New Quarters Read online

  “Well you were very expressive just now, if I may say so. And maybe you don’t need to talk to tell me what you want to say. You just need to look at me, and I see everything in our eyes.” Addy had dropped her bags on the ground. She brought her right hand to Karen’s cheek, slid it all the way to the back of her neck and brought her forward to kiss her.

  “Addy, let’s go inside. If we continue with this here, someone might see us. We really don’t want to shock anyone when I start to tear your clothes off, at least not just yet.”

  Addy smiled. “Okay, let’s go inside and then you can tear my clothes off.”

  Karen was relieved. She put her hand on her forehead, already feeling her perspiration.

  Addy walked ahead towards the door of the cottage. “As to the seeing gold comment, I don’t always see it. But here,” she opened her arms and threw them forward towards the cottage, “I see life, love and a future, our future. I know I’m right. I just know it. I can feel it. Come on farmer Jones, we’ve got work to do!” Karen followed mumbling, shaking her head, and smiling.

  “What were you saying Ker?”

  “Nothing. I was just talking to myself.” She continued to mumble. I must have been out of my mind when I agreed to this crazy idea.

  The place didn’t just need work. It needed a lot of work. For starters, the lawn and all the shrubbery around the house were over grown. The part of the cottage not covered with ivy was dilapidated. It needed paint, caulking and some of the stones needed replacement or grouting. The white picket fence barely had traces of white, the door of the fence was tilted, and a part of the lock missing. They had to pull it, and push it in order for it to open. The bricks on the walkway were uneven and some were missing and grass grew in between them.

  The cottage didn’t look so wonderful when properly scrutinized. In fact, when viewed up close, the place was falling apart. Karen sighed as she stood in front of it. I have to have been crazy to agree to this!

  Addy also stopped. “We need a ‘to do’ list.”

  “Addy, I don’t think we have enough paper for that list. It looks like we need a bulldozer to make it through the weeds in the front yard for starters. And we haven’t even seen the back. We can always turn around and leave, you know? We can still change our mind.”

  Addy gave her the look. “Look at this as a challenge, Ker. When it’s all nice and pretty, you will be proud and glad that we took on the project. Come on woman, open the door, it looks like it’s going to rain.”

  “Hopefully the roof won’t leak. But on second thought, what are the odds?” Karen followed her orders and tried to open the door. I guess I’m too late to complain now. “By the time we are done with this project we’ll be ready to collect Social Security. This darn door is stuck. How come it opened so well the other day for Mr. Kimbell’s staffer?”

  “Maybe the weather expanded the wood. Maybe you need to give it a little push, babe.” Karen was tall and thin but she worked out and had strong muscular arms and legs. Addy always thought that she looked very sexy in shorts and sleeveless shirts. She actually thought Karen looked good in anything she wore.

  “Yeah, I think we were tricked into staying here. Alright, hold back I’m going to have to push it in.” She pushed the door and it gave in, thrusting her inside along with the door.

  Addy went to her rescue dropping everything in her hands. “Oh my God, Ker! Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, nothing seems to be broken, and I see no blood anywhere. However something has to be done about that door.” Addy laughed. Karen was a total hypochondriac sometimes.

  “No booboo to kiss?”

  Karen looked at her. She knew Addy was making fun of her. “Ha, ha! I’m saving my booboo for you to kiss tonight.”

  Addy grinned and bit her lip. “Come on, big baby. Let’s see what we got ourselves into here. Item number one on the list: fix the door, two, mow the grass, three, trim the bushes, four—.” Addy was going on and on. No one was taking notes.

  “Addyyyyyy!”

  Addy looked back at her. “Okay, I’ll slow down. I need to find paper to make notes. Actually, I’m going to have to start another list. That would be the list of tools we need. So, we’ll have the list of tools, and the ‘to do’ list. Then we’ll sit down and split it. You’ll do what you’re good at, and I’ll do what I’m good at.”

  Karen couldn’t hold back any more. She sat on the dusty sofa and started to laugh.

  “What? What’s so funny?”

  Karen leaned back on the old sofa unable to stop laughing. “Addy what exactly are we good at when it comes to handy work? Neither one of us has ever put a nail on a wall, or screwed in anything.”

  Addy opened her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, we’ll contract people for the big stuff and we’ll take care of the little things. We may be good at the small things and, for your information, I have put in a nail or two. We’ll just have to figure out what we are good at as we go.” She gave her a sweet smile and raised her eyebrows.

  Karen smiled back. “I can’t wait to hear what you think I’m good at, or for that matter what is it that you are good at Ms. Addy, and I’m talking handy work things, not those other things we both know we are very good at!” They looked at each other and grinned.

  “Stop mocking me.” Addy said as she sat next to her and started to laugh.

  “So, what’s the joke now?”

  “Us, do you see how much fun we are already having? And we haven’t even started!” Karen smiled still reclined on the sofa.

  “Just tell me you adore me, Karen Larsen, get it out of your system.”

  Karen grinned even more “I adore you, Adriana Marcos, totally and completely.”

  “And I love you, gorgeousness!” She leaned over and kissed her. “Come on, let’s see what other destruction lies ahead.” She pulled Karen from the sofa.

  “About the lists, why don’t I prepare the list of what I think you are good at and you prepare mine, then we can test it tonight?” Addy raised her eyebrows and gave her one of her killer smiles.

  “You are my perdition, Adriana.”

  Addy smiled and practically sucked the air out of her lungs with a kiss. “Come on, baby, there’s a lot to do. Move it!”

  Karen snapped out of it with the order to move. “You are going to kill me! God, this place is a dump. I don’t remember it being so small. Everything looks so old.” She was contemplating the surroundings.

  Loving smiling eyes looked at her. “Baby, you’ve grown as a person and see everything different now. Back then this was everything you knew and it was perfect. Now you’ve seen more and want more. It’s normal. You were also a child then. Things look different to children, although, some people never really grow up and turn out to be big babies.” It was now Karen who silenced her with a humongous kiss.

  “Got anything else to say, Ms. Addy?”

  “Not now, maybe later tonight I will have an extended response.” She winked. “Come on, let’s get dirty.”

  Karen grinned. “Umm, getting dirty means getting clean afterwards. Then there is that extended response. Um, um, um, can’t wait!” Everything with them seemed to be charged with sexual energy.

  “Karen Larsen get serious.” Addy looked around the place. “I think the cottage is cozy. If winters are as cold as you say, maybe small is better in order to keep it warm. About the old part, well, that gives us an opportunity to redesign it however we want it.”

  Karen immediately made her request. “I want a hot tub. I think we are going to need it to stay warm. I may spend winters in it.” She chuckled.

  “Wouldn’t you get all pruney though?” Karen smirked. “A hot tub is a great idea, but what about having it indoors? I don’t want to go out in the cold to get in. We could build a small green house or gazebo off the kitchen. What do you think?”

  “I like that idea, but I think that idea is going to costs us an arm and a leg. Maybe even a kidney.”

  “Yeah, Ker, but we need to be
happy here for the next three years, and don’t forget the return on investment.”

  “That is yet to be seen. I don’t know who’d want this place.”

  “Ker, don’t say that. This place has great potential. You’ll see how great it will turn out to be. It will be a model home, a showcase in the shire. People will come from far to see such a dwelling!” You’ll see, baby.”

  “You are the silliest person I’ve ever known.”

  “Well, for your information, someone loves me in spite of my silliness.” Addy kissed her on the head.

  Karen snorted. “I’m going to check all the windows and doors. If this place is not safe, we cannot stay here. We’ll have to go to a hotel until it is.”

  Addy rolled her eyes. Karen had a thing about windows and doors and safety. A matter that Addy found interesting because she had always been the one worrying about safety when her daughter was younger. Now that Karen was assuming that role, she was delighted.

  “Why worry about that now? We’ve already stayed here before?”

  “Yes, but that was for a few nights only. Permanency requires safety.”

  Addy rolled her eyes again and walked upstairs while Karen began her rounds downstairs.

  “Aaaahhggg!” Addy screamed.

  Karen ran like a mad woman up the stairs. She was panting when she reached the top floor. “What? What happened? What’s wrong?”

  “There are two chickens in the small bedroom.”

  Karen looked at her incredulously. “Chickens?”

  “Um huh. Two big ones.”

  “Addy you are going to give me a heart attack!” Karen walked into the bedroom, saw the chickens, and opened the window. “Okay, you need to close the door because I’m going to try to grab them, and I don’t want them going into the house.”

  Addy opened her eyes. “Are you crazy? Are you going to grab them? What if they bite you?”

  Karen smiled. “Addy, chickens don’t bite, they peck and yes, I’m going to try to grab them, or at least shove them out the window.”

  “Aren’t they going to get killed if you throw them out the window? We are on the second floor, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  “No, I have not forgotten. Chickens are birds, birds have wings and they fly, in case you have forgotten.”

  “Very funny, Ms. Larsen.”

  “Now, are you going to help me chase after the chickens and grab them, or are you going to close the door and wait outside?”

  “You are double crazy if you think that I’m going to help catching those things! I’m terrified of animals with beaks because chickens pecked my feet when I was a child, you know?”

  “No, I don’t know. You haven’t told me that one yet.” Karen said as she patiently waited for Addy to leave the room.

  “I’ll be outside waiting for you, but so that you know, I think we should get help from someone who knows how to round up chickens.”

  Karen had continuously smiled since the moment she had seen Addy’s predicament with the chickens, and she was still smiling. “Well, let me try first. Maybe catching chickens is one of the things that I might be good at.” She grinned in an exaggerated manner to stress her mockery.

  Addy smirked, and as she closed the door to leave, she added, “have it your way, I will go look for peroxide to treat your wounds.”

  Inside the room, Karen chuckled and began to look for the chickens. Addy stayed outside with her ear to the door worried for Karen’s safety. When she heard the running around and the chickens’ clucking, she became concerned. “Are you okay in there, sweetie?”

  “Yes! Don’t worry. I’ll catch them.” Even as she spoke, the commotion continued inside the room. After some running around and several replies to Addy confirming her well being, Karen emerged triumphantly form the room.

  “Are you okay?” Addy asked removing some feathers from Karen’s shirt.

  “Yes, boy those things can run.”

  “What did you do with them? Did they go out the window?”

  “Yes.” As Karen replied, Addy went to the window to see if the chickens had made a safe landing.

  “Are you going to be okay now?”

  Addy smiled. She came closer, put her arms around Karen and kissed her. “My hero! I’ll have to make a note that you are good handling chickens.”

  Karen rolled her eyes, smiled, and kissed her on the nose. “I’ll bring our bags up.”

  “Wait! Don’t leave yet. Check, there might be more chickens. How did they ever get in here anyway?”

  Karen smiled and began to look around the room for possible chicken hideouts. “It would be nice if we could find some fresh eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

  “You think there are some?”

  Karen chuckled. She loved Addy’s occasional naiveness. “Come here, my little chick.” She pulled her close and kissed her. “Let’s look for those killer chickens.” Addy made a face, but began her search. Karen opened the closet door, and looked inside. All of a sudden she yelled. “Chicken!” Then she pretended to carry and throw something at Addy.

  “Aaaahhh!” Addy screamed and ran while Karen laughed.

  When she realized that nothing was thrown at her, she narrowed her eyes and smirked. “Very funny, Ms. Larsen.”

  ***

  No more chickens were found and, of course, there were no eggs at all. “Ker, we should go to town and get some cleaning supplies and some food. Maybe we can stop to eat somewhere, that way we don’t have to worry about making dinner. I don’t dare to turn on the stove at this hour. God knows what could happen. We also don’t have much food. We need groceries.”

  “Okay, but let me haul our suitcases up here.” Karen went downstairs to get their bags. “I’m going to check if there is hot water.” When Addy opened the faucet the water started to run, but it was brown. “Oh God!”

  Karen had just arrived back in the room. “What?” As she came closer she saw the brown water. “Let it run for a while, it might clear. Is it hot?”

  “No. It isn’t.”

  “Let me go check the hot water heater downstairs, it may be off.”

  “Ker, be careful and don’t mess around with anything, especially if there’s risk involved. We don’t know where the nearest doctor is. Please!” Addy, knew that Karen liked to fiddle with things to try to fix them. Even when she didn’t have a clue as to how to do it, she liked to explore the possibilities and learn as much as she could about the problem.

  “I checked it. It was turned off. That thing is old. It looks like the first ones ever made. Let’s wait a while and see if the water warms up. If we can get any hot water from it, it’s going to be very little because it’s very small. I think we should shower together to make the best use of any hot water available.”

  Addy looked at her incredulously, one eyebrow raised. “Are you sure you are not making this up just to make me get in the shower with you?”

  Karen grinned. “Addy, that sounds great, but I swear the thing is really old and small.”

  “In any event, let’s get some cleaning supplies, we need to clean the shower. It’s very small for two people, remember?” She whispered the last word very suggestively into Karen’s ear to the point that it made Karen shiver, knowing her mischief, she continued talking, “so we need to make sure those walls are as clean as we left them the last time.”

  Karen grinned. As of lately, there was a lot of grinning going on. “Yes, ma’am, right behind you, getting the full picture.”

  Addy continued to walk, shaking her head and smiling, knowing exactly what Karen meant. “You know, I’m beginning to see a side of you I hadn’t seen before.”

  “Oh, I thought you had seen all my sides by now.”

  “See what I mean? You are very outspoken and sort of frisky now.”

  “I thought you liked it when I loosened up, you are the one always telling me that I’m too uptight, that I have to relax and let the real me come out. I thought that’s what I was doing.”

  Addy
turned around smiling. “I said I had never seen this side of you, I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I still have not found one thing I don’t like about you, baby. Are you sure you are not putting on an act for me and that one of these days you are going to turn into a hideous Mr. Hyde?”

  “Never! If I am ever truly myself, it’s with you, sweetie pie.”

  Noticing that the subject was turning into what usually led to activities, which delayed every other activity in their agenda, Addy mentioned, “hey, I just remembered, let’s check all the other appliances before we go into town just in case something else needs repair.”

  “Good idea.” The ever-practical Karen turned and immediately began the scrutiny of every possible thing related to the appliances. Addy smiled at her little achievement in deflecting Karen’s attention to other matters. She watched as Karen tested the stove, the refrigerator, the dishwasher and the washer and dryer.

  “Everything looks like it came on Noah’s Ark. Oh God, the refrigerator smells! Okay, Ms. Secretary of the Treasury, I think the budget requires a new line for appliances. This stuff is too important not to replace them.” Addy said making a note on her iPhone.

  “Agreed. We will do some shopping.”

  “We are also going to need a living room set and dining table and chairs.”

  “Noted.”

  ***

  They were tired from all their cleaning and from fixing up the bedroom in order to spend the night there. They showered together, and surprisingly, the hot water heater worked and provided enough water for a not so short shower.

  As they were going to bed, Karen looked at the mattress. “Oh, no! I forgot about the sunken mattress. If it weren’t because you are going to be on that mattress with me, I would take it to the back and burn it.”

  Addy laughed. “In that case, the firemen of Altee will have to thank me for not having to come out and put out a fire, and for controlling the town’s pyromaniac.”

  “They can send you a thank you note for your fire prevention deed. I, on the other hand, will personally take care of putting any fires out on this property. You can give me a thank you card later.”