Page 9 of Dirty News
“I wasn’t doing that at all, Duke.” She took her paper as she got up, heading for the door. “I don’t know what has you so bothered by my being around.Sorry.”
The door closed behind her, and I looked to find all three guys of the crew looking at me. Ty asked, “Did she really distract you thatmuch?”
“Come on! You guys must’ve smelled that heavy lilac scent too, right?” I couldn’t understand why they all seemed so confused—it was obvious she’d been trying to distractus.
“Heavy lilac scent, huh?” Steve asked with a grin. “No, I didn’t catch a whiff of it. You want to read over your script once more before we try thisagain?”
“I’ve got it now. Just start me up again,Steve.”
I knew they had to have smelled that intoxicating scent Lila gave off. I couldn’t be the only one she affected likethat.
CouldI?
Chapter Five
Lila
As I stood out in the hallway waiting for Duke to finish his video, I saw a couple of people coming my way. A man and a young woman. I greeted them with a warm smile. “Hi, I’m Lila Banks. I’ve just been given the weather spot on the nightlynews.”
The tall, muscular man with wavy, shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes extended his hand. “Ashton Lange, producer of all the news shows forWOLF.”
“Cue card girl for all the news shows,” the woman with dark blonde hair and golden-brown eyes said. “Nina Kramer. It’s nice to meetyou.”
“Cue card girl?” I asked. I held up the paper I’d written my speech on. “Any chance you’d be able to help me out and put this down on some cue cards to do a short video? I’m vying for the morning anchor position and could use somehelp.”
“I’d love to. Follow me to my little office. It’s just down the hall here.” She led me away to get towork.
Ashton called out, “Good luck,Lila.”
“Thanks, Ashton.” I headed off with Nina to get the words put on the cards. That way I wouldn’t have to try to memorize them like Duke was doing. That wasn’t working out well for him at all. Might as well learn from hismistake.
As we wrote on the cue cards, I wondered to myself what had gotten Duke all riled up, and why he’d sent me out of theroom.
Did he really think I’d stoop to trying to sabotage himsomehow?
I’d never had a real job before, but I considered myself the consummate professional. I’d never do a thing to hurt his chances of getting the job we were both upfor.
But the way he’d acted made me wonder if he was as professional as I was. Maybe he would stoop to sabotage. Maybe I had better watch himclosely.
“How long have you been working here, Nina?” I tried to makeconversation.
“A week.” She held up a card. “Is this writing large enough foryou?”
Taking a few steps back, I made sure I could read it well. “Yeah, that’s perfect.” I went back to where I’d been working on the cards too. “I’ve got to do at least one interview. I’d like to impress Mr. Wolfe and Mrs. Baker. Do you happen to know if either of them has spoken about any role models theyhave?”
“There’s a picture of Ted Turner in Mr. Wolfe’s office.” Nina brushed her dark blonde hair back and pulled it into a ponytail, binding it with a rubber band she’d had on her wrist to get it out of her face. “I asked him about it during myinterview.”
I hadn’t even noticed the picture. “And what did he say aboutit?”
“That Ted Turner was a man he wanted to be like. He liked that he’d started Turner Broadcasting and how he added color to old black and white movies. He already has some of the old movies being remade as we speak. They’re being filmed at a studio in Hollywood, and they’ll all be aired on our network. He’s also got sitcoms in production. He’s on the ball, as far as I cantell.”
“Ted Turner, huh?” I was intrigued. My wheels wereturning.
If I really wanted to impress Mr. Wolfe, then an interview with Ted Turner would be a huge get. But how could I managethat?
“My older sister went to school with his publicist.” Nina smiled at me. “You want me to make a call and see if she can get something set up foryou?”
“Would you?” I thought I’d found my first friend in NewYork.
