Jill Smolinski - The Next Thing on My List

Better.

The office, as I’ d anticipated, was nearly empty when I got there. I spent the morning catching up on months of filing and was about to head to the break room to get the salad I’ d brought for lunch when my phone rang. It was Rose Morales from the Big Sister program.

‘ I have wonderful news,’ she gushed. ‘ We don’ t often have a match so quickly, but I’ ve found the perfect girl for you. I remember you said that you were eager to get started.’

‘ I am!’

‘ Her name is Deedee, and she’ s a real doll. I know you’ ll adore her. The reason I thought of you for Deedee is that she has dreams of being a writer when she grows up. Isn’ t that perfect? Let’ s see,’ she continued. ‘ What else can I tell you about her? She’ s Hispanic on the mother’ s side. The father’ s not been in the picture since she was little. She lives not far from you in the Mar Vista area, and she’ s a freshman at-’

‘ Freshman!’ I exclaimed. ‘ How old is she?’

‘ Fourteen.’

And with that my bubble burst. How was I going to mold and shape a teenager? As clay goes, they’ re already pretty hardened by that point. I couldn’ t hide my disappointment. ‘ I was hoping for someone& younger.’

Rose was silent for a moment and then said, ‘ She’ s still a girl. A good kid, too. Her mother is legally blind. Deedee helps take care of her and her little brother as well. We thought she deserved some fun time.’

‘ It’ s just that& fourteen? What do I do with a fourteen-year-old?’

‘ You could still take her to movies. Play with makeup. Do that Rollerblading you love so much,’ she said, and I cringed remembering that I’ d put that on my application. ‘ You may find you have more in common with an older girl than you would have with a younger one.’ When I didn’ t respond right away, she added, ‘ I’ m not trying to talk you into anything.’

‘ I know.’

‘ She’ s a sweet girl who could use a break.’

‘ Can I think about it?’

‘ Of course. If you’ re not comfortable with this, we can always find you another match, although to be honest, I don’ t know when that will be. We tend to be more stringent about matching younger girls within their ethnic culture. It could be months. But it’ s important that you feel you can bond with your Little, so it may be worth waiting.’

Months! I didn’ t have months! ‘ I’ d imagine it’ s tough having a mom who’ s legally blind,’ I ventured.

‘ Deedee shoulders much more responsibility than a fourteen-year-old should have to,’ Rose agreed. ‘ She’ s spunky, though.’ Then she asked, ‘ How old are you again?’

‘ Thirty-four.’

‘ Here’ s something else to consider. I’ m guessing you’ ll want to be starting a family soon.’ I tried not to snort into the phone as she continued, ‘

Would you be able to balance the needs of a Little with your new family? Sadly, that’ s when many girls get set aside. A teenager, on the other hand-she’ s only going to need a Big for a few years at the most.’

A few minutes later I hung up, having agreed to take the next step, which was to go with Rose Morales to meet Deedee and her mother at their home. We could check each other out, with absolutely no obligation to buy.

It was after one o’ clock when I returned from the lunchroom, kicking myself for putting Rollerblading on my application. They’ d had so many lines under ‘ Hobbies.’ I was embarrassed to leave them all blank.

Lost in thought, I didn’ t hear Bubba bound up.

Bubba was the CEO’ s black Labrador that he sometimes brought to the office. He immediately buried his nose in my crotch. Like owner, like dog.

Which meant, I realized with dread, that Lou Bigwood wasn’ t far behind.

‘ Hey, Bubba,’ I bleated, attempting to pull his face away in a gesture of friendly dog petting rather than the heavy petting that Bubba was aiming for.

Bubba clearly hadn’ t seen HR’ s sexual harassment video that talked about inappropriate touching. My attempts to push him away only excited him further. He lunged for me, sending me reeling back-stumbling and bouncing and boinging and grabbing for the wall to catch my balance.

‘ Bubba!’ It was Lou Bigwood. ‘ Come back here, boy.’

In all the time I’ d worked at L.A. Rideshare, I’ d seen Bigwood only from a distance at staff meetings. I was far too lowly for direct interaction. Bigwood was in his late fifties, I’ d guess-graying at the temples, but hearty and hale. He could as easily be captaining a ship at sea as leading a traffic agency.

‘ Hi, Mr. Bigwood.’

He held Bubba by the collar, squinting at me. ‘ It’ s June, right?’

‘ Yes.’

‘ How are things going in& publications, right?’

‘ That’ s right. Great, thanks.’

I thought about saying ‘ Have a nice day’ and making a run for it, but he was staring at me curiously, stroking his chin in that way people do to show how very deep in thought they are. ‘ There’ s something different about you,’ he said. ‘ What is it?’

‘ Pardon me?’

‘ Is it your hair? Did you change your hair? I’ ve got three daughters, I’ m usually good at figuring out this sort of thing.’

I shook my head noncommittally and he said, ‘ Nice work on the annual report, by the way.’

Stunned that he had noticed my work, I could only say, ‘ Thank you.’

He kept me standing there in the hall, chatting about ideas for future brochures. No one came by. It occurred to me he must be talking to me out of boredom, but he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. I wondered if he could see my nipples through my shirt. The hallway was a tad chilly-the sort of thing that tends to bring out the high beams. I used my mental powers to will my nipples to stay put.

Bubba bumped into me again, sending me bouncing.

Bigwood snapped his fingers. ‘ I’ ve got it! You’ re wearing flat shoes. So you look shorter.’

Since I was, as always, wearing flats, I nodded.

‘ See,’ he boasted, ‘ I told you I’ m good at figuring this sort of thing out.’

Bigwood’ s gaze then shifted to something behind me, and he suddenly looked alarmed. ‘ Is that clock right?’

I turned around. One-fifteen. ‘ Maybe a minute or two fast,’ I said.

‘ June, I need your help,’ he said urgently. ‘ I’ m due at a meeting in Long Beach in thirty minutes. I can’ t be late. I need you to come with me so I can use the carpool lane.’ He turned without giving me a chance to reply and nearly sprinted down the hall. Bubba barreled after him. ‘ At the elevators in two minutes!’

Talk about being wanted for your body.

The meeting, he explained as we climbed into his convertible, was at S.C. Electric, whom he hoped to bring on as a corporate funder. ‘ It’ s a long shot-those cheap bastards. But I’ ll do what I can to squeeze a few bucks out of them.’

I held a notebook I’ d grabbed off my desk clutched to my chest-why hadn’ t I brought a backup bra? This would surely qualify as an undergarment emergency. I could’ ve tried another day for my task.

We cruised along in the carpool lane at speeds reaching a hundred miles per hour. ‘ Look at that!’ Bigwood exclaimed, tipping his head toward the regular freeway lanes. Even in the middle of the day, they were packed with traffic. ‘ This is why we do the good work we do!’

I’ d sort of taken it as a sign that we weren’ t doing such good work.

We arrived in one piece and parked. Bigwood led me into the offices of S.C. Electric with seconds to spare. I expected him to deposit me in the lobby to wait, but instead he insisted I join him. ‘ This is how you learn,’ he said in a tone that I suspected he often used with his daughters.