Wanted: Boyfriend For Christmas

Heather tapped her painted fingernails against the keyboard on her desk, staring at the blinking cursor. The white document empty. Her mind blank. How many times had she helped clients write their personal ads? Daily. Almost hourly. She was in charge of the Classifieds for the West County Times. It’s what she did and yet, she couldn’t do her own.

The phone rang.

She hit receive on the console and spoke into her microphone. “Classifieds Department. Heather speaking, how may I help you?”

The man cleared his throat before answering. “I’d like to place a personal ad.”

Heather grabbed a form from a tray on her desk and a pencil. “Your name?”

“John Melton.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m forty-six years old.”

“And what area do you live in?”

“Point Loma.”

She wrote his answers on the form. “And what would you like your ad to say?”

“Witty, intelligent, self-made man looking to hang out with a woman who has a good sense-of-humor and doesn’t take herself too seriously. Who loves to travel and experience the great outdoors? Seeking a low-maintenance woman who isn’t in a hurry to get married.”

She wrote down his ad, and then took his contact number and credit card information. When she was finished, she hung up and sighed. How hard can it be? I’m obviously trying too hard. Okay, if I was my client, how would I help me?

She tapped the pencil on her chin.

I’d ask first who I am and then what was important. She tossed the pencil on her desk and returned to the computer. Typing she wrote:

Wanted: Boyfriend for Christmas…

Kimberlee resides in San Diego with her husband and two boys. She is a full time graphic designer, as well as, a cover designer for The Wild Rose Press. She is the author of The Russell Family Series, Reveille of the Heart, On the Couch, The Seraph War, A Girl Named Christmas, Uncharted Waters, Trick to Treat, The Human Video Handbook, plus five plays and several poems. She is the drama director for Faith Chapel, an acting teacher for the Literacy First After-School Program, and the leader of the Praying Wives and Mom’s Club. She has a BA in Human Development from San Diego Christian College and has her MA in Humanities with an emphasis in literature and playwriting from California State University Dominguez Hills. She leads the Spring Valley Critique Group for the San Diego Christian Writer's Guild. She is the 2006 recipient of the "Sherwood Eliot Wirt Writer of the Year Award" for San Diego County.

Visit Kimberlee at www.kmendoza.com

Contact Kimberlee at kim @ writesftk.com