it. She called out to Kristy.
“ Hi, Mom. In here,” Kristy called back from another part of the apartment, her voice echoing through the empty rooms.
Regina found Kristy and her best friend, Sonya, in the smaller of the two bedrooms. Both girls, still wearing their calico waitress uniforms, had books on their heads and were gingerly crossing the room like tightrope walkers.
“ Are you trying to get us thrown out before we even move in? The door’s open and the radio’s blasting through the place. This is supposed to be a quiet—”
“ The door was closed, Mom,” Kristy cut in, letting the book drop into her outstretched hands.
“ O pen.”
“ I know it was closed because John shut it himself when he went out.”
“ Who’s John?”
“ John Davie. He’s the guy who let us in.”
“ He let you into the building?”
Kristy nodded. “And into our apartment.”
“ How the hell does he have a key to our place?” Regina asked, beginning to feel something between anger and fear.
“ He’s on good terms with the landlady. I think he’s the grandson or nephew or something like that. He gave me the key.”
“ Oh.” Regina felt her muscles unbunching in degrees.
“ He’s really hot looking. He’s about this tall ...” she raised a hand several inches above her own head, “and he has dark hair and light blue eyes.”
“ And there’s this groove in the center of his chin,” Sonya interjected.
“ A cleft,” Regina corrected.
“ More like a groove,” Kristy said. “He’s got a rad form too.”
“ Yeah? Does he go to school around here?”
“ He’s old, Mom.”
“ How old?”
“ ‘ Bout your age,” Kristy said, and throwing her arms up over her face as if to ward off a blow, she giggled.
“ Cute.”
“ I gotta go. I’m working the split shift. Love your new place, you two,” Sonya said, hurrying out.
“ Let’s get to work.” Regina took a tape measure from her purse and stepped to the window.
After measuring all the windows they moved into the living room and stretched the tape across the wood floor.
“ It’ll fit.” Regina was referring to the new cranberry area rug. “Corbin’s is delivering the furniture tomorrow.”
“ This is so much fun,” Kristy said. “Mother and daughter decorating together. It’s a first.”
Regina was as excited as her daughter. When she’d married Leo, he was already established in the big Victorian house in Berkeley with his beloved antiques. She’d sold it all with no remorse, and mother and daughter, sharing a wild compulsion to go light and bright, gravitated to a contemporary décor.
Regina looked around the sunny room with its gleaming hardwood floors. Funny, she thought, how one could live in darkness, like a mole, and be perfectly content. But now that she had seen the light, so to speak, she wondered how she had managed to exist in such drab surroundings all those years. She couldn’t wait to move into the new apartment, with the new furniture, and towels and potholders and ... and new everything.
“ Mom?”
“ Hmm?”
“ Can we discuss the model search?”
Regina felt herself sink back into darkness.
“ I know it was wrong not to tell you. But I was afraid you’d say no. C’mon, Mom, let’s talk about it, okay?”
Regina sat beside Kristy on the windowsill, her hands hanging limp between her legs. “Why do you want to do this, Kris?”
Kristy shrugged. “To see if I’m pretty enough.”
Kristy had been born beautiful. Even in her gangling, orthodontal stage, she had been exceptional. She was tall, five foot nine, with a slim, near-perfectly proportioned body. Her shoulder-length, sandy brown hair shone with natural ash highlights. Kristy had inherited her father’s light gray eyes. Her full, wide mouth was like her mother’s. Strangers on the street stared openly as they passed, some stopping to compliment her. Kristy would blush and laugh self-consciously. She didn’t have a conceited bone in
“ Hi, Mom. In here,” Kristy called back from another part of the apartment, her voice echoing through the empty rooms.
Regina found Kristy and her best friend, Sonya, in the smaller of the two bedrooms. Both girls, still wearing their calico waitress uniforms, had books on their heads and were gingerly crossing the room like tightrope walkers.
“ Are you trying to get us thrown out before we even move in? The door’s open and the radio’s blasting through the place. This is supposed to be a quiet—”
“ The door was closed, Mom,” Kristy cut in, letting the book drop into her outstretched hands.
“ O pen.”
“ I know it was closed because John shut it himself when he went out.”
“ Who’s John?”
“ John Davie. He’s the guy who let us in.”
“ He let you into the building?”
Kristy nodded. “And into our apartment.”
“ How the hell does he have a key to our place?” Regina asked, beginning to feel something between anger and fear.
“ He’s on good terms with the landlady. I think he’s the grandson or nephew or something like that. He gave me the key.”
“ Oh.” Regina felt her muscles unbunching in degrees.
“ He’s really hot looking. He’s about this tall ...” she raised a hand several inches above her own head, “and he has dark hair and light blue eyes.”
“ And there’s this groove in the center of his chin,” Sonya interjected.
“ A cleft,” Regina corrected.
“ More like a groove,” Kristy said. “He’s got a rad form too.”
“ Yeah? Does he go to school around here?”
“ He’s old, Mom.”
“ How old?”
“ ‘ Bout your age,” Kristy said, and throwing her arms up over her face as if to ward off a blow, she giggled.
“ Cute.”
“ I gotta go. I’m working the split shift. Love your new place, you two,” Sonya said, hurrying out.
“ Let’s get to work.” Regina took a tape measure from her purse and stepped to the window.
After measuring all the windows they moved into the living room and stretched the tape across the wood floor.
“ It’ll fit.” Regina was referring to the new cranberry area rug. “Corbin’s is delivering the furniture tomorrow.”
“ This is so much fun,” Kristy said. “Mother and daughter decorating together. It’s a first.”
Regina was as excited as her daughter. When she’d married Leo, he was already established in the big Victorian house in Berkeley with his beloved antiques. She’d sold it all with no remorse, and mother and daughter, sharing a wild compulsion to go light and bright, gravitated to a contemporary décor.
Regina looked around the sunny room with its gleaming hardwood floors. Funny, she thought, how one could live in darkness, like a mole, and be perfectly content. But now that she had seen the light, so to speak, she wondered how she had managed to exist in such drab surroundings all those years. She couldn’t wait to move into the new apartment, with the new furniture, and towels and potholders and ... and new everything.
“ Mom?”
“ Hmm?”
“ Can we discuss the model search?”
Regina felt herself sink back into darkness.
“ I know it was wrong not to tell you. But I was afraid you’d say no. C’mon, Mom, let’s talk about it, okay?”
Regina sat beside Kristy on the windowsill, her hands hanging limp between her legs. “Why do you want to do this, Kris?”
Kristy shrugged. “To see if I’m pretty enough.”
Kristy had been born beautiful. Even in her gangling, orthodontal stage, she had been exceptional. She was tall, five foot nine, with a slim, near-perfectly proportioned body. Her shoulder-length, sandy brown hair shone with natural ash highlights. Kristy had inherited her father’s light gray eyes. Her full, wide mouth was like her mother’s. Strangers on the street stared openly as they passed, some stopping to compliment her. Kristy would blush and laugh self-consciously. She didn’t have a conceited bone in
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