Page 74 of Captive Hearts
The sound of clomping heels came toward them. ‘I guess they couldn’t holdeveryoneback,’ Tina noted. And here she came, Kara Malone.
‘We’ll leave you to it,’ Tina said, and they went back to their paramedics. ‘We’ll swap numbers!’ Greg called over his shoulder.
Ashley and Gina waved them off.
‘Ashley! Gina!’ Kara exclaimed as she reached them. Ashley thought the familiarity was a bit much. ‘God, I’m so glad to see you’re both OK.’ Her cameraman appeared at her side. ‘Any chance of an interview?’
‘None whatsoever,’ Ashley said tiredly. ‘We’ve had a terrible day, and we just want to get signed off and go home.’
Gina looked at her, shocked. ‘Ashley! Be cool, woman!’ she hissed out of the side of her mouth. Ashley knew why she was trying to tell her to play nice. Kara wanted to talk to her, and at the start of this long and strange day, that would have been a big deal.
‘Oh god, of course!’ Kara said apologetically. ‘I’m sorry, I hate to be pushy, but you get it, don’t you, Ashley?’
Ashley shrugged. ‘I guess.’
‘But maybe we could arrange something for tomorrow? You could come down to the studio?’
Ashley thought about it, but it didn’t sound very realistic. ‘Well, I’m not sure if we’ll… I mean the police will probably be talking to us endlessly-’
‘Yes, but you could put them off, couldn’t you?’ Kara gave Ashley a conspiratorial look. ‘I shouldn’t say this, but if you could come tomorrow and give us the exclusive, we could talk about… Well, from what I heard, you’ve been stuck in the small-time and your boss, said you might be interested in-’
‘Kara?’ Ashley said, cutting in.
‘Yeah?’ Kara said hopefully.
‘Shut up and go away.’
Kara’s smiled wobbled slightly. ‘Ashley,’ she said, trying to laugh it off, ‘Come on. This is a big deal for you.’
‘You know what’s abig deal? That I’m alive. All of this?’ She gestured to the camera. ‘It’s not. Not to me. Not right now.’
Kara looked unhappy that her chummy charms hadn’t worked. ‘Well, if that’s how it is.’
‘It is. Itreallyis. I watched you today. While I was stuck with a deranged idiot waving a gun around and you were hiding behind that shield, I watched you bullshitting on TV all day, doing franklymediocrework, and you know? My desire to get where you are has kind of dried up.’
Kara was stunned and angry. ‘Oh,really? So, you’re better than me now you’ve had one bad day on the job? Totally happy to stay in your shitty little station?’ She gave a mirthless laugh.
‘You know what?’ Ashley told her. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do. But as I’ve said, I’m just enjoying breathing right now.’ She turned to Gina, who looked stunned by what she’d just witnessed. ‘Oh, by the way, soon as I catch my breath, next priority is taking you on a date,’ Ashley told her firmly.
Gina’s mouth - hanging open in shock at how Ashley had spoken to Kara Malone - closed quickly. A smile began to slide onto her beautiful lips. A big one. ‘So long as you don’t take me for pizza, that sounds brilliant.’
Ashley laughed. She realised Kara was still there. ‘Was there something else? Scoot, would you?’
Kara was positively enraged now. ‘You know Iamthe news, don’t you? I’m gonna make sure no oneeverhires you.’
Ashley shook her head, feeling free. Not just of Pete. Of a lot of things. ‘Whatever power you might have, it doesn’t mean what you think it does.’
Kara stormed off.
Ashley turned back to Gina. ‘So about this date. Maybe Chinese?’
‘Ashley… first off, yes, I love Chinese food. Second, what onearthdid you just do?’ Gina asked.
‘I already said. Don’t care.’
‘What, suddenly your career doesn’t matter anymore?’
‘Oh, it does,’ Ashley told her. ‘Just maybe not as a news reporter.’
