Description: Julie reads the report on Glenn Sabine and wonders why her remarkable instincts in knowing people aren't working as well as she'd like them to.
The Miss Teenager Pageant. PART 33.
Before Juliet Jones became the mayor of the town of Devon, she had run a clothing store. There were two main reasons why her business had been so successful. One: she knew clothes. The latest fashions, the hottest items, she always had particularly good instincts when it came to what to put on sale and when. Timing was everything. Two: she knew people. Catering to the adult crowd without ignoring the teens among them had been her forte, and once again, it was her keen instincts when it came to understanding their needs and wants. In short, she always took the time to get to know and care about the good people of this town.
So it was no shock that when the the portly former mayor, Teddy “Bear” Roosevelto, who was getting along in years, had decided not to run for a sixteenth term, Julie was encouraged to run for mayor. The entire town – all 50 of them – had voiced their approval. At first, she had refused. How could a woman become a mayor in 1961? Wait maybe sixty years, Julie had suggested. Then women would become astronauts, mayors, and even presidents, she had joked. But the women in town had all banded together and stormed her little clothing shop, unanimously announcing that if Julie didn’t become their mayor, they’d all skip town. That would leave about ten men without wives to cook for them or do their laundry. The whole town would be in absolute pandemonium.
So after an agonizing day or two of discussing the issue with her family, Pops had told her that it was her brilliant instincts that had brought her to where she was today. More than anything, she loved people. People loved people who loved people, Pops said. Well, she could hardly argue with that logic, so she had decided to run and won in a landslide.
So as she leaned against her office wall after having read Eddie’s report on Glenn Sabine, she was clothed in utter vexation. Her every instinct had told her the man was a crook out to take advantage of teenage girls like Eve. And those same instincts had never failed her before.
So why did the man have such a squeaky-clean record? Just a list of his acting accolades. Performed in blah-blah-blah theater in blah-blah-blah performance…. Julie couldn’t have given a rat’s behind. Just give her a reason. All she needed was a single solitary reason, and Glenn Sabine would be the next guest of honor at the state penitentiary, him and his little conniving friend. Wait, there was something. A speeding ticket! Yes, she pondered, nodding to herself. She could use that. The man was a crooked actor with a complex for getting things done way too quickly.
Eddie was sitting on the edge of Julie’s desk and waiting patiently for her to finish reading the report. He knew as well as she did that nothing on the little piece of paper she held in her hand could be used as evidence in a court of law or justify an arrest warrant.
“You see, Julie,” explained Eddie. “There’s nothing you can actually pin on Glenn Sabine. He is an actor, he’s kept out of jail… and this beauty contest of his may be perfectly O.K.”
“Too true,” Julie acquiesced. For Eve’s sake, however, she had a good mind to march right over to that Devon House and give Mr. Sabine and his crony more than just a piece of her mind. “And what makes it real rough is Eve’s wrapped up in this thing body, soul, and elocution!”
Unbeknownst to Julie, at that very moment just outside her office, her little sister – the object of all the fuss – was about to pay a visit with some important news.
