Build a Man

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Book: Build a Man by Talli Roland Read Free Book Online
Authors: Talli Roland
Tags: Humor, Chick lit, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy, Women's Fiction, talli roland
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the zillionth time, then take a deep
breath and email it to Leza.
    I drift into a
daydream where she emails me back, thanking me for my wonderful
contribution and offering me a job at the paper.
    You deserve to
be in print, she says, handing me a juicy contract to sign . .
.
    My head jerks
up as I nearly slide off the stool. I open my eyes wide, trying to
stay alert. Honestly, as much as I hate the Botox Bitches,
sometimes the dead times here are the worst. I tried to convince
Peter to let me play the radio or Hotel Costes; something funky to
keep me awake. Instead, he came back from the Pound Shop with
wailing whales and annoyingly chirpy birds. I much prefer silence
to the sounds of animals getting it on.
    Shaking my head
to clear the fog, I glance up at the clock. Thank goodness it’s
finally eleven – now I can call Mom and Dad and fill them in on the
good news. It’s only six in the morning in Maine, but my parents
get up super early for their ‘greet the sun’ ritual, or whatever
they call it. I swear, the older they get, the more hippie they
become.
    When I first
told them I wanted to move to London to pursue my reporting dreams
(I didn’t mention the word ‘tabloid’; to them it’s worse than
capitalism), they were behind me one hundred percent, chattering on
about all the great socialist papers I could work for. But as time
marched on and no such jobs materialised, their enthusiasm waned.
Just last week, Mom asked if I’d think about coming home. But now I
can confirm Mom’s ‘dream it, live it’ mantra works in foreign
environments, too.
    I’ll keep the
undercover bit to myself, though. There’s no need for them to know
all the little details, and Mom’s always said that if you feel the
need to do something in secret, you probably shouldn’t be doing it
at all. Obviously that doesn’t apply to undercover reporting, but I
don’t feel like having to explain.
    “Hello?” Mom’s
calm voice comes through the receiver, and I can’t help smiling
already, just imagining her joyous reaction.
    “Hi, Mom.” I
tap my foot against the chair, bursting with my news.
    “Serenity! Hi,
honey. Let me get Dad on the line. He’s just out back.” She puts
down the phone and I hear her bellowing for my father.
    There’s a click
as he picks up the extension they installed recently in their
hydroponic greenhouse. Since they’ve only just managed to get the
hang of an answering machine, a mobile is a step too far. “Lesley,
these plants need more solar power. I thought you turned it up
yesterday.”
    Mom sighs.
“Dear, Serenity’s on the phone.”
    “Oh, Serenity.
Still saving the world, one cosmetic surgery at a time?” Dad’s tone
is light, but I know how he really feels about my place of
employment: ‘a cauldron of all that’s wrong with the modern world’,
or something along those lines.
    Good thing I
never told them I was shacking up with the head warlock. Not that
they’d mind the living together bit – they’re all for free love –
but in their view of the world, Peter is the living, breathing
definition of ‘the man’.
    “Well,
actually, guess what? I’m going to be a reporter. I got a job!” I
catch sight of my face in the mirror. I’m grinning like an idiot,
but I don’t care.
    “Oh!” Mom lets
out an excited squeak. “I knew it would happen, Serenity. Dream it,
live it – that’s all you needed to do. What’s the name of the
paper?’
    “Um . . .” I
pause, wondering if I should tell them. As happy as they might be
about my job, they definitely won’t be thrilled it’s a tabloid.
    My mind flashes
to the moment Mom caught me reading Teen People, right after
Clarissa Dixon teased me mercilessly in front of the whole sixth
grade when she discovered I’d never heard of Oprah. (What can I
say? We had no TV.) With a look of sorrow and disappointment as if
her beloved tomatoes had dry rot, Mom had sat me down, taken my
hand, and explained in her soft voice that today’s society

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