88 - Shopping

*Sticks, I need furniture. Can I get man glitter plans? The crap at stores sux. – Camille*

After Camille and Darkness left the assisted living center, they headed to the Mid City South district of Baton Rouge. Since they were getting out fairly early in the lockdown, there were plenty of choices. Or at least there were when they arrived. And were able to get inside the store.

Most of the other shoppers at the furniture stores were looking at home office furniture. They did need that. But they also needed furniture for the rest of the house.

The bright red of her couch in her reading alcove at the Shack was not what she wanted in her first living room. She loved the bright vibrant color that was so much not what she was. It was hard to explain, she wanted to stand out, just like her red couch.

But at the same time, she wanted no one to see her.

“What about this one?” Darkness asked as he stood next to a bright turquoise loveseat with hot pink and tangerine orange pillows.

Camille looked at the couch and then at the large man standing next to the small sofa. “This may be surprising to hear, but no. In fact, fuck that shit to the hell no.”

Gasping in mock surprise, he fought against the smile and lost horribly. Not even the disposable mask could hide the broad smile. “Are you sure?”

Pointing to the pink and cream pleather couch that looked like a bunch of giant pool noodles tied together, she suggested, “What about that one?”

Shaking his head he grabbed her hand and led them out of the ‘contemporary’ section. There was a frazzled looking sales associate that was being yelled at by a woman with three kids in tow. Stepping between the woman and the teenager on the verge of tears, Darkness glared at the woman who aimed her displeasure at him.

“Excuse me! I was talking to her!”

“Would you like for me to talk to your kids like that? Oh, I’m sorry, you called her a fucking skank ass bitch. Should I talk to your skanky bitch ass kids like that?”

“How dare you?” she hissed.

“Trust me,” Camille laughed. “He dares a lot. But the point he’s making is that if you wouldn’t want someone treating your kids like that, don’t treat someone else’s kid like that. And think about how you want your kids treating other people.”

“Back off, you stupid bitch,” the little boy who looked to be about six told Camille.

As if she suddenly realized that her own kids were watching her and learning, her face flamed red with embarrassment. Turning around, she ushered her three kids to the door.

“Thank you,” the salesclerk murmured. “People have been so mean today.”

“Don’t ever take that shit,” Darkness said as he turned around and looked at the young woman. “Can you show us where the normal couches are?”

“Normal?” she asked and then turned to see where they had come from. Giving a small laugh, she nodded, “It’s this section over here.”

Following the teenaged salesclerk, they looked through more traditional style furniture and found a sofa and coordinating extra large recliners. The two recliners were a soft gray with dark blue stitching. Meanwhile the sofa was a dark denim blue with black and yellow double stitching.

They walked through the coffee and end tables, but nothing struck her as something that she liked. She had the same issue with dining room tables. By the time they made it over to the home office section, their options were a folding table and rolling cart that looked like it belonged in a hospital.

Unable to find anything else, they took their order number and went to the check out area to schedule a pickup for later in the week. Darkness had already confirmed that the floors would be finished after the painters were in on Tuesday. Possibly tomorrow because some jobs have already been cancelled or postponed.

As they were paying, Darkness got a phone call from Zydeco, and he went outside to take it. When Camille joined him at the Jeep, he was still on the call. He held an arm out to her, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Tucking her under his chin, he held her to his chest with an arm around her shoulders.

There were a few yeahs, okays and even one ‘not a problem’ before the call ended. He tucked the device away before wrapping his other arm around her.

“Everything okay?” she asked, looking up at him, resting her chin against his chest.

“Yeah,” he smiled down at her and leaned in for a kiss. “Some jobs are having to be moved around, and it looks like I’m going to have some time off.”

“I have some ideas on how to fill that time.”

Chuckling, he gave her another kiss. “There are features of the bed that we haven’t tried out yet.”

She grinned at him and then she had a thought. “How did you get the bed?”

“I built it,” he said as he guided her to the passenger door.

“But, how? I mean how did you build it?” she asked as he held the door for her to get into the passenger seat. Tink jumped up and crawled through to the backseat to settle in his spot. He scratched at the blanket before he laid down as Camille slid into her seat.

After closing her door, Darkness walked around and got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “I called Sticks, and he sent me the blueprints and hardware.”

“Okay, clarification question. How did you build it without me knowing about it?”

“I have a little shop set up in the garage at the house. Why? What are you thinking?”

He backed out of the parking spot and when his phone buzzed, he tossed it into the cupholder after looking at the message from Zydeco.

*Revised work schedule pending*

“Maybe getting Sticks to send us blueprints for some other furniture?”

Pulling her own phone out of her pocket, she sent a text to Sticks and he responded almost immediately by calling her. She answered the call through the radio and laughed at his greeting.

“What’s up with my favorite model?”

Darkness also chuckled as he headed towards the target over on Siegen Lane

“I’m looking for some furniture.” Camille admitted.

“So, you said. Where’s the other half of the dynamic duo?”

“On her way back home. We talked to Ryder earlier and I’m going to work on the scheduling and pay system tomorrow.”

“Excellent. What blueprints do you want?”

“I don’t know, we haven’t looked yet.”

“You like the bed?”

Biting her lower lip, she looked at Darkness who continued to look forward. This time his giant smile was not hidden by his mask.

“I really like it,” she finally said with a smile that even Sticks could hear.

“Yeah? Make sure to give us a good review.”

“Always.”

“Let me know what you want, and I’ll email the blueprints to you. If there’s any specialty hardware, I’ll get them in the mail tomorrow.”

“You’re the best.”

“Oh, don’t get too excited. I’ve got a business proposition for your man,” Sticks warned.

“Should I worry?” Darkness asked.

“Nope, not at all,” Sticks chuckled. “Misty saw a picture of your hanging bed and she wants on out in the sunroom. No need for me to draw up plans from scratch if you can send me pictures.”

“I can do you one better,” Darkness said as they pulled into the very full parking lot and saw the line at the door of people waiting to get inside. “I bought the plans off the internet; I can send you a copy.”

“Send me the link and I’ll buy my own,” Sticks insisted. “I may even be able to negotiate for a commercial use license.”

“That’s your business degree speaking,” Camille chuckled.

“It sure as hell is,” he laughed. “The V.A. and American taxpayers paid a lot for me to get that degree, I should use it from time to time.”

With promises to send the link, the call was ended. Darkness nodded at the line outside the doors to the store. “Anything that you need from in there that we can’t order?”

“No,” she shook her head emphatically and jerked her thumb to the backseat. “His food is on automatic delivery, but I should probably change the address.”

“Yeah,” he agreed as he was lost in thought. Automatically, he aimed the Jeep at the fast-food restaurant that they always stopped at after shopping at Target. “Have you ever done the grocery pickup thing?”

“My mom loves it,” she chuckled.

He placed their order at the board and pulled forward as the radio lit up with a call from Celt.

“There’s a complication in me doing your custody agreement. You got a minute?”