Hey gang, here is a short chapter... Reviews are much appreciated, you beautiful tropical fish.
They'd planned on meeting at 7AM for the first day of work on the Hastings' backyard. Paige was perplexed by the sudden we-ness of this gig. By the end of coffee it was 'we'll meet every morning to work between 6 and 10.' Spencer didn't have to be be at work at ten and they did have all summer. And two sets of hands are better than one... but, still...
Paige arrived at the Hastings' at 6:45. The house was bustling, which wasn't surprising considering their reputation. A skirt suit-clad Mrs Hastings opened the front door before she could knock.
"Paige!" She smiled and embraced the girl in a stiff one-armed hug, complete with the crinkle of newspaper behind Paige's head. Her other hand held a steaming cup of coffee at a safe distance. "I see you're here before Spencer. That must mean you're in charge, right?" She quirked an eyebrow over her reading glasses.
"That's the plan," Paige smiled, looking around. "I wanted to see what I was getting myself into," she said meekly. Mrs Hastings laughed and Paige breathed a sigh of relief.
They walked back to the yard to see Mr. Hastings picking up tools and old bags of leaves, holding them awkwardly so as to preserve his suit. Apparently he wanted to 'clean up' a little before she arrived. Paige smiled at the sight and ran to help him. She understood why he might be embarrassed; the yard was overwhelmed by weeds and the barn was covered in vines, its paint peeling.
"I've added a few hundred extra onto the first check, so you can pick up supplies," Peter Hastings explained, rubbing his hands together, seeming pleased to be away from all sources of dirt. "You'll find that we don't have much here."
"There is no need for that," said Paige, point to her hatchback which was filled to the gills with yard tools and chemicals. "I don't know what my dad loves more, his yard or gadgets to buy for his yard," she smirked. Their yard and pool were the envy of the subdivision. Mr. Hastings chuckled and Veronica sighed.
"How is your father, Paige?," she said sadly, "I guess he won't be out there this summer. We didn't know about his condition until Spencer told us."
Paige nodded. It was understandable. Both of their parents had been extremely social back in the day. Her family retreated when she came out in high school and the Hastings... well, there is only so much you can handle after your name gets dragged through the news every few months. "He is doing well. He can barely sit still, let alone rest for that many months."
"They must miss him at work," Mr. Hastings said.
"He gets an incredible amount of email and excel stuff done from the couch," Paige explained. Client visits were her dad's bread and butter, so seeing him benched was like watching Payton Manning do his taxes (skillful, but miserable). Paige was telling the joke to the captivated parental units when she spotted Spencer out of the corner of her eye. The girl was lugging a cloth bag full of various and sundry gardening tools. This was the most casual Paige had ever seen her.
Spencer was dressed in a loose tank top over a sports bra and wearing super worn out old tennis shoes. Paige loved it, quickly glancing up the girl's legs to her short gym shorts, to her hand holding dusty gardening gloves. Aviators on and she looked angry. It made Paige want to jump her.
"Well, you're getting paid the set amount regardless, so take your time... and you're free to eat anything in the house. If you're stuck at home, you might as well enjoy your summer," Peter was advising kindly, "and keep Spencer in line, will you Paige?" he asked a little louder, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder when she joined them. "Make sure she shows up on time and actually helps you," he said giving the girl a half teasing smile. Spencer's eyes narrowed.
Spencer's morning was hellish. Poorly functioning alarm clocks, obnoxious traffic jams. Everything was going incorrectly.
Spencer often dreamed that there was some corner of the world where she could retreat... just to scream in solitude. But she was in Rosewood where such fantasies led to a stay in Radley. Now she was around Paige. A girl who was confusing and actively making her look bad.
"We should start by getting the old paint off the house," Spencer announced, after her parents had taken off. She gruffly dropped her bag, grabbing scrapers and sandpaper, "There should be a ladder around the side of the barn," Spencer said pointedly. She was met with silence. "Well?" Spencer asked, unable to lose patience she never had in the first place. She looked up to see Paige staring at her.
"You look nice today," Paige said, "this is different," she stepped forward to brush her fingers over Spencer's old tank top. It was a Rosewood high gym shirt that Spencer had modified back when she was learning to sew. Spencer felt Paige's eyes move up her body and clenched her teeth. Spencer dislike being teased.
"Are you going to help, or what?" Spencer snapped.
"Have you had coffee yet?" Paige asked, "you seem..."
Spencer huffed in reply.
"Oh good, how about you go make some for us while I come up with a plan of attack," Paige asked, chewing her lip and appraising the barn.
"Paige just grab the ladder. Don't mess with me right now!" Spencer yelled, getting close to the girl. Paige's hands went up. It might have been a defensive instinct at first, but now they were holding Spencer by her arms.
"I get it," Paige held her so she was looking right in Spencer's eyes. The girl was serious and all the fire Spencer could muster couldn't withstand her stare, "You're not a morning person. But, I have a power sprayer in my car and this barn has mildew, so will you please take my lead on this?" Spencer's jaw unclenched looking into Paige's eyes. Her body was hot from anger, from the sun, from Paige...
Spencer looked down at the girl's lips, saw one corner quirk. Just like that, they were kissing. Spencer couldn't document any leaning or shifting or even who had had closed the deal, it just was. Paige's mouth was on hers and Spencer stepped forward into the pull of the girl's lips. When she finally broke away, she looked up to see a Paige's eyes wide in surprise, a goofy smile where Spencer's lips used to be. Only then did she realized that she'd even messed up the girl's ponytail with her hands.
"I'll go make coffee," Spencer blurted, spinning around to get to her house. Whoa. Spencer knew she'd wanted Paige; but, how much had never registered to her.
When Spencer got home that night, she pulled up Netflix and poured herself a glass of wine. It was her usual celebration of the freedom of being an adult. She took a sip. However, instead of diving into some new series, she ended up picking up her phone and scrolling to Paige's number. She put it down and took another sip of wine. She picked it up again. It only took a minute and a half before she called.
"Hey, Spencer," Paige responded, friendly but distant.
"Hey, Paige. What are you up to?"
"Playing Fallout." Paige's terse answer explained why she sounded so distracted.
"Seriously?" Spencer asked, incredulous.
"I don't kid about video games," Paige responded, dry.
"Well, do you want to come over and watch a movie or something?" Spencer asked. Or something?! Spencer berated herself.
"Oh," Paige said. There was silence on the other line and Spencer wondered whether the girl was playing or trying pause the game.
Spencer let the awkward silence ride. She wondered if she'd had enough wine to blame her request on tipsiness. Nope, she confirmed.
"Okay," Paige said, cautiously. Spencer looked over at the clock, as Paige was surely doing on the other end of the line... It would take her a half hour to get here, and then it would be 8, she calculated. "I'll leave in a few," Paige said. "What are we watching?" Her attention was more fully on Spencer now, although Spencer could hear her shuffling around to get ready.
Spencer tried to imagine what a video game playing Paige looked like at home. She could picture fluffy socks and boxer shorts. The idea made Spencer smile.
"Well, I have a full Netflix queue. Get here soon and I'll let you pick one of three choices and then we'll negotiate."
Paige laughed. "I'll pick two and, just so you know, I'm going to kill you in a movie debate. I've taken film history. My vocabulary is better than yours."
They continued talking and teasing each other until Paige as half way to Spencer's, at which point Spencer, who'd lost track of time, jumped up to clean her apartment. It was a total disaster.
Paige stood in front of the door for a few moments. She wasn't sure this was actually happening. She knocked and Spencer opened the door. Only after a few more moments of awkwardness did Paige excuse herself to the restroom.
By the time she got out, Spencer had several movie choices up. They had debated until they were stuck between a documentary about Heveltica and Drinking Buddies. Paige preferred the latter, but enjoyed annoying Spencer too much to concede. Holy shit, this is foreplay, she thought as her arguments got more pointed and her passion moved her closer to the other girl.
Before she could plan or plot, she started kissing Spencer's neck. Soon they were horizontal on Spencer's couch. It was an unexpectedly vigorous progression and Paige wanted nothing more than to strip the girl down and feel every part of her. Spencer was warm under her lips and hands. She was unbelievably soft that it was impossible to tell where Spencer ended and Paige's comfort and bliss began.
But, Spencer was also unpredictable. She would bite when Paige was expecting a kiss and that only made Paige want to hold her down and kiss her harder.
Paige stopped herself from unbuttoning the girl's jeans. She wanted to savor this, as casual as whatever this terrible decision might be. After slowing their pace, Paige rolled aways from Spencer, so they were side by side like sardines on Spencer's couch.
"That... escalated quickly," Spencer said after a few moments of silence.
Paige laughed, and then sighed. She was also focused on bringing herself down from the ridiculous high, "You're very fun to kiss," Paige said after a few moments.
She could see Spencer grinning out of the corner of her eye. Spencer moved from her back to her side, cupping Paige's cheek and kissing her again. She finished by tugging lightly at Paige's bottom lip with her teeth.
"You're not so bad yourself," Spencer said in a soft gravelly growl. That was just too much for Paige to handle. One hand pushed through the girl's hair and the other was on her waist as she pushed Spencer back onto her back and climbed on top of the girl.
They went at it again for a while until another begrudging slow-down from both sides. There was really no reason to take it farther tonight, Paige reasoned, even if she was starting to feel uncomfortably wet for the girl. She kissed down Spencer's neck before taking a deep breath and sitting up. "Okay," Paige huffed, faking grumpiness. "You. Sit over there. I'll sit on my hands and we'll watch this damn movie."
Spencer laughed. "Deal," she said, hitting the play button. The agreement only lasted for the first ten minutes of the movie.
The night was long, and neither girl remembered that Netflix movie. What was clear was that Paige woke up at Spencer's house at 5AM to the sound of Spencer's (horribly grating) alarm clock.
