Remember Savannah

#44 Margo is a Little Happy

Ben sat at his chair smiling. His cheeriness impacted my mood altogether and somehow, I felt awake and cheery.

"So, you said you're working at a medicine company?" He took a sip of his juice.

"I actually market medicine. The commercials you see on television and online, some of those are me." It was hard not to brag which as weird considering I was never much of a bragger.

"Really? By any chance have you ever marketed Choco Allergy Medicine?"

With a laugh I replied. "Yeah, that was actually the first product I marketed."

"No kidding? I practically live off that stuff. The only reason I bought that stuff was after seeing an add off YouTube. I never laughed so hard in my life at that dog who was allergic to his owner." He broke out in heavy laughter. "And the dog tried to kill the owner until a cat arrived and gave him Choco Allergy Medicine."

It was hard not to laugh, but there I was laughing along with him. "Oh my gosh, I honestly thought I was getting fired after that add, but my boss Mr. Perry told me I was going places."

After the laughing died down, Ben spoke again. "Well, you obviously have a gift for writing. That ad is still on all the time, so they must be making bank. Have you ever considered writing? I remember that poem you submitted in high school. It was amazing."

"Actually, Sabrina works at Render Publishing now and offered me a deal to write a book. She needs an answer by the beginning of December."

"I heard about that." His juice was gone. "Sabrina has always been an interesting one. In all honesty, dating her was like dating the devil. She was too much for me." That was an uncomfortable statement. "But in all seriousness, that sounds like a great opportunity. You'd make a fantastic author."

"I'm not sure about that. I've been trying this entire week to write a story, but it's hard."

He scooted his chair forward and leaned closer to me. "Storytelling isn't that difficult. The thing you need to know about storytelling is that you should always write what you know. Always. If you're writing about Soviet Russia, you better do some research otherwise the story is going to suck. But if you're writing about your experience in high school for example, well the writing is going to be much better and interesting. Write what you know. It all comes from the heart."

His body leaned back to normal while my arms found themselves on the table. "Is that what you're teaching your class?" I asked half-jokingly and half-flirty.

His finger scratched his nose and he let out a giggle. "That's exactly what I teach them. You should see some of the failed attempts the students do at trying to write about secret agents like they're trying to write the next James Bond. James Bond has character and background. That's what makes him interesting, not the fact that he's a secret agent."

"Kind of like the Spy Kids?" Who's to say if that was a serious question or not?

"Yeah maybe like Spy Kids." You could tell there was confusion. "You know, I haven't seen those movies in forever. I remember seeing that 3D movie when it came out and honestly it surprises me how much I loved that movie."

"Yeah, I don't know why I liked it so much. Me and Savannah watched it again over Christmas and realized how dumb it was."

"Oh, kill me now. And don't even get me started with Agent Cody Banks."

"Hey, that was a great movie. It was the second one that was stupid."

He shrugged. "Yeah sure, but back on the topic of Spy Kids. Did you know Selena Gomez was in that third one?"

Nearly falling out of my chair, I was almost dying of laughter. "What? There's no way she was in that."

"I'm serious. She was in that beginning scene at the water park. You know, that little girl who wanted to know why the water park was closed." To prove it, we were watching a YouTube Video on his phone.

"Really? That's crazy. I would've never guessed that was her."

"But if you really want crazy, I can show you a video of her when she was on the Barney Show."

Again, he wasn't joking. Gomez was in fact on Barney.

"So, are you a fan of Selena?" he asked.

"I mean, she's OK. I'm not big on pop, but I loved her song "The Heart Wants What It Wants." That was honest. I feel like most music is crap and doesn't mean anything."

At that moment, our waiter returned with the food. My stomach never felt so hungry.

"OK, Turkey Omelet for the lady." My breakfast now stood just inches away from me. "And the Green Eggs and Turkey for the gentleman. Do any of you need a refill?" We both agreed to a refill and luckily enough he already had the pitcher with him and refilled our drinks. "Let me know if you both need anything." He was gone.

"Shall we say grace?" asked Ben.

I don't know why, but I was surprised he wanted to say grace. Really, it should be a surprise because nearly everyone I eat with wants to say grace. And he said grace. For the next few minutes, we enjoyed our breakfast.

Does it sound like Ben and Margo are hitting it off pretty well? Is Ben right? Should you write what you know? Did you know Selena Gomez was in Spy Kids 3 or Barney?

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