Page 23 of Yo Ho Ho
Max shrugged her shoulders and gave her a tight smile as a way of saying she didn't want to talk about it anymore. Amanda seemed to understand and simply nodded in response. Then the editor turned back to her computer and started randomly clicking her mouse.
"Get your story done," she said.
Max breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to her computer. "Thank you."
"But we're talking about this after our shift over beers and burgers."
Dammit. She didn't want to talk about this again. But it was Amanda, and it was beers and burgers. There was no way she could get out of it.
The cold air whipped against them as the pair walked into Harry's to get some food. It was a typical Detroit sports bar — not flashy or pretentious. Just a good place to eat. Plus, it was close to their old drafty building with its old drafty newsroom that was about to get shut down.
Max and Amanda grabbed a table in the corner and ordered two beers before looking over the menu.
"You know, we won't be coming here for much longer," Amanda said without looking up.
"Just because the newsroom is closing doesn't mean we have to stop eating here. We'll always need a burger place to meet and talk about sports."
Amanda gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, but it won't be the same."
The two of them ordered and took a few sips of beer in silence, watching Detroit's basketball team on one of the televisions above the bar. Max didn't mind watching other sports. She could hold her own when talking to the sports writers on staff about the local basketball and baseball teams. She could lament about another losing season with the football writer. She even knew enough to keep up with racing news, which was especially important considering she worked in Detroit. They didn't call it The Motor City for nothing.
But there was just something different and special for her when it came to hockey. Max couldn't imagine going to another job after this that didn't have any connection to the sport.
"What's going on in your head, Quinn?" Amanda asked from across the table.
"Do you know what you're going to do when our jobs are over?"
Her editor looked down at her beer. "I have a job offer," she said quietly.
"What? Where?"
Amanda gave her a tight smile. "The baseball team wants me to work in the public relations office."
Max perked up, her smile immediate. "Amanda, that's amazing!"
"I guess," she said with a shrug.
"No." Max put her hand on her friend's arm. "No, 'I guess.' No acting like it's no big deal. This is huge! You're going to love working there every day."
"I just didn't want to say anything yet, you know? Other people don't know where they're going next or what they're going to do. I just feel weird celebrating if I have a new job ready to go."
Max understood that. The newsroom had been in a funk ever since they found out about the paper closing up. People were confused and sad. Most of them were just trying to get through the next few weeks before they even considered where they would go. It was probably hard for Amanda to have good news with the anxiety about the future from her co-workers. But Amanda deserved to be happy about this.
"Listen to me, Amanda Allen," she said. "Don't feel sorry for us. Don't feel bad about this job. This is amazing, and it's going to be the perfect place for you to go next."
"But I'm a sellout. I'm one of those people who can't hack it in journalism anymore so I'm going to become a PR flack."
Max raised her glass of beer to her friend. "And I will be saluting from the stands with my $10 beer as you succeed in becoming the best baseball flack in this city."
Amanda smiled a real genuine smile, one that she had probably felt she needed to hold in for too long. "Well, if that's the case." She raised her own glass and clinked it against Max's in celebration before taking a drink from it. "And just so you know, I'll get you free beer so you don't have to pay $10 for it."
"Good, because I'll probably still be unemployed."
"Max, if you won't let me get down on myself, you can't either. You're going to find something great and you know it."
Max put her beer down and just stared at it. "Do I though? I mean, I love writing about hockey, but I was heartbroken when I had to quit playing and now I'm heartbroken I need to stop writing. Maybe I have to get away from it for a bit."
"The writing or the hockey?"
