PART THREE

When Dana Harridge jogged from her apartment to her sister's house, she failed to notice that cars driven by guys slowed to check her out. Male bicyclists coasted with their brakes on and teenage boys' heads turned as she passed by them down the street. Her long brown hair bounced and tossed from her shoulders. Her vibrant figure bounced and moved within her shorts and t-shirt from the impact of her feet striking the sidewalk. As her sister's home came into view, Dana crossed the yard at the property line, hopped effortlessly on to the porch and allowed herself into the house with the promising determination of a pre-Olympic runner.

"Hey…" Cheryl lit up to see her sister. Collecting her son's toys, Cheryl placed several action figures on the sofa and paused from dragging the vacuum cleaner to sit up erect on her knees. Roughly four and a half feet tall from the floor, she switched off the vacuum and turned back to her sister. "You're exercising again? Got a date?"

"Kind of," Dana pulled a piece of pink paper from her hip pocket. "I'm here about this. Ruby and Gracie got into my apartment and cleaned it up. They left me an itemized list."

"Washed dishes - five dollars, cleaned floor – ten dollars, made the bed – twelve dollars…" Cheryl read the note and skipped down to the full amount of the juvenile bill at the bottom. "A hundred and forty-five dollars." She looked back to her sister. "I'm so sorry, Dana. Jim is trying to get them to earn the money for new bicycles. You don't have to pay this."

"I should say not." Dana pushed aside her nephew's toys t sit on the sofa. "I can hire professionals to clean my place if I want it clean." She paused to look around the suburban paradise her sister called home. "Where are the midget housekeepers?"

"They drafted Kyle to help them rake the leaves in Andy's yard." Cheryl stood up while cracking her knees. "I guess they'll leave him a bill too. So… tell me about your date; is he cute?"

"It's not a date per say." Dana stood and followed Cheryl striding back through the house to the kitchen. "I'm auditioning for the role of an extra in the movie being filmed on your block. I think I could be a great actress; I mean, don't I just look like I should be a great actress. Remember my fifth grade play?"

"You were a flower."

"Miss McBeal said I was the best flower in the whole fifth grade!" Dana was entranced by her own reflection in the kitchen windows a second. "I could be discovered, do movies, date rock stars and get married to Orlando Bloom!"

Cheryl looked up disbelievingly from the dishwasher.

"Cheryl, don't hose my buzz!" Dana really wanted to hob-knob with movie stars. "Couldn't you see me dating George Clooney?"

"I can see you dating George Burns!" Cheryl sighed and leaned back on the counter. "I don't want to hear about this movie again. Jim was trying to con me last night to let them film in our house."

Dana's face started getting really excited.

"No!" Cheryl put her foot down.

"Why not?" Dana liked the idea and tried to change her mind. "I bet they'd pay good money."

"I know, but…" Cheryl started to turn out to the dining room then turned back to Dana. "I was going to at first, but then I… changed my mind." Shetook a deep breath and shifted her weight to her other hip. Tugging at her Capri pants, she poured the last of the coffee in the glass pot to two cups and turned with them both in hand to her sister starting to sit at the table. She needed this sisterly moment. She had to get her anxiety out. "I was about to, but then I discovered who the director was."

"Who's the director?" Dana regally pulled a lock of long brown hair past her right ear as she lifted her cup with her left hand.

"Jimmy Danvers."

"Jimmy Danvers…." Dana recalled that name. "That sounds so familiar…."

"I dated him in high school." Cheryl confessed. "We were pretty close, but it ended badly. I wanted to go to one college and he wanted to marry me and take me to Hollywood with him to pursue his career. I'm just… not willing to run into him again."

"Was he cute?"

"Dana!"

"Well, nothing's keeping me from dating him!" Dana saw another venue to love and success. "Look, Cheryl, maybe he doesn't remember you. It's been, what? Twenty years."

"He remembers me." Cheryl reacted as if she was in a trance briefly and sipped her coffee. "We were once hot and heavy."

"What's hot and heavy?" Gracie, Ruby and their brother Kyle had appeared out of nowhere behind them. Dana and Cheryl jumped from the surprise appearance and looked at the tired and sweaty youngsters. Andy's yard had obviously been a lot of work, and Kyle must have done the worst of it. He was dirty, covered in leaves and brambles, but his sisters were just barely fatigued. Ruby stood as the obvious leader of the pack before the two daughters.

"Nothing!" Cheryl cried out. "Let's get you kids cleaned up."

"Did you find our bill?" Ruby turned to her Aunt Dana.

"I'm not paying it, midget maid!"

"Then we'll put the dirt all back…" Gracie threatened as her mother lurched her around to the back stairs. Cheryl's homemaking duties were strained to the max as the phone rang over the sound of the screaming kids. Dana reached to answer it, but upon hearing her brother-in-law's voice, she passed it quickly to her sister. Cheryl snarled at the consequences and took the receiver as she brushed her blonde hair aside.

"Cheryl," Jim talked through the phone. "Is it okay if I bring a client to dinner?"

"Yeah, sure," Cheryl sent Kyle up the back stairs. "I'll just set another seat… wait a second! Did you call that movie crew to see the house!"

"Cheryl, this is a client." Jim mugged a bit. "I can honestly say I did not call anyone." He turned with a grin to Andy.