Page 16 of Mr. Bad News

percy

“What the hellam I even thinking about this for? I should just let the police handle this.” I lean back in my chair.

“Yeah, you going to tell them a cute little journalist has been bullying you? What, did she pull your hair too?” Greg laughs and spins the chair he’s sitting in, clearly not concerned.

“Shut the hell up. It’s not that simple. The girl’s a damn nightmare, she doesn’t give up.” I’ve already told him everything that I found out about Ella and he did his due diligence. We’ve pulled up her work and just like she told me all of her stuff is tasteful and focuses on the current events and real world problems that most people don’t really give enough attention to until it’s too late. After reading some of her work I’m surprised she is working at that lowbrow paper, if she were to apply to the chronicle she’d be picked up right away.

“Why would she give up? She’s pretty much got you over a barrel and honestly what she’s asking for is no where near as bad as what others would ask for. She wants an exclusive and that’s all? Shit, you making it sound like she wants a 25 percent stake in the company. Percy, just show her a good time. Lay on the charm. Do the stupid interview.” Greg gets up from his chair, fixes his suit and walks out leaving me to stew in my own problems.

I know he’s right, this interview isn’t as bad as it could be. Sure my father and his father never gave interviews, but this is the twenty-first century, it might be a good idea for me to get some sort of an internet presence. It all depends on what information I allow to be shared. If I take control of what is released it could be good for the company.

My iphone is always in my hand so it takes me half a second to input Ella’s number and ring her. I intend to keep things completely professional, she’s going to take what I give her and nothing else.

“Hello?” A groggy soft voice answers the phone.

She’s sleeping? I glance over to the clock and see that it’s almost nine at night. It’s not uncommon for me to stay on the job until the late hours of the night. I didn’t assume that she’d be sleeping already. Now I feel like a fucking ass.

“Sorry to disturb you Ella, This is Percy Snow. We spoke earlier this afternoon.”

She laughs lightly, “How many Percy Snow’s do you think I give my number too?”

She better not be giving her number to anyone else. Who the hell does she think she is?

I shut my eyes for a second and pull the phone away from my ear to compose myself. What the hell was that? I had expected a surge of resentment or even annoyance, jealousy wasn’t in the cards.

“Yes, well, I’ve had my consultation and I’d like to take you up on your offer to do the interview.”

“Really! Oh that’s great! I’ll be at your office bright and early tomorrow morning and we can get started.”

“Wait, what do you need to come to my office for? We can have the interview right over the phone.” I tell her, confused by what she plans on doing.

“Oh no Percy, you’re not just going to get me to go away with a few lines about your goals and failures. I want to really get a good look at what makes you tick. I want to spend some time in your shoes, see you interact with clients and staff. I want to know all about you.” She says hurriedly on the phone. She’s getting excited about the possibility of following me around, but it feels like someone is tightening a noose around my neck. This is going to test every ounce of control that I have.

10

ella

I wakeup much earlier than I need to and leave the house, this is the first day of the rest of my career. I know I should have asked for a better itinerary from him last night, but I was just so excited with the fact that he’s finally agreed to the interview. I called in this morning when I knew Sam wouldn’t be at work to inform him that I’d be out in the field chasing down a story.

Larry’s still on the hunt to find out who the other man in the video is and would call me when he gets a hit. I know I should just wait for him to reach out, but I’m too keyed up.

I make my way down to the Snow Chronicle building and even stepping into the building I know that I’m entering a whole different world of journalism. The outside of the building is stark silver with some black accents, but inside the building it seems to be out of a sci-fi novel. The level of technology that I see just walking in the building from the projected light show to the LCD TV screens showing the current day’s events. A very large part of me wants to spin around in a large circle to take everything in.

I stand looking up at the large screen taking in what had happened over night. It makes me sad. Most things that we see in the media are focused on how shitty we treat each other. I usually focus on things that make a difference, not because I don’t enjoy good gossip, but I learned along with the need not to get beat up, hurting other people with the stories that I report on isn’t what I want to do with my life. I don’t want to hurt anyone.

“Feel free to stand there all day.” Percy grumbles as he speed walks by me.

“Oh, shoot. Sorry I didn’t see you there. Your building is amazing.” I gush as I rush to keep up with his long strides. I’d opted for flats this morning and I’m glad I did. I don’t know how much moving around this man does on any one day, but there’s no way I would keep up with him in heels, not without landing on my face a few times.

“Thanks.” He answers stiffly.

He presses the button on the elevator and the two of us wait in awkward silence.

I take a chance and glance at him, maybe find a talking piece to break the ice. Instead, all I see is the tenseness of his shoulders and jaw. The muscle on the side of his face jumping under what looks like a day or two of not shaving. Since I’m looking at his profile I can see the small pout of his full lips, they look soft. I wonder how they feel?

“Ella?”

I jerk out of my daydream, and look up to his eyes. “Huh?”

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