Read Online She's All That by Kristin Billerbeck - Free Book Online Page B

will haunt me like the Telltale Heart under the planks. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Fi-Nance. Fi-Nance.
    â€œSo, Nana, don’t you think Valeria and Max might want to be alone?” I ask, hoping we can excuse ourselves.
    â€œIt’s dinner time,” she says, as if without her, Max and Valeria might starve. “It’s Sunday night. We watch the new pilots on DVD from the affiliates. I can’t give Max my opinion without seeing the shows.”
    â€œNana, Max gets paid for his opinion—not yours.”
    â€œLittle good it would do him without me. He hasn’t lived life. What does he know about quality television? He was a mere baby when Vietnam happened. He needs me.”
    Quality television, a definite oxymoron. Oh please, mother earth. Swallow me up into the deep crevice that is the San Andreas Fault. Dare I point out that Desperate Housewives and the significance of the Vietnam War have very little in common?
    And then it dawns on me that this is my moment! Everyone is very lost in their own lives. They don’t have time for the insignificance of mine. If I tell Nana my plans in front of Max and Valeria, I have the buffer I need. The highway median of a human sort.
    Just as I see Nana fork the first piece of chicken into her mouth, I speak. “So Nana, Sara offered me a finance job.” Wait for it. “But I’m not taking it. I’m going to be starting my own business within six months.” Now keep in mind, I’ve just said this with the same tone I’d say, “Nana, I’m taking the garbage out.”
    Nana starts to cough, choke actually, and Max rises up to tap her back. He’s hovering over her, waiting for her to recover, slapping her as she coughs. Nana gulps some water, and now all three of them look at me as if I’m the human form of evil.
    â€œMy own design business,” I clarify.
    â€œWe know what you mean, Lilly,” Max says. “Just where will you get the money to start a business?”
    Shoot. I never counted on Mr. Television piping up. This must have been one of the past plots on CSI: Miami or something . Or did The Apprentice offer some sort of business advice last week?
    â€œI’m planning for capital now. That’s using my degrees.” Little white lie here, but if I tell Nana I have no business model, she might feign another heart arrhythmia and next thing you know, I’ll be waiting for my exorcism. Clearly, I can cross Max off my potential investor list, considering his collateral is probably the sum total of that television set. Now everyone has stopped eating, waiting for me to say something more.
    Valeria is shaking her head as if to say, Ah, you ignorant Americans .
    My Nana’s mouth is still open, and she shoves her plate away. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
    â€œNana, I thought you wanted me out of Sara Lang?” That’s right. Go with Plan A. Nana’s ideas are always best.
    â€œI want you out of design. You’re getting too old to be playing these games, Lilly. It’s time you found a real job with your education. You were always telling me about those boys who got this degree and that but never got a job! How is this any different?”
    I bite my lip. “I never really wanted to do finance, Nana.” I’ve tried to tell her this before, naturally, but Nana has a special way of avoiding words she doesn’t want to hear. I don’t want to hurt her; this is the woman who raised me when no one else would! But again, I can’t devote my life to getting James Huntington III a new Mercedes either.
    â€œI’m sorry, Max.” My Nana puts on her low I-didn’t-raise-her- like-this tone. “Lilly seems to bring a tornado with her when she graces us with her presence. She’s not good for the digestive system.” Nana turns back to me. “Sometimes, Lillian Jacobs, life isn’t about what we want. Sometimes it’s about