Page 59 of The Sweet Part
She salutes him and runs back to the car.
I glance at May, who smiles tightly. Maybe she’s worried Sophie will get it in her head to drive again. I assured her there were no keys in this car, and the emergency brake is on.
We do two more takes, and then Hank says, “Let’s do one more and keep it loose. Sophie, you say your line and anything else you think will get people to watch the show.”
She grins and runs back to the car.
May worries her lower lip. I send her a small nod that I hope says it’ll be okay.
We run through it again.
This time Sophie says, “It’s the car you’ve wanted to drive since you were a kid, but your mom wouldn’t let you. WatchHot Finds, and you’ll be in the driver’s seat like me.” She runs back to the car and gets in.
“Cut.” Hank claps. “Fantastic! Come on out, kid. We’re done. Good job.”
Sophie runs out, ecstatic. “Can I watch it?”
Hank takes her over to the monitor to watch the different versions we filmed today.
I take May’s hand. “See? It went well, and she had a blast.”
She puts a hand over her heart. “I had no idea what was going to come out of her mouth when they let her improvise. She recently learned a few curse words from school and thinks it’s funny to spring them on me.”
I laugh.
May’s brows lower in disapproval. “It’s not funny. We’ve had several talks about it. Every time she curses, she has to do a chore.”
“That’s what we did when we were kids too. Until we were teens, and then mom said we could talk like normal people. She was just keeping us presentable to adults.”
May cocks her head. “You had an interesting upbringing.”
“Guess it wasn’t like yours.”
She shakes her head. “My mom was not cool with curse words. Well, you’ve met her. She’s refined.”
I pretend to be offended. “Oh, okay, unlike my mom.”
“I wasn’t comparing. Mom was a third-grade teacher and big on manners.”
I take her hand and kiss it. “I eventually learned manners.”
She smiles.
“Thanks for letting Sophie do this. I think it’ll be a hit. Who knows, maybe we’ll get kids to watch the show too. Never too early to learn about cars.”
We look over to find Sophie twirling in her dress. “I’m so happy!” she yells to us.
I catch May’s eye, and we smile at each other, both of us happy that Sophie’s happy.
* * *
May
Sophie’s on a high for the rest of the day. Maybe I should find a children’s theater for her. It didn’t occur to me that she’d love performing. In hindsight, she does love attention, dressing up, and acting out her made-up fairy scenarios.
We’re sitting in the living room, waiting for our pizza to be delivered, and she’s still talking about how great it was to do a commercial for her favorite show besidesTwinkle Fairies.
“I’m glad,” I say, “but that was a onetime thing.”
