I stood in the opposite corner, adjacent to the ridiculously short woman. She hadn’t stopped staring at me. Finally, sighing deeply, I made eye contact. She smiled. Oh no, I thought, it’s a minion. Kiersten, if memory serves. Great.
“So,” she said, giving me a slightly desperate grin. “Umm, this is kind of awkward, but—”
“Oh, for the love, just ask already,” I growled. “We both know where this is going.”
She smiled in relief. “Oh, thank you so much. It really won’t be a hassle at all—I promise—you’ll love it.”
Yeah, right. “Just give me the details.”
“Okay, let’s see—Dojo will need to be in bed by 7:30. Nayna can stay up a little bit later; she likes a story before bedtime. Grisham is always a good bet; she’ll be unconscious within minutes.”
“Wait—what? What are you pitching me? What kind of manuscript is this?”
Kiersten shook her head. “Oh, no manuscript. I let my agent take care of that. I need a babysitter tonight.”
My scowl deepened—if such a thing is possible. “A babysitter? You want me to babysit?”
“Look, I’m desperate. You’ve had plenty of practice with Evil Junior and the weredingos.”
“I’m an adult! A professional! I don’t babysit!”
She gave me a calculating look. “Twenty bucks.”
“Please,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Raising one eyebrow, she added, “And a pizza.”
I hesitated. Raising two weredingos wasn’t cheap, and with things going how they were in publishing, well… “Pepperoni?”
She smiled triumphantly. “Of course. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the kids.”
I shrugged. It had to be better than reading her manuscript.
--Kiersten
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
EE bedtime stories? What a great idea.
And so you, K.
Babysitting for pepperoni pizza, I thought my price was low but jeepers! are you cheap.
I like it. I like it.
This had me laughing aloud. :)
Good one, Kiersten, but I'm concerned about letting EE select the bedtime story for sweet Nayna.
Good one, Kiersten! Heh.
I can't imagine old EE babysitting, but then, at his age, what else is he gonna do with his evenings, eh?
Good flip on the expected. (I should know, as I do the expected every time.)
I think if you had made it clear that the kids were actually weredingos, you would have had a much easier time of it. Also enjoyed the un-expectedness of this!
Meri
Very good writing, Kiersten, but lousy mothering. Those poor kids are going to be traumatized for life!
It's so very hard to find a good babysitter these days.
And relax all, it's FICTION. In truth, I never leave my kids with anyone other than immediate relatives.
But...how do you know EE and I aren't related?
At last! Good reading that doubles up as a weight loss plan.
Post a Comment