I mean a
lot
. Youâre going to have to be very organized and get your priorities straight. Your social life will suffer,â said Fancy Nancy solemnly, as if she knew what she was talking about. Apple wondered if Fancy Nancy was single. Could someone as accomplished and sexy and fashionable as Fancy Nancy really be single?
âI understand. My grades are great,â Apple said. âWait ⦠Tuesday? Like, you want me to start
tomorrow?â
âYes, tomorrow. Will that be a problem?â Fancy Nancy asked. â
Angst TV
launches in one week. We need to get you prepared. We have so much to do before-hand that everyone around here is working 24/7.â
âOf course. I understand. Iâll be here,â Apple said. âItâs no problem.â
âAnd weekends? Is that a problem?â Fancy Nancy asked, her eyes piercing.
âNo, not at all,â Apple said, though she wasnât as sure about that. Weekends were usually her time to hang out with friends and spend time with Lyon and watch bad movies in her pajamas eating popcorn.
âGood,â Fancy Nancy said curtly. âI canât babysit you either. So I need to know that you are 100 percent committed.â
Was it just Apple, or had Fancy Nancy been a heck of a lot nicer when her mother was around?
âI am. I promise I wonât let you down,â Apple said. She wanted this meeting to end sooner rather than later. Apple would have promised Fancy Nancy her firstborn child if she let her out of there. Her feet were now one completely numb, her toes probably maimed for life.
âPerfect. Who knows, maybe there will be two stars in your family. At least thatâs what we hope! Go out and see Morgan and sheâll get you a pass. When you arrive tomorrow, Michael, the head of the interns, will show you where youâll be working and explain in more detail what it is youâre expected to do. Youâll be sharing the office with another intern named Emme, who is fabulous and ambitious. Iâm going to have to end ourmeeting now, because Emme is coming in. But it was such a pleasure to meet you and your mother.â
âYou too,â Apple said, getting up. Thank God that was over. She could feel the sweat under her armpits. She should have doubled up on the deodorant. Had she even put on deodorant? She couldnât remember. She was leaning toward not.
âAnd, Apple?â Fancy Nancy said, looking not at her but at something that looked like an invitation.
âYes?â Apple asked.
âYou screw up at
Angst
, and it could be the end of your career in magazines and television forever,â said Fancy Nancy.
âI wonât,â Apple gulped. âI promise.â
âGood. Can you find your way out?â Fancy Nancy asked.
âYes. Thank you. It was nice to meet you,â Apple said.
Her new boss didnât look up as Apple walked herself out.
âYou screw up at
Angst
and it could be the end of your career in magazines and television forever.â
Fancy Nancyâs warning (or was it a threat?) raced through Appleâs head as she worked her way through the maze of hallways to get back to the reception area. She was serious, this Fancy Nancy. Suddenly Apple couldnât help feeling in her gut that there wasnât anything she wanted to do more with her life than work in magazines and on
Angst TV
, just to prove to thisFancy Nancyâand everyone else, including herselfâthat she could do it.
It would be a good challenge for Apple, to say the least. She had never even had a part-time job before. But there was something about Fancy Nancy that not only terrified her but also made Apple want to impress her.
Apple made it back to the reception area and saw Morgan, the receptionist. But her mother was nowhere to be seen. Apple was annoyed. Her feet were killing her. She wanted to leave NOW.
Just as she took a seat to wait for her mother to appear, a
Heather Hildenbrand
Richard S. Prather
Alexandra O'Hurley
Ada Frost
Carol Berg
Catherine Bateson
Susan Wittig Albert
Abigail Reynolds
Peyton Elizabeth
Sherry Soule