Page 1 of Interview with a Sadist
The Assignment
ChapterOne
“Hi, Bree. I know you’re at lunch right now, but I need you to come see me as soon as you return to the office. I’ve got a new assignment for you. It’s a good one.”
I clear my throat and let out a long sigh, because every time Chase has told me my next assignment would be a good one, it was anything but. Last time, my “good assignment” had me on the front lines of a protest between union workers and their employer in Hunting Park. It took all of two minutes to realize this protest was going to get ugly, and I ended up in the hospital after being pepper sprayed and hit in the leg with an asp by riot police. As good of an editor-in-chief as Chase Murdock is, working for him as an investigative journalist feels a lot like jumping from an airplane without knowing if the bag attached to your back is a parachute or a tote bag.
“Okay, Chase,” I answer reluctantly. “I’ll be in your office the minute lunch is over.”
“Great. See you soon.”
The call with my boss ends and I set my phone down on the table next to my iced coffee and crispy grilled cheese on sourdough bread. As hard as it may be, I try not to think about the impending threat of my new assignment and return my attention to my two girlfriends who agreed to meet me at Starbucks for lunch this afternoon.
“So, how’s your hot boss doing?” Teagan asks as she raises her perfectly manicured eyebrows. Her blue eyes reflect the light of the sun shining through the window and almost make her look like a beautiful White Walker from Game of Thrones.
“Chase isnothot,” I reply with a frown.
“He kind of is,” Melissa responds from my left, and my face reacts with a grimace all on its own. Melissa is a gorgeous blonde just like Teagan, and while both of them are stunning, apparently neither of them has good taste. Then again, out of the three of us, I’m the only one who’s still single.
“You’re both out of your minds,” I say with a giggle. “Chase is, like, fifty.”
“Yeah, but he’s got that Brad Pitt, silver fox thing going on,” Melissa says.
“Oh, I’m sure Andy would just love to hear that,” I shoot back. “After six years of marriage, poor Andy finds out his wife, and mother of his two kids, has a silver fox kink.”
Melissa gasps and jolts back like I just whacked her across the face. “Umm, no. It’s not akink, Bree.”
“Eww,” Teagan chimes in under her breath, but loud enough to be heard.
“Kinks are for skanks,” Melissa adds with raised eyebrows, and I’m forced to silence because I can’t figure out if she’s joking. “I just happen to think older men are … attractive. That’s why my Andy is so much older than me.”
“He’s thirty-seven. Seven years isn’t that much,” I say.
“But it’s enough,” Melissa replies.
“Yeah, it’s enough,” Teagan chirps, before adding, “Russell is only two years older than me, but since I’m still in my twenties, him being thirty sounds so old.”
“Oh, I felt the same way before my thirtieth birthday,” Melissa says. “For some reason, turning thirty terrified me. I felt like I could never call myself young again, and all I had to look forward to in life was the slow deterioration of my body.”
“I’m convinced I’ll be using a walker before I turn thirty-one,” Teagan says, and Melissa giggles. I, on the other hand, am stone-faced.
“You guys know I turn thirty in six months,” I say with a furrowed brow. My girlfriends both respond with giggles, and I almost feel forced to join in.
Melissa, Teagan, and I have been friends since we met at the University of Pennsylvania right after high school. The two of them were already friends when I came along, and there was something infectious about the way they interacted with each other. Melissa was always the ringleader, maybe because she’s the oldest, and Teagan always acted like the little sister trying too hard to impress her older sibling. Hell, they even look similar, with their golden blonde hair and blue eyes. Admittedly, they’re a bit pretentious, but I love them all the same, and while I look like the outsider with my dark brown hair, we’re still like a tight-knit family. We talk to each other about everything, and no matter how stilted they can be sometimes, there are no two other people in the world I’d rather be friends with.
“Speaking of you turning thirty,” Melissa begins again after a sip of her Frappuccino, “I’m dying to know where you are in the boyfriend department these days. You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
“Yeah, you’re not getting any younger,” Teagan repeats. “I remind Russell every day that my dirty thirties are looming, so if he doesn’t propose soon, we’re going to have problems.”
“You tell him that?” I ask playfully, but Teagan doesn’t answer blithely. She raises her eyebrows and sits up straighter in her seat.
“Oh, absolutely. Every woman in my family was married before the age of thirty, and you guys know how traditionalmyfamily is. We believe in marrying, settling down, and having kids with the man of your dreams. So, Russell needs to know I expect his commitment to come in the form of an engagement ring sooner much rather than later. We have no time for games.”
“Wow,” I reply. “So, you think Russell really is the one? He’s your forever?”
I expect Teagan to answer instantly and with enthusiasm, but she hesitates, looking down at her drink as if it will whisper the answer to her before looking at me again.
“Of course,” she says, although her voice tells me otherwise. “The two years I’ve been with Russell have been the best of my life. I can’t wait to experience marriage with him … which is why I think you should let us sign you up for Tinder.”
