Chapter Thirteen:
Claire carefully clamped the forceps onto the edge of a newly developed picture and gently lifted it out of the pan to hang it up on the line she had attached from wall to wall. She examined it closely, pursing her lips in thought. It was a shot she had taken from the top of a hill: a thick grove of pine trees beneath a clear blue sky and a pasture of cows just beyond it. Maybe, it had potential, but it wasn't exactly moving. Neither were any of the others she had taken that day. Not to her, at least. Maybe a sunset. Maybe a mountain range. Maybe a sunset ON a mountain range.
Nodding an agreement to no one in particular, she turned back to her old album and turned to the pages reserved especially for landscapes. She had a couple of shots of the ocean taken from the Golden Gate Bridge and an abundance of shots of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. If she took a trip to Reno, she'd get a couple of good shots of the Sierra Mountains.
She had to shake her head; her mind was spinning in too many directions. Looking on the table beside her, she picked up her list of options again. Yesterday, she had gone to Kute Kids and met with the head of the photography department, a middle-aged woman named Carly Ribbons, who was especially enthusiastic when she heard Claire had taken a child psychology course in college and said it would be particularly helpful when she worked with the kids. Claire had filled out an application and given her a résumé on the spot, then met some of the children and took a few sample shots.
And just an hour ago, she had met with the head of the Calvin Klein chain. That was a man in his mid-twenties who wasn't too pleasant and seemed to want more of her than her talents as a photographer. Before Claire became appalled enough to stomp out of his office, he told her to bring in a few pictures that agreed with the Calvin Klein image. So then WHY was she looking at pictures of mountains?
Glancing down at the paper again, she remembered the contest for amateur landscape shot. Her head spinning around, she set down her list and headed up the basement steps. It was time to get away from her dark room and get some air and light.
Filling a kettle with water from the tap, she set it on top of the stove to heat up and pulled out a big can of hot cocoa mix from the cabinet. After a couple of minutes, the kettle gave a loud whistle and she hurried to pull it away from the heat. Claire poured herself some cocoa and sat outside on the porch swing, sipping and staring down the empty driveway.
Glancing to the side of the swing, she saw the second book of the Harry Potter series. Leon had given it to her to read, but she hadn't been able to. Picking it up, she opened it gingerly and started to read. 'The Chamber of Secrets' was pretty good, and she got to the tenth chapter before she heard the loud rumble of a motorcycle from the street.
Peeking up, she saw Leon ride in on his Harley and set the book down, dog-earring the page where she had left off. She looked to the garage and stared dismally at the garage that held a Rav 4 that Rebecca drove and that Claire had been driving around all that day. She would have much rather be riding on a Harley than any car.
Leon waved before disappearing into the garage that extended past the house so that she couldn't see him anymore.
After a moment or so, the engine stopped and Leon walked up the walkway that led to where she was sitting on the large wraparound porch.
"Hey." He said as he climbed the steps.
"Hi." She greeted, trying desperately not to sound too eager. Ever since pizza night, Claire had been doing her best to keep neutral towards Leon and keep a sharp line between friendly and flirty.
"How was work?" she asked as he sat down next to her, the smell of motor oil and shampoo filling her nose.
"Tiring." Leon replied. "I suddenly don't like working in repairs. It seemed like the whole population of California blew their tires and the percentage that didn't got into accidents."
"Aren't there other workers?" Claire asked as she sipped from her cup, which was lukewarm by now.
"Of course there are." Leon said loftily. "But they seem to have an abundance of coffee breaks whenever there's a steady flow of cars coming in and none of them can work as fast as I can."
Claire smiled. "Well, you seem to have an abundance of modesty when it comes to your work."
"I can't help it if I took the machinery route in the Army." Leon said, puffing his chest out like a puffer fish and putting special emphasis on the word 'Army'.
"That'll really come in handy if you ever get a tanker with a flat, won't it?" Claire asked sarcastically.
Leon winced at the derision but quickly said, "Well, there was a Hummer that came in right after it trampled over a Miata."
Claire raised an eyebrow. "There was damage to a Hummer?"
Leon forced a haughty, know-it-all laugh. "Of course not, Claire. The Hummer only had to come in because the Miata was still stuck underneath it."
At that, Claire had to laugh. "Aren't you the witty one?"
Before Leon could reply, the phone rang from inside. Claire jumped a little, her heart suddenly racing. Was this supposed to be some kind of sign that she was crossing the 'sharp' line between friend and flirt?
Or what if it was Chris calling to say that Rebecca's father had died and that he now had to help plan the funeral and wouldn't be back for another month. Or what if…what if it was Steve. She hadn't heard from him yet, but she was sure he was back and the thought of him being back in California scared her.
Leon sensed the tension and got up. He opened the door and answered the phone.
"Claire?" he called out to her. "You have a phone call."
Standing up, she headed inside and saw Leon with a perplexed expression on his face.
"It's some lady named Carly Ribbons?"
"OH!" she exclaimed, grabbing the phone from him. "Hello? Ms. Ribbons?"
"Hello? Is this Claire Redfield?"
"Yes!" she said.
"Yes, well, I'm calling about your application for Kute Kids?" Carly said.
"Yes?" Claire pressed, twisting the phone cord around her wrist and biting her lip anxiously.
"I didn't want to tell you this until we were completely sure, but when I showed the other directors the pictures you took of the kids they were very impressed." Cary went on.
"Yes." Claire said, short of breath. Was it really possible?
"And…as far as I can tell, you've just landed yourself a job." Carly said the hint of a smile in her voice.
Claire froze. "Are you serious?"
"Yes!" Carly exclaimed, laughing warmly, and then her tone lowered conspirationally. "They're a little concerned about your lack of experience—but that won't be a problem, will it?"
"No!"
"Thatta girl!" Carly said. "Is it possible for you to start the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes!" Claire said, unable to hide her happiness and turning back to face a bewildered Leon.
"Great, I'll see you there, sweetie." Carly said.
"Thank you, good bye!" Claire said and let out an elated giggle as she hung up the phone. Maybe she wouldn't need Calvin Klein after all.
"What's going on?" Leon asked, raising his eyebrows.
Claire rushed on to tell him about her visit to Kute Kids that afternoon and Calvin Klein and then quickly told him that she got a job with the aforementioned.
Leon's response?
"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he hollered as he swept her up in an enormous bear hug and swung her around.
"I'm so proud of you!" Leon exclaimed as he set her down. His face was split by a grin that lit up his eyes so brightly Claire couldn't do anything but stare.
"Really?" she asked, allowing her hands to rest on his shoulders.
"Definitely, you deserve this." Leon said, giving her another hug.
Claire closed her eyes and breathed in. Peppermint…had she ever smelled it on him this strong? An image almost like a dream flashed before her eyes. Their arms locked around each other, kissing passionately. Suppressing a weak shiver, she pulled away and
smiled neutrally.
"We need to celebrate!" Leon declared. "What do you want to do? Anything?"
"Anything?" Claire asked mischievously.
"It's your call." Leon replied.
"What's the matter?" Claire asked, laughing hard as she handed the microphone to Leon. "Don't you like to sing?"
"Only in the shower." Leon said a little weakly as he took it. "Oh, just as a note: I fully intend to kill you when this is over."
"I'm shaking." Claire said.
"Yes, I can see that." Leon sneered playfully.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's give a hand for—ur, what's your name?" the manager asked Leon.
"Michael." Leon replied into the microphone, then added with a sideway grin to Claire, "Michael Jackson." There was a spout of laughter from the people around.
The manager gave a laugh. "Well, Michael, have we got a song for you."
He gestured to the screens all over the karaoke lounge which now showed the lyrics for 'Thriller Night'.
Claire let out an unrestrained howl of laughter as Leon gave an unbelieving glance at the screen.
"Go on!" the manager said encouraging.
"I was just kidding—my name's really Tim!"
"Tim McGraw?" Claire asked loudly, trying to make this as uncomfortable for Leon as possible.
Leon glared at her and mouthed the words, 'You're dead!" then turned to the screen. When the words lit up, he started to sing. As it turned out, Leon didn't really have anything to worry about. He was—dare she say it?—fairly good. He had feeling, hit the right notes and pitches, but…he wasn't going to be winning any Grammy's anytime soon. When he hit the second chorus, he started to look a little more like the old Leon. He made up goofy faces and even did a few moves from the music video (which emitted screams of pleasure from a lot of women), concluding with a semi-brilliant imitation of the moonwalk.
"Hey, Michael!" the manager said as Leon made a move to sit down. "Do you want a job?" Gesturing the lounge around him.
Leon shook his head, grinning embarrassedly and taking compliments from the people around him.
"How about a song for Janet here?" Leon said over the noise, indicating Claire.
Claire shook her head vigorously.
"Okay, for Faith then," Leon said as the disc operator switched to a Faith Hill song.
'Wild One'.
"Go on, Faith." Leon said, nudging her up and thrusting the microphone into her hand.
Smiling weakly, she stood on shaky legs and immediately regretted forcing Leon into this. And there Leon was, grinning at her like an idiot. That grin was jeering her. Well, she'd show him. Holding her head up high in a false show of bravado and started singing.
She didn't have any idea how she was doing, she was concentrating so very hard on the words and pitches, but the thunderous applause gave her a clue.
"How about one more!" someone shouted, to which everyone agreed.
Despite her declinations, Claire finally conceded when the screen displayed, 'It Matters To Me' another Faith Hill song. There was applause when she ended once again, only louder and countless eyes were full of tears of appreciation. Leon was looking a little awed himself.
"You never told me you could sing so well." Leon whispered as the manager went off to pick his next victim.
"I never knew." Claire said honestly, her heart still pounding but the adrenaline receding.
"Well…" Leon said, his eyes full of admiration as he looked at her. "I…my hat is off."
Claire smiled. "Thank you."
Claire carefully clamped the forceps onto the edge of a newly developed picture and gently lifted it out of the pan to hang it up on the line she had attached from wall to wall. She examined it closely, pursing her lips in thought. It was a shot she had taken from the top of a hill: a thick grove of pine trees beneath a clear blue sky and a pasture of cows just beyond it. Maybe, it had potential, but it wasn't exactly moving. Neither were any of the others she had taken that day. Not to her, at least. Maybe a sunset. Maybe a mountain range. Maybe a sunset ON a mountain range.
Nodding an agreement to no one in particular, she turned back to her old album and turned to the pages reserved especially for landscapes. She had a couple of shots of the ocean taken from the Golden Gate Bridge and an abundance of shots of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. If she took a trip to Reno, she'd get a couple of good shots of the Sierra Mountains.
She had to shake her head; her mind was spinning in too many directions. Looking on the table beside her, she picked up her list of options again. Yesterday, she had gone to Kute Kids and met with the head of the photography department, a middle-aged woman named Carly Ribbons, who was especially enthusiastic when she heard Claire had taken a child psychology course in college and said it would be particularly helpful when she worked with the kids. Claire had filled out an application and given her a résumé on the spot, then met some of the children and took a few sample shots.
And just an hour ago, she had met with the head of the Calvin Klein chain. That was a man in his mid-twenties who wasn't too pleasant and seemed to want more of her than her talents as a photographer. Before Claire became appalled enough to stomp out of his office, he told her to bring in a few pictures that agreed with the Calvin Klein image. So then WHY was she looking at pictures of mountains?
Glancing down at the paper again, she remembered the contest for amateur landscape shot. Her head spinning around, she set down her list and headed up the basement steps. It was time to get away from her dark room and get some air and light.
Filling a kettle with water from the tap, she set it on top of the stove to heat up and pulled out a big can of hot cocoa mix from the cabinet. After a couple of minutes, the kettle gave a loud whistle and she hurried to pull it away from the heat. Claire poured herself some cocoa and sat outside on the porch swing, sipping and staring down the empty driveway.
Glancing to the side of the swing, she saw the second book of the Harry Potter series. Leon had given it to her to read, but she hadn't been able to. Picking it up, she opened it gingerly and started to read. 'The Chamber of Secrets' was pretty good, and she got to the tenth chapter before she heard the loud rumble of a motorcycle from the street.
Peeking up, she saw Leon ride in on his Harley and set the book down, dog-earring the page where she had left off. She looked to the garage and stared dismally at the garage that held a Rav 4 that Rebecca drove and that Claire had been driving around all that day. She would have much rather be riding on a Harley than any car.
Leon waved before disappearing into the garage that extended past the house so that she couldn't see him anymore.
After a moment or so, the engine stopped and Leon walked up the walkway that led to where she was sitting on the large wraparound porch.
"Hey." He said as he climbed the steps.
"Hi." She greeted, trying desperately not to sound too eager. Ever since pizza night, Claire had been doing her best to keep neutral towards Leon and keep a sharp line between friendly and flirty.
"How was work?" she asked as he sat down next to her, the smell of motor oil and shampoo filling her nose.
"Tiring." Leon replied. "I suddenly don't like working in repairs. It seemed like the whole population of California blew their tires and the percentage that didn't got into accidents."
"Aren't there other workers?" Claire asked as she sipped from her cup, which was lukewarm by now.
"Of course there are." Leon said loftily. "But they seem to have an abundance of coffee breaks whenever there's a steady flow of cars coming in and none of them can work as fast as I can."
Claire smiled. "Well, you seem to have an abundance of modesty when it comes to your work."
"I can't help it if I took the machinery route in the Army." Leon said, puffing his chest out like a puffer fish and putting special emphasis on the word 'Army'.
"That'll really come in handy if you ever get a tanker with a flat, won't it?" Claire asked sarcastically.
Leon winced at the derision but quickly said, "Well, there was a Hummer that came in right after it trampled over a Miata."
Claire raised an eyebrow. "There was damage to a Hummer?"
Leon forced a haughty, know-it-all laugh. "Of course not, Claire. The Hummer only had to come in because the Miata was still stuck underneath it."
At that, Claire had to laugh. "Aren't you the witty one?"
Before Leon could reply, the phone rang from inside. Claire jumped a little, her heart suddenly racing. Was this supposed to be some kind of sign that she was crossing the 'sharp' line between friend and flirt?
Or what if it was Chris calling to say that Rebecca's father had died and that he now had to help plan the funeral and wouldn't be back for another month. Or what if…what if it was Steve. She hadn't heard from him yet, but she was sure he was back and the thought of him being back in California scared her.
Leon sensed the tension and got up. He opened the door and answered the phone.
"Claire?" he called out to her. "You have a phone call."
Standing up, she headed inside and saw Leon with a perplexed expression on his face.
"It's some lady named Carly Ribbons?"
"OH!" she exclaimed, grabbing the phone from him. "Hello? Ms. Ribbons?"
"Hello? Is this Claire Redfield?"
"Yes!" she said.
"Yes, well, I'm calling about your application for Kute Kids?" Carly said.
"Yes?" Claire pressed, twisting the phone cord around her wrist and biting her lip anxiously.
"I didn't want to tell you this until we were completely sure, but when I showed the other directors the pictures you took of the kids they were very impressed." Cary went on.
"Yes." Claire said, short of breath. Was it really possible?
"And…as far as I can tell, you've just landed yourself a job." Carly said the hint of a smile in her voice.
Claire froze. "Are you serious?"
"Yes!" Carly exclaimed, laughing warmly, and then her tone lowered conspirationally. "They're a little concerned about your lack of experience—but that won't be a problem, will it?"
"No!"
"Thatta girl!" Carly said. "Is it possible for you to start the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes!" Claire said, unable to hide her happiness and turning back to face a bewildered Leon.
"Great, I'll see you there, sweetie." Carly said.
"Thank you, good bye!" Claire said and let out an elated giggle as she hung up the phone. Maybe she wouldn't need Calvin Klein after all.
"What's going on?" Leon asked, raising his eyebrows.
Claire rushed on to tell him about her visit to Kute Kids that afternoon and Calvin Klein and then quickly told him that she got a job with the aforementioned.
Leon's response?
"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he hollered as he swept her up in an enormous bear hug and swung her around.
"I'm so proud of you!" Leon exclaimed as he set her down. His face was split by a grin that lit up his eyes so brightly Claire couldn't do anything but stare.
"Really?" she asked, allowing her hands to rest on his shoulders.
"Definitely, you deserve this." Leon said, giving her another hug.
Claire closed her eyes and breathed in. Peppermint…had she ever smelled it on him this strong? An image almost like a dream flashed before her eyes. Their arms locked around each other, kissing passionately. Suppressing a weak shiver, she pulled away and
smiled neutrally.
"We need to celebrate!" Leon declared. "What do you want to do? Anything?"
"Anything?" Claire asked mischievously.
"It's your call." Leon replied.
"What's the matter?" Claire asked, laughing hard as she handed the microphone to Leon. "Don't you like to sing?"
"Only in the shower." Leon said a little weakly as he took it. "Oh, just as a note: I fully intend to kill you when this is over."
"I'm shaking." Claire said.
"Yes, I can see that." Leon sneered playfully.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's give a hand for—ur, what's your name?" the manager asked Leon.
"Michael." Leon replied into the microphone, then added with a sideway grin to Claire, "Michael Jackson." There was a spout of laughter from the people around.
The manager gave a laugh. "Well, Michael, have we got a song for you."
He gestured to the screens all over the karaoke lounge which now showed the lyrics for 'Thriller Night'.
Claire let out an unrestrained howl of laughter as Leon gave an unbelieving glance at the screen.
"Go on!" the manager said encouraging.
"I was just kidding—my name's really Tim!"
"Tim McGraw?" Claire asked loudly, trying to make this as uncomfortable for Leon as possible.
Leon glared at her and mouthed the words, 'You're dead!" then turned to the screen. When the words lit up, he started to sing. As it turned out, Leon didn't really have anything to worry about. He was—dare she say it?—fairly good. He had feeling, hit the right notes and pitches, but…he wasn't going to be winning any Grammy's anytime soon. When he hit the second chorus, he started to look a little more like the old Leon. He made up goofy faces and even did a few moves from the music video (which emitted screams of pleasure from a lot of women), concluding with a semi-brilliant imitation of the moonwalk.
"Hey, Michael!" the manager said as Leon made a move to sit down. "Do you want a job?" Gesturing the lounge around him.
Leon shook his head, grinning embarrassedly and taking compliments from the people around him.
"How about a song for Janet here?" Leon said over the noise, indicating Claire.
Claire shook her head vigorously.
"Okay, for Faith then," Leon said as the disc operator switched to a Faith Hill song.
'Wild One'.
"Go on, Faith." Leon said, nudging her up and thrusting the microphone into her hand.
Smiling weakly, she stood on shaky legs and immediately regretted forcing Leon into this. And there Leon was, grinning at her like an idiot. That grin was jeering her. Well, she'd show him. Holding her head up high in a false show of bravado and started singing.
She didn't have any idea how she was doing, she was concentrating so very hard on the words and pitches, but the thunderous applause gave her a clue.
"How about one more!" someone shouted, to which everyone agreed.
Despite her declinations, Claire finally conceded when the screen displayed, 'It Matters To Me' another Faith Hill song. There was applause when she ended once again, only louder and countless eyes were full of tears of appreciation. Leon was looking a little awed himself.
"You never told me you could sing so well." Leon whispered as the manager went off to pick his next victim.
"I never knew." Claire said honestly, her heart still pounding but the adrenaline receding.
"Well…" Leon said, his eyes full of admiration as he looked at her. "I…my hat is off."
Claire smiled. "Thank you."
