Page 132 of Every Broken Promise
“Your off today?” he asked, and I nodded.
Ronnie was not happy at all with me. I kind of dreaded tomorrow, but that was a problem for future Astrid. Not only was he not happy with me, but Ori wouldn’t be there as a buffer.
“How about I take you to Emma’s for breakfast.”
That instantly made my mood better.
Too bad mygood mood did not last. I could tell Ronnie was in a foul mood when I walked into work on Tuesday morning.
“Nice of you to join us today, Astrid,” Ronnie stated as I put my bag on top of my desk.
He was standing on the threshold to his office.
“Sorry, but I wanted to make sure my friend was okay.”
This didn’t seem to matter to him since he snapped at me.
“We have the biggest story to hit the county, Orianna is on her honeymoon, and you can’t be bothered to be here? You didn’t even send in your piece for the week.”
At this my stomach dropped.
He was right. I had finished my “Around Town with Hart.” I had written a beautiful piece for Kanes’ Auto, but with everything that happened, I just forgot.
Fuck.
“I’m so sorry, Ronnie,” I pleaded. “The reason I couldn’t come is because my friend was the one who got arrested because of Callahan’s dirty deeds.”
Normally I wouldn’t have thrown my friendship with Rachel under the bus like that, but I knew Prescott was all over this, and I had a feeling Ori would cover it, and since their beaus were besties she would do justice to any interview she did with Rachel—if she did one.
This did seem to ease Ronnie’s mood.
“Okay, give any and all information you have to Orianna.”
All I could do was nod.
“Get both of your pieces ready to go by Thursday. We leave on Friday for the conference.”
My stomach dropped at that. For a second, I had forgotten I was supposed to go.
“Both pieces?” I asked.
Ronnie rolled his eyes.
“The anonymous crap, and your other fluff piece.
The way he said both things didn’t sit right with me, especially when a few weeks ago he was praising them.
“Sure thing,” I told him.
It sucked but at the same time, it made my short week shorter. My piece highlighting the Kanes’ auto shop was written, and for my anonymous piece I figured there was no harm done in posting about what Mr. Kane had told me.
I made a mental note to pack up for this short trip and find a way to deal with it all. I could tell Tyler, but what if I was overexaggerating?
Fuck.
Maybe it was all in my head.
Instead, I would focus on the positives, like my new relationship. Just the thought of it had me smiling.
