The President’s Plaque: Part 6

Pep Talk

So I start munching again on the delicious, half-eaten bagel in my hands (which was now cold, unfortunately) while Mike battles it out with the window.
“WHAT THE–?! No! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!” I yell hopelessly at the top of my lungs. I continue, “The bagel just flew out of my hands!!! How is this possible?! This is one of the most important days of my life, and my only comforting tool I have is GONE!”
“Whoa, wait a minute, Cindy. Just calm down and reelaax.” Dad says, with a little bit too much emphasis on the “reelaax”.
“HOW CAN I ‘relaax’ WHEN I’M GOING TO MEET THE PRESIDENT IN LESS THAN TWENTY MINUTES, AND BE ON TELEVISION ALL THE WHILE BEING HAUNTED BY THE THOUGHT OF MESSING UP AND BEING EMBARRASSED IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY?!?!?!” I shout out the window. I see some people on the sidewalk look up with bewildered faces. Why can’t the red light turn green already? I WANT GREEN!! UGH!!!!!
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Dad replies.
“NOT A BIG DEAL?!?! IT’S A HUGE DEAL!!! I’M MEETING THE PRESIDENT OF OUR COUNTRY, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!” I yell.
Then I calm down a bit. But then a thought occurs to me.
“What about the cameras?”
“I don’t know, Cindy. Maybe you could pretend everyone’s in their underwear or something!”
I stare at him in shock. My eyes open wide and my mouth makes the shape of an O. I feel my arms stretching out at my sides like they do whenever something surprises or shocks me.
“Did you seriously just say that, Dad?”
“Errr… Yes?” He sounds like he’s trying really hard to hold back a huge amount of laughter.
“Oh, come on, Dad! You know that trick NEVER works! And why would I want to see everyone in their UNDERWEAR anyways?!” I now realize that I’m laughing at the thought, too.
“Well, I don’t know! It’s the only advice I can think of… So… You know…” He mumbles the last part.
“It’s fine, Dad,” I say in between my laughter. “You were just trying to cheer me up. I’m grateful for the thought.”