Page 10 of Off the Record

Hudson

Sure. What’s your second idea?

I stare at the phone. Ben was never this interested in what I was going to write. He’d take my articles before the deadlinewith a nod and leave me alone until our planning meeting for the next quarter. Maybe that’s part of the reason he doesn’t work atThe Nashville Rhythmanymore.

Or maybe Hudson doesn’t know how to be anything but an editor now that he’s back in a regular office and away from the executive floor. He’s probably treating all the columnists like this.

Paisley

The Country Music Hall of Fame. I thought about taking a few hours to visit and see what I can find.

Hudson

Table that one.

Great. I’m not even moving in the right direction.

Paisley

Do you have a better idea?

Hudson

No, but I have faith you’ll come up with one.

My mouth flops open. How does he have any faith at all? He hardly knows me.

“Honey, I’m home,” my sister Carrie sings, slamming the door and tossing her keys on the counter. She kicks off her orthopedic sneakers and shakes out her long brown hair. Our small townhouse has two miniscule bedrooms on the top floor, a living room and kitchen on the ground floor, and a set of stairs connecting them. It’s compact, but it suits us well. “Why are you still up?”

“Writing,” I tell her, closing my laptop. “How was work?”

She groans, flopping on the couch and narrowly missing my computer, which I pull out of the way just in time. Her scrubs are covered in little rubber duckies, which she can get away with since she works in a pediatric ward at the hospital. “Nothing too exciting, which is always a good thing in my line of work. You?”

“My new boss has been texting me for updates on my articles.” I pass her the phone.

Carrie slowly sits up while she reads our conversation, brushing hair out of her eyes. “Oh my gosh, Paise. He’s so into you.”

I snatch it back. “He’s into anything with two legs and a monthly cycle. I just want to keep my job.”

She waggles her eyebrows. “Sounds like he wants you to keep it, too.”

“I’m going to bed.” Which is only partially true, because I still need to text him back. I wait until I’ve brushed my teeth and have the privacy of my bedroom to do it.

Paisley

If you have any leads, send them my way. I’m still trying to understand exactly what you want out of this article.

Hudson

We’ll figure it out together.

That isn’t promising. I put my phone away and roll over when a notification comes in, throwing blue light over my wall. I pick it up, disappointment snaking through me when I see the name.

Ratface Leo

We didn’t get a chance to talk today. How are you?

There’s a half-percent chance he’s asking me this because he cares about my feelings, but even as I think that, I shove the thought away. If he cared at all about my feelings, he wouldn’t have hooked up with one of our coworkers.At work. I block his number and put my phone away.

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