Author's note: I don't own any of these characters. This is a one-shot I came up with while thinking of role models for Stephanie in "Plum Life". If these characters could get together, what would they talk about?
At the Convention
Stephanie Plum hated coming to these conventions. She was always the odd one out, never quite fitting in. It wasn't her fault that her life was so outrageous. There was never anyone else who understood what it was like to always lose her cars to explosions, much less anything else that happened to her.
She said hello to the people she knew at the door, went straight to the buffet tables, and filled her plate as much as she could. She was not doing so well financially, and the food at these conventions were sometimes the only time she ate well outside of eating at her parents' house. She looked around for a place to sit and saw a table where only a young, strawberry blonde sat.
"Is it okay if I sit here?" she asked.
"Please do. I usually sit alone at these things."
"I'm Stephanie Plum.
"Hello, Stephanie. I'm Nancy Drew."
Stephanie gasped. "The Nancy Drew?"
Nancy nodded. "Actually, there's more than one of me. I'm the 50's version. We take turns coming to these conventions."
Stephanie grinned. "I didn't know that. I have another one of me that would like to attend the television conventions, but the show was never aired."
"Oh, no. That's too bad."
"Yea, and there's another me that will be out in another year who will go to the movie conventions. I was hoping I could go to those conventions as well, but that me doesn't have blue eyes."
Nancy looked at Stephanie's eyes, which were close to her own shade of blue. "I know the feeling. They are distinctive." Nancy leaned closer. "To tell you the truth, I don't even like coming to these conventions. It's hard to live up to the expectations. Whenever I meet someone, all I hear is what a wonderful role model I am. While that is flattering, there are times when I wish I was more real."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I'm too real. Except for some of the situations I get into, like babysitting a monkey and robbing an apartment with an alligator. My role model was Wonder Woman. I've tried to sneak into the Super Hero conventions, but I get caught every time. "
"That's hard. I'm too law abiding to go to any other conventions. It would be nice if I could be a little less nice." Nancy thought about that for a second and then laughed.
Stephanie laughed as well. "That would be tough. I'm lucky that I'm curious and persistent. It also helps that I'm friends with as many cops as I am, otherwise I would have been in jail a long time ago, just for breaking and entering. Of course, that probably explains the car explosions. You've had only a handful of cars over the years. I've had almost twenty in less than fifteen years!"
Nancy sighed. "I like my cars, but it would be nice to have a new one more than every twenty years. I know that I'm responsible, but even I can't keep a car in good condition for that long."
"Oh." Stephanie wasn't certain how to respond to that. "I've never thought about that. I just wish I could mature a little more. I started out being thirty years old. My sister has come back home, been divorced, had a baby, gotten married again, and I'm still thirty years old, in the same unsafe apartment. It just doesn't make any sense!"
"Try being eighteen for over fifty years."
Stephanie dropped her fork. "That would be hard."
Nancy nodded. "I've never been to college, but I know everything - or at least enough about practically every college degree. I can draw, paint, sing, dance, cook, and garden in addition to solving clues and getting myself out of dangerous situations."
"I had to pretend to play the cello to have a hobby. I would like to be able to sing, but it's never been mentioned."
"I've never really had a boyfriend. Ned was going to be at one time, but then all he did was give me a couple of kisses and held my hand at times."
"That would, um, suck."
Nancy laughed. "Yes, it does."
Stephanie sighed. "I am in love with two guys and haven't been able to make up my mind for at least six books who I really want to be with. Of course, it doesn't help that they both can be jerks at times. I mean, what's with the 'my life doesn't lend itself to relationship' when we have a relationship and I get kidnapped because of it? Or, why would I be with someone who doesn't tell me that I'm no longer a murder suspect?"
Nancy shook her head. "Honestly, I haven't understood that either. But, at least you've had more than kisses and holding hands. What I would really like to have one day is..." she looked around, "sex. Even if it's in marriage. But, I how can I get married if I don't have a boyfriend?"
"That is difficult. You're no longer being written about any more, either, so there's no chance you can get married now. Not that I'm saying marriage is all that wonderful. Mine certainly wasn't. That's the main reason that I can't seem to commit now."
"Oh, well. There's not a lot that I can do now." Nancy looked around the hall. "Have you met many of the other ladies here?"
Stephanie's head nodded. "There's been a few that I've met and liked, but they don't come every month. There's this one character, Meg Lanslow, whose family is even more crazy than mine. Her book titles have a bird in them instead of numbers. Then there's Hannah Swenson, who owns a bakery, that I love to talk with. She sometimes sneaks in her own cookies."
Conversation between Stephanie and Nancy drifts towards who else is attending the conventions. At the front door is a sign that reads "Welcome Female Fiction Detectives". The next day's convention is listed as female fiction sidekicks, with a handwritten note, "No spandex allowed."
The Meg Langslow series is written by Donna Andrews. The Hannah Swenson series is written by Joanne Fluke. Hannah has her own love triangle going on. I highly recommend both series. No smut, but very funny.
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