Advanced Mythology Read Online Free Page A

suggestions he’s going to want you on the creative team,” Dorothy said. Keith felt his heart start to pound with excitement. “I can’t promise you anything. That’s our war cry, you remember. No one can promise anything, but this could bring you to the attention of the big wheels here. Who knows what that could mean?”
    “Wow.” The wheels in Keith’s head were beginning to spin, figuring out the possible changes in logistics. He was already on his feet and pacing up and back on the grass. “That’d be great. I would love to have a regular job in advertising.”
    “Regular, hah,” Dorothy said, with mock scorn. “Nothing around here’s regular. Of course, if you screw up, my behind’s in the blender, too, you know.”
    “I won’t let you down,” Keith promised her, hitting the END button. “Yahoo!” he cried.
    Everyone in the park turned to look at him. Keith just grinned back.
    “What’s the excitement?” Holl asked. Keith explained.
    “This could be my big chance,” he said, pacing faster and faster, unable to keep still. “There was no room for me last year, and otherwise I’d have to wait until after I graduate to apply. Think about it! If I come up with something for the client that they would never have thought of, I could get hired as a freelance contractor, or even an entry-level position. Paul, the intern advisor from last year, told me I was good at ideation.”
    “An artificial term,” Enoch said, looking as though the taste was sour in his mouth.
    “So is every brand name in the world,” Keith said. He flipped the little phone end over end into the air and caught it high over his head. “Wow. That’d solve a lot of problems. I could sure use the money.”
    “What for?” Enoch said. “But for your tuition, your expenses are small.”
    “Well,” Keith said, embarrassed, “Diane’s starting to talk about what happens when the two of us graduate. She’s hinting that it’s about time I make some kind of commitment. And I want to!”
    “And what’s holding you back?”
    “I want the moment to be perfect,” Keith said, and his eyes grew dreamy, taking on the green of the trees around them. “I want to have an engagement ring in my pocket—in a velvet box. A red velvet box. No, blue. She likes blue. And soft music playing, with the moon overhead.”
    “So now yer ordering the moon around?” Enoch said, with affectionate irony. “So this fantasy of yours takes place outside.”
    “Maybe,” Keith said. “It’ll depend on the weather. And then I’ll say something poetic—I’m still working on that part. I don’t want it to be hokey, but it has to express how I feel about her. And then I’ll ask her to marry me. And after she says yes, there’ll be fireworks, and maybe champagne.”
    “It sounds like a well-thought-out moment,” Holl said. “But in the course of a year, you can earn enough for a nice ring on commissions alone.”
    “But there’s more,” Keith said. “By the time I propose I want to have enough money in the bank for a down payment on a decent house. I don’t want us to have to live in an apartment. My family’s always lived in houses. I like having a yard. Someday I hope we’ll have kids, so I want to live in a nice area with a park nearby.” He grinned. “All right, so it probably won’t happen that way. It’s just a dream.”
    “It’s a good dream,” Holl said. “We’ll help in any way we can.”
    “Thanks,” Keith said. “I appreciate it. The best thing you can do is not to tell Diane a thing. I want to surprise her.”
    “I promise you, Keith Doyle, you have a gift for the unexpected. It doesn’t need our help.”
    Keith whistled at the sky. “I hope something comes out of this meeting Monday. Even a freelance contract would go a long way toward the cottage with the white picket fence.”
    “And roses climbing around the door? But what about school?” Holl asked. “You’ve only just finished registering for your