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from her memory, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Never – except once. She’d promised. Morally she was obliged to wear that clown costume one more time.
    Was there any way out of this? She turned away from the mirror and sighed. No. There was no way out. She’d promised. She’d been bribed as well as emotionally blackmailed.
    Worst of all, she had these nasty butterflies in her stomach, telling her she would not mind seeing the birthday girl’s father again. Not good. Definitely not practical.
    But from what she could remember –- it had been a while -- her butterflies had never paid much attention to practical details.
    Susie’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got a look on your face.”
    Sylvie knew exactly what she was talking about. She ignored her cousin and headed for the door. “I do not have a look on my face.”
    Susie jumped in her way, and leaned against the door, blocking it. “Yes! I know that look. You’re thinking about a guy you like. You met someone! Woo-hoo! Who? Where? When do we get to see him?”
    “Don’t be absurd! I haven’t met anyone.”
    Susie rolled her eyes. “Sure. Deny, deny, deny. You had this look on your face when you met your first crush at age thirteen, and although you’ve managed to tame it a bit since then, you can’t fool me. Now, spill. Who is it? What does he look like? Will I approve?”
    “I’m not spilling anything,” Sylvie said tartly. “I’m still not speaking to you. So to speak. If you’d ever let me get away with not speaking to you, I wouldn’t be speaking to you. So, I’m not spilling anything at all. Now, get away from that door so I can escape this particular region of hell.”
    Susie just grinned. “You can’t stop speaking to me,” she said cheerfully. “We need to have a meeting soon. Just you and I. We need to plan how to torture ― I mean, challenge , Helen. And for that, we have to be on speaking terms.”
    “I’ll make an exception for that.” Sylvie sent her cousin a murderous look. “I’m in the mood for torture right now, anyway. Which reminds me -- I should also make a date with Helen about our plan to torture you.”
    Susie smirked. “Sure. Go ahead. Make my day.”
    “Pretty big comfort zone, huh?”
    “Yep. I’m a lot more flexible than you or Helen. Do your worst. I’m not worried.”
    Sylvie smiled to herself. There was a silver lining worth bragging about. She and Helen had already chatted about a suitable zone for Susie. The clown would not like it.
    “So, up to another gig tomorrow?” Susie asked provocatively. “I mean – you still need a job, don’t you?”
    “No!” Sylvie practically sang. At least this was good news. “I have a job offer. I’m starting tomorrow.”
    Susie frowned at her. “Excuse me? You were unemployed this morning! Desperate enough to consider my job!”
    “Not anymore. Not desperate, not unemployed, and best of all – not clown! I go for an interview in the morning, but it’s just a formality. I’m guaranteed a job.”
    “Since when are job interview just formalities?”
    “One of the kids at the birthday party decided she wanted me at her birthday bash in a couple of days. I refused of course, and the dad managed to bribe me. Clown for a day in return for a well-paid job – I couldn’t turn that down, could I? I mean, I need to buy you and Helen a present, and gift-wrapped cobras don’t come cheap these days.”
    “Aha. So you are getting back in that costume after all?”
    “Just this one time. And there are conditions. Strict ones. There will be no repeat of today’s fiasco.”
    “The parents were that determined to nail you down? Gee, that’s one spoiled kid.”
    Sylvie thought back on Lana’s wary blue eyes. “No. Not spoiled. There are... special circumstances.”
    “What kind of a job did the dad offer you?”
    “Not sure.”
    “Not sure? What do you mean, not sure?” Susie put her hands on her hips and stared at Sylvie. “Okay, now I don’t like this