“Hey, Kiki, wake up!” Kiki felt a tug on her elbow and she jumped up in her chair.

“Oh, shit, did I fall asleep? Damn, was it long? Am I drooling?” She wiped her mouth and smoothed her clothes.

“If we didn’t have to get this EIR to the printers, I’d tell you to go home to bed.”  Peter handed her a fresh cup of coffee and a piece of birthday cake.

“Oh, whose birthday?”

“Yours. You missed your own party.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t, did I? Shit!”  She started to rise in her seat, but Peter pressed her back down.

“Kiki, you don’t even know what day it is?” Peter laughed and began to rub her shoulders. “No, my dear, your birthday isn’t for three months.  You really need to take a break.”

Kiki sighed and relaxed into his touch. It had been a hell of a couple of months.  The Village at Duncan Gardens  was well into design, but the problem was the parcel on which they wanted to build was being used as a community garden. Naturally the locals were up in arms, and they had to do their damnedest to win them over. First, with the Environmental Impact Report, then with community meetings for public approvals. Ted and Teddy were counting on her to come up with a design that would get the support from the community. And the platinum LEED certification?  Her team was pouring over checklists to see if their design could pass that highest of green design standards.  And that was just her day job.  She still had the house to worry about, and every minute she stole during the day to attend to it, she had to repay two-fold at night. 

The good news is the house was going well.  They were working mainly on the interiors now, and if everything went to plan, it would be done in another two to three months.  The biggest surprise to her was the attention it was getting. At first it was just ‘the boys’ who came by, but every week there were new people on the site. Some just curious on-lookers, others more serious aficionados who wanted to help. Ajay, God bless his heart, had taken on the task of organizing the volunteers, keeping them out of the way of the contractors, and making sure there was pizza and beer to thank them.

And then there were the wedding plans. Ted and his mother were pressuring her to set a date; they wanted to get out the “Save the Date” notices.  Kiki wondered if there was a separate circle of hell for the person who started that trend.  But as usual, she found herself folding to the Duncan pressure, and had agreed to a date. How she was going to withstand six months of wedding planning on top of everything?  No, she wasn’t going to think about that for a while. Carolyn had it all handled, she was certain.

Peter’s shoulder rub was beginning to take effect, and her mind began to wander to more pleasant subjects. “I’ll get to relax on Friday afternoon,” she sighed. Yes, Fridays couldn’t come fast enough for her these days. The “architectural tour” of Los Angeles had taken on a life of its own, with she, Steve and Peter driving and yakking all around town. They were making their way through the entire Parrish body of work. One week the Winestone Building downtown. Next the Prescott Civic Theater. They even made it all the way to the Santa Maria Public Library. That was a late day; Peter wasn’t too happy about that one. She didn’t know how Steve did it; it seemed like all he did was hold a camera on her, but somehow he got her talking for the whole time without her realizing it.

“I can’t believe you talked me into going with you all this time, Kiki.  Where is it this week?”

“Somewhere special this week, I think,” Kiki giggled. “You’ll see on Friday.”

“Okay. Wonder if Steve will bring Olivia again, she’s a cute kid.”

“Isn’t she? But it’s not his week with her. She was a good sport, letting me pretend she was my daughter so we could finagle an invite inside the Fairfax house.  It’s been fun, hasn’t it?  Totally self-indulgent, I suppose.”

“I never thought this would take off like it did, Kiki.  You’ve done an amazing job. All those volunteers, the site, the blog.”

“I’d be nowhere without help,” she said, reaching up to pat her friend’s hand. “Like yours and the boys. And Steve.” 

“And Steve,” he chuckled.

“What do you mean?” She tipped her head back to look at him. Peter’s eyes were twinkling but his smile was mysterious.

“Wonder what he’s going to do with all that footage of you?  He never takes any of me.”

“He does too!” she said, objecting to his claim. “Okay, maybe a little more of me, but it’s only because I’m the one who’s the obsessed lunatic.  You’re just the sidekick.”

“Sidekick!”

“Trusty sidekick?” 

“Yeah, and you’re better looking than me, I’ll give you that.”

“C’mon, Peter, that’s not why Steve’s doing it. I’m just one of dozens of people he interviews all week.”

“And that’s the way it should be, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” He chuckled and shoved her shoulders forward, his rub finished. “I don’t know what I’m saying. It’ll be an interesting documentary, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, can’t wait to see it.  But now, we have to get back to this.”  Peter nodded and pressed the draft open on the desk so she could have her cake, and read it, too.

~*~

Having met the environmental report deadline, Kiki thought she deserved Friday’s special jaunt.  She didn’t count on the battle between father and son to heat up, though. ­Teddy had begun to call her directly when Ted would stonewall him.  And then Ted would grill her when she got home about what his father had been doing. When she recommended a coordination session, Ted scheduled it for Friday. That’s when she had enough.

“You’ll have to have the meeting without me, Ted. I’ll be at the house, and I’ll have my phone off!”

“But Kiki, Dad’s worried about the approvals, and the design, and so am I.”

“We have it under control.  If you have to speak with someone, it’ll have to be in the morning with Peter. You understand?”

“Goddammit, Kiki, we’re paying your firm a lot of money for this and we expect the lead designer to be at these meetings!”

“Don’t you dare play the client card, Ted. We had an agreement. Fridays are mine until the house is finished. Have I let you down yet?”

“Yes.”

“Are you kidding me? How?”

“You never have time for us anymore.”

“Jesus, and whose fault is that?  I told you it was impossible for me to do two projects and plan a wedding.  But no, you said ‘the busiest people get the most done.’”

“I didn’t think you’d have to work this hard. Fuck it, I’ll have the meeting cancelled. Let’s go up to Santa Barbara for the weekend instead.”

“On the weekend? No, I have two bathrooms to tile on the weekend.”

“Can’t your little helpers do that? Baby, I miss you.”  He put his arms around her and kissed her neck.

“Not too much longer, baby. A couple of months, more.”  He kissed her ear lobe and blew across it and she felt herself melt into him.  Why didn’t he do this more instead of talking about work or family things?

“Just come home early; you don’t have to do that little blog thing every week do you?”

“But Peter and I do work too! We have a chance to talk without interruption.”  She couldn’t keep her hackles rising at hearing him characterizing it as a “little thing.”

“That Steve guy doesn’t record your shop talk, does he?”

“No, he mainly rants about how the project is destroying the environment. He lives near that community garden, you know.”

“Shit, he does? You should have him sign a confidentiality agreement.  He’s not part of that group threatening lawsuit, is he?”

“Ted, can we stop the shop talk tonight?” She rubbed his chest and pressed her hips into his.

“Only if you come home early on Friday. I need you to, sweetheart.”

She agreed, relieved that even with the tension of working together, that he still needed her that way, and upon waking Friday morning, she started to plan for rearranging her day to come home earlier. That is, until she heard the voicemail from Ted’s mother confirming their appointment with the caterers for that afternoon.

Suddenly an afternoon away seemed just the thing. 

~*~

Steve had a hard time concentrating on the morning’s shoot and Michael had to take over the interview with the owners of a hideously purple house in Glendale.  Friday afternoons were the highlight of his week these days, when he could be close to her, watch her nose wrinkle as she navigated the traffic, her eyes light up as they approached their destination, and the way her hands would dance as she pointed out the features of the building they’d selected for the day.

“Hey pal, pay attention to where the camera is. Jesus you’re worthless on Fridays.”

“Yeah, maybe we should just review footage on Friday mornings.”

“And maybe you better get a grip. You gotta get over this chick. She’s getting married in what, five-six months?”

“There’s nothing to get over, Michael.”

“That’s because you’re pathetic. Shit or get off the pot, man.”

Steve sighed. If she were truly single it wouldn’t be a problem, but to pursue her when she was that close to getting married seemed wrong. It had to be her decision. And he could wait, for now.

“Hey, she’s a friend, okay?”

“That’s why you introduced her to your daughter?”

“I thought Livvy would like to come with us,” Steve said with a shrug. Jesus, he’d been working with Michael too long.

“Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.”

“And None of Your Fucking Business.”

“It is when you’re useless on Fridays. Okay, we’re done, I’ve got to make those calls about financing.  Do you think you could get that girlfriend of yours to void her right of final review? I’ve already lost one deal because of it.”

“Not sure, she’s got lawyers. Or rather her boyfriend’s family does. But I’ll try.”

“You better do more than that if you want to finish this opus of yours.”

He knew Michael was right. Maybe he could get Pete to do it.  Pete showed up late, looking hurried as usual, but Steve still couldn’t resist teasing him.

“It’s only a few hours a week, Pete, can’t you get here on time?

“You don’t know how it is on Fridays, Steve. Seems like everything goes haywire when she’s away. I really shouldn’t be taking off like this.”

“Face it, it’s an excuse to get away from the rat race.”

“Yes, thank God!” he chuckled. “Wonder what’s up today?”

“You don’t know?”

“Somewhere special is all I know.”  Pete turned into the driveway of her house and Steve could see Kiki pacing with her arms crossed.

“Oh-oh, something’s up.”

“Shit.” 

“You guys are late!  I don’t have time to waste here, you know.”

“Hey, Kiki, calm down. We don’t have to do this today if it’s too much.” Steve stepped in behind her and put his arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

Kiki shook her head and pulled Steve’s arm up to look at his watch. He couldn’t help but smile at how familiar she was being and slipped his other hand on her hip, then dropped it, sensing Pete’s eyes on him. “I may have to cut this short today, guys. I haven’t decided yet.” Steve turned her around and cocked his head in a silent question. “Long story.  C’mon. Destination Woodland Hills.”

“Oooh, Woodland Hills.  Which house, Kiki?”

“Haven’t figured it yet, Peter? Get in the car!”

“Let me get my gear, hold on.” Steve reluctantly stepped away from Kiki to get his cameras. When he got back to the car, Pete had snagged the front seat.  Kiki peeled out onto the road and raced for the hills.

“Hey, not so fast, Kiki-cat!”  Steve called out in alarm.  Peter turned around to him and raised his brow. Shit, he’d never called her that in front of anybody before.  “Well, she looks like one, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, guess so.” He looked back and forth between them, Kiki looked at him from the rear view, her brows knitted.  He noticed that she slowed down, though. 

“So, how’s the project from hell going, you two?”  They both groaned. “You know you’re killing yourselves. For what? Making rich people feel they’re helping the environment?”

“Stop, Steve. Not today.”  Kiki said wearily.  Pete caught his eye again and shrugged. There was something ticking her off, must be at home, Steve knew it was time to be quiet about that.

“Okay, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride.”  He settled back into his seat, and he saw that Pete did too. When he heard Pete’s gentle snores, he leaned up and touched Kiki’s shoulder.

“Sorry called you that in front of Pete, Kiki.”

“It’s okay, sorry I’m a bit . . . out of sorts today.”

“Hey, you’re allowed.”

“Am I?” She chuckled. “Thanks. Maybe this will help.”  He felt the car slow as she pulled into a driveway.

“We’re here?” All he’d noticed of the neighborhood was that it was heavily wooded, with houses peeking through the trees.  The house before them was elegant; shingle-styled, like Kiki’s, with a large porch and there again, the winking dormers on the second level. “What’s the name of this one?”

“The Parrish house. I grew up here.”

“Your house?”  She grinned and hurried out of the car. Steve followed and quickly got his camera out and on.  “Tell me about it, Kiki.”

She grinned and nodded excitedly. “Let’s go in. I got permission.”  She bent down to pull a key from under a planter. “They didn’t want to be here when I said there’d be a camera,” she chuckled. “They’ve kept it nice, haven’t they?”

She got the main door open and walked tentatively into the foyer. It was beautiful, parquet floors with a wide and elegant central staircase leading upstairs. It was some minutes before she spoke, she just turned around and around in circles before heading up the stairs. Steve tried to keep the camera steady as she seemed to race through the rooms. He wondered what she must have been like as a kid, Livvy’s age, in this house.  The thought made him feel good.

The tour didn’t last long. It wasn’t a big house, after all, for a family of three.  They ended up sitting on the back porch, looking out into the hills.

“Isn’t this an amazing view? Growing up I thought every house had to have a view as nice as this.”

“So you were happy here? With your folks?”

“Yeah. Lots of good memories here, I was a lucky kid.”

“What’s your favorite room?”

“Hmm. My bedroom, of course, planned lots of adventures from my room.” Her sweet laugh made him smile. “And I liked it out here, it was like an extra room in the house. I’d make forts in the trees and stuff.  When I was older, my boyfriend and I would . . .”

“Oh, do tell!”

“No, the camera’s on!”

“Maybe I’ll turn it off.”  She stuck her tongue out at him and he tried to keep the camera still as he laughed. “Any others?”

“I guess my favorite room was my Dad’s study. I used to play legos on the floor while he worked. We’d barely talk, but it felt like we were having long conversations, you know? Even after he died I’d spend time in there and would feel close to him. It was like the heart of the house. Did you feel it?”

“Yeah, that was my favorite room, too.”

“Every one of his houses has a room that feels like that. The heart room.” She fell silent for a minute, and looked back over her shoulder to the house. “That’s one problem with my house. I can’t tell which room’s the heart room.”  She scowled again and looked straight at him. “It’s making me doubt . . .  oh shit, turn that off!”  Her request took him by surprise and he shut off his camera. “I’ve come this far and convinced so many people, that I hate to say anything at this point, but I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t just found a good imitation.  Especially now, after being here.”

“But it seems so like the others!”

“I wish I knew for sure!  Jason’s trying to track down the contractor Dad worked with, that company’s not in business anymore.”  She looked so worried, Steve reached out and touched her knee.

“It’ll be all right, Kiki-cat.”

“Yeah. Maybe I’m just tired.”  She sighed and covered his hand with hers. “So how’s the documentary? Is it coming together?”

He covered her hand with his, and she covered that with her last free hand.

“We’re getting a lot of footage. Don’t know what it will be until we get to editing. People love to talk about their houses, that’s for sure. Although they don’t always tell the story they think they’re telling.”

“What story am I telling?”

“Don’t know yet,” he grinned. 

“I’m glad I have right to review,” she grinned back.

“Hmm, about that, Kiki-cat . . . Michael’s trying to get funding and it’s difficult if they think somebody else could hold up the project.”

She grew thoughtful, and worse still, pulled her hands back. “I wouldn’t withhold approval over any little thing, you know that. I’m just a teeny part of this anyway, right?”

“Like I said, I don’t know, these things take on a life of their own. Everything’s so different than I thought.”

“How so?”

“I thought I’d get a bunch of loonies talking about the insane amounts of time they spend on their houses.”

“And I’m one of the loonies?” She laughed. “I suppose I am.”

“No, you’re not at all, you’re . . .” He wanted to tell her she was wonderful, he wanted to hold her and get to kiss that worried face. “Driven. That’s not bad.”

He knew he’d be in trouble if he kept looking at her, and focused instead on the yard. “I had one of those,” he said, pointing at a play set in the yard.  “You know, Michael joked that I was making this docu to explain my divorce.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I blamed my house for wrecking my marriage.” 

“How can a house wreck your marriage? Money? It cost too much?”

“Of course it cost too much. That was one thing.  Working to afford the house, spending weekends taking care of the house. We were fine in Santa Monica, even after Livvy was born. We had parks, we had the pier, we had places to walk to and people to talk to.  But we had to move for the schools, right? Because that’s what the dream is, to live in a house in a good school district with land for a swing set.”  He chuckled and shook his head. “You can take the boy out of the city, but can’t take the city out of the boy, I guess.  But I just felt so alone out there, even with a wife and a kid.”

“How did your wife feel about it?”

“She didn’t understand, said I was being selfish. Which I suppose I was.  That and who I would catch rides with. She didn’t like that much either, even though I never gave her anything to worry about.”

“Oh, right, I don’t know how you live without a car, but you’re consistent about it, which is admirable in its way, I guess.”

“Now that’s a ringing endorsement!”  Steve looked back to the house. “You know, what you said about a house having a heart? That it really needs one?”  Kiki nodded and he lightly touched her hand. “Marriages need one too.  Something that beats no matter what.  We didn’t have that.” He looked up in her eyes and saw a tear form that she quickly wiped away.  Was it recognition, or did she just pity him? He couldn’t stand it if she pitied him.

“I’m sorry, Steve.”

“Aw, fuck, I didn’t mean to give you the divorced guy’s sob story, it’s such a fucking cliché.”  He stood suddenly and shoved his hands in his pockets.  “Jesus, I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not. It’s okay.”  He felt her behind him, felt her hand on his shoulder, softly urging him to turn.  He turned around and looked at her, fighting with every ounce of resistance inside the urge to touch her face. 

He took a deep breath before speaking. “You said you may need to go back early?” 

She shook her head at his attempt to change the subject. “You’ve spent a long time listening to me all this time, Steve, let me listen to you.” 

His resistance might have held if she hadn’t touched his face, but when her fingers went to his cheek he leaned down to kiss her. Just a thanks-for-thinking of me kiss, he thought. Except that she kissed back, and her lips were warm and soft and she tasted so sweet he couldn’t stop. Her hands went into his hair and his went around her waist and he pulled her closer. He felt her lips part slightly. Was his tongue first? Was hers? It didn’t matter, they were soon dancing together and he felt his moan rise with hers.

“Hey, you guys didn’t wake me!”  Pete’s voice bellowing from the side of the house brought an abrupt end to their embrace.

“Didn’t have the heart, Pete!”  Steve didn’t know how she managed to speak, he didn’t think he could. Thankfully he had the camera to hold in front of him when Pete rounded the corner.

“Thanks a lot. Hey, I don’t remember this one.”

“It’s the house she grew up in.” Steve put a free arm around his friend’s shoulder, turning him away from Kiki, who was pulling herself together.

“Really? Could you go inside?”

“We did, Peter, but I really need to get back, Ted wants me to meet with him and his mother to interview a caterer.”  Steve looked sharply at her; was she lying to get away from him?

“Aw, Kiki, why’d you let me sleep?”

“Because you needed it, Peter.  Go ahead and look, but for five minutes. I need to make a call.”  Steve went to follow her but she put up her hand to stop him.

On the drive home, Steve sat in the back, showing Pete what he’d shot inside the house.  He caught her eye in the rear view, and the look of confusion and guilt in her eyes made him ache, but when she touched her lips. Damn, what was she thinking?

~*~

Kiki couldn’t decide what to think, and she swore under her breath as she restarted laying out tile pattern for the third time.  She couldn’t stop thinking of the day before. She’d fairly pounced on Ted when she saw him, trying to kiss Steve’s kiss away, trying to feel the same way she’d felt in his arms.  Ted didn’t seem to mind, but his mother was a bit put out by her displays of affection. The interview with the caterer was a blur, and now the tiling wasn’t going much better. What to do? Tell Ted? Stop the Fridays? Give Peter more coffee next time? Why had she let that happen? She didn’t need any more complications in her life right now. It was too much.

“Excuse me, Kiki? There’s someone outside that you should talk to.”  Ajay had interrupted her mid-thought.  But as usual these past months, the phone interrupted her interruption.

“Just a second.” Ajay looked a little worried, but when she heard the voice on the other end of the phone, she couldn’t be concerned with that.

“Hey, Kiki-cat.”

“Hey,” she replied, her pulse beginning to race again. There was a pause as they listened to each other’s breathing. “You know, I’m having mushrooms and pate at my wedding and it’s all your fault.” That was it, she told herself, make a joke of it.

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”

“It’s bad, I hate mushrooms and I hate pate.”

“Then why are you serving them at your wedding?”  He sounded a little impatient with her tactic.

“I felt guilty about being late, so I let them have their way.” She hoped he would understand her code, what with Ajay in hearing range.

“It’s not like we planned that, Kiki-cat.”

She knew that very well. In fact she’d done everything she could to avoid it. “I understand, but I like to keep my promises. They’re very important to me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, I was the one, um, driving.”

“I think we both were. I won’t let it happen again, okay? I don’t want to upset you, ever.”

“Thank you.” There was silence again. What more could they say?

“I can still feel you, Kiki-cat.”

She wasn’t sure if Ajay heard her gasp and turned her back to him. “Oh God, oh God.” She knew she should shout ‘don’t say that’, that she should hang up the phone. What message was she giving him by not saying that?

“Kiki, excuse me, but I really think you need to talk to this young woman.” 

She nodded at Ajay and gripped the phone tight. “I . . . I’ve got to go, really, got to go.”

“Okay. Next week?”

“I’m not sure, I’ll let you know, okay? Gotta go!”  She snapped the phone shut. Why couldn’t she just say what she was supposed to? Ajay tugged at her sleeve again and she followed him to the front porch. Jason was speaking with a young dark-haired woman in a nurse’s uniform. She didn’t look like an architecture buff. “Excuse me, may I help you?”

“Yes, I’ve been driving by this place for weeks, and I was curious about the construction.  Finally got the courage to stop on my way home from work.”

“Okay,” Kiki laughed softly. “But may I help you?”

“I’m sorry, let me introduce myself. My name’s Mia Richardson, and I grew up in this house. My father built it.”

Chapter Four

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