My Summer of Pink & Green Page 4

  I walk downstairs and decide to take a granola bar on my way out for breakfast. It’s not the kind of breakfast Mom usually approves of, but I took so long to get dressed and I don’t want to be the one responsible for making us late.

  “Lucy!” Claudia says as soon as she sees me, and then Bean does that obnoxious whistle thing that guys do to girls sometimes, even though he’s totally doing it in a joking way. “You’re so decked out.”

  “I’m not! It’s just a sundress.” I shake my head and turn away from them, but I can still hear them whispering.

  “You look like you’re going to a wedding,” Claudia says. “Go change.”

  “Oh, Claudia, leave her alone,” Mom mumbles, still half-asleep. Her hair is all frizzed and tied back into a ponytail. She’s wearing one of those Tshirts that are meant to look faded, but hers looks a little too faded. “Be nice to your sister.”

  “I am being nice!” Claudia grabs one of my spaghetti straps and pulls me back closer to her. “I’m being nice because I’m being honest, and you look too overdressed to be going to spend a day on a construction site. You’re wearing heels!”

  I inch away from her and go out to the car. So what if I look overdressed? I want to wear this. And Claudia doesn’t know I have flip-flops in my backpack and my hoodie to wear over my dress. The pharmacy gets freezing in the summer anyway. This outfit is just to make a good first impression.

  When we get to the pharmacy, there’s a town car pulled up in front and people are getting out of it. If Gary and the spa consultant really took a car service all the way from New York City, she’s even fancier than I thought.

  We drive into Grandma’s regular spot in the parking lot and hop out of the car. Bean has his headphones on and I wonder if I should tell him to take them off. Claudia should probably be the person to do that, but she’s not. And why is Bean even here? Claudia says he comes to the store so he can learn about business and stuff for his major, but I don’t see him taking any notes. He spends most of the day staring at the mini fountain in the Relaxation Room.

  “Hello, Gary!” Grandma says, and reaches out to hug him.

  “Doris, you look more and more beautiful each time I see you,” Gary says, and I hear Claudia mumble the word barf under her breath. Bean starts laughing, of course, because he laughs at everything my sister says, and then everyone looks over at us.

  And that’s when I notice it’s not just Gary and the spa consultant getting out of the car. There’s someone else here. Bevin. Gary’s obnoxious daughter, who was born three days after me. She should be back home by now. She came for the ground breaking, but I figured that would be it.

  “Lucy!” Bevin screams so loud that my mom covers her ears. “I am so so so so so so so excited to see you. We didn’t really get to talk the other day.”

  She runs over and hugs me and I just stand there being hugged, not hugging her back. But if I act like she’s acting, the spa consultant won’t take me seriously.

  “We have so much to catch up on,” Bevin says. “We haven’t really talked since we were in sixth grade.”

  “That was only, like, a year ago,” I say to Bevin.

  She doesn’t seem like she hears me. “And I told everyone in my school about how you saved the pharmacy, and they were all, like, really impressed. They think you’re sooooo cool.”

  “Why don’t we all go into the Relaxation Room so we can sit down and discuss the plans?” Grandma says, like it’s an instruction and not a suggestion. “It’s right over there. Lucy can show you the way.”

  I nod. Phew. For a second I thought Grandma was going to make me take Bevin to another part of the store and work on cleaning or something just to entertain her. But no! I’m part of the discussion because I’m part of this business. If anyone should be entertaining Bevin, it should be Bean, the interloper.

  We all sit down on the Relaxation Room couches and Mom brings over a tray with pretty little mugs and her floral teapot, which is probably her most prized possession.

  “Green tea,” my mom says. “Who would like some?” She’s talking in her quiet voice. She woke up two hours ago, but I know she’s not really awake yet.

  Everyone says they’d like some, and Bean runs back to the office to get some more mugs. It’s good to see him making himself useful.

  “Our goal is to open the spa Labor Day weekend,” Grandma says. “That’s a really big weekend around here.” She’s talking directly to Gary and the spa consultant. And that’s when I realize I don’t even know this person’s name.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” I say to her. “But I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Lucy, Doris’s granddaughter.”

  “Lovely to meet you, Lucy.” She smiles. Her teeth are insanely white and perfectly straight. “I’m Anais.”

  She’s probably one of the prettiest people I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s got clear, dark skin, and she’s wearing a long white skirt and a beaded black tank top. She looks like the kind of person who never sweats. I want her to like me. I want to work with her. I want her to think I know what I’m talking about, or know that I know what I’m talking about.

  Anais crosses and uncrosses her legs and looks down at her notebook. “Well, there’s a lot of work to do. I’m glad the construction has begun. From what I can tell, the rooms are already done. We need to work on the waiting area, get all of the furniture, supplies, etc. And then of course we need to work on marketing, signage, all of that.”

  Mom nods. “I’m in charge of all the publicity. I’ve already reached out to the local papers. I’ve gotten in touch with my contacts. I’d love to work with you on the best design for the sign, stationery, all of our branding stuff.” Mom pauses and sips her tea. She immediately winces, which must mean she has burned her tongue.

  “Excellent.”

  Anais is writing in her notebook when Grandma looks at Gary and says, “So, Gar, what’s your plan, your role in all of this?”

  He puts his mug down on the table and when a little tea spills, he wipes it up with the sleeve of his flannel shirt. Yes, he’s wearing flannel in late June. I can see why Mom’s really not into him.

  “Well, Dor, to be honest, it’s a little much to travel back and forth from the city so often. I was looking into renting a place here for the summer, but they’re pretty pricey. I guess things have changed since I was a kid.” He picks at his chin hair and it’s grossing me out so much that I have to look away. “And I really want to be involved with everything. I know you’re in good hands with Anais; she’s done this many times. She helped open the Great Jones Spa in Manhattan, one of the best in the world. But I’d still love to be here if I can.”

  Mom’s flipping through one of Anais’s spa supplier catalogs, and Claudia and Bean are trying to discreetly play the can-knock-down game on Bean’s iPad.

  “It’s settled, then,” Grandma says to Gary, and I notice I’m the only one paying attention. Bevin has fallen asleep in the Turbo Massage Chair 7000. I don’t think she realizes it’s still on and massaging her back. “You’ll move into the upstairs apartment. It’s cleaned out and everything; we scanned all the paperwork so it’s digital now and so it’s no longer needed for storage.”

  “What?” I ask, but no one hears me.

  “I’ve got Bevie with me for the summer. Her mom’s on some photography assignment in Senegal.” He rolls his eyes and I look over at Bevin to make sure she’s still asleep. I know how it is when one parent is annoyed at the other parent. Just two weeks ago we found out that my dad’s trip to the United States was postponed because of extra teaching commitments. He comes every year at the end of June when school’s out, and he usually spends two weeks or more. He stays at this amazing bed-and-breakfast on the water, and he gets a suite so Claudia and I can have our own room. It’s usually the best time ever. My dad is honestly a kid disguised as a grownup—he always gets waffles with ice cream for breakfast and encourages us to do the same. He stays up late, and if it’s raining, he takes us to see three
or four movies in a day!

  He apologized a million times and I said it was OK, and that I understood, but deep down I’m so disappointed, and kind of mad too.

  The thing is, I was really little when he first moved away to England, and so I didn’t really get it. But now I do get it, and I miss him, and I wish he were here more. So his visits are extra-important.

  And if he’s going to just postpone his trip like it’s no big deal, how can I ever really trust him? I think all of these things but I can never say them out loud—not even to Claudia or Sunny.

  “There are two bedrooms up there!” Grandma says, like Gary’s an idiot and he should have known that. “Bring Bevin, she can hang out with Lucy and Claudia. It’ll be great. We’ll put her to work, though, I’m warning you now.”

  “What?” I ask again, louder this time, but still, no one’s paying attention.

  What is wrong with these people?

  Grandma ignores me, and Anais is still writing down notes. I can’t imagine what she’s writing, but she’s gotten up three times to go look at the spa area and no one’s even noticed.

  “Oh, Dor, wouldn’t that be a huge nuisance?” Gary asks.

  Yes, yes it would be! I’m screaming in my head, but I’d never be so rude to scream that out loud. Why did Grandma just offer that? Has she totally lost her mind? Did Mom put some crazy ginseng or something in the green tea?

  Grandma waves her hand in that pshaw way people do when the other person is saying something outlandish. “Not a bit. But you’ll kick in a little rent, maybe that’ll ease your mind?” Grandma smiles. “I know we got the grant, thanks to Lucy, and this spa is very exciting, but money’s still tight, you know.”

  “Ma! Enough with that!” Mom finally tears herself away from the spa supplier catalog. “How many times in my life am I going to hear you say that?”

  “That’s fair,” Gary says.

  “So it’s settled then,” Grandma says, completely ignoring Mom’s comment. “Go back to Manhattan, get your stuff, move in whenever. OK, back to business.” She turns to look at Anais.

  Mom and I are staring at each other, wondering if what happened is what we think happened.

  What on earth am I going to do with Bevin all summer?

  “I’ve made a list,” Anais says, pouring herself another cup of tea. “I can see, and also Gary has told me, that this is truly a family business. You all want to be involved, and that is wonderful. I’ve divvied up responsibilities, and then you can tell me if the fits seem right.”

  I nudge Claudia with my elbow and they finally turn off the iPad and pay attention. Bean is such a bad influence on her. She could do so much better, but now isn’t the time for me to tell her that.

  Anais stands up and does some yoga-like stretching and then begins reading off the list. Bevin is still asleep. Clearly she’s not going to be much help around here, but that’s OK with me. I can do it fine on my own.

  “Jane will be in charge of the publicity and the branding. She has connections to local news sources and she has an eye for design, I can tell from the wonderful relaxing atmosphere in here.” She looks over at Mom and Mom starts to say, “Well, that was really Lucy’s doing,” but then Grandma shuts her up, and Anais goes on.

  “Claudia and Lucy and Bevin, if she’s here, will be in charge of the hiring process. I’ve spoken to Claudia about this and she seems up for the task. Gary and I will be making the final decisions, but you can do the initial groundwork.” Anais looks at Claudia.

  “Bean can help us with that too.” Claudia smiles. “His dad is the vice president of HR for JetBlue.”

  “Got it.” Anais pulls her hair into a low ponytail. “Doris, Gary, and I will oversee the operations, handle the supplies, setting everything up, and preparing for the grand opening. And you’ll keep running the actual pharmacy.” She looks down at her notebook one more time. “Any questions?”

  “I’ll also oversee the eco-spa aspect of it, focusing on the eco,” Mom says. “That was Lucy’s vision, that’s why we got the grant in the first place, and we must make sure that everything is up to the correct environmental standards.” Mom looks at me. “Right, Lucy?”

  “Right.”

  “OK, I will make a note of that,” Anais says. “So if we’re in agreement, I’d like us to all walk over to the spa area together, and we can discuss how we envision the entrance area.”

  Gary goes over to the Turbo Massage Chair 7000 and taps Bevin on the arm. “Bevie,” he whispers. “Come on. Get up.”

  Bevie? If he keeps calling her that, it’s going to get very annoying.

  As we’re walking over to the spa area, Grandma whispers to Mom, “Anais is great, isn’t she?” For the first time in a while, Grandma actually seems relaxed. Even though every single thing about this spa opening is annoying me, I’m happy to see Grandma relaxed. I need to appreciate that.

  “She seems very amenable to us all working together,” Mom admits. “And she’s very calming.”

  “I agree,” Grandma says, and she puts her arm around Mom.

  Deep breaths, Lucy. Deep breaths. I say that to myself over and over again. I can’t always be complaining, like Yamir said I was.

  Anyway, things aren’t so bad. Anais understands that we all have a role here. It’s going to be OK.

  And based on today, Bevin will probably be sleeping the whole summer anyway.

  who’s always traveling. She’ll help open a spa in Boston one month and then be sent to Arizona to open a spa there the next month. Her housing is paid for by her company, and I have to admit … it’s my dream job. I know I talked forever about becoming Laura Mercier and having my own makeup line and everything, but guess what? I’m thirteen and I can change my mind. Or maybe I can have two dream jobs for now, and then decide when I actually have to work.

  Right this minute, I want to be a spa consultant and travel all over the country—and the world. Anais said she was helping a spa in Paris a few months ago. Paris! Unbelievable.

  The best part about Anais being here is that we don’t have to pay her anything. I didn’t realize this until I overheard Grandma, Mom, and Gary talking the other day. Gary was saying how her salary is included in his part of the investment. He wants to make sure the spa gets off to the best start possible. And I agree 100 percent. For once, Gary and I are on the same page.

  Gary and Bevin are moving into the upstairs apartment today, and Anais is moving into her apartment. The Fourth of July is this weekend, and then we will have less than two months to get the spa open. That’s not that long. It feels like after today things are going to go really, really fast.

  Claudia put an ad online that the soon-to-be-opened Pink & Green: The Spa at Old Mill Pharmacy is looking for employees: facialists, makeup artists, waxers, and all kinds of aestheticians and beauticians.

  She’s really good at writing stuff like this, and Bean said he knew how to word it since he’s helped his dad with human resources stuff before. I wanted Anais to look it over, but she said it was OK to start out and she’d help us if we needed it.

  We’re waiting for the first interviewee to arrive when my phone starts buzzing in my pocket.

  “Whatcha doing?” Sunny asks me when I answer. “I’m so bored.”

  “Where’s Evan?” I ask, and I know I’ve got an attitude, but the truth is, she pretty much spends all her time with him anyway.

  “At his grandparents’ in the Berkshires for a few days,” she grumbles. “See why I’m bored?”

  She doesn’t even try to pretend that Evan hasn’t pretty much replaced me. Sunny doesn’t understand that’s something she should try to do.

  “Sorry. I’m busy, Sunny. We have an interview coming in.”

  “Fine.” She stops talking like she’s waiting for me to change my mind. “Call me later. OK?”

  “Sure.” I won’t say this out loud or anything, but I’m not going to call Sunny a million times over these next few days while Evan is away. I want her to miss me.
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br />   Mom and Grandma are helping Gary and Bevin move in upstairs, and every other minute I hear something drop and Mom or Grandma curse and then yell at each other for a few seconds. I’m glad I’m not up there right now. But I kind of wish I was helping Anais move into her apartment. She’s renting this place right on the water. You walk outside the main door to her apartment building and there’s the ocean. And they also have a pool for the people who live there. It sounds like paradise, but it’s right in Old Mill, Connecticut. But when I asked if she needed help, she told me she’s all set. Her company even pays for movers and unpackers and people who set up her electronics and everything.

  See what I mean? Dream job.

  “Hello, I’m looking for … uh … ,” a girl says as she’s walking into the pharmacy and then she looks down at a crumpled slip of paper. “Claudia Deszszsberg.” She doesn’t know how to pronounce our name. Few people do. It’s Desberg, with a soft s, but some people pronounce it with a z sound.

  “Hello, I’m Claudia.” My sister reaches over to shake her hand. Claudia’s wearing a gray pencil skirt and a crisp white button-down. Does she realize she’s not the one being interviewed? No one told me to dress up. I’m in khaki capri pants and a striped T-shirt. But even Bean looks dressed up, or as dressed up as Bean can really look. His camel cargo pants are a little wrinkly and so is his button-down, but at least he’s wearing a tie. It has pink flamingos on it, but it’s still a tie. It’s obvious he tried.

  “A pleasure to meet you, Claudia,” the girl says, a little more relaxed. “I’m Diana. I have a ten-thirty appointment.”

  Claudia nods. “Of course. Right this way.”

  Claudia and Bean lead Diana through the pharmacy to the spa area, where there’s a tiny little meeting room. It’s barely set up, but Anais made sure there was a small couch, two rolling desk chairs, and ample lighting. I follow behind them.

  “It’s still very much in progress, as you can tell,” Claudia says.