Page 30 of Under the Weatherman
She chortled. “I’d tell you to just avoid him, but look how that’s working out forme.”
“Salt in the wound, C.” I sighed. “Anyway, I don’t want to avoid him. I want a chance to clear my name. I want my day in court.”
It was a physical ache that someone in the world thought I was a bad person. I wasn’t. I’d just done one foolish dare.
And hurt someone in the process.
I frowned. “I should at least get the chance to apologize in person.”
“Don’t start feeling bad about yourself. It was just a stupid prank. You didn’t mean any harm, and if he thought about it for two seconds, he’d realize it had beenyouhe liked and not some person he clearly didn’t know well enough to tell the difference.”
“Yeah.” I tried to process all that. Her therapist had clearly been giving her the right words to say, even if she didn’t apply any of them to herself. “Despite everything, whatever he seems to think of me, we’d had a connection.”
Hadn’t we?
Whatever. I was done pissing away brain cells on a guy who couldn’t even consider forgiving and forgetting.
“You’re not the villain, E.”
Convenient for her to say since she’d gotten to play the virtuous one in our challenge. And that brought up a more pertinent question.
“So are you going out with Bas again?” I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice. I already knew her answer. She’d never let a guy get that close. It rankled that she had the option and she was throwing it away.
Her nose wrinkled, like she’d been sitting on a terrible secret. “I sort of gave him my phone number.”
“You what?”
Suddenly my gloominess lifted. “That’s huge.”
Maybe that stupid list of hers hadn’t been the worst idea after all if it let someone past those fireproof walls she lived behind.
A customer reached around me for his coffee, shooting me a glare. That was my cue to hit the road. “See you around, Chels.”
I grabbed my latte and the one I’d ordered for Shelby. I knew my Ferengi rules of acquisition.It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
* * *
When I arrived, I was sent directly to the newsroom, without stopping in to see Shelby. I wound through the building, narrow halls giving way to a larger room littered with desks. For a newsroom, the hustle and bustle seemed rather low key. One auburn-haired woman crawled on her knees laying cable. She stopped and waved.
“You must be Elizabeth,” a voice to my left said, and I turned to find a sporty blond hunched over a keyboard, scrolling through a color-coded spreadsheet. I made note of her less professional slacks and Converse, wondering if I could get away with that level of casual. Maybe if I lasted the trial period, I’d test it.
She stood. “I’m Lauren.” When she reached out as if she wanted to shake hands, I found myself hampered by a pair of coffee cups.
“Uh.” I looked around for somewhere to set them. She probably thought I had a caffeine addiction. “Would you like a latte? This is an extra.”
“Oh, thanks, but I’m cutting back.”
The woman on the floor clambered to her feet. “I would kill for some coffee. Hi, I’m Gabriella. But you can call me Gigi.”
“Gigi, this is Elizabeth. She’s taking over my old job.”
Gigi made a very distinct “yikes” face, pulling her lips into a tight frown. But then she winked so I took it as a friendly joke. After all, I wouldn’t like to work on my hands and knees connecting a computer network. When I handed her the drink, she said, “You are a godsend.”
Lauren said, “Gigi handles our IT issues, and she also helps with our web news. If you know anyone who works in application support, please have them send in their résumé.”
I could see the actual news studio through a thick window. Lauren followed my gaze and said, “Come on. Gigi can set up your credentials while I show you around.”
We passed into a control room where mind-boggling electronics covered every conceivable surface. One fortyish man was hooking up a monitor. “Tom, this is Elizabeth, our new associate producer.” He acknowledged me with a nod. “Tom’s our technical director.” She pointed out a console centrally located near the back wall. “This is where we’ll work during the newscast.”
