Natural Born Charmer

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Hey dad?" I called out from the third floor of our house, looking around at the empty space.

This floor was still empty from our move; covered in dust and chipped paint on the walls. It looked like no one had ever used it before.

There was a large open space spanning across the floor that led to two empty rooms. When I had looked inside them, I almost suffocated from the dust floating everywhere. I guess this was the only floor that the past owners didn't seem to want to clean up.

"What's up, kiddo?" My dad's footsteps padded up the stairs.

I pointed to the room on the left. "Do you think I could make that room into an art studio or something?"

Dad shrugged, taking a peek in it and then grimacing. "Sure, as long as you do the cleaning. Because frankly, I'm not in the mood for lung cancer." Then with a smile and hug, he walked back down the stairs.

"Okay June," I said to myself, planting my hands on my hips, "Let's do this."

●●●

Five hours, four white paint cans, and three coffee's later, I stood in the newly painted room with a huge satisfied grin on my face.

Paint tarps were taped to the polished hardwood floor and windows, the lights and light switches were all removed, and evening sunlight poured in through the covered window and illuminated the white walls.

"Nice job, Proctor."

I spun around to see Jax leaning against the taped doorway with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey," I said, smiling. "What are you doing here?'

He chuckled. "You forgot, didn't you?"

I frowned. "Forgot what?"

"Hayley's party...?"

My mouth hung open. "Shit! It's already Friday?"

Jax laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, and it starts in thirty minutes."

I looked around the room. Since I was pretty much finished, I could go. The problem was getting all the hard, crusty, and pretty much permanent wall paint off my arms and legs in thirty minutes.

Looking up at Jax, he seemed to notice my dilemma also. A shower was definitely not going to fix it this fast.

"Well," he sighed, looking at me, "looks like we have some work to do."

●●●

"Ow! That hurt!" I yelped at Jax who had scrubbed my leg too hard with a sponge and baby oil. I was currently sitting on the counter of my bathroom trying desperately to get the paint off my body. And since it was wall paint, you had to scrub really hard to get it off... and it hurt.

"I'm sorry, little miss gets paint all over her body. You should've worn a long sleeved shirt."

I shrugged. "It was hot up there."

"What are you going to turn that room into, anyways?"

I smiled victoriously. "An art studio."

Jax looked at me with surprised eyes. "An art studio? I didn't know you painted."

"You don't know a lot about me, Mr. Maynor. I'm very mysterious." I smiled cockily.

"You sure are."

We finally got all the paint off my arms and legs and washed them with soap and water after fifteen minutes. But when I went to hop off the counter and change, Jax stopped me.