Stroke of Love

Chapter 5: Guests and the Good Life

When Karen awoke, she heard birds chirping outside her window, a faint humming noise- a vacuum machine, perhaps- and male voices. Reluctantly she got out of bed in search of slippers. To her pleasant surprise, the floor was warm!

"My goodness, they think of everything in New England," she murmured appreciatively.

She entered the bathroom, plugged the tub and opened the faucet. No water came out. She frowned and opened it wider. Still no water came pouring out. Frowning, she opened a few of her suitcases to search for a robe. Walking around naked was alright in one's room, but you never know who you may bump into out there, she thought.

With a bit of difficulty, she put the thing on. Then she headed for the yellow and white bathroom down the hall.

It too had no water.

"Great."

She could not shower with a cast on- especially if it was only cold water. So she had only one choice.

Harold was chatting to Jay about something. Karen could see them from the second floor but couldn't make out the topic, so she slowly made her way downstairs. On Jay's landing she stopped, hoping to get their attention.

A few minutes later, they still hadn't noticed her, so she cleared her throat. The two men stopped talking about the local music circuits and looked in her direction.

There was a moment of complete silence, for even the humming of the vacuum cleaner had stopped. Karen flushed a little at the dramatic pause occurring as the men gazed up at her.

"Good morning, gentlemen."

"Good morning," Harold managed, having never seen Karen in such a state of undress- even though technically she was completely decent.

Jay smiled. "Morning, Karen."

There was another pause and she realised then that her sudden appearance had them both a bit puzzled. Harold more so than Jay; the latter actually looked quite used to seeing women on his staircase in silk gowns.

"Jay, there's no hot water on my floor."

His smile melted into a frown. "How do you mean?"

"I opened the faucets on both baths and nothing is coming out."

The vacuum started again, just as Harold began to speak.

"I've brought your dogs."

Karen, instantly distracted, laughed and ran lightly down the stairs. Her pale yellow robe, not to mention her hair, was a burst of colour next to their sober suits.

"Lead me to them, Harry. I doubt the water situation will be fixed immediately and you'll want to go to work, won't you, anyway?"

"Er- yes," he said reluctantly, enjoying her presence too much to respond enthusiastically.

He headed outside, towards his car. Almost immediately, her dogs began yapping.

Harold went to his car and just barely managed to grab their leashes before the two puppies charged forward.

Curious as ever, Uffizi and Prado made their way to the door, where Karen waited patiently, their noses down and tails wagging wildly.

Karen didn't even notice Jay go upstairs, she was so happy to see her puppies. Nor did she see him stop on the landing to watch her kneel on the orange striped rug to greet them.

"Uffizi, there's a good girl! Prado, easy boy! Sit. Good Prado, good boy!"

Uffizi, as careful as possible of Karen's right hand as a dog could be, was licking Karen's face, her front paws on Karen's leg.