Page 34 of Party Favors
“Anne of Green Gables. Duh. Who’s turn is it in the hot seat?” Benji let his gaze flit over everyone before landing on Amanda. “Dream job, Amanda. Go!”
“Selling vintage clothes,” she said easily. Wren nudged their shoulders together.
“That sounds cool. You should do that,” Benji said. “I’m sure being the disco ball princess—”
“Heiress,” both Wren and Amanda said at the same time, but Benji soldiered on.
“—is awesome, but I’m a firm believer in finding a job you love. Or at least don’t hate. We spend most of our adult lives at work. Your workplace should be somewhere you want to be.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Benji,” William said warningly like he didn’t want Benji to push too hard.
Amanda patted her pocket where her list of New Year’s resolutions was hidden.
There were so many reasons why it wasn’t easy. She didn’t want to disappoint her parents. She was so used to being the perfect daughter and following the rules. Opening a clothing store—asecondhandclothing store, at that—would embarrass her parents to no end. She could just imagine her mother’s voice.No daughter of mine …
But it was much easier to talk logistics with Benji, William, and Wren than spread her fears at their feet.
“Well, I’d have to rent a storefront, but rent in my area is nuts. I would need to bulk up my stock. My godmother told me I could buy her closets, but that’s not enough to fill a store. Plus, capital is—”
“Wait, wait. What do you mean, buy your godmother’s closets?” Benji asked. He was smiling at her like she was the most interesting person he’d ever met. She wasn’t used to genuine interest in what she had to say. Not from anyone in her real life. It was unnerving.
“My godmother is Myrna Mets. You might have heard of her. She’s this eccentric rich lady who’s been a friend of the family for ages. Never been married. Owns a bunch of vineyards and is in the society pages all the time for being outrageous. She lives in a big mansion, and every closet is full of her old clothes. She never throws anything away, so she has prom dresses she made for herself in 4H before she was richandvintage Chanel. It’s nuts. She’s always loved me, and I love her. We bonded over clothes and how annoying my mother is.”
“And she’s willing to sell you her old clothes to help you get started?” Wren asked.
Amanda grimaced. She realized she’d never told Wren that. It had just felt like a silly dream until this girls’ getaway. Now it felt like it was within reach if only she could handwave away her other problems.
“Or be my business partner. She believes in me.”
“Myrna’s Closet. Name of your store,” Wren said. “That’s better than Mothball Barn by a mile.”
A funny feeling spread through Amanda’s chest. She loved that name, and the fact that Wren had suggested it made it even better.
William pointed his piece of pizza at her. “You need a business plan. Lucky for you, I’m amazing at them. I helped Wren with hers when she was starting out.”
“Toot, toot,” Benji said. “That’s William’s horn.”
“Oh, I couldn’t let you do that,” Amanda said. This was all moving a little fast. “You hardly know me, William.”
“We’re friends.” He shrugged like it was nothing, but it was sort of everything.
“You could start with an online storefront,” Benji said. “You don’t have to worry about building rent right off.”
“Oh, and you could do pop-up shops,” Wren chimed in. “I should get you in touch with Robin and Sasha, Benji’s other sister. She’s the head of marketing for Lady Robin’s Intimate Implements. They do a lot of cool and innovative stuff without having a permanent storefront.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Amanda said. Her head was about to spin off. She pressed a palm to her forehead. “This is just my silly dream. You asked about my dream job. It’s not actually …”
“Actually what?” Wren asked gently.
“Possible.”
Wren’s eyes made a circuit of her face. Amanda felt like she’d disappointed her. “Anything is possible.”
Amanda fake smiled. “Okay, it’s surely someone else’s turn in the hot seat.”
