This is the answer to a dialogue prompt on the Babe and Plum family challenges group on Facebook. Once again, the opportunities for mischief were too good to ignore. The challenge line is in bold.
All the cool kids get to sit at JE's table. We don't make anything on this except for mistakes... Let us know what you think, We'd love to hear from you.
I sat at the head of the conference table and surveyed the gathered employees. This was an all hands on deck meeting, and everyone was currious as to why they were assembled. Stephanie came rushing in, late as usual, and closed the door behind her. Once she took her seat, I began. "Men," I could see Babe rolling her eyes in the seat next to mine and Ella shake her head, but I plowed on, "I know you have undoubtedly heard the most recent rumors floating around the building." Les wiggled his eyebrows and I resisted the urge to sigh. "Well, this time they're true." A commotion broke out among the men, but they quieted down after I glared at them for a minute. Once everybody had settled down, I continued. "We want to make this news public next Friday. I would like each of you to think about the best way to spread the news for maximum exposure."
Les jumped up from his seat. "You should rent that billboard right across the street from the TPD. Nothing like Neon and flashing lights to draw the attention!" He did a quick bump and grind before he sat back down and Ram fist-bumped him. This is the kind of thinking that I wanted, so I nodded at him.
Babe spoke up next. "Perhaps we could do it with a contest at the Tasty Pastry. We could make brownies with little clues on them, and if anybody figures it out before next friday, they get a prize!"
Ella brightened at that idea. "I have that recipe for chocolate, cashew, and almond energy bars that we could use. I know you love them, Stephanie."
Babe muttered, "I should have known she wasn't sneaking me brownies." When everyone laughed, she looked at me and said, "Out loud?" I nodded and she buried her face in her hands. It was still a good idea, though.
Hal raised his hand. When I acknowleged him, he said, "Sir, maybe we could give away a car with the news painted on it, like a rolling advertisement."
Hector nodded, "sí, voy a pintarlo, se verá hermoso." (Yes, I will paint it, it will look beautiful) Since Hector had designed all of his own tattoos, that seemed like a good idea, too.
Tank was the next one to speak. "Have you thought about one of those planes with a banner on it flying over the whole town? I know Ace would fly that for you."
Cal shook his head, "Not a banner, Skydivers. Man, people would freak if they saw a sky full of parachutes."
Slick was nodding and grinning. "Oh, Hells, yeah!"
Bobby said, "You know those signs that people put in their yards? The ones that say things like 'Welcome home' or 'It's a boy'?" Babe looked like she was going to faint, so Bobby quickly clarified, "Not that anyone is pregnant, I was just talking about the yard signs. Well, I was thinking that we could get a boatload of those and plant them in yards all over town. Make sure everyone sees them."
The guys continued to shout out their ideas. Some were funny, some were outrageous, and I'm pretty sure two of them were illegal. Once they started to taper off, I leaned towards my Babe and stage whispered, "Sounds pretty good, you think we should do them all?"
Stephanie giggled and said, "That is a terrible, horrible, incredibly foolish idea. Let's do it and see what happens."
I spoke to the men one more time. "I want written proposals on how we can do these things legally," I looked at Binkie, who was trying to look innocent, "on my desk by 1600. If you come up with any other ideas, write them up and submit them. Dismissed." I took Babe's hand and we walked out of the room.
Les POV
As soon as Ranger and Steph left the room, everyone looked at Hector. He typed on his computer until the projector flashed a huge betting pool chart on the wall. Once we saw who had won the pool, we all groaned.
