Pushover !

Debbi strode purposefully across the car park. She had no intention of participating in 'Miz No-E in the Raw', whatever that was and she intended to make this perfectly clear to the troublesome girls. Jody and Lynn immediately disarmed her, however. They had been preparing for how they would deal with the inevitable confrontation when the time came to reveal their plan to Debbi.

Lynn produced a most professional looking spread sheet on her smart phone. Debbi was thrown off balance and amazed at the pledges that the prospect of 'Miz No-E in the Raw' had garnered. The figure thus far dwarfed what had been raised via the collection buckets during Rag Week. She could see why Oscar had been so emotional and had talked about the extension to the community centre.

"But you should have asked me. What does 'Miz No-E in the Raw' mean anyway ?" said Debbi weakly, rapidly beginning to feel that she was between a rock and a hard place. "What do you think it means silly ? Naked. Nude. No clothes on" Jody laughed. "Aren't you proud of our entrepreneurial skills ? All learned at your feet during your invaluable mentoring sessions" Lynn continued. "Yes, of course" said Debbi, missing the irony. "But I can't" she tried again.

"But just think. Your name will be mud in this town if you don't go through with it now. So many disappointed people. The Black and Asian community badly let down. Passing up the chance to boost the company's profile as a champion of diversity in these troubled times !" Lynn was spelling out all the thoughts that had been running through Debbi's mind. She thought of Oscar's face and of Jeff's reaction once he knew. "But my song is all about dancing in my knickers so it won't fit the lyrics" Debbi backtracked. Lynn was interested that subconsciously Debbi now thought of the Miz No-E Rap as 'her song' ! "That's OK. Jody's written some new lyrics, they're great" Lynn reassured her. Jody delved into her bag and extracted a sheet of paper. "Here, take this. You'd better start learning them anyway" she said, handing the sheet to Debbi.

Debbi read the new lyrics. She was aghast. "I can't do this" she whispered. "You can and you will" ordered Lynn breezily. "Everything's all arranged for using the Pink Pussycat. Jody and I can approach your boss Jeff now about a company donation and we can canvas in the offices there for a few more pledges too" she continued. "You run off and start learning your lines. We'll be in touch about having a run through at the community centre. Jody has some new moves for the choreography and Clinton's written new and longer music, so the punters will get their money's worth !"

Lynn and Jody watched in amusement as Debbi wandered slowly away from them, deep in thought, studying the lyric sheet and in marked contrast to the confident and determined way she had approached them five minutes earlier. "That was easy" Jody announced. "Pushover" said Lynn, "Right, what's next ? You're going to contact Kayleigh at the local paper to do a puff piece about Miz No-E ?"