, but I had no clue what I was supposed to do. And I didn’t really want to ask now. It was clear she didn’t want me in this office any more than I wanted to be here.
“There you are, Ben,” Simone said right as I stood up to leave. I glanced back at the door as Benjamin leaned against the frame. He’d changed since school, no longer wearing the better fitted T-shirt and jeans. His baggy clothes had dirt stains like he’d been working in them all day, or all week, and he had a pair of work gloves shoved into his back pocket. “LJ, you’ll follow Ben around. He knows everything about the property. You can learn a lot from him,” Simone said to me when I turned back to her.
Emily peeked out from the closet office, eying Benjamin. He glanced over at her and she grinned. It wasn’t the condescending smirk that I’d gotten minutes ago; it was slanted with delight and made her eyes crinkle. Curious. He didn’t seem like the type she’d go for. He certainly wasn’t sitting with her at lunch today.
“Okay,” I responded with a wave of the paperwork. “Thanks.”
Simone nodded and I left, following Benjamin down the hallway.
We passed a couple on the stairs. Their eyes moved in awe, taking in all of the details of the mansion, just as mine had minutes earlier. The blonde-haired woman’s hands clasped tightly around one of her fiancé’s, and her smile was so big it looked painful. The next happy couple ready to beat the odds. This was now my business. Marriage. What a joke.
Benjamin stepped outside the front door and held it open for me silently. I passed beside him, brushing his free arm accidentally. His face turned to me, stunned by the sudden contact. It was the closest I’d been to him, and I couldn’t help looking for the dimples I’d seen the other day. They weren’t prominent right now, but I did watch the soft cleft in his chin move as he said, “Have you looked around the property yet?”
I noticed when he spoke that his mouth had opened slightly, wire free. I wanted to question him about it, but I decided against it for now. “No,” I confessed.
He was indifferent, not exposing any of the smugness he’d shown while I was trapped in my tub, or the attentiveness from today in the lunchroom. I didn’t know what to think about him, which left me guarded, and speechless.
The day’s temperature had risen with the humidity. It was bearable in class, but it forced me to shed my hoodie now as we walked. I hadn’t changed into work clothes like Ben had. Actually, I didn’t have any work clothes to change into anyway so I guessed it didn’t matter much.
He glanced sideways at me, the afternoon sun reflecting in his squinted eyes. “I was going to mow today, but Randall’s got that covered.” He pointed behind his house toward the barn. An older guy with a pregnant b
eer gut walked around an industrial mower. It was the kind that turned with handles instead of a wheel. The thought of learning to drive it made my stomach bottom out.
“So what are we doing then, Benjamin?” I asked flatly.
“It’s nice to know you aren’t going to call me BS,” he said with the smallest of smiles. “But you can call me Ben.”
“Ben,” I replied, testing its simplicity. I never planned to call him BS. That was just the only ammo I could throw while I sat naked and vulnerable in the tub, but I wouldn’t tell him that. “What are we doing, Ben?” The soft grin stayed on his lips, like he knew something I didn’t. I wasn’t sure if I should be scared or happy. At least he was being pleasant.
“We have to go to the barn to grab you some gloves first. Then we’ll walk the property for a tour and also check for weeds, breaks in the irrigation, or any other possible problems.
“How about the well? Can you show me that?”
That wasn’t what I’d expected to come out of her mouth. Why would she ask about the well? As we passed parallel to the gazebo, I instinctively looked toward the mess of brush and vines bordering the tree line. Her eyes shifted that direction also. She knows where it is?
“I’m just really curious about it because of all the paintings in Aunt Janine’s house,” LJ said, responding to my silence. She matched my walking pace, which I’d sped up to put some distance between us and the well.
The question threw me off. I’d planned on easing into conversation with her because, frankly, I was expecting her to have an attitude about working, and little to no desire in conversing with me. And I definitely wasn’t expecting to worry about keeping her away from the well this soon.
I glanced at her as she bounced on her soles, almost skipping, in order to keep up. “Maybe some other time,” I finally answered. It was the best I could give her without sounding like a completely evasive asshole. “The paintings are weird though, aren’t they?” I added dumbly.
Her lips lifted into a soft smile. “Yeah, weird.”
The clipped answer wasn’t the least bit rude. It was a simple agreement. I could tell she wanted to say more, but she was being as cautious as I was. And that was unnerving. I’d pegged her as someone totally different. She was reserved, not brash like I thought she’d be. Could it all be an act? But what would be the reason?
We turned the corner and stepped through the barn’s main sliding doors. LJ tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and craned her neck to see everything inside. She lagged behind me, looking at the riding mowers, the garden equipment, and the collective junk stored upstairs in the old hayloft. I dug through one of the employee lockers to find an extra pair of work gloves, and when I turned to hand them to her she was staring at my bikes parked near the other pair of barn doors.
“These might be a bit big, but they should work until you can get another pair,” I said, handing them to her.
“Thanks,” she replied, taking the gloves and trying them on with no objection. “You had your wires removed?”
I watched her eyes as she stared at my mouth. They were wider with interest, and their green irises looked more striking now that her hair was black instead of blonde. They shifted up to meet my own. “This morning,” I confirmed quietly. Looking at her made me forget myself for a second, but I quickly remembered. I needed to find out her intentions, but I still didn’t know her, and I sure as hell didn’t trust her. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, perhaps a little stunned that I didn’t elaborate further.
This might just be too much for me to handle. I was probably going to screw everything up and get everyone on this property fired because of something I said or didn’t say. I even had to check myself when I saw her in school today. She looked so different from Janine’s will reading. Her hair was the most drastic change, but the rest of her looked different, too. Healthy. Better. And, just like I’d seen her during our brief bathroom encounter, there was no makeup hiding her face. Her arched brows, her thin nose, her pale lips─it was all natural, all distracting.
We walked the property and I explained our normal routines, including maintenance for the lawns, gardens, and the event house’s courtyard. She was observant and asked a couple of questions about the plants and how to care for them. The one that attracted most of her interest was the moon vine that had smothered most of the gazebo’s stones.
“These are amazing,” she said, rubbing the heart-shaped leaves between her fingers. “They are so bright. Are these the flowers?” she asked, pointing to one of the closed, spiral-shaped buds.
I pulled a twisted bud into my fingers. “This is a moon vine. They are annuals in this area so they die off during the winter. The flowers are white and they only open at night.”
“At night?” she asked, inspecting the closed flower with her fingers.
“We’ve hosted several evening weddings out here during the summer because the brides loved the blooms. Janine loved them, too. She used to come out here at dusk to watch them open,” I replied, remembering some of Janine’s better days.
She let the flower fall from her fingers. “I’ll have to do that sometime.”
I took that as cue to move on. I wasn’t sure how well she knew her aunt, but whether she knew Janine or not, she definitely didn’t seem comfortable talking about her.
After the initial property walk, I tasked her with weeding the front garden. It was the best job for her today; no parties were scheduled, it kept her far away from the well, and there were plenty of weeds hiding in the pansies to keep her busy. I had to show her what to do, but she went to work without complaint. The weeds occupied her for the rest of her shift. After we’d said goodnight, I finished with some hedge trimming before I went home to check in with Pop.
“How’d it go?” he asked from the couch with his feet kicked up, watching a cooking show and eating ice cream.
“Good,” I replied, heading to my room for my biking gear.
Pop’s bald head turned to me when I returned to the living room. “Did she ask about the well?”
“Actually, she did,” I said, watching his face drop. “But, she was only curious because of all the paintings in the house.”
“Oh, right.” His eyes darted to the single well painting above our fireplace. “Did you talk to her?”
“Sure. We talked.”
“What’s she like? Is she nice?”
“Surprisingly.” I replied, pulling my riding jacket on.
“Why so surprised? She’s Genie’s great-niece, after all.”
“Well, they were blood, but that doesn’t always matter,” I added, knowing he’d understand my subliminal jab at my father.
He frowned, his white mustache stretching to meet the edge of his jaw. “You shouldn’t be so cynical, Ben. There will always be people that care more about themselves than they do about others, but you have to know that some people truly care. Genie did. She was the one that gave me the courage to bring you here, even though she knew she’d lose a little piece of herself doing it.”
I nodded, though it was hard to agree. I didn’t fully believe the curse so I couldn’t credit Janine with granting him courage. What I did know was she treated me well and helped Pop through my custody process. I’d always be grateful for that.
When it came to meeting new people, I was always restrained. Trust was a challenge because I’d been ditched enough to know the odds. That’s why, after Harper died, I never cared about keeping or building relationships. I had two friends, Spaz and Izzy. I trusted them enough to be comfortable with their friendship. Everyone else were blips of time, not important. They all had their own agenda anyway and didn’t care to stick around, like most girls I’d hooked up with, namely Emily.
“I’ll be out back,” I said, grabbing my helmet and heading to the door.
“Ben,” he said after I’d opened the door. I looked over at his saddened face. I’d seen this face too often in the years leading to Janine’s death. “Be careful.”
The sun had fallen behind the trees, shrouding the ground in darkness and streaking the sky’s clouds with tints ranging from orange to purple. A crisp hint of autumn filled my nose as I inhaled, a prelude to colder temps. I looked up toward LJ’s room and was surprised to see her silhouette in the glass, blocking the room’s glow behind her. The colored sky dimly lit her face, which was looking down at me.
I pulled my helmet on and kept walking, afraid I’d do something stupid, like wave to her.
“What do you want me to tell you?” I asked Dad when we pulled into the driveway Friday afternoon.
He let the wheel slide beneath his hands as it straightened itself. “I just want to know what’s going on with you, with Gavin.” He sighed.
Since Gavin rode the bus and I hadn’t found a ride, Dad had been my acting chauffeur all week. The trips to and from school were quiet. Evidently, all the silence was getting under his skin. But I wasn’t in the mood to appease him with mindless chitchat. It had been a long week, and I was tired; tired from an excessive amount of paranoia at school, tired from the physical demands of my new job, and tired of not knowing who I was. I didn’t know what to do or who to be. I hid from socializing at school, but I craved the small interactions with Ben in the afternoon. For some reason, it felt like he’d be okay to talk to. He seemed real, which was a nice change from the guys I knew in Summerlin who were so full of crap I could smell their lies from miles away. I also couldn’t help staring at him when he showed me what to do around the property. He was easy to look at. The problem was that he barely looked at me, and I had no idea why. Maybe he thought I was who I used to be, or pretended to be: a snobbish elitist. I didn’t think I’d been acting that way toward him, though I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t know how to act anymore.