EXTRACT FOR
The Lesbian Diaries Volume One
(Giselle Renarde)

They tell me I lead a Holly Golightly lifestyle.  I've never read Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I've seen the movie more than once.  Maybe I was inspired by Audrey Hepburn when I started living this way, as a paid unicorn gigging for married couples night after night, but now?  Now it's just life.  My life as a unicorn.



I don't tell most people what I do for a living.  I don't let most people get close enough that they would ask. And "What do you do?" is one of those basic questions you get asked when you first meet someone new, so that shows you the extent to which I keep people at bay.



It was my accountant who suggested I write this book??"book, diary, journal, whatever you want to call it.  He's "very open-minded," my accountant.  His words.  Another girl I know, who gigs like me, she told my about this guy.  She said he'd save me a bundle. I was a little intimidated, obviously, because I don't like strangers examining any aspect of my life too closely.  But Jaimee said he's good with girls who do what we do, and it's true.  He really is. 



Anyway, my accountant told me to write my experiences down, so here I am, writing them down. 



Of course, now that I'm actually thinking about what I'm writing, I don't know what to write.  It was easier introducing myself.  Which I didn't do a great job of, I now realize.  I didn't even tell you my name.  



It's Cosima.  



Yes, Cosima.  No, I didn't change it.  That's the name my parents gave me at birth.  



How many Cosimas are there?  



That's not a rhetorical question.  I really do wonder.  One day I'll get around to looking into it, doing a deep dive into every aspect of my given name.  But, for now, I live inside it like Jeannie in her pretty pink bottle.  I inhabit my name, wearing skimpy outfits while men look upon me with lust.  



That's just the kind of Cosima I am.