Sherri couldn’t help herself. She reached out to Gloria and tried to give her a hug, which would be the first and only time she would ever try to touch the Bunny Mother. Gloria recoiled. “I didn’t say you got the job,” she said, her voice cold and firm. Sherri felt more stupid than ever—even more stupid than the time she tried to take the steno machine down from the top shelf at school and dropped it on her head in front of everyone.

Gloria opened her office door and ushered Sherri back into the dressing room. She frowned when her eyes fell on a Bunny in a pink costume who wore a cowboy hat with a turquoise stone and feather. “Bunny Carmen,” Gloria said to a messy-looking Bunny with a shaggy Dorothy Hamill bob haircut, “let’s talk about what happened last night.” The pink-costumed Bunny’s face fell. She ran into the office and the door slammed shut.

A few days later, Sherri got a letter offering employment. Training would start the following week. It seemed impossible. For someone who didn’t plan to take the interview seriously, she suddenly felt like she’d won the gold wrapper on the Willy Wonka chocolate bar.

She called Roberta and blurted out her news. “We’re going to work together, Berta!”

“You got it?” Roberta asked, dismay creeping into her voice.

“Didn’t you?”

“No,” Roberta said.

“Sure you did. Check your mail.”

“I did check my mail, Sher. I got a letter of rejection yesterday. They don’t want me.”

Sherri was shocked. Was it because she’d mentioned that Roberta made her late? Or because Sherri didn’t have a chance to share Bunny Tina’s advice and tell her friend that she should act wholesome and never show her edge?

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think I’d ever, you know, it wasn’t even something I’d wanted, and you’re so gorgeous.”

“I didn’t want to work at that trashy resort, anyway.” Sherri knew Roberta well enough to know she was lying. She didn’t think the resort was trashy. A ripple of guilt braided with pleasure ran through Sherri when she realized how good it felt to step in front of Roberta for a change. It was the first sensation of a new life. She clutched the Bunny Mother’s repaired Provita watch like a talisman.

CHAPTER TWO