Page 7 of Just for the Cameras
For two months?
“Flamingos? Really?” I ask.
Phil nods. “Yes…flamingos.”
No.
Fucking.
Way.
CHAPTER 2
MAPLE
“I don’t know, Big Hermy,I think this could be a bad idea.”
My light pink flamingo friend stares at me with his sand-colored eye, his head cocked to the side, waiting for some pellets.
“I really wish you could talk back. I think you would have some good advice for me. I can see the wisdom you hold in your one eye.”
He squawks, and I nod. “No, no, I’m not making fun of your one eye. I think it’s dignified. Having one eye is the new thing and actually trendy. It’s why you’re the king of the lagoon. No one is going to mess with someone who survived a jackal attack.”
“Maple,” Kylie calls out from the shack. “They’re here.”
Ugh, great.
I stand and brush off my butt. “That’s my cue. Wish me luck, Big Hermy. I’m going to need it.”
I pick up my bag of pellets and head over to the Flamingo Shack, also known as our office. I set the pellets on the table next to the door, then grab some hand sanitizer and work my way to the main office, where I pause as I hear some whispering on the other side of the swinging door.
“Flamingos? Fucking flamingos. Gretchen, you can’t be serious. Bennett and OC get lions and giraffes, and I get a pink-feathered dipshit on stilts?”
Um…pardon me?
“The team thought it would be the best animal to gain the mostsympathy and appreciation,” the lady who I’m assuming is Gretchen replies.
“This is a fucking joke. What am I supposed to do for two months with these asinine animals? Does anyone even care about them? Are they even endangered?”
Um, I do.
I care about them like they’re my own children.
“I have no idea, but get it together because this is not optional. This is mandatory.”
“Jesus Christ,” the guy mumbles. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You know I can’t fucking say no, and you’re going to continue to twist the knife until I give in.”
“I’m not twisting a knife. I’m attempting to help you gain a positive reputation.”
“By pairing me with a fucking flamingo? What a goddamn joke. I mean, no offense, but I don’t want to spend my days fawning over a pink bird.”
A goddamn joke?
Um, sir, I take offense to that.
“Yes, and you’re going to put on a smile while doing it. Now get it together,” Gretchen answers before I hear them walk away.
I stand still, allowing his savage words to sink in.
