Bleeding Heart
Chapter 3 Lady in the Purple Martini

The shop the sisters purchased was in a building in town they bought from a local pot dealer known to the locals as the Pot Elf. It started out as a head shop, but the Elf smoked most of his profits. He was more than happy to unload the place on the sisters. It stood on Main St. between a haberdashery and an antique furniture store. It needed a new everything; doors, windows, floors, plumbing and electricity for starters. Pot Elf was curious why two sisters would want to buy the place, but he didn’t ask many questions. The sisters had always wanted to own their own business; they knew they could do it. They envisioned an eclectic, neighborhood chill bar with artisan cocktails, some quality spirits with a fusion of furnishings from different eras to conjure up memories from some by-gone eras and the occasional local talent to grace a small stage. Victoria had been involved with her husband’s family’s wine business and Daphne was a talented artist who could give things a unique touch. And they worked well together. Usually.

They pulled up to the curb to see a smiling Pot Elf in front of the building with a young woman. The Elf was probably pushing 60 but it was hard to tell. He had a head full of long, frizzy white hair under a knitted beanie, a scraggly beard and a mostly toothless grin. And it wasn’t hard to see why he got the moniker Pot Elf by his short stature.

The woman was probably in her 20s, shoulder length, light brown hair in matted dread locks. She had bright, blue eyes and a friendly smile, she towered over the Elf.

“Hey, Elf!” Daphne shouted. “Who’s your friend?”

“Hello ladies. This here is Jade Blue, better known as ‘DJ Thumptuous’.”

“Just what we needed… a club DJ!”

“We’re hardly ready for a DJ, Daphne.”

“Maybe not right now, I mean, not this second but we will need one!”

The Elf chuckled to Jade, “Looks like you got yourself a job!”

“Slow your roll, Elf.” Victoria was not about to make a snap decision though it looked like Daphne was ready to get her info for a job application.

Victoria unlocked the door and took stock of progress. “Look at this floor! It’s less than half finished! Those wires are still protruding from the walls, there are more holes in the wall now than there were when we bought the place. And it stinks to high heaven in here! What have those plumbers been doing?”

“Can’t get good help now a day…” Daphne laughed.

“I don’t replace this at all funny. Those contractors seem to replace time for everyone else but us. I’ve a good mind to call someone else. Elf, do you have any connections with contractors?”

“Who, me? Naaaw.”

Jade spoke up, “You may not be ready yet for a DJ, but I can do a lot of the work that needs doing. I have a lot of friends who would kill for some work and can get this place up to speed.”

“Are you up to this kind of work?” Victoria asked.

“Sure am! Me and my crew can outdo any man!”

“Are you licensed?”

“Well, no but I’ve worked for my dad and he’s licensed.”

“Okay, Jade. Let’s talk some business.” Victoria motioned to her to sit down on some crates. She nearly tripped on her way over.

The Elf and Daphne shook hands. “I knew I liked you more ’n your sister.” Elf shifted his eyebrows up and down and graced her with his best smile. He smacked of pot. Daphne forced a smile to look just as pleased. Oh well, she thought, at least he smells good.

The sisters worked with Jade and crew over the next several weeks on cleaning up and making repairs to the shop. Victoria kept expecting to replace one or more of the original contractors at the shop at any given time. “Maybe I should give those guys a call, give them a piece of my mind. They haven’t bothered to contact me let alone show up for work!”

“Don’t worry about those creeps, Victoria. I called those dogs off when you hired Jade.”

“You what?”

“We’ve finally gotten this mess under control. Look at these ladies! They’re busting their butts for us and for a lot less money!”

“Keep your voice down.”

“I told them they could have drinks on the house whenever they come in.”

“You what? Liquor is our bread and butter! You can’t give away the profits! You didn’t discuss any of this with me!”

“It’ll be fine! They’ll bring in their friends and keep the place looking occupied. I’m sure the word of mouth thing will keep this place alive.”

“And what about their… friends? Will they be getting ‘free drinks’, too?”

“What? Their friends? Oh… I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Victoria clenched her teeth and sucked her breath in. She took several slow breaths before speaking. “Please go and see what Jade is doing in the back, see if she needs help.”

“Aye, aye!” Daphne saluted her sister before hurrying off to the back rooms.

There were a lot of separate rooms in the back that the Elf used for private smoking rooms. Daphne walked into one of the rooms where she found Jade and sniffed the air. “Somehow, pot doesn’t smell quite as nice after being trapped in the walls for months at a time.”

Jade looked back at Daphne and smiled as she pointed to several bags on the floor that were found in the walls during the demolition. “Ooo! That’s quite a replace… and quite a haul! I’ll share it with you.”

“No, that’s okay. You can keep it.”

“Okay, I’m not asking twice. Looks like you’ve got things under control here. Keep me posted on anything else you may replace in those walls.”

Most of those walls came down to make room for a dance floor, seating areas and a bar. The work did satisfy the need to keep their minds momentarily occupied. After two months of hard and continuous labor, they were nearing completion of the interiors.

“This wood for the bar, it’s just beautiful. I love the natural shape of the wood, the curves and the caramel color, the high gloss doesn’t take away from it at all. I can just imagine Joan Bennet, sauntering in to order a White Lady. Where did you say you got it?” Victoria asked Jade.

“This really cool guy, he looked just like Mario Van Peebles. Me and my dad were in the Builder’s Supply store and this guy comes out of nowhere and starts talking to us. We walk out to his truck and he’s got all these really cool samples.”

“Who was this guy? Was he legit?”

“Oh, yeah! I have his card; it has his contractor’s license on it. My dad checked him out; he’s good.”

“How funny…” said Daphne. “When I was out shopping for furnishings at this clearance store, a guy approaches me. He was gorgeous; he looked just like Boris Kodjoe. I almost forgot what I was doing in there… anyway, I start spilling my guts to this guy. He opens this catalog he was carrying under his arm and everything I described to him is in this catalog! Next thing I know; I’m ordering all this stuff from him. Great prices, too!”

“Well, isn’t that quite the coincidence…” commented Victoria. “I’m not sure I can trust either of you with the shopping.”

“What?! I made out like a bandit!”

“My guy gave me a good deal, too!”

“Let me see that business card, Jade.”

“I assume you want a card from me, too,” said Daphne.

Victoria looked at the two business cards.

BC Construction Supply CL #004099 BC Clearance Furnishings

Specializing in hard to replace materials Taking care of your interiors

Joseph Haskell Gerry Stiles

Sales and Marketing Sales Manager

1 (800) 555-1795 1 (800) 555-1649

“Both BC. I wonder if they’re owned by the same company. I’ll have to give them both a call.”

Deliveries from both BC Construction and BC Clearance came the following morning. Daphne shrieked with delight at the sight of her conversation sofas, settees, arm chairs and tables. As rolls of silver and black paisley patterned wall paper were unloaded from the truck, Daphne ran out to make sure they were careful with the merchandise and to let them know where she wanted it.

“Daphne… is this stuff antique?”

“Gerry told me they were exceptional knock-offs, that’s why I got such a good price.”

Victoria sauntered over to the sofas and caressed the fabric. “It looks pretty authentic to me, Daphne.”

“But we need je ne se qua, atmosphere, don’t you think?”

Victoria, with furrowed brow and unsmiling face, eyeballed Daphne.

“He knows we’re opening a new business and offered to cut us some slack… you know.”

“No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“We just have to attend some parties at the Blanchet Manor, something like a chamber of commerce would do. You know, hobnob with the local society folk and get our names and faces out there.”

“Parties? When?! Isn’t that house abandoned?”

“That’s what he said; he’s going to contact me with the deets in a few days.”

“The ‘deets’?”

“The details… the details!”