Page 27 of Finding Wonderland

“No, thank God. I’m trying to reclaim my Saturdays.”

Again, they both laughed. Having Saturdays off as a fellow was a privilege, not a guarantee.

“Why? You have any fun plans for me to join you on?”

“Sort of,” Vera winced. “Would you wanna help me paint Isla’s apartment?”

Cameron arched an eyebrow at her, and Vera fully expected her to say no. So, she kept talking to not give Cameron the chance to respond.

“And, before you say no, hear me out. Isla’s been through a lot recently and I really want to do something nice for her. Taking her to dinner is fine and all but this would actually help her, you know? And I know it’s a lot to ask since it’s your day off, but I could really use the help.”

For a moment, Cameron mulled over Vera’s request. Finally, she shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. Not like I have anything else to do tomorrow.”

“That’s the spirit,” she laughed.

“So, is this a surprise?”

“It is. I know she’s working tomorrow starting at ten and Mason will be at the sitter’s. She gets off at four and then will pick Mason up, so we have to be done by four-fifteen at the absolute latest.”

Cameron picked up a Post-It note and scribbled something down on it. Vera couldn’t make out what it was. Ripping the note off the stack, Cameron handed it to Vera, who read it aloud.

“Vera owes Cameron one huge ass favor.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I do now?”

“It only seems fair.”

“Fine,” Vera dramatically sighed, “what favor do you need?”

“I don’t know yet.” Cameron tapped her finger on her chin. “But I want you to remember you owe me one. And when I come to cash it in, I want you to still have that Post-It.”

Rolling her eyes again, they finalized their plans for the next day and Vera wrote Isla’s address down for Cameron. All of her patients were done for the day, so Vera headed back to her office to gather her things and leave. She made a beeline to the hardware store, not having a clue what she would need.

Vera grabbed one of the carts and began scouring the giant store for the paint section. It seemed like the best starting point since painting the apartment for Isla was the whole point of her current adventure. But as she walked by an aisle with table lamps, Vera found herself drawn to them like a moth.

And then there was the rug section of the store.

And the storage units.

And picture frames.

By the time Vera made it to the paint section, she had filled not one but two carts to the brim.

“Hi,” she smiled at the clerk behind the paint counter, “how much paint do I need to paint an apartment?”

“How big is it?”

“Um, normal sized? Well, small, maybe? Bigger than a dorm though.”

The clerk stared back at her, utterly unamused by her lack of direct answer.

“How about give me, I don’t know, ten gallons of this color paint,” she slid the light gray, almost blue, color swatch across the counter, “please. That sounds good, right?”

“Yeah.”

Snagging the swatch, the clerk carried on mixing the gallons of paint as Vera tried to figure out if she was getting too much paint or not enough. Not that it mattered either way. If it was too much, she could use it to spruce up her own place. And if it was too little, she’d come back to the store for more.

And that plant. I should really get that plant.

Oh, and those curtains.

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