The Dream Virgin

by Don Quine

It helped her deal with her dad’s death.

  But she didn’t share that with Oliver.

  Oliver told Elfri she was right, Jar was Tyrone Jar, so it was little wonder they had so much in common.

  They walked back to the campus with Ed on Oliver’s shoulder and Lili at his feet and Oliver told Elfri he’d appreciate keeping their conversation to herself. Soon as some of the things he was dealing with got dealt with, Oliver said he’d like them to spend more time together, told Elfri he didn’t think they’d run out of things to discuss. He looked deep into Elfri’s eyes when he said it.

  Made her believe Oliver had feelings for her that were more than friendly.

  After she got back to Leon’s, Elfri told Will that Jack told her he didn’t drink or do drugs.

  “He wasn’t stroking me, Pops, which is something seeing who he hangs around with, tough guys and loose gals, everyone around him getting stoned or smashed except Studly Do Right.”

  “Studly Do Right?”

  “That’s what his pals call him. Did you know he gets paid by the EcoErotica adult store for promoting men’s underwear with a fig leaf hiding his schlong.”

  Will told Elfri she needed to focus on her project.

  Will didn’t tell Elfri he knew Jack had been in AA since he was seventeen and returned home from a few bad years on the road.

  Will knew about Jack because in the last month he had gotten to know Molly Riverbottom, and Molly filled Will in on Jack and a few other things that she thought he should know and keep to himself if he wanted her to share more.

  Molly said she liked that Will was a lawman like Harry, but wanted Will to know she didn’t fool around. There hadn’t been another man in her life since her husband died, and there wasn’t anyone before him.

  Molly told Will she enjoyed his charming manner, but not to think it was going to get him anywhere.

  Will told Molly he respected her point of view, said that the way it worked with him was he had to forge a genuine friendship with a woman, share life stories and get a heartfelt connection established before he could think about sharing a bed with her.

  Sex was only meaningful if his heart felt at home.

  Molly told Will he was full of it. But liked how he phrased his lines.

  On Will’s fifth visit to Ravens Rest after a late evening snack, a month after they started hanging out, Molly asked Will if he’d like to stay overnight.

  Will said he didn’t bring his PJs.

  Molly told him he didn’t need any, which Will knew because when she was at Ravens Rest, Molly often walked around nude.

  Like her son, and her parents, nudism was a part of her life.

  Will told Molly he’d love to accept her offer to sleep over.

  CHAPTER 40

  The prior week was unexpected and upsetting.

  The Nestling projects were in the model stage, which meant that for them to be able to go to pilot for the Bash, they needed investment approval from Oliver and Nicole.

  It wasn’t like Oliver and Nicole were looking to turn anyone down. They did want the dollars to make sense, but they also wanted the Nestlings to be open to ideas and suggestions, hopefully accept input and feedback.

  Oliver and Nicole told Amarosa they believed in her Funny Mirror, but at this point in time they couldn’t continue to lend support for the programming work it needed, they were behind schedule on the Startup festival and they were tapped out of software engineers. Amarosa was welcome to show the mirror in its current state, explain it to the handful of high-tech investor groups at the Bash, but Oliver suggested she might be better off taking it back home where she could work on it without interruption.

  Once she got it back up and running, they could discuss having it flown in from Atlanta for better protection than hauling it in her truck.

  Amarosa felt like a loser, was hurt and depressed, but grudgingly, and then gratefully, she took Oliver’s suggestion.

  The Nestlings had a goodbye breakfast at S2S, at the same table they sat at when they met each other. Molly made blueberry pancakes, then the Nestlings hugged and waved goodbye as Amarosa drove away with the Mirror in her truck, the Dangerous Cargo sign flashing.

  Two days later in the early evening, when Elfri was lighting a fire for a dream circle, Didjano got a call from a guy called Oladouni in Nigeria.

  Oladouni said he represented a Nollywood movie studio who had a relationship with Hip TV that reached forty African countries and they wanted to fly Didjano to Laos to do Face The Facts from there with a weekly feature on the good things African youth were doing for the Planet Earth movement, especially in Nigeria.

  They’d spoken with Mania TV who said they didn’t care where Didjano produced her show, but did want her to return from her summer hiatus in the mountains ASAP, how re-runs didn’t garner the same numbers as her live shows. As long as they could broadcast Face The Facts in a timely manner, they had no problem what part of the world it came from.

  Didjano put her phone on speaker and told Oladouni that her advisors were listening in, that any deal they came to would have to get their approval. The Nestlings listened to Oladouni say they’d pay Didjano a base salary of a hundred thousand a year, and for every point that she increased their ratings, she’d get a fifty grand bonus. Didjano thanked Oladouni for the offer, said she would sleep on it.

  She hung up, looking wide-eyed.

  “Shut your mouth and tell me I’m not dreaming!”

  The next morning, Didjano and Oliver and Nicole met to talk about her offer. They thought it was a good one and that she should take it. Wanted her to know that after she got settled in and had time to develop a pilot TV show for Earthy Matters, Ventures Nest was here for her.

  Didjano said goodbye to everyone and gave Elfri a long hug, said she knew that the dream circles helped make it happen.

  In the afternoon, Didjano drove away in her pink convertible that took her down Snake Canyon to host a TV show in the second largest and most populous continent on earth. There were more tears shed for Didjano than when Amarosa left Ventures Nest.

  Africa was much farther away than Atlanta.

  CHAPTER 41

  Oliver, Nicole, and Hunter sat in Wayne Wong’s hut with two older ladies who seem somewhat familiar and watched Wayne pitch his Mighty Tiny Vits project on a staged set constructed with a mock mouth that was eight feet wide and six feet high.

  A kid’s mouth with a funny-looking tongue hung from its smile that was twice as big as any of the Obstickle tongues. Constructed of paper, cardboard, and wood, the set wasn’t half bad for what it was. Near the tip of the tongue, Wayne stood in a vitamin outfit, not his jump suit, but a spinoff. Colorful pills on white spandex with M-T-V emblazoned on the chest and a cape that spelled Mighty Tiny Vit.

  On each side of the mouth were three children, boys and girls, none older than eight, each with a t-shirt that had a vitamin ID on it: B, C, D, E, Cal, Mag, and Iron.

  “The Little People market is a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions of children around the world who aren’t midgets.”

  Hunter looked up from his notebook with interest.

  “You’re expanding your market,” Nicole said, approvingly.

  Hunter said excitedly, “So you do some spiel about each vitamin and how it does its thing, then a vitamin kid walks into the mouth until all the Vits are explained and swallowed with some bouncy kind of music. Right?”

  “And for the big finale, they all go in together as the Mighty Tiny Multi-Vit,” said Wayne, more relaxed. “And I’m developing a Mighty Tiny Nighty Vit, but I’ve had problems finding a good source for my melatonin and valerian root.”

  “Let’s cut to the bucks,” Hunter said, returning to his notes.

  “Put aside the $37,835 for In-Nest labor, where’s your material costs; foam, plastic, paint, costumes . . . the budget items.”r />
  “Leah said she’d design, produce, and license all the costumes to Mighty Tiny Vit, so there’d no up front costs in that regard.”

  Hunter said, “Pre-arranged side deals are off-putting to potential investors.”

  Nicole said, “Wayne, your project projection of $94,300 needs more attention to detail. Hunter can help you. But I think your pilot for the Bash is well-thought-out as well as engaging. No small thing.”

  She winked at Wayne and turned to Oliver.

  “Wayne has my go ahead, big time!” Nicole said.

  Oliver laughed, pointed his finger at Wayne and said, “Mighty Tiny Vit, go chew it up!”

  Wayne expressed his thanks at the same time the Mighty Tiny Vit Iron girl whacked the Mighty Tiny Vit Mag boy behind her and yelled, “You fart nose!”

  The two older ladies hopped up and tried to calm things down, but the two Mighty Tinys were into it, cheered on by the others Vits.

  CHAPTER 42

  Oliver, Nicole, and Hunter sat in the Quonset for Bob Bonet’s pitch. The hut was set up like a kitchen with a food island, cupboards and cabinets and hanging pots and pans all made of cardboard and wood and painted to look real.

  Plastic jars were on the cardboard counter with labels on them like CINNAMON, COCOA, HONEY, and inside the labeled jars appropriate hand puppets were sleeping.

  Bob stood behind the island and turned to his helper.

  “Sweet Teeth, do you know what the cannibal ordered for take out?”

  “Pizza with everyone on it?” Sweet Teeth said.

  Bob wiggled a lever behind the food island and the puppets woke up out of their jars and gave prerecorded giggles through a portable speaker system.

  Until the counter collapsed, making the jars all fall down and the puppets stop laughing.

  There was a long moment of concerned silence.

  Unfazed, Bob said to his audience, “Such as it was, you got the picture. My project plan is to have Sugar and Snails stay with yummy delights for the twelve and unders, and Star Treats with the Sweet Gourmet will be my new teen show chatting up celebs like Gracie Gold, PewDiePie, and Betty White for whom I have personal access to. Sweet Teeth and my other handy helpers will join me in preparing the star’s favorite treat.”

  Bob raised a fallen puppet with dreadlocks who said, “Yo, bro, you forgot ta take da upside down cake out da oven, blowed us all the hell up. You into lawsuits?”

  “Sorry, Cocoa, it was a tiny earthcake,” Bob said.

  Hunter rose with conviction.

  “This is a fabulous format for a big niche, Bob. The Food Network will salivate!”

  Bob said, “I appreciate your support, Hunter.”

  Bob and Hunter had a certain rapport.

  “Netflix is expanding its youth base, Bob,” Nicole said, “and your show has a brighter future with a major streaming service than with basic cable or satellite.”

  “Unless it’s HBO,” Oliver said. “Bob and Sweet Teeth doing a guest appearance on Sesame Street would be very nice.”

  Nicole looked at some figures on a sheet of paper. Spoke low with Oliver until they nodded.

  “We think your pilot budget of $127,800 can be cut by ten percent, Bob.” Nicole looked at Hunter. “Do you think we can make that work?”

  “We’ll find a way,” Hunter said with assurance.

  Oliver got up and shook Bob’s hand puppet’s hand.

  “Sweet Teeth, you and Bob take Star Treats to the Bash and put the venture folks into sugar shock!”

  Bob jumped with joy and gave Oliver a hug, then he and his puppet shouted, “This proves America’s sweet spot is innovation.”

  CHAPTER 43

  It started from the back of the Quonset where a hand-painted mural on a cardboard wall depicted scenes of clothing going through the production process, then the runway ran halfway down the hut to where Leah stood in a short and sporty pant suit. The mural depicted young people from different national backgrounds and ages involved in the process of making clothes; from sketching and cutting patterns, to sewing fabrics and modeling Youth Wear. A flashy banner stretched across the wall above the mural that read GlobeFash.

  “GlobeFash is a collective of young fashionistas from around the globe who create trend-setting clothing for their peers; from Toddlers and Kiddies, Tweens to Teens.”

  Oliver, Nicole, Hunter, and several faintly familiar adults sat on chairs and tables set up on both sides of the runway. They sipped tall glasses of lemonade and Nicole and a few of the faintly familiar women used colorful paper hand fans like the one Leah fanned herself with. It was hot, but Leah didn’t want the overhead Quonset fans competing with her presentation.

  She turned to the rear wall, pointed to it with her folded fan.

  “May I introduce to you, Melissa O’Hara.”

  Through a door-slit in the wall, a young girl hit the runway in synch with the electronic dance beat as she modeled a tutu that sported vintage tattoos.

  Skulls. Roses. Mom.

  “Melissa is ten years old and has been designing and making clothes since she was four,” Leah said.

  Into the dance groove with Melissa, Leah flicked her fan to the beat and asked, “Melissa, what do you call the cute skin art skirt you designed and are modeling for us?”

  Melissa stopped at the end of the runway, started to say something, stopped, then said, “This is my TatTru and the line comes in pink and blue and . . .” Melissa looked at Leah for some help.

  Leah helped Melissa remember the other line colors, thanked and directed the little girl back down the runway through the slit in the cardboard wall.

  Then Leah told her audience Melissa had meant to say TatTutu, and then Leah brought out three more girls and two boys onto the runway, ages nine to sixteen, all unsure of themselves, but encouraged by Leah to model and define the stylish and provocative youth outfits. After the last awkward eleven-year-old designer modeled his Genes, which were jeans cargo shorts with DNA images that he felt funny wearing, Leah explained that the names of the young models weren’t their real names and the designs weren’t designed by them either.

  These were local kids from Lake Meadows that Leah hired to show what she wanted to do with the real designers who were from around the world that the local kids pretended to be to help sell the presentation.

  Leah answered questions about GlobeFash but first emphasized its purpose. It would start out as an exclusive online membership. Fifty-two members the first year, each fashionista designer from a different country with a flourishing local following and a brandable personality. All of them creating fashionable youth clothing in limited numbers to trendsetters in fifty-two nations.

  Showcase one designer a week on digital video across multi-channel, multi-platform networks from Apple TV and Facebook, to Roku, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Whatever social platforms work, for however long.

  No. She didn’t have the fifty-two fashionistas picked out yet from the hundreds who applied for membership. Only forty-six. The other half-dozen were being selected as she spoke.

  She told them GlobeFash’s annual membership fee was 10K. Not cheap, but way worth it. And Leah’s Frisky Business would loan the fee to any designer who needed it on fair terms because GlobeFash represented exclusivity with a mass appeal kicker and would attract celebrity designers to its mission of showcasing young international talent; 20 percent of its profits dedicated to charitable causes in the designer’s country.

  Leah explained that Millennials don’t just buy products; they buy causes and celebrities love fashionable causes that help young people build a better world. It was the only reason that Leah bothered to enter the After a Fashion contest; Ventures Nest’s had a philanthropic soul at its core.

  The celebrities would serve on the GlobeFash board of advisors and offer advice to its young members through monthly podcasts
and internships along with providing diverse resources to support the startups.

  Each exclusive line would be marketed and sold to global trendsetters. As few as two outfits, no more than ten. GlobeFash would take nothing for promoting and selling the exclusive lines. The entire profit for that endeavor would go to the designer.

  After three months of exclusivity, GlobeFash had the right to market and sell replicas of the designer lines.

  Defending her budget, Leah pointed out to Hunter that she was bringing a half a million dollars to the table, not including the fifty-fifty partnership for the mass market, which was where the money was.

  If he didn’t like her pilot, which included eleven foreign designers and one from the U.S., each with their own unique runways, showcasing their fashions in their national backyards, ages six to seventeen, if Hunter thought that the $382,700 Leah had budgeted for the runways and the video screens and the staging and scripting and directing and editing and the chaperones was too exclusive for him, too expensive, she’d be happy to meet with HelloGiggles.

  She told Hunter that Zooey might like to sit down and talk.

  Hunter quickly said, “Hold it a sec, Leah, don’t get me wrong, GlobeFash is a fabulous project with vast potential. I was just—”

  “—being diligent,” Nicole said, and turned to Leah.

  “GlobeFash sounds like a jackpot to me.”

  Nicole turned to Oliver.

  “Oliver?”

  He pulled down a one-armed bandit not there and said, “Ka-Ching!”

  CHAPTER 44

  Oliver, Nicole, and Hunter were standing in Manny’s Quonset hut wearing The Workout Vests. Manny was showing them how to take advantage of the vest’s many options by using the weighted skip rope handles.

  Manny explained that the eight-pound vest came in three color schemes, was designed to get the most from walking and provided an adjustable web strap and chain buckle for a custom fit. You could partner with other vest athletes for creative exercises. Pull each other’s handles. Yank each other’s chains.