Page 13 of Heartsick & Lipsticks
Callie’s tuition was nearly twenty grand. As proud as I was for her that she’d gotten into the private high school, I didn’t just have an extra twenty grand a year sitting around. And that was before all of her extracurricular costs. Cheer was expensive. And she’d auditioned for speech and debate next year, and I’d been warned by a few parents that the travel for tournaments added up.
When I’d got the call, I’d been disappointed about losing my vacation. But this job couldn’t have come at a better time.
As we drove down Geary and turned onto 25th, I realized where we were headed. Sea Cliffs was an affluent neighborhood in San Francisco. I’d only been there once as a kid. My mother briefly ‘dated’ a man who lived there—with his wife and children.
I’ll never forget her dragging me out of bed in the middle of the night to get into a taxi. I must have been around four because I distinctly remember holding Binky, my blanket. I couldn’t have been older than that because my mother made me throw Binky away when I started kindergarten. She said it was for babies.
We got to this huge house with a gigantic wooden door that reminded me of a castle. I remember standing in front of it in awe as my mother banged on it. A woman answered, and then a man came out, a man I recognized from visiting our apartment. There was screaming and crying, but the thing I remember most was just thinking that the house was the most beautiful one I’d ever seen. From the front yard, there was a view of the water. I remember watching the waves crash against rocks and telling myself that someday I would live in a house just like it.
As we drove into Sea Cliffs, the same feeling of awe that I’d felt at four came over me. The only difference, as I looked out at the waves now, was that I knewIf I worked every day for the rest of my life, I’d never be able to afford to live there. —
We pulled up to a Spanish Colonial house and into the driveway. I only got a brief look at the stunning courtyard before we drove into the garage. I was gathering my bag when my door opened. I hadn’t even realized Kurt had gotten out of the car and was opening my door. Forget security; he should be a ninja.
“Thank you,” I said as I stepped out.
I followed behind Kurt, who opened a door that led into a mudroom where a woman who looked like she should be on a runway during Paris Fashion Week greeted me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more symmetrical face. Dark curly hair fell past her shoulders and framed her high cheekbones and perfect arched brows. She wore a white button-down shirt, skinny jeans, and camel-colored flats that, on anyone else, would be a casual outfit, but on her, they looked classy and elegant. When she smiled, she revealed perfectly straight white teeth and two very deep dimples.
“Hi, Miss Taylor, I’m Jada.”
I blinked and realized that I’d been staring at her for a few seconds too long. I hadn’t meant to, but she was just so beautiful that I hadn’t been able to help myself. “Hi, um, it’s Skye, please.”
“I’m Mr. Locke’s assistant, and I just had a quick question about paperwork. We haven’t received a signed NDA from you.”
“NDA?” This was the first time I was hearing anything about a non-disclosure agreement.
“Yes, I emailed it to Sonja, who said that she would pass it along.”
“Oh, okay.” I pulled out my phone and searched Sonja’s name, but the last email that was there was sent last week. “I don’t think I got it. This job was last minute, so she might not have sent it yet.”
“No worries.” Jada smiled.
She typed something on her iPad, and a text message appeared on my tablet. It was titled NDA and was from[emailprotected]. “Oh, okay, I got it.” After a beat of silence, I asked, “Oh, did you want me to sign it now?”
“That would be great.”
I clicked on the link and quickly read through the document before adding my e-signature to it.
“If you wouldn’t mind sending it back.”
“Of course.” I attached it to the reply to her email and pressed send.
“Thanks.” She opened the response and scanned the document before lowering the iPad. “I’ll give you a quick tour and then bring you in to see Naomi. Gary is with her now.”
I nodded.
The tour started in the gym and media room, which were both downstairs on the basement level. On the main level there were the kitchen, sunroom, dining room, game room, and office. I noticed that there were a lot of colored pictures hanging on the fridge, which made me wonder if there were kids living here and, if so, how many.
“Upstairs, there are five bedrooms and five baths.” Jada explained as she passed by the large spiral stairway that was off the foyer. She turned down a hallway tucked behind the staircase, and I followed behind her as she explained, “This entire wing is Naomi’s.”
I nodded as we passed a sitting room and a bathroom. When we came to the door at the end of the hallway, she paused and lowered her voice. “Anything she needs or you need, just let me know. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is. Anything.”
I had been told that by other patients’ loved ones, and I knew that they meant it, but hearing it from Jada was different. I had a feeling it wouldn’t matter what the request was; if I asked, it would happen.
Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it. I could see from her expression that she needed to take it.
“I’m fine from here. Thanks.” The rest of this experience might be totally out of my wheelhouse, but meeting a new patient was not. This was what I did every day.
She smiled. “Thanks. Rememberanything,” she reiterated before heading back down the hall.
