Wood Paneling Is a Sin
(Chapter of unnamed WIP. Read Order: 3)
It was already minus one star from the review for Ruby since she'd had to schlep all of her bags up to the room herself. Well most of them anyway, Hayes did help with a couple and Dani took one too. But that wasn't the point. Where was the bellhop, where were the trolleys at the very least? Of course, this was pretty much a family home so she couldn't get too picky. When she threw open the door, her first thought was written all over her face.
Dani laughed. "It doesn't SMELL, Mom!"
What was the word her sister Reagan always loved to use? Ghostly? No, ghastly. The colors were all wrong. It was the middle of winter and here we had autumn bronzes and warm oranges, browns. Browns that didn't even match the same color family. The ugly rug under her feet was from a yellow-brown family with strange, almost nauseating yellow wavy lines through it. The lounge chair, while made of what looked like very expensive calfskin, was stained a red-brown and clashed. There was a mixture of aesthetics too. No one should ever do glass and chrome with wood and leather. Was this a man cave or a hotel room? Well, again, it was more a family home even if there were a bunch of them staying in these rooms.
She really shouldn't think anything about how this all looked. She should just be grateful. But she'd been left out of the design process entirely! When you have an interior designer in the family, don't you call them first when you do a big project like this? Sure, she was busy with the show but she would have dropped everything to help. If she wasn't too booked up. Or pinned down by filming. Oh, maybe her sister had been right to leave her out of it. Still, she almost couldn't forgive her for the fake wood and chrome cabinets. Everything boxy like it was meant to be modern.
"But we passed boxy back in the early aughts," she thought.
Dani laughed again and tossed her bags onto the king sized bed. "Let me guess," she said and affected her mother's slightly deeper voice in an authoritative tone. "It should be a California King or nothing at all."
She looked at her daughter and narrowed her eyes slightly. Dani grinned like only a teenager can. Being both a major snot and her sweet baby girl all rolled into one. "Well it should! If I paid good money, I should sleep on the best memory foam with cooling sheets, and goose down pillows!"
Dani rolled her eyes. "You didn't pay for anything, Mom."
She shrugged off the teenage attitude, glad Dani was old enough now to sleep in her own room, even if it was adjoining through a door between the rooms. Which was another thing on the list of faults she found in the decor. The adjoining door was seamlessly hidden in the west wall of the room which was paneled in wood. Dani had the door open and was slipping away through it into her own room. She called after her daughter.
"Wood paneling is a sin!"
Dani waved a dismissive hand over her shoulder and then turned to her mother. "Just don't let anyone film in here and you don't have to worry about it reflecting on your reputation." She closed the door then, disappearing into her own teenage world and leaving her mother standing, staring around at the rest of the room in mild horror and fascination.
---
Squares here. Squares there. Anyone got a box? Yep, right there. It's hip to be square. There were so many squared edges in the room that Reagan added another item to the list of reasons to be grateful she was sober. She wouldn't impale herself or stumble head first into the corner of anything in here because she was on a bender.
But oh it was gorgeous. The wood that was here and there throughout gave her a warm feeling like being in her uncle's hunting cabin when she was a child. The carpet felt soft and thick under her bare toes because she'd kicked her shoes off as soon as she'd stepped foot inside. The rest of the floor was rich, dark hardwood that made her nostalgia grow even more. There was a faint smell of lavender and vanilla in the air and she smiled because that was definitely Rin's touch. A little sachet of handmade soaps wrapped in a purple ribbon was on the table beside the bathroom door. It was so like her sister to pay attention to the tiny details like that. They too were square though and that made Reagan giggle to herself.
She flopped onto the bed, arms out, dark hair floating around her. It gave a little, like it wanted to hug her to itself for a good night's sleep. It was probably the nicest bed she'd ever been allowed to sleep on. The comforter was soft and white, pristine and perfect beneath her fingers. She turned on her stomach, almost swimming up toward the pillows and grabbed on, curling around it and resting her cheek on it. If anyone had seen her enjoying this bed as much as she was she'd have been mortified. But here, in her own world, she was free to lay there in silent wonder, looking at the lavishness around her. Looking at the tiny details that she knew Rin had touched on herself.
The calfskin lounge looked like something directly out of Dad's old office. Back in the days when he had lived with them still and worked financial deals in his own haven of masculinity. Rin had loved to be in there with him. Reagan knew Rin must have hoped Dad would stay here at some point and the sentimentality touched her. Poor Rin. She'd never really know the whole truth. Reagan sure as hell wouldn't tell her. But Dad wasn't as deserving of all the sentimental touches as Rin thought he was. Still. This room, its tribute to an amalgamation of old and new, functional and fanciful, well it was really nice. There was a peacefulness to it. Being surrounded by her sister's hopes and dreams.
She sat up after a moment, tossing the pillow back into place. Even the little bamboo puzzle spheres on the table spoke of Rin's attention to detail. She wondered with a little smirk if Ruby felt at all threatened or if she was too oblivious to realize that Rin was possibly marching into her territory with some of this. That would be a fun conversation. She made a mental note to purposely bring it up later.
There was a knock on the door and the sweet trill of her niece's voice in the hall. "Aunt Reagan! Let me in before she finds me!"
---
Rin had stood in the rooms for a long time. Each one of them was a little different, special. Maybe no one would notice that she had put as much time and thought into which room they would be most comfortable in. That didn't matter as long as they had a good time and slept really well. So she had stood in each one and placed herself in their shoes as best she could. What would Reagan see? What would Ruby see? Dani? Her Dad? Mr. & Mrs. Hayes? Owen...
She hadn't been able to resist ordering the handmade soaps. Each person got the scent she associated with them when she thought about them. And they were for such a good cause. The people who sold them were women learning to re-enter society again after having been in incredibly terrifying situations like human trafficking. It was gentle and good for them to use their hands to do something productive. She'd visited and met them herself and it had felt so good to know she could add to their joy as they added to hers.
Reagan got the lavender and vanilla, soothing and comforting and nothing at all that would remind her of their mother. Ruby, the lime infused brown sugar because it was exciting and lush like she was herself. Dani, sweet girl, was given jasmine and sandalwood to remind her of their late night walks to get ice cream on the boardwalk when she was a kid. Dad had always worn English Leather cologne as a child and his soaps were a faint reminder with a woodsy, citrusy scent. Mr. & Mrs. Hayes were given a scent she always thought of when she entered their home, warm pecan pancakes. Owen... well. It would be far too obvious for her to have placed them in his room but she'd done it anyway. He had always loved the smell of Christmas. Rin had a candle on her coffee table that would make him quiet and thoughtful when he smelled it. She'd chosen a scent that almost matched exactly with fresh pine, apple cider, and cinnamon.
She watched her family, soon to be family, loved ones, friends, old lovers. She watched them go up the stairs to the rooms she had made for them and hoped they loved and she smiled to herself. Hayes slid his hand into hers when he came back down from helping Ruby get her many bags up the stairs.
"Your sister doesn't pack light but I guess I wouldn't either if I were a celebrity."
Rin smiled up at him, her thoughts miles away. He never seemed to notice when they were. He just saw her smile and was happy she was happy. He gave her hand a squeeze and they wandered back toward the living area to check on the evening meal.