Page 51 of August
“That’s fine,” Jill said, nodding. “So, it’s really cool that we use your place?”
“I can schedule it now, yeah. I get my logo on the side of the float, right?”
“Yes,” Jill replied. “We’ve got the float design already in mind. It’ll be the first time NOLA Guides has participated in anything like this. It was Enid’s marketing idea.”
“It’s only St. Patrick’s Day, so not Mardi Gras, but we were able to get a float slot up front, and it’s cheaper. I have the flatbed truck we will be using reserved already since we have to do that crazy early around here, or we risk paying way more or not getting a truck at all. So, that’s taken care of. We were thinking of putting your logo in a few places since the float itself will have a NOLA Guides tour theme. We don’t need our logo in those spots. I’m thinking both sides and the back, if that’s cool with you, and a ‘sponsored by’ sign on thefront of the truck, too, with your company name on it, NOLA Guides, and a couple of other places we got to chip in, but you’ll be the main sponsor.”
“And all I have to do is loan you my warehouse space to build the thing?” Myra asked.
“That’s it. We’ll take care of the rest,” Enid said.
“Okay. Well, let me show you the tools. Those are off-limits unlessI’mhere or one of my guys, but I’m happy to let you use them for the float if you’re not the ones to actually use them because–”
“Insurance reasons,” Jill finished for her.
“Exactly. Plus, they’re expensive, so I don’t want them damaged or lost.”
“No problem,” Jill replied. “I don’t particularly want to use power tools anyway. I can handle a hammer, though.”
“Barely. You nailed your thumb the other day when you were hanging up that new picture in the office,” Enid noted, laughing at Jill.
“Shut up,” Jill replied as she playfully shoved at Enid’s shoulder.
A few weeks ago, Melinda had brought up the idea to Myra about NOLA Guides making a parade float for either St.Patrick’s Day or the Mardi Gras festivities. It was a whole industry in New Orleans, and it took months and sometimes years of planning. Melinda had gotten a late start, it seemed, but with her community connections, most likely, she’d been able to pull off getting them a float in next year’s St.Patrick’s Day parade, which was a big deal, too, just not as popular or well-known with tourists as Mardi Gras. Melinda had asked her if she thought she had space in her warehouse to build the float and if she could loan them the space if they gave her sponsorship for free. Myra had said yes to that and had promptly forgotten about it. Now, she was walking Jill, Enid, and Rory around the warehouse, telling them what was off-limits and measuring the space they would have to work with to make sure that the truck Enid had rented would fit and still give them room to build the thing.
It would be an inconvenience to have a giant truck in the warehouse and people milling about, working on building the float, but it would only be for a week or so. This wasn’t one of those massive floats that took a year to build. It was more one of the floats that weren’t as commercially made and came out in the front of the parade before the giant floats that would follow. Myra knew there would be float supplies lying around in advance, so she also showed them a storage closet that she could clean out for them, which would allow them to keep their stuff off the floor and out of the way. Then, they went back to her office, where she saw the sandwich she’d totally forgotten about and promptly opened the wrapper, bitting into it while the three women talked more details.
“So, we heard you went on a date last night. Care to fill us in?” Jill asked after they’d wrapped up their shop talk.
Myra almost choked on her sandwich, so she coughed a little and asked, “What?”
“Mel can’t keep a secret. Well, she can, but you have to tell her that it’s a secret first,” Jill suggested.
Myra had texted Melinda after dropping Elisa off the previous night. She should’ve told her that it was off the record.
“Oh. Well, yeah, I guess,” she said, playing it cool.
“That’s it?” Enid asked. “That’s all we get?”
“What else do you want?”
“Neighbor, right?” Rory asked.
“Yes. Her name is Elisa.”
“Pretty name,” Rory noted with a smile.
“So is Aurora, but someone I know hates it,” Enid said.
“Shut up,” Rory replied, shoving Enid on the shoulder lightly.
“Your real name is Aurora?” Myra asked Rory.
“Technically. But I hate it.”
“So, I call her Aurora for fun sometimes. Fun for me, not her.” Enid laughed at her own joke.
“How’d the date go?” Jill asked.
