25
Mr. Tudball held the door open to his office while saying “hello” to each person as they entered the room. While he was at it, he also put some extra emphasis on his greeting to the one participant he was so visibly smitten with.
“Hi, Kathy, so nice to see you,” he said, not holding back his admiration.
Flattered and slightly nauseated at the same time, Kathy felt the urge to entertain her bandmates.
“Hi, Mr. Tudball!” she said, in her classic, sarcastic tone. Everyone loved it when she did that. It was especially amusing due to his unusual last name.
“I have to say, you always wear the cutest outfits,” he gushed.
“Thank you, Mr. Tudball!” she returned in the same manner. Kathy then shot a deliberate glance over at Belinda, whom she knew would have the hardest time suppressing her laughter.
“I’m happy to see that you’re all so punctual as usual,” praised Mr. Tudball.
“Yeah, well, we had a little race to see who would get here the fastest,” said Gina. “I won, of course… Yeah, baby, the Corvette rules the road!”
“That’s because you cheated,” declared Belinda.
“How did I cheat?” asked Gina
“You were cuttin’ us off on the freeway,” claimed Belinda.
“Hey, that’s part of the deal, Babe. I can’t help it if you all drive like a bunch of old ladies. You can’t keep up with me on stage and you can’t keep up with me on the road,” Gina summed up.
Criticizing their driving skills was one thing, but criticizing their musicianship drew a unified rebuttal from everyone.
“Well, I’m just glad you all got here in one piece,” said Abel.
Agreeing with Mr. Tudball, Belinda stuck her tongue out at Gina.
The girls all made their way over to the office couches and sat down. Ginger opted to stand for a moment. She was preparing to help out with the presentations.
“Ladies, I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Draisaitl, my newest assistant,” said Abel.
Mr. Draisaitl nodded his head as everyone gave him their assorted greetings.
“Where’s Kevin?” asked Belinda, whom she remembered from the last meeting because she liked his blue eyes and because he commented that he loved her patented growl. Belinda was always happy when someone mentioned her self-invented singing technique. She was also hoping he might ask her out.
“Mr. Shattenkirk has moved on to greener pastures— to the management side of this department,” informed Abel. “He rose up fast.”
“Ohh,” said Belinda, dejectedly.
“Disappointed, Babe?” asked Charlotte, giving her a slight amount of shit.
“Nnehh,” Belinda sneered back at her.
Suddenly, Mr. Tudball offered something that took everyone by complete surprise.
“Would anybody like some Coke?” asked Mr. Tudball.
All the ears of the Go-Go’s perked up.
“We also have Sprite and Orange Fanta,” he added.
All the ears of the Go-Go’s perked down.
“Wow, you scared me for a second, Mr. Tudball,” cracked Gina. “I thought for a minute there, we might have to make you an honorary sixth member, HAHAHA!!
“Huh?” grunted Mr. Tudball, not understanding the inference.
Ginger automatically felt the urge to intervene—
“It’s okay, Abel. Gina’s just trying to be funny,” she explained.
As the Go-Go’s all erupted into laughter over Gina’s inside joke, Kathy couldn’t help but add to the amusement.
“Yeah, I’ll have some Coke,” she said. “And then I’ll have some Orange Fanta to wash it down with, HAHAHAHA!!”
Now that the girls were thoroughly wrapped up in hysterics over Gina and Kathy’s comments, Ginger anxiously awaited for them to calm down. She instinctively felt as if she had to act like their guardian.
“Kathy— please. Girls, come on. Let’s all try and act like grown-ups here,” she pleaded.
At this point, Mr. Tudball was gradually starting to catch on to the comical reference. You couldn’t have worked in the entertainment industry as long as he had without hearing a thing or two. Mr. Draisaitl certainly understood the implication. He was trying to conceal the fact that he was laughing to himself by placing his hand over his mouth.
It took a solid minute for The Little Rascals to settle down. Then it was time to commence with the meeting.