Page 17 of Desire
“What’s wrong with you? You never put me off like this. Four calls, Holls. And now you’ve forced me to make a fifth. I’ll forgive you if you make it worthmy while.” It was Rachel, my old boss.
I sighed, annoyed mainly at myself for allowing my work to suffer while letting Jasper Christmas play with my head and heart. “Sorry, Rach. I’ve been busy.”
“Oh.” She sounded intrigued. “You’re working on something new?” Her tone clued me into the fact that she wanted to call first dibs on the future story.
“Nothing major,” I said, downplayingwhat could possibly be the seeds for the sort of story that could ruin the Christmases’ reputation forever.
“All right, keep it to yourself, then. Listen…” I pictured her big blue eyes widening with excitement.
“I’m listening.”
“I have a new job.”
“Oh yeah? Do tell.”
“I’m the executive producer of a new show calledDeep Source Real News.”
“What’sDeepSource Real News?” I asked as I performed an Internet search on my phone to see whether or not the airport had a drop-off for my rental. Instead of driving all the way back to Philadelphia, I’d decided to hop on an airplane instead.
“It’ll be two one-hour shows every night on BCN. I’m hiring fifteen of the top journalists in the country to deliver current and thoroughly investigated news.No story will go unchecked, and every story will have several sources. And you, my darling, are going to be one of my lead reporters in your specialty.”
I smiled, not because of her offer but because I’d found what I was searching for.
“Ah…” I scrunched one side of my face. “I’m not interested in TV. You know that.”
“But you have a face and figure for TV.”
I rolledmy eyes as I drove away from the curb and carefully headed to the airport. “That sounded superficial.”
“You have the brains too. You’re tough, humble, and respected. Viewers will come back night after night to eat you up.”
“Wow, Rach, thanks. You don’t hand out those sorts of compliments often. But it sounds as if you want to make me a television host.” I knew I sounded just as offendedas I felt.
“No, I don’t give out those sorts of compliments often, and no, I don’t want to make you into a television host.”
“Then why does my face and figure matter?”
“You’ll appear on camera as—”
“Ugh,” I pictured how those sorts of news shows went on BCN. “The talking heads, the opposing positions arguing for the sake of argument, and the overly emotional host whodiscusses shit that should appall us all with a slight smirk—it’s not that kind of show, is it?”
“Oh God, Holly. Why do you make shit so difficult? Do you really think I’ll produce that kind of garbage? Especially at a time such as this? I’m making real news for TV, tried and tested and all from the best journalists in the world.”
“I don’t know,” I said, even though I suddenly foundmyself slightly interested.
“It pays well.”
“How well?” I asked before realizing it.
She told me the figure, and my mouth fell open. “What? Really?”
“That’s the kind of cash television has to offer.”
Suddenly, another face came to mind, one I had avoided conjuring for the longest time. It was that of my father, Harper Henderson. He was in prison, but after gettingreleased, he would be sure to look for me. If I were on TV every day, he would know exactly where to find me.
When I lived in Boston, I’d received a phone call out of nowhere from a loan shark threatening to break my father’s neck if he didn’t pay the fifteen thousand dollars he owed. I had to use most of the money I’d saved for my first real vacation, a gift to myself. I didn’t even knowmy father was in Boston, but it seemed like he got into new trouble every month. I bailed him out of jail more times than I could count. When he got sloppy drunk, I would hightail it across town and over to the bar to take care of him. I had never brought him back to my place, though. Instead, I’d put him up in a hotel.
As far as I knew, my father had no idea I lived in Philadelphia. Hehated the city, which was why I’d settled there. I didn’t know how he felt about New York, and if I were on BCN every night, Harper would know exactly where to find me. But maybe I was finally strong enough to not allow him to drag me into his newest layer of bullshit.
