I’m going to do just what I want, and if that means getting loaded and bonking some twenty-year old mailroom boy, that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”
She could hear a noise that sounded like wood scraping on glass, plaster and linoleum, but decided to ignore it. “Having a little hissy fit, are we? You know, it’s about time that we got something straight here, like, who’s the boss, right? I’m the boss! I supplied the dirt under your roots and I pay for the roof over your petals, and that’s that! And if you think that I’m going to be strong-armed into taking any jobs that I don’t like, for people that I don’t even know, then you’ve got another thing coming, missy — although I don’t know if hazelnut trees are feminine, I’ll check that online. And another thing, I — ”
A tiny, tinny voice was coming out of the other room, and Annabelle froze, mid-way through smearing paste on her toothbrush.
Ohmigod!
she thought
, ohmigod, it’s not talking back, is it?
She charged into the ‘living room’, only to find the phone on the table, the voice coming through the receiver. She picked it up, and gingerly held it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Annabelle, thanks for getting back to me.”
“Uh. Sure. Um — ”
“Cybill Franklin-Smith.
World Trax
magazine?”
“Of course. How are you?” Annabelle stabbed at the plant with her toothbrush, and it evaded her with the grace of a prizefighter.
“A bit under pressure, as you can imagine, so I’ll have to cut to the chase. Minnehan’s a crotchety old guy, tough on even his best days. He won’t have had a gig the night before, so he should be … fresh enough for a 10 A.M. chat. The turnaround is brutal — ”
“I’m pretty fast — damn it!” The plant took her toothbrush. It completely disappeared.
“Sorry?” The branches waved wildly in Annabelle’s face.
“No, I’m sorry. I, um, dropped something. I transcribe really quickly. And I take notes during the interview.”
“Old school, excellent — ”
“Listen, Cybill, thanks for thinking of me, I’m not interes — ”
Thwack!
Annabelle rubbed her bottom.
Would she have to go out into the street to get away from the flippin’ thing?
Only the idea of Nosy Ned kept her in her apartment. She hissed at the plant, and was sure that it hissed back.
“If it’s money, let me tell you, I’ve got a pretty healthy budget for this. Minnehan is making a dramatic comeback, and who knows, if he likes you, it could turn into more. Anyway, the number I’m thinking of is — ”
Cybill quoted a fee that stopped Annabelle in mid-swing, and caused the plant to relax back into its pot, and, if possible, look infuriatingly complacent.
“Oh.” Annabelle sat down on the floor, hard. “So, um. What exactly are you looking for? General interest, or a time-of-day kind of thing, how he is at that moment, or — ”
“Surprise me. Do what you want.”
“This seems a bit too good to be true.”
“So you’d be crazy to turn me down.”
They both laughed, and despite the unforgivable coercion on Kelli and the plant’s part, Annabelle couldn’t help liking this Cybill Franklin-Smith. “Okay, I give up. When and where?”
As they firmed up the scheduling, Annabelle kept the plant in her peripheral vision. It seemed quite calm, and damn it, yes, it was definitely self-satisfied. Hanging up, she turned on it.
“That was manipulative and sneaky! I know you’re behind all this weird shit that’s been going on! And that was my favorite toothbrush! I have had enough of you for one day
and
night, so just … sit there and leave me alone!”
She stomped over to her ‘office’ to fire up her laptop, dug into her bag for her memory stick, and her hand hit — a Polaroid?
An exact duplicate of one of the Polaroids of that slapdash Irishman.
Polaroids do not have negatives. She shivered, and spun around and glared at the plant.
“I threw those in the garbage!” Grabbing it by a
She could hear a noise that sounded like wood scraping on glass, plaster and linoleum, but decided to ignore it. “Having a little hissy fit, are we? You know, it’s about time that we got something straight here, like, who’s the boss, right? I’m the boss! I supplied the dirt under your roots and I pay for the roof over your petals, and that’s that! And if you think that I’m going to be strong-armed into taking any jobs that I don’t like, for people that I don’t even know, then you’ve got another thing coming, missy — although I don’t know if hazelnut trees are feminine, I’ll check that online. And another thing, I — ”
A tiny, tinny voice was coming out of the other room, and Annabelle froze, mid-way through smearing paste on her toothbrush.
Ohmigod!
she thought
, ohmigod, it’s not talking back, is it?
She charged into the ‘living room’, only to find the phone on the table, the voice coming through the receiver. She picked it up, and gingerly held it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Annabelle, thanks for getting back to me.”
“Uh. Sure. Um — ”
“Cybill Franklin-Smith.
World Trax
magazine?”
“Of course. How are you?” Annabelle stabbed at the plant with her toothbrush, and it evaded her with the grace of a prizefighter.
“A bit under pressure, as you can imagine, so I’ll have to cut to the chase. Minnehan’s a crotchety old guy, tough on even his best days. He won’t have had a gig the night before, so he should be … fresh enough for a 10 A.M. chat. The turnaround is brutal — ”
“I’m pretty fast — damn it!” The plant took her toothbrush. It completely disappeared.
“Sorry?” The branches waved wildly in Annabelle’s face.
“No, I’m sorry. I, um, dropped something. I transcribe really quickly. And I take notes during the interview.”
“Old school, excellent — ”
“Listen, Cybill, thanks for thinking of me, I’m not interes — ”
Thwack!
Annabelle rubbed her bottom.
Would she have to go out into the street to get away from the flippin’ thing?
Only the idea of Nosy Ned kept her in her apartment. She hissed at the plant, and was sure that it hissed back.
“If it’s money, let me tell you, I’ve got a pretty healthy budget for this. Minnehan is making a dramatic comeback, and who knows, if he likes you, it could turn into more. Anyway, the number I’m thinking of is — ”
Cybill quoted a fee that stopped Annabelle in mid-swing, and caused the plant to relax back into its pot, and, if possible, look infuriatingly complacent.
“Oh.” Annabelle sat down on the floor, hard. “So, um. What exactly are you looking for? General interest, or a time-of-day kind of thing, how he is at that moment, or — ”
“Surprise me. Do what you want.”
“This seems a bit too good to be true.”
“So you’d be crazy to turn me down.”
They both laughed, and despite the unforgivable coercion on Kelli and the plant’s part, Annabelle couldn’t help liking this Cybill Franklin-Smith. “Okay, I give up. When and where?”
As they firmed up the scheduling, Annabelle kept the plant in her peripheral vision. It seemed quite calm, and damn it, yes, it was definitely self-satisfied. Hanging up, she turned on it.
“That was manipulative and sneaky! I know you’re behind all this weird shit that’s been going on! And that was my favorite toothbrush! I have had enough of you for one day
and
night, so just … sit there and leave me alone!”
She stomped over to her ‘office’ to fire up her laptop, dug into her bag for her memory stick, and her hand hit — a Polaroid?
An exact duplicate of one of the Polaroids of that slapdash Irishman.
Polaroids do not have negatives. She shivered, and spun around and glared at the plant.
“I threw those in the garbage!” Grabbing it by a
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