“Don’t you lift weights?”
“I do, but…”
“I don’t think Zion will be mad.” Harmony offered helpfully. “I think it will be okay.”
The boys looked over at her as if they had forgotten she was there.
“I bet Harmony could lift it.” Arrow said suddenly.
Clive snorted in disbelief and this was a mistake. Harmony propped the broom against the wall and marched over. She edged Clive out of the way by maneuvering in front of the desk and grasped the gap under the dropped side. Arrow was already holding the other side so she took a deep breath and lifted. It was pretty solid but Harmony was determined to show “Mr. Pompous” up.
Arrow and Harmony successfully maneuvered the desk out the door and set it down with all the other furniture that had been moved outside. She dusted her hands off and grinned at Arrow.
“I knew you could.” He smiled back then shouted over her shoulder, “Doc, this chick is stronger than you.”
Instead of responding, Clive came out of the storage building with a heavy chair and sat it beside the desk. He went back inside with no response and continued to move furniture sullenly.
“Serves him right.” Arrow muttered.
Harmony nodded and proceeded to go back into the building. As she began to walk inside, Arrow was right behind her and placed his large hand on her back in between her shoulder blades. It was a gentle touch and friendly and it sent Harmony’s senses into a cascade of emotions. That split second was enough to distract her for the rest of the morning. She continued to sweep, but her gaze kept searching for Arrow going about his work.
“Don’t you need to tape off the ceilings first before you start painting?” Clive asked Pat suddenly.
Pat shrugged and continued to run the roller up and down on the walls.
“Get back to work slacker!” Arrow directed Clive.
“I’m not slacking!” Clive shouted in disbelief. “I’m not even needed now. The furniture has been moved.”
“We’ll have to check with Zion to see what else he wants us to get done.” Arrow said as he came back into the space. “We’ll need to finish sweeping and painting, but we’ll do that after lunch. Pat? Harmony? You ready for lunch?”
Harmony leaned the broom against the wall and nodded. Pat didn’t respond but he stopped painting and placed the roller back in the paint pan. They turned the lights off and all walked to the main house for lunch. Droves of recovering addicts were swarming for the dining room, all chattering loudly. Harmony felt awkward in this group because she had never struggled with addiction or known of anybody who struggled with addiction unless you counted Arrow.
“Have we met yet? I’m Serrill!” A man came directly up to Harmony and shook her hand.
“I’m Harmony.”
“Nice to meet you!” And he was greeting other people before Harmony had time to think.
“He’s been here since the last time I was here.” Arrow said. “He’s great and pretty harmless.”
Harmony felt the tension in her body ease up at the reassurance. “Wonder what we’re having.” She mused.
The answer was quickly answered when they entered the room and saw individuals carrying trays filled with spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad. Each of them loaded up their plates with all the goodies including Pat who usually ate sparingly. They all had low energy after the busy morning and legitimately needed the fuel to keep going. Harmony had never realized that her office job wasn’t involved enough to make her feel like she truly needed to eat.
As they sat down at a table, Arrow slid his tray next to hers. Pat and Clive sat across from them and Harmony could tell that Pat was leaning as far away from Clive as humanly possible.
“So, we’re having a meeting with Zion tonight?” Clive asked as everybody else dug into their meal. Pat nodded. “Did he say what it was about?”
“Just continuing to get to the bottom of things that are happening.” Arrow said.
“That’s what I figured.” Clive twirled his spaghetti noodles around his fork and took a bite.
Harmony caught Rachel walking through the cafeteria. When she saw Harmony her eyes lit up and she waved. Harmony awkwardly waved back. Shortly after, Zion also appeared
“Howzit goin’, guys?” Zion asked as he laid a kind hand on Arrow’s shoulder.
“Good.” Clive said enthusiastically.
“Clive got schooled in the ways of manual labor today.” Arrow said.
“I didn’t get schooled in anything.” Clive shot back.
Zion continued to smile. “Well, good. How much did you get done?” Arrow explained what all they had done so far and Zion nodded, pleased. “Good. Good. Well, I’ll join you all in the building after lunch and explain the next steps.”
Arrow nodded. “Thanks, man.”
When they were done eating they ventured back to the building with full bellies. Arrow helped Harmony sweep and Clive joined Pat with painting. An hour after they started back, Zion joined them and explained what else he wanted done, which consisted of mopping the floor, cleaning and dusting the furniture, and disposing of any broken pieces.
“The goal is to make this a hangout spot. Even with all the space we own, there aren’t many spaces that allow people to just hang out.” Zion said regrettably. “So, set this up however you think would be most inviting, and then give me your feedback on what kind of leisure activities you might think our residents would enjoy. Arrow…”
“Say no more. I have ideas!” Arrow said.
Zion gave the thumbs up and said, “I’ll leave you to it. I have a class to teach but I’ll see you at 8 pm for our meeting. It is in the same conference room we met before.”
Everybody gave a sign of having understood and Zion left. They finished up the sweeping and painting in another hour. Pat and Clive washed up the paint supplies, Clive making most of the small talk. Arrow and Harmony threw away everything they had swept up. Harmony sought out mops and buckets and was successful in finding only one mop and two buckets.
“Which would you rather do? Clean furniture or mop?”
