Authors: Erik Schubach
Then he looked at me as he stuffed the check and the five into his pocket. He stood up straight and wiped his hand on his pants then offered it to me. “I showered last night. Now... It is a pleasure to meet you Penny; now you better take care of our girl here.” As I shook his hand he swung two fingers between his eyes and me with his other hand.
I chuckled. “Will do Leo.”
I swear that Sandra was blushing a hole through the fabric of the universe. She whined, “Leooooo.”
He chuckled at her, then she hugged him quickly and said, “Eat first... then deliver. After this, we are off shopping then to St. Vincent's Hospital.” He nodded.
Then suddenly I was being dragged off again by her hand on mine into another large room that smelled like a school cafeteria. There were long tables with benches in long lines then a soup line all set up. A couple men and women were putting huge stacks of plates at the end of the line with Ralph choreographing it all.
He waved us over. Sandra shooed the dogs into an office beside the kitchen area and closed the door. Then Ralph pointed us to a sink to wash then handed us hairnets, aprons, and plastic gloves. Once we had them on he herded us toward the line. I stood at the giant metal heated pan of scrambled eggs and San stood beside me with sliced bread at the ready, she looked like a pro. I looked up and down the line. There were seven of us, one at each station along the line.
Before I could ask what I was supposed to do, the swinging doors opened and homeless men, women, and children started flowing through and into the
room.
The little blonde beside me whispered, “One scoop for each plate that passes by and no more. If there is any left over at the end, only then can you dish someone up seconds.” I quickly got into a rhythm.
I recognized most of the people from outside and even remembered a name or two. They all had genuine smiles for us as they passed. Most had a quiet thank you for me though some looked ashamed as they accepted the food. And of course I was put to shame as Sandra addressed everyone by name. Then some unfamiliar faces came through near the end of the line.
Ralph stopped one man. “Chuck, you know the rules. You smell of alcohol. No drinking or drugs and you can use the soup line. Come back tomorrow, sober.” The man looked upset but just silently nodded and set his plate down and left the building.
I saw Leo standing at the door with his plate the entire time. Just holding the door open for everyone.
It seems the new faces were people that had showed up a little late. But Sandra knew all their names and had a job lined up for a redheaded woman named Lisa. She also told a man named Ted to make sure he was here on Thursday since it was his birthday, she had something for him. “Sure thing, lil Dandelion,” he said with a smile. His clothes were newer and in pretty good shape so I assumed he was a 'freshie'.
How was she keeping track of all this? I don't see any cheat sheets.
Then after everyone was through the line. Leo looked back out then over at us and timidly made his way down the line. Everyone who still had anything in the serving trays was two scooping him. So I followed suit. He grinned at me. “Thanks Penny.” Then he moved on down to Sandra. She shot him a dazzling grin then dropped two slices of bread on his tray. She had torn out little smiley faces in them. He grinned a half toothless grin at her and moved on down the line.
I was amazed at this whole thing. I whispered, “There are so many that depend on this aren't there? Even families.”
She nodded sadly. “But they only have enough for a hundred fifty people a day here. The rest are turned away at the door. There are almost a dozen other shelters and missions just like this peppered around the city, but the sad fact is that for every person they feed and for every person they can give a cot at night, three more get turned away at the door. That's where my non-profit can help one day.” She was starting to tear up as she spoke. “So many people...”
I put a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “You can't save everyone San.”
She got a determined look on her face and with defiance in her voice said, “But I can try!”
She was so fucking inspiring, umm... I mean frigging inspiring. I caught myself just wanting to kiss this force of nature as I stared at her lips. I shook the thought out of my head. I'm supposed to be showing her the world is evil, not the other way around.
We helped clean up after people came for seconds and we ran out of food. Then my grey-eyed companion retrieved the dogs and we said our farewells to Ralph and Leo. Ralph made sure to let me know they can always use volunteers. He nodded then offered his hand to me again. I took it and as we shook he said, “It was really nice to meet you Penny.” He shot me a conspiratorial wink.
He nodded and once again Sandra was dragging me out and back toward her apartment.
I looked a question at her. “What next?”
She just shrugged. “I figured you didn't want to walk around in someone-else’s clothes for two days so I thought Leo could do our morning legwork while we do a little shopping before we head off to the hospital to meet up with the children.” I was starting to get used to how she spoke as though I knew what the hell she was talking about; it was kind of cute.
Oh god, shoot me now! I can't believe I just admitted that.
She started texting as we walked. It was almost constant and I finally broke. “There something important going on there?”
She looked at me then the phone. With a cute blush she nodded. “Yeah I'm just helping all the shelters and missions rotate people around to be the most efficient and make sure as many people as possible can get at least one night in a cot this week with the cold and all. The shelters depend on me for that. I'm also letting them know of the birthdays this week and who to be on the lookout for, and people from Crystal's network that have job openings text me the details to see if one of my people have the skill set needed to fill the position.”
I looked at the phone. “You have an app for all that?”
She shook her head with a giggle and just pointed at her head like it was obvious. “No, I just keep track of it in my head. I tried like a flowchart app once but it was too confusing. My way is easier.”
I just shook my head in disbelief. I put my hand out for her phone as I shot her a look of extreme curiosity, she handed it to me with a shy blush. I looked at some of the complex scheduling she was doing in the texts with various people then blinked a couple times at her empty contact list. Was everything really in her head? I handed her cell back with a smile.
We arrived at her place and she shooed the “kids” into the apartment from the hall as she unclipped their leashes. Then closed the door and grinned at me. “Shall we, pretty lady?”
I rolled my eyes at her and she was dragging me downstairs by the hand. I've been noticing she is a very tactile person. I secretly enjoyed her hand in mine. She brought us outside and to a garage door on the end of that dilapidated little brick apartment building where she seemed to be the only tenant. She punched in a code on an electronic padlock and pushed the rusty door up as it moaned and squeaked in protest.
Holy out of place Batman! In that dingy run down garage area sat a gorgeous green BMW X5 SUV. I looked at her in surprise and she blushed and looked embarrassed then shrugged. “Daddy got it for me a couple years ago when he heard I wanted a work vehicle instead of the Lexus he got me when I moved to Seattle all those years ago.”
She hit her remote and the lights flashed and I could hear the doors unlock. She made a grand gesture with an impish grin that just invoked my own to my internal grin much to my own protestation. We hopped in and she pulled out of the garage, then got out and closed the door and locked it with the padlock again amd rejoined me.
She giggled and looked down shyly. I raised an eyebrow. “What?”
She started driving toward downtown with a cute grin. She avoided looking at me as she said, “Nothing. It's just that you look as hot as Jane in those clothes. You really should stay away from the black, brighter colors make you shine like that spark in your eyes.”
I tried hard not to smile. I swear on Jimi Hendrix's guitar I did. I failed miserably as I felt a blush burning on my face. I quickly chastised myself and stopped smiling.
Before I knew it we were at a high end boutique, Abigail's. As soon as we walked in, a blonde that had a body that would put most models to shame came walking up in a gorgeous dress that just melted off her curves. She had a huge smile on her face. “Sandra! My God woman, it has been a while!” She hugged my little blonde companion.
Sandra was blushing profusely and looking down shyly. “Hello Gwen. This is my friend Penny. She finds herself unexpectedly in need of a new wardrobe today.”
Gwen smiled at me now but the smile didn't originate in her eyes like the one she gave Sandra and gave me a polite hug. She whispered in my ear before she released me. “Sandra's not a groupie you can mess with, Franklin. You better respect her.” Obviously she recognized me right away.
Then she pulled away with that fake smile and a fire in her eyes. I actually found myself a little intimidated. It's like everyone in the damn city is looking out for my erstwhile companion. I nodded at her and cryptically replied, “Nothing but.” This satisfied her and she opened her arms toward the boutique with a genuine smile this time.
I was looking at some of the racks. Holy crap, this was definitely upper crust stuff. Though I was rich during my years in Leather and Heels, I stayed modest with my attire. Mostly because it is hard to spend more than a couple hundred dollars on a pair of ripped black jeans. Another big tell-tale sign was that there was not a single price tag in the shop.
I started reaching for a black blouse on the rack when someone slapped my hand from behind. I turned to a super smiley Sandra, blinking innocently. “No black.” She grinned like an imp and I rolled my eyes.
After a few minutes of perusing with Gwen at our back, she nodded. “OK, I have a feel for what you are looking for and what Sandra approves of. Please, have a seat in the dressing room ladies and I'll bring in some selections for Penny to try.”
Sandra grabbed both of my hands and giggled as she dragged me to one of the two dressing rooms. Usually applying the descriptor “room” to a tiny curtained off stall was a misnomer, but not here. The dressing room was a posh room the size of most living rooms with a changing screen, wrap around mirrored areas, and overstuffed couches and chairs. It even had a mini bar and an attached bathroom.
She pulled me into the couch and ran off to the mini bar and brought us two bottles of Evian water. Then the fun began. Gwen and an assistant, who I'm pretty sure was a ghost girl who had no name and no voice since she never spoke and was never in the room long enough to be introduced, brought in a procession of outfits.
The outfits were all professional and sexy looking. A couple had a frisky hard edge I liked. Sandra approved of these too. Then the dresses came. Oh lord. I hate dresses. I've owned like three my entire life. But we had so much fun, the three of us chatted and laughed and had a general good time as the silent but professional assistant brought more and adjusted the dresses on me before disappearing again. I tried to protest but Sandra insisted on a dress for the hospital.
She was a force of nature and my protests fell on deaf ears. How the hell am I not able to intimidate her into getting my way. I was in a dark plum calf length dress and the little blonde locked her grey twinkling eyes on me as she bit her lower lip hungrily... Oh... that's why. I was feeling warm in some pleasant places as I looked at her. I grinned at her and said, “This one please.” Gwen nodded and smiled.
Then the panties, bras and lingerie came. I again tried to protest, reminding her that my “stay” was only forty eight hours, but God was I enjoying this pampering. She actually covered her ears and started chanting, “La la la, can't hear you.” Then she stuck out her tongue at me and I melted. Could she get any cuter?
Then the shoes came. OK, there is no way in hell I was going to complain about gorgeous shoes! I'm only human! I tried on dozens, they were so... pretty.
Then before I knew it I was dressed in the plum dress with matching heels with the satin feel of lacy undergarments caressing my skin. I looked in the mirror and almost gasped. I actually looked like a sophisticated woman besides my hair. A... pretty woman. I found myself for the first time in decades wishing my hair was its natural color just then.
Sandra was dumping my purse into a matching plum clutch and we were grabbing the three large bags of clothing and heading out of the store without stopping to pay. Obviously it was being charged to her and I shuddered thinking about the no doubt, thousands of dollars of clothing in these bags.
I tried reiterating my protests as we walked back toward the car while she texted away. She stopped and held up a shushing finger against my lips. I wanted to kiss it as she said, “Ut, ah, ah! You're mine for forty eight hours. No whining! I'm having fun.” She grinned in triumph, and I seethed inside for a millisecond or two but then her infectious smile caused my traitorous lips to twitch into a grin as we got back into the car and headed back to her place.