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Authors: Yvonne Collins
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is that I’ll never become a conservationist otherwise.’
‘A conservationist?’ Izzy says. ‘I thought you wanted to run a lodge.’
‘A lodge in the Serengeti , Izzy,’ Rachel says. ‘I want to lead wildlife safaris.’
Izzy stares at Rachel as if seeing her for the first time. It’s that ‘how could we be so different and still be friends’ look. Whereas Rachel loves communing with nature, Izzy prefers communing with her blow dryer. She always denies it, but Iz fully intends to take over her parents salon one day. I know she’ll expand far beyond its current Mom-and-Popstatus too. She’s already pushing them to try new things, but they’re satisfied with being an unchanging neighborhood institution.
‘My point is, you can’t let this thing with Grace hold you back,’ Rachel says. ‘Like my father always says, “If you dream big and work hard, you’re sure to succeed.”’
Izzy nods in agreement. ‘Now, let’s go find Newshound a story.’
Both girls smile, satisfied that their work is done. Feeling better, I link my arms through theirs and start walking. I may not be able to choose my relatives, but I did a great job of choosing my friends.
If I were a regular reporter instead of an anonymous columnist, I could simply chronicle Izzy’s journey through today’s auction. She’s decided to bid on someone, and we are shopping for the lucky guy now.
‘Rico didn’t do it for you?’ Rachel asks. She’d hoped we could all hang out together with Jason, Tyler, and Rico.
Izzy shakes her head. ‘First, there was the thing with Paz at the diner. Then he told me about his girlfriend who lives in Mexico. He sees her every summer, but in between they’re supposedly allowed to see other people, as long as it’s casual.
‘You mean he’s looking for a friend with benefits?’ I ask.
‘Correct,’ Izzy says. ‘I mean, do I look like that kind of girl?’
She doesn’t. Izzy is fond of glitter and trendy clothes, butshe doesn’t show much skin or flaunt her chest size. And while she believes in taking the initiative with guys if she likes them, she’s still a traditional girl underneath.
‘I need a guy with some class,’ Izzy continues. ‘And I’m hoping forty-eight dollars will buy it.’
‘That’s a lot of money,’ I say. ‘Are you sure you want to throw it away on a single date?’
‘Quality doesn’t come cheap, Lu.’
‘How will you know you’re bidding on quality?’ Rachel asks. ‘You can’t always see that from a distance.’
Fortunately, Mariah has eliminated some of the guesswork by preparing a complete list of the auction participants, along with a description of the ‘dream date’ each is offering. To raise extra money, she’s selling that list half an hour before the auction begins. Meanwhile, everyone on the list will be working the crowd so we can check out the merchandise up close.
‘You can tell a lot about a guy from his dream date,’ Izzy says.
I find it hard to believe that any Dunfield guy has the imagination – or money – to offer a classy date at a charity auction, but Izzy is less cynical than I am.
The crowd parts to reveal Mariah heading for the stage. Her leather jacket is undone, and I can see that in honor of the occasion, she has actually abandoned her usual workout gear in favor of the short leather skirt she wore in the Bootylicious Calendar, heels, and a low-cut tank. She climbs the stairs and turns to face the crowd.
‘I know you want this,’ she says, displaying the pre-auction package teasingly. ‘But you’ve got to wait another twenty minutes. In the meantime, start mingling. If you see someone wearing one of these’ – she points to the number pinned to her tank top – ‘talk to them. If you fall in love, you still have time to run to the ATM.’
Coming down the stairs, Mariah’s eyes light on me. ‘What, no number, Coconut? I’m pretty sure zero’s still available.’
‘Thanks, but I could never compete with
‘A conservationist?’ Izzy says. ‘I thought you wanted to run a lodge.’
‘A lodge in the Serengeti , Izzy,’ Rachel says. ‘I want to lead wildlife safaris.’
Izzy stares at Rachel as if seeing her for the first time. It’s that ‘how could we be so different and still be friends’ look. Whereas Rachel loves communing with nature, Izzy prefers communing with her blow dryer. She always denies it, but Iz fully intends to take over her parents salon one day. I know she’ll expand far beyond its current Mom-and-Popstatus too. She’s already pushing them to try new things, but they’re satisfied with being an unchanging neighborhood institution.
‘My point is, you can’t let this thing with Grace hold you back,’ Rachel says. ‘Like my father always says, “If you dream big and work hard, you’re sure to succeed.”’
Izzy nods in agreement. ‘Now, let’s go find Newshound a story.’
Both girls smile, satisfied that their work is done. Feeling better, I link my arms through theirs and start walking. I may not be able to choose my relatives, but I did a great job of choosing my friends.
If I were a regular reporter instead of an anonymous columnist, I could simply chronicle Izzy’s journey through today’s auction. She’s decided to bid on someone, and we are shopping for the lucky guy now.
‘Rico didn’t do it for you?’ Rachel asks. She’d hoped we could all hang out together with Jason, Tyler, and Rico.
Izzy shakes her head. ‘First, there was the thing with Paz at the diner. Then he told me about his girlfriend who lives in Mexico. He sees her every summer, but in between they’re supposedly allowed to see other people, as long as it’s casual.
‘You mean he’s looking for a friend with benefits?’ I ask.
‘Correct,’ Izzy says. ‘I mean, do I look like that kind of girl?’
She doesn’t. Izzy is fond of glitter and trendy clothes, butshe doesn’t show much skin or flaunt her chest size. And while she believes in taking the initiative with guys if she likes them, she’s still a traditional girl underneath.
‘I need a guy with some class,’ Izzy continues. ‘And I’m hoping forty-eight dollars will buy it.’
‘That’s a lot of money,’ I say. ‘Are you sure you want to throw it away on a single date?’
‘Quality doesn’t come cheap, Lu.’
‘How will you know you’re bidding on quality?’ Rachel asks. ‘You can’t always see that from a distance.’
Fortunately, Mariah has eliminated some of the guesswork by preparing a complete list of the auction participants, along with a description of the ‘dream date’ each is offering. To raise extra money, she’s selling that list half an hour before the auction begins. Meanwhile, everyone on the list will be working the crowd so we can check out the merchandise up close.
‘You can tell a lot about a guy from his dream date,’ Izzy says.
I find it hard to believe that any Dunfield guy has the imagination – or money – to offer a classy date at a charity auction, but Izzy is less cynical than I am.
The crowd parts to reveal Mariah heading for the stage. Her leather jacket is undone, and I can see that in honor of the occasion, she has actually abandoned her usual workout gear in favor of the short leather skirt she wore in the Bootylicious Calendar, heels, and a low-cut tank. She climbs the stairs and turns to face the crowd.
‘I know you want this,’ she says, displaying the pre-auction package teasingly. ‘But you’ve got to wait another twenty minutes. In the meantime, start mingling. If you see someone wearing one of these’ – she points to the number pinned to her tank top – ‘talk to them. If you fall in love, you still have time to run to the ATM.’
Coming down the stairs, Mariah’s eyes light on me. ‘What, no number, Coconut? I’m pretty sure zero’s still available.’
‘Thanks, but I could never compete with
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