Business tip: Ask yourself, what are your
competitors doing that you aren't doing?
I jump up from the chair and run to the office with the magazine. "I have such an awesome idea!"
I know Mom's the person to go to for this kind of thing. She's usually open to people's ideas, plus she'll see the importance of something like this-she's always saying how everyone's too busy to relax and enjoy life.
When I walk into the pharmacy office, Mom's standing there talking to Tory and Charise, who came by to pick up their last paychecks. They're each holding two big shopping bags.
"Thank you so much, Jane," Tory says.
"Okay guys, go quick, before my mother sees you," Mom says. "Just kidding. She wouldn't mind that I'm giving you free stuff, because she loves you."
"Well, we really appreciate it," Charise says, and they both give my mom a hug.
"Mom," I say after Tory and Charise have left the office.
"Yes, Lucy?" she says, smiling at me.
"I have such a good idea for the store. Ready to hear it?"
"Lucy, you don't need to work so hard around here," she says. "You're still a kid."
"Mom." I roll my eyes at her. "I like helping!"
She smiles at me and pulls me into a hug. She gets this way sometimes, overemotional. Once she said it's because she doesn't want me to feel obligated to work here when I'm older-I should be free to pursue my passion, whatever that means. Sometimes she thinks too far into the future.
I pull back from the hug and say, "It's just an idea I have for the empty hunting section. Okay? So listen."
She nods.
"We need a Relaxation Room. We need to do it now."
Mom smiles and says, "Please explain."
"Here. Read this." I hand her the magazine, which I'd stuck under my armpit while we were hugging. "If we do this, maybe that part of the store won't look so depressing anymore."
I walk out of the office so Mom can read the article in peace, and I head over to the section that will soon be the new relaxation space. The one problem I see is a lack of comfortable seating. We need that. And I know Grandma won't let me buy couches or anything. I'll have to find a way around that-maybe ask for donations.
When I get like this, so excited about something, I can hardly contain myself. My words come quickly and my voice gets high-pitched, and it's like things just can't happen fast enough. I need it to happen now. I need it to have happened five minutes ago!
While Mom's reading, I decide to give Sunny a call and check in on her.
"Hey, Sun," I say. "Another fabulous Sunny sleepover."
"Totally. How's the pharmacy today?"
I plop back down in one of the plastic chairs. I'm about to tell Sunny all about the Relaxation Room and my plans when I suddenly realize it's too soon for that. I'm getting ahead of myself. "It's slow. Listen, I've been reading some magazines. Some looooooove magazines. And I have some advice for you."
"Lucy," Sunny groans, half-laughing, half-annoyed. "What kind of magazines have you been reading?"
"Just, y'know, like women's magazines, like Cosmo and stuff." I reach into my pocket for a piece of strawberry gum. "And I was right-the key to landing a man is confidence."
"Landing a man?" Sunny laughs again. "Lucy, we're twelve, not fifty."
"I know, I know." I pop a bubble and the gum lands all over my face. It takes me a little while to get all of it off. "It's just an expression."
"Oh-kay."
"So, yeah, you're awesome. You should know that," I tell Sunny. I hear my name from the office. "But I gotta go-my mom's calling me. Talk to you later!"
"Lucy, you are my daughter, after all," Mom says, coming out of the office to squeeze me in a tight hug. "I knew it. We're cut from the same cloth. We have the same priorities."
Okay, now she's taking this too far.
"Mom, it's just a good idea-that's all." I smile at her, pulling back from the hug. Strands of her blonde hair are stuck to my blue T-shirt. "It's what we need. And the thing is, it won't really cost the pharmacy anything. It'll just add a level of ambience, like the article says," I tell her.
Mom says, "Yup. And it stresses the importance of mental rest, breaks from this work-work-work lifestyle the world has placed on us." She looks at me again, even more adoringly this time. "And we can take those denim couches out of the basement. I've been wanting to get rid of them anyway."
"Genius! That solves the seating problem," I tell her.
"Okay, go tell Grandma," Mom says, walking away from me.
"No, you tell Grandma."
Mom's bouncing up and down on her toes, all perky, like a little girl. "Lucy, she'll take it better from you. Trust me."
I flip my hair over, trying to adjust my elastic headband. "Mom…"
"Lucy…"
I sigh. "Fine. You're right. Grandma has a hard time saying no to me."