Chapter 14
“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Darrel said. Justine hadn’t noticed them coming up to her. “I told you this movie would be a blessing for the shelter.” They were both looking at Sienna, who was surrounded by six people who all wanted a piece of her.
Justine ignored what Darrel had just said about Sienna, although she wholeheartedly agreed.
“It’s astounding what meeting someone who has been in a few movies can do to people. Look at Ashleigh. She’s a different person around Sienna.”
“They’re all starstruck. It’s so cute.”
“Sounds like you’re a little starstruck as well, D.” Justine glanced at her co-worker from the corner of her eye. They were positively beaming.
“It never hurts to glam this place up a bit. And that’s what Sienna does. It’s hard to explain.”
“I think for these kids she’s like a canvas on which they can project their biggest dreams,” Justine mused. “Despite Sienna’s obvious privilege.”
“It probably means something different to everyone.” They bumped their arm against Justine’s. “Good job getting her here.”
“Where’s your other new best friend, Alexis Dalton?” Justine asked.
“She texted that rehearsals are running late. She has a big part to play, after all, and she has to properly prepare.” Darrel delighted in this a bit too much to Justine’s liking, although she fully understood. The shelter was not a glam place—as they’d put it—and to have Sienna, and later Alexis, spend a few hours here hanging out with some of the kids momentarily changed the vibe from bleak to sparkling. It was as though Sienna added a vivid splash of color to its beige walls just by being here—a bit like a Raffo Shah painting. Thinking of Raffo made Justine’s mind wander to last weekend—to when Sienna wanted to show Justine her other Raffo painting. And show her she had. An inadvertent smile spread on her lips.
“You like her, don’t you?” Darrel said. “I can tell. Your body language’s different, so don’t even bother denying it.”
Justine thought a change of subject was the best course of action. “Didn’t you have a hot date with Alexis Dalton over the weekend to gossip about me?”
“Gossip? Moi?” Darrel clutched their hand to their chest. “Besides, I only have good things to say about you.”
“Like when you told Sienna and Alexis that I’m a real piece of work.” Justine arched up her eyebrows and looked Darrel straight in the face.
“In a good way, obviously, boss.” They winked at her. The thing with these shelter kids who’d managed to change their lives, kids like Darrel had been, was that once they’d made it to the other side of all the rejection and pain, they were stronger and more resilient than most—and there wasn’t much left that could unnerve them. Least of all a half-hearted scolding from Justine.
“Why am I such a piece of work, according to you?” Justine was actually curious.
“Where to even begin?” Darrel returned her gaze. “You built this place from scratch. You fight for kids whose parents have given up on them. You take zero shit from anyone. You’re tough, because you’ve had to be. But as one of the shelter’s most valued employees and someone who has worked with you for years, I know you have a heart of the purest gold underneath all your posturing and fronting.”
“Jesus, D. I wasn’t asking for a psychological assessment of my personality.” Warmth blossomed in Justine’s chest nonetheless. But Darrel was a success story and even though other kids had gone on to do extraordinary things after knocking on the shelter’s door—like Raffo and Min-ji—they were the exception. For every kid the shelter could help, there were several who couldn’t cope, because every single person handles being kicked out by their family differently. Compared to life on the street, staying at the shelter might be a definite improvement, but it was never how a teenager’s life and development was supposed to go. No matter how hard she tried, Justine couldn’t save them all. That was what frustrated her the most, what kept her up at night, and what kept her going most of all. And what kept her screwing up most of her personal relationships—not that she cared a great deal about that. That was probably what Darrel really meant when they’d claimed she was ‘a piece of work’.
Her gaze was drawn to Sienna again. Justine had work to do, some of it urgent enough that she should have finished it days ago, but she found it hard to tear herself away from this room that Sienna brightened up so spectacularly. So she stood, side-by-side with Darrel, looking at Sienna a little while longer.
“Knock, knock.” Sienna appeared in the doorway of Justine’s makeshift office, which was more like a broom closet with just enough room for a tiny table on which she could rest her frantically-whirring old laptop.
Again, a smile spread on Justine’s face. If Sienna had that effect on the kids, Justine could hardly blame herself for not being immune to Sienna’s abundant charms.
“Hey. They loved you. I can’t thank you enough for doing that.”
Sienna scrunched up her lips. “I can think of a way.” She held up her hands. “Not that I need to be thanked. Seriously, these kids are great. They’re already asking when I’m coming back.”
“Are you?”
“Sure. Why not?” Sienna took a step inside but there wasn’t much space to maneuver. “My part in Gimme Shelter is not as big as Alexis’s. I’m sure I can spare the time to spend a few hours here.” Without any qualms whatsoever, she looked Justine deep in the eye. “As long as you’re here.”
Justine wasn’t sure she should flirt back, but she also didn’t know how to stop herself. “If that’s the incentive you need, I’ll be here.”
“Hey, um, I talked to my dad.” Sienna leaned her shapely hip against the table. “He’s making a nice donation to the shelter.”
Justine eyes grew wide. “He is?” Her stomach tightened with excitement.
Sienna nodded. “There is one condition, though.”
“What’s that?” There wasn’t much Justine wouldn’t do to secure a ‘nice donation’.
“He insisted you come to dinner again at my place.” Sienna all but licked her lips.
“That really is a strange thing for your dad to insist on.”
“People are strange. I’m sure you know that.” Sienna chuckled. “My fridge is stocked and I’m free tonight.”
“You’re serious about this?”
Sienna shook her head. “Nah. He already made the transfer. The money will be in the shelter’s account soon.” She leaned over the table. “But I’d really, really, really like you to come over again.” She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. “I have some other works of art I haven’t shown you yet.”
“Seriously though, Sienna. Thank you so much. I so appreciate it.” Justine wanted to check the shelter’s account now to see if the money had arrived yet. “All jokes and flirting aside. It means a lot.”
“I’ll be adding my fee for this movie as well. It’s outrageous that I get paid to play Rochelle, the co-founder of this place, while the shelter needs the money so much more than I ever could.”
Darrel had been right earlier. This movie was a blessing for the shelter—and so was Sienna.
“I’m truly lost for words,” Justine admitted. “And I would love to have dinner with you again.” It was a no-brainer now. Not because of the money Sienna had pledged, although, truth be told, money for the shelter was a good way to buy Justine’s affection any day of the week, but because of how Sienna, just like that, had made good on her word—on something Justine had believed to be a joke. And even more so because of what it said about who she was as a person—someone whose privilege didn’t stand in the way of her generosity. In her decades of fundraising for the shelter, Justine had met too many ultra-rich people who believed that the ever-growing amount of money in their bank account was far more important than helping unhoused queer kids. “Although I should be the one taking you to dinner.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.” Sienna beamed her a warm smile. “In case you missed it, I’m mostly interested in spending more time with you.”
Why? Justine wanted to ask, but this was not the time for that question. Instead, she said, “You’d best take me home then.”
Justine would rather sit in rush hour traffic for an hour than spend money on an Uber, but Sienna had talked her out of driving into downtown LA. They sat in the backseat of a car, that was just as stuck in traffic as Justine’s own car would have been, her phone burning a hole in her pocket—she was dying to find out how much Bobby Bright had donated to the shelter.
“I just need to check something,” she said, cursing herself for losing her cool as her cheeks flushed instantly.
“Sure.” Sienna shot her a knowing smile.
Justine fished her phone out of her bag and, hands trembling, consulted the shelter’s bank account. Sure enough. There it was. Bobby Bright’s name next to a much higher amount than Justine had been expecting.
“Oh my god.” She no longer saw the point in trying to hide from Sienna what she was doing. “Your father donated two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” There were only two things in life that made Justine Blackburn well up. When a kid left the shelter and she knew, in her bones, that she and her team had put them on the right path. That they wouldn’t succumb to self-destructive behavior or turn to drugs or, sadly also too common, just give up on life altogether. When she knew that she’d made a difference. That, and a spontaneous huge donation to the shelter that would make the residents, the staff, the many volunteers they relied on, and her life so much easier for a little while. Enough money to give them a little space to breathe. She tried to swallow the emotion out of her throat, but her eyes didn’t cooperate and got all ridiculously watery.
“He’s nothing if not generous with his money,” Sienna said matter-of-factly. She probably didn’t have a clue of what that kind of money did for the shelter.
“I will send Bobby Bright a heartfelt thank-you letter and I should also give him a call.”
“I’ll give you his details, although I can take care of all that for you. I’m not saying he’s not interested in the shelter, but he did it because I asked him to. That’s just how he is with me and my sister, although he was a touch more generous than I thought he was going to be.” She shrugged. “Although what’s two hundred and fifty grand when you get paid millions for one single movie?”
“It’s a lot of fucking money.” It would be easy for Justine to be cynical about how this donation was a perfect illustration of the inequality in their country—and the world, for that matter—but for her own sanity, she refused to go down that route. “And I’m going to call him tomorrow to thank him for it.”
“Okay. He’ll like that, but, um…” Sienna painted on a devilish grin. “It would be wise not to tell him about tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s my dad. Best he doesn’t know what I have in store for you.” Sienna’s confidence was reaching greater heights by the minute.
“That must be a very special dinner you have planned,” Justine said, her stomach flip-flopping with delight, and not just because she’d finally, among many other things, be able to replace her dying laptop, have the drab beige walls repainted, and perhaps even get that secondhand minibus she’d been dreaming of forever to take the kids out with.
“You have no idea.” Sienna put her hand on Justine’s knee and gave it a squeeze that was not to be misunderstood.