“Hetoldyou to call him? Why would he do that?”
Her foot locked under the chair and she dragged it from the table, plopping down on it, a frown etched on her face. “I don’t know, Deanna.” Sighing, she tapped her foot against the hardwood floor. “Is there anything else you wanted?”
“No. I just want to reiterate that if you have any problems, please call me or Jay, not Mr. Ruiz. We’ll make sure he knows if there’s a problem. Do you understand?”
Raven clutched the phone. “Well, I don’t know, Deanna. It seems kinda complicated to comprehend. I gotta go. Bye.” She clicked off, anger riding down her spine. “She drives me fuckin’ crazy. She acts like she’s in love with him or something.” She picked up Sooty and kissed the side of her face. “Today’s my day for weirdos. It’s better when I stay in the house and don’t answer the phone. We don’t need them, do we?” She smiled when her cat meowed and moved her ears forward.
She pushed away from the table and went to the back room, Sooty padding behind her. When she picked up her paintbrush and dipped it into yellow acrylic paint, she laughed. “Can you imagine what our landlord would say to what I’ve done to this room?” Sooty stared at her. “He’d be pissed. A guy that cocky needs to come down from his pedestal a bit. I bet he always gets his way with women.” She glanced at the large paint can in the corner. She’d planned on painting the room turquoise, but she’d been so busy filling jewelry orders that she’d put it on the back burner.
She grinned. “Guess what we’re gonna do this weekend, Sooty. We’re gonna paint this room and I may even paint a goddamn rainbow on the back wall.” She had no idea why she was taking such pleasure in defying and goading him, but she was. Something about him made her nervous and excited. She had to make sure to push him far away from her, and what better way than showing him that she was the one woman who wouldn’t fall for his good looks and swagger.
Her hand moved over the canvas, creating many small dots of color on the buildings in the city scene to give the illusion of texture. She worked furiously, loving that her unfounded anger at her landlord fueled her on. Each time she saw his smart-assed face in her mind, she stippled faster, and when she remembered his arrogant words, she painted more passionately.
After several hours of nonstop painting, she stepped back and viewed her efforts. The folkloric city jumped off the canvas, and she could feel the pull of the twinkling stars, the brightly lit windows, and the rolling hills in blue, purple, and pink. She smiled as elation spread through her. She was going to have to think about pissing off her landlord more often; it made her paint well.
Chuckling, she gathered her brushes and headed to the kitchen to wash them out and then figure out what to eat for dinner. Maybe she’d take a trip to the pool hall soon. She may even do a bit of hustling; nothing big like the last time, just a few bucks.
And ifhegives me attitude, I’ll give it back to him tenfold.After all, the cockier they were, the sweeter it was to pull them down.
