Page 9 of Yo Ho Ho
The head of travel wrangled the rest of team onto buses, which made it to the airport that morning with time to spare. Quick and easy trip, but every mile closer just made Max feel more nauseous. It was just another mile closer to finding out the fate of her and her co-workers.
The buses finally pulled up at the airport, and Max had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves. As the players and staff headed through the private plane terminal to get on their chartered flight, Max pulled Becca Smith from the team's media relations office aside to let her know she would be cutting it close but would be on the plane in time for their departure.
"Don't worry, we won't leave without you." Becca leaned in closer with a sympathetic look on her face. "Whatever happens with your newsroom doesn't matter. We not leaving you behind in California. You're coming home with us no matter what."
Max nodded and said a quiet thank you as she watched everyone load up on the plane. She, however, stayed inside and pulled up the number Amanda had sent her to call into theHerald's staff meeting.
It's not going to be that bad, she told herself.You're just over thinking this. It's going to suck, but it's nothing you can't handle.
She dialed in and heard a small chime as she joined the call, listening to some murmuring on the other end of the line as her co-workers started to settle in around the newsroom. Then the voice of Barry Lawrence, the paper's managing editor, came in clearly over the line.
"Excuse me, can I have everyone's attention?"
The noise quieted down in the newsroom as Max listened from her spot in the airport terminal. Alone.
"So we're here to discuss the potential layoffs some of you may heard about," Barry said. "I'm sorry to say the rumors are true. We're going to have to face a new reality for this newspaper and unfortunately, it's a very bleak reality for all of us."
Chapter 5
Max remembered the day she finally got accepted in Michigan State's writing program. It meant she was going to follow her dream of being a real hockey reporter.
When she couldn't play hockey anymore in high school, her guidance counselor suggested writing about it for the newspaper. She wrote about the boys' hockey team and would interview players, many of whom she used to play with before she stopped. From there, she began to edit the sports page, taking on the football stories and track stories. The paper's baseball beat writer won an award for a feature piece she had suggested to him. By the time she graduated from high school, she was the editor-in-chief of her school's newspaper.
College was tough for Max at first, but she found her place at the college paper. MSU's hockey team was a big deal and she was up for the challenge of covering it. They had her talk to coaches after the game or write feature pieces on the team. They even sent her to cover the Frozen Four in Boston.
Then theDetroit Heraldscooped her up right out of college. Max worked her butt off moving up through the ranks in the newsroom until she was finally named the Detroit Pirates beat writer three years ago. Her parents bought her a cake and champagne to celebrate. She was the youngest sports beat writer on staff, and she adored it. The travel, the late hours, the players, the adrenaline from working on deadline on a game night. She loved every moment.
All of it was broken now.
It took every ounce of Max's strength to get up the stairs and onto the plane, and she was wondering if she would've been better off just curled up in a ball on the tarmac, left behind to wallow alone. Her feet felt like two lead weights. Her arms were grasping at each seat as she stumbled down the aisle, trying to keep herself steady while ignoring the glances and stares. For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw Logan Moore's blue eyes connect with hers, but she wasn't sure. Hell, right now, she wasn't sure of anything except the pain in her chest.
This was hands down the worst heartbreak she had ever had. Worse than when her boyfriend in college dumped her for her roommate. Worse than when she had to stop playing hockey with the boys. Even worse than when her family held a funeral in the backyard for her beloved hamster when she was nine years old.
This definitely topped all of those.
The press guys stared at her as she finally made her way to the back of the plane. She was still too in shock to have any reaction to what had just happened on that phone call. That stupid fucking phone call that she wished she never had dialed in to.
"Max?"
She was broken out of her thoughts by a gentle hand on her arm. Looking down, she saw Bob Shaw — good old reliable Bob — staring up at her with somber eyes.
"How bad is it, kid?"
She could only stare at him, the words still not completely forming in her brain.
"Let's get you in a seat," he said gently.
Bob moved into the seat closer to the window, then gently leaned over and grabbed her hand to help her into the spot he had left behind.
"What happened, Max?" Charlie asked.
She took a deep breath, but her words were still caught in her throat. It was just more silence. How could she even explain this?
"Max." She looked over at Bob, his face etched with worry. "They're going to do more layoffs, aren't they?"
She could only nod her head slowly.Yes, she thought.You can nod yes.
"How many this time?"
