Come as You Are ©

by Nita Shoemaker

Lila Strong pressed the last tulip bulb into the ground and covered it with dirt. She sprinkled the beds with mulch, and then collected up her tools. Early October was a great time to do the gardening around her condo. The work was hard, but she enjoyed it. She straightened and rubbed the small of her back with her fist. A shower and TV dinner were going to make her Saturday night perfect.

The phone was ringing when she entered the house. She hurried to answer it.

"Surprise!"

"Jenny," Lila said. "What's the surprise?"

"A Come as You Are Party!" Jenny announced.

Lila's heart sank. The day had been warm, and she'd dressed in cut-off jeans, a sweatshirt, and her oldest sneakers. She brushed at the bits of mulch clinging to the front of the shirt. "Oh, Jenny. I don't think I can this time."

"You have to," Jenny pronounced. "Remember? The Chicken Award?"

Lila's heart sank. She remembered all right. It was a tradition that went back to their college days. When you got The Call, you had to come. No stopping to pretty yourself up. You couldn't even put on lipstick. If you didn't show up, you got Jenny's well-traveled rubber chicken.

"So, does Bart still have the chicken?" Lila asked.

"Yep, and he's bringing it over… right now. So you'd better get your tail in gear."

Lila sighed. "Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Great. Bye." Jenny hung up.

Jenny's rules allowed washing hands and brushing hair, so Lila hurried to the bathroom, turned on the water and grabbed the soap. Looking in the mirror as she brushed her hair, she decided she didn't look too disreputable. She pressed her lips together to give them some color. In less than a minute, she was in her car.

Jenny lived with her parents who had a large yard, a pool, and some said, all the money in town. Lila heard music and voices when she parked at the curb. She smelled the barbecue, too.

Lila followed the sidewalk around the house to the door in the privacy fence. Expecting the usual crowd, she was smiling when she stepped into the back yard. Everyone was there, including Bart who was twirling the poor old chicken around his head. Lila waved to her friends and hurried on to join in the fun. Then she saw Jenny, and the smile on her face melted like hot wax.

Jenny was dolled up-not one auburn curl fell out of place. By her side was the newest member of the community, Danny Fane.

Lila looked around her at the rest of the crowd. They were dressed pretty much like her. They'd all been doing their chores or shopping when they got Jenny's call.

Jenny waved. "Come meet Danny."

Lila moved on leaden feet. The last person she wanted to see was Danny Fane. Not only was he good looking and single, he was going to be working at the real estate agency with her. She'd been out of the office yesterday and hadn't met him. It wasn't much of a surprise that Jenny had already made his acquaintance. Jenny knew everyone-especially the male, handsome everyones.

Lila pasted on a weak smile and shook his hand. "I'm Lila Strong, Mr. Fane. I was at a closing yesterday when you came in."

"Call me Danny," he said. His voice was deep and pleasant.

"Thanks," Lila pulled back her hand. "I see you've met Jenny and our friends. I hope you'll like it here."

Jenny possessively took Danny's arm. "Let's find you something to eat. Daddy's chef makes the wickedest barbecue."

Lila smiled again, looked around, and excused herself. "I'll just say hello to the rest of the gang."

She watched as Jenny fawned over Danny for another fifteen minutes. Then, she quietly slipped away and got into her car.

"Friend," Lila muttered as she started the engine. Jenny knew Lila lived alone and did all her grubby chores on Saturday. It was obvious Jenny had wanted Lila to look as terrible as possible in the eyes of the new guy. Well, she thought, the only difference in "friend" and "fiend" was a matter of leaving out one letter. In Lila's book, that was a big letter "R" indeed. It stood for Respect.

Lila was depressed when she walked into her condo. Why, she wasn't sure. Jenny had been pulling the same tricks since college. She was rich and spoiled and always after the best looking guys in town. Nothing ever came of it. They just became another name in Jenny's Brag Book. For some reason, Lila took it personally this time.

The answering machine was blinking, and Lila punched the play button. It was a message from her boss. "Lila, just wanted to let you know you'll be working with Danny Fane on the Riverdale project. We'll have a meeting first thing Monday morning. Have a great weekend. Bye."

Lila sank into a chair by the phone table and didn't move. Riverdale was the biggest project at the agency. Danny Fane was a topnotch agent, and now, he had to be thinking his partner was the world's champion grub worm.

Monday came too soon. Lila considered dolling up for work, but decided not to. If Jenny already had her hooks into Danny, why bother? She dressed in a nice blouse, skirt, modest heels and simple jewelry. She brushed her honey blond hair into a neat pageboy, put on her blazer and went to work.

Lila arrived earlier than usual because it was her turn to pick up bagels from the DoughNut Shop. She'd have coffee ready in the break room for the rest of the staff when they arrived. She was trying to shut the car door while juggling the pastry box, her purse and briefcase, when a voice called from behind her. "Hey, let me help with that."

Lila sighed in relief. Thank goodness for a gallant knight. Strong hands scooped the box from her arms and shut the door. Lila turned to thank him, and, wonder-of-wonders, horror-of-horrors, he was none other than Danny. Her smile and words of thanks melted like snow in July. It had happened again. He was seeing her at her worst. His opinion of her couldn't be very high, and now, her clumsy fumbling would surely put a severe dent in any respect he'd had for her.

"Hey," Danny grinned. "You look like you just lost your last friend. C'mon. I'll race you to the break room. We'll have our coffee before anyone else gets here."

Lila nodded and trudged along behind him. He opened the door, holding it for her while he balanced the box of bagels perfectly on his palm. "I think the break room is this way," he cheerfully said as he led the way. "I was here Friday, but you were gone."

"I know," Lila said weakly. "I'm sorry. I meant to talk to you at the party, but…"

Danny made a staying gesture with his hand. "Don't apologize. Boy, Jenny can talk your leg off."

Lila already knew that. She got busy measuring coffee into the basket, and then watched as Danny poured two large bottles of water into the urn.

He opened the box and lifted out two bagels wrapped in thin paper. "I was wondering," he said as he handed her a paper plate.

"What?" Lila was afraid to ask.

"If the company frowns on the help seeing each other after work."

"Not that they've told me about, but I'm an independent. I'm just here for the Riverdale Project."

Danny gave her a big grin. "That's great."

Lila almost dropped her bagel. "Why do you say that?"

"Because when I saw you, I decided to invite you to dinner. I told my cousin you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen."

Lila swallowed past the lump in her throat. "You did?"

He nodded. "Jenny said you had a lot of courage. That you'd come to the party--no matter how you looked."

"Jenny is… your cousin… and she said that?"

"Yep, yep, and yep."

Lila felt like sunshine inside. "Dinner sounds fine, Danny."

"Hey," he quietly added. "This time, it will be our own Come-as-You-Are Party, okay?"

Lila smiled and sent a mental note of thanks... and an apology winging through space to Jenny. The "R" was definitely back in their friendship.