Page 3 of Enjoying the Ride

“Ugh,” she huffs, tossing her phone onto the counter with a frustrated sigh.“You’re gorgeous, Posey.With your amazing red hair and stunning blue eyes— not mention how curvy your body is—you’d be a winner for sure!”

I roll my eyes at Kelly.“You’re crazy,” I tell her, laughing to hide my discomfort at such praise.“They’re probably looking for stick-thin girls to become top models or something lame like that.”

Kelly shrugs.“Well,I’mgoing to do it.I mean, what’s the harm?Maybe I have a shot at winning a whole bunch of money, and that doesn’t sound so bad to me.”

“Do you really think that it’s legit?”I demand, hating how skeptical I am being about this whole thing but at the same time, worried that it might all be some kind of con.“The internet is filled with scams these days.”

But Kelly looks unfazed by my question.“There’s nothing saying that participants have to pay any kind of fee.Plus, it’s taking place at Hotel Nova.That event space has a good reputation— it’s not like it’s in some guy’s mom’s basement.”

I nod thoughtfully.“I guess so…”

My friend must sense that I’m caving because she leans in close to me and lowers her voice, even though we are currently alone in the office.“And besides, I heard that the final prize—the job in the Caribbean—pays six figures.”

“Who told you that?”I demand, unable to imagine such a massive amount of money.

“Mindy.She’s going to sign up for it, too.”

“Okay, but how does she know?”

Kelly shrugs.

“Mindy knows.Remember how she knew Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner were going to divorce before it happened?Mindy’s got the deets, girlfriend.”

I roll my eyes.

“I don’t think predicting celebrity divorces takes much intelligence,” I say in a droll tone.“Those marriages pretty much always end in disaster.”

“I know, I know,” Kelly replies.“But still.You and I both know that we need to get out of this hellhole,” she continues.“Ray Smiley basically sexually harasses us every single day, and at some point, he’s going to try to do more than just leer,” she points out.“Do you want to let it get to that point?We might as well give this a try.”

I sigh deeply.I know that my buddy’s right because this situation is unsustainable.I haven’t told anyone yet, but I caught Dr.Smiley sounding in his office the other day.He doesn’t know that I saw, but it startled me because I had no idea that people were into that kind of stuff.Basically, the doctor had a metal rod that he was inserting into his penis.He was pushing the thin implement into his urethra while moaning and grunting with pleasure.I ran away as soon as I saw, but the image is with me still.I mean, I have nothing against fetishes, but if Dr.Smiley will do that with the door open, then I know he has no boundaries.

But sounding aside— what kind of chance do I stand in a beauty pageant?

Kelly pokes my shoulder.“Come on, I can totally tell that you’re thinking about it,” she says, a wide smile spreading slowly across her face.“It could be fun…”

I sigh even as I shake my head at her.“It could be a scam,” I repeat, but my resolve is crumbling.

Kelly rolls her eyes as she pulls her hair into a high ponytail.“Fine, if it’s a scam, we’ll just go out and get tacos afterward.My treat.”

Well, I either get a crap ton of money or I get some free tacos out of this arrangement…

“Fine, how do we sign up?”I ask, throwing up my hands in defeat as I lean back in my chair.

Kelly squeals.“Awesome!I’ll email you the application.”

This could be the biggest mistake of my life, I groan inwardly, but I plaster on a happy face for my overly enthusiastic friend.

“You’re going to have to submit a full body photo with the application.I think you should use that picture from New Year’s—you looked super-hot in that sequin dress,” Kelly murmurs, her attention on her mobile.“You know the one I’m talking about.The one where you’re leaning against the fire escape.You look edgy.”

I can only shake my head.

“I look drunk.”

But Kelly continues.“Oh, and we can raid each other’s closets for a dress for the initial day—it’s going to be so much fun!”she squeals, already jotting down our to-do list.

What in the world am I about to get myself into?I merely start filing medical records again as my buddy begins putting together outfits, complete with hairpieces, purses and heels.The pageant isn’t going to go well … but it’s better than dealing with Dr.Smiley and his perverted ways.

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