clothes on the counter. It was a small space, too small.
“No thanks. It really was just a joke.”
“Too late.”
I jerked around, and he waggled his eyebrows at me. “I can definitely say I have no problem with your ass.”
“Okay!” I said, pointing to the hallway. “Out!”
He laughed, until I shoved him through the doorway.
“Hey!” He grabbed at his towel as it began to slip. “I’m not finished—”
I slammed the door shut.
“—getting ready.”
I turned the lock and ignored his knocking. And complaining. He might have shouted, too. I couldn’t hear him because I turned the shower on full blast.
Poor baby , I thought. He’ll have to look like a regular guy instead of a male model. How will he ever survive?
Then I remembered how good he’d looked standing there totally unstyled. He’d probably look like a magazine cover, air brushed and all, even without all his bottles of hair gel.
NICK
“Nice look, Nick. What’d you do? Roll out of some girl’s bed and come straight to the office?”
I resisted the urge to smooth down my hair. For half a second, I regretted flirting with Edie. I never could resist a little friendly banter. But look where it got me: locked out of my own bathroom and doing the walk of shame across the newsroom.
I felt like a mess, and Cat homed in immediately. She was constantly looking for a chink my armor, but I couldn’t let her get to me.
I grinned. “Jealous?”
She made a gagging sound. “I think I threw up in my mouth a little—”
“Okay, boys and girls, let’s recall that we’re adults and get this meeting over with,” Tanya said with a steely look in our direction.
I moved to take my customary seat by Sean, only to stumble to a halt as Cat jumped into the chair and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
He shrugged like “what can ya do?” and I went around to the other side of the table. I wasn’t stupid; neither was Sean. If Cat was going to cozy up, he’d let her. Until I had boobs, I was always going to lose that game.
As soon as I was seated, Tanya cleared her throat. “I won’t sugarcoat it.”
I immediately tensed. My eight weeks to save the column weren’t up — they’d barely even started — but Tanya looked like the bearer of bad news.
“We’re instituting weeklong, unpaid furloughs. Everyone needs to take a week off sometime this month or next—
A chorus of grousing interrupted her.
“We have bills to pay!” Cat said loudly.
“So does the newspaper, Cat,” Tanya returned. “We have to cut costs or there will be no newspaper to provide your jobs.”
“That’s an exaggeration,” Reg, the staff’s most veteran reporter, muttered.
It kind of was. They wouldn’t go under without doing this. They just wanted their profit nice and fat.
“Also,” Tanya added. “We are in talks about cutting one more position from the news staff.”
The grumbling instantly stopped. It was like a vacuum descended as everyone sucked in a breath and stared at her.
Tanya looked strained. “We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of possibilities. It’s not yet set in stone, but I wanted you all to be aware that it could happen so you won’t be shocked by it. If anyone leaves voluntarily before we have to take action, we’ll cut the staff by leaving a position vacant rather than laying off a staff member. But we don’t know how all this will play out yet.”
“Who is on the chopping block?” Sean asked. “Why sideswipe ’em? We’d rather have some warning.”
“That would be premature. No need to stress out staff members who may never have to face that situation. I’ll give you an update as soon as I have one, and in the meantime, please know I appreciate your work and I know this is a crappy atmosphere to do your best work in. But your work is important, so keep it up.”
We began filing from the room. More than one reporter looked uneasy, and for once, I couldn’t hold myself above them.
Fighting for my column
“No thanks. It really was just a joke.”
“Too late.”
I jerked around, and he waggled his eyebrows at me. “I can definitely say I have no problem with your ass.”
“Okay!” I said, pointing to the hallway. “Out!”
He laughed, until I shoved him through the doorway.
“Hey!” He grabbed at his towel as it began to slip. “I’m not finished—”
I slammed the door shut.
“—getting ready.”
I turned the lock and ignored his knocking. And complaining. He might have shouted, too. I couldn’t hear him because I turned the shower on full blast.
Poor baby , I thought. He’ll have to look like a regular guy instead of a male model. How will he ever survive?
Then I remembered how good he’d looked standing there totally unstyled. He’d probably look like a magazine cover, air brushed and all, even without all his bottles of hair gel.
NICK
“Nice look, Nick. What’d you do? Roll out of some girl’s bed and come straight to the office?”
I resisted the urge to smooth down my hair. For half a second, I regretted flirting with Edie. I never could resist a little friendly banter. But look where it got me: locked out of my own bathroom and doing the walk of shame across the newsroom.
I felt like a mess, and Cat homed in immediately. She was constantly looking for a chink my armor, but I couldn’t let her get to me.
I grinned. “Jealous?”
She made a gagging sound. “I think I threw up in my mouth a little—”
“Okay, boys and girls, let’s recall that we’re adults and get this meeting over with,” Tanya said with a steely look in our direction.
I moved to take my customary seat by Sean, only to stumble to a halt as Cat jumped into the chair and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
He shrugged like “what can ya do?” and I went around to the other side of the table. I wasn’t stupid; neither was Sean. If Cat was going to cozy up, he’d let her. Until I had boobs, I was always going to lose that game.
As soon as I was seated, Tanya cleared her throat. “I won’t sugarcoat it.”
I immediately tensed. My eight weeks to save the column weren’t up — they’d barely even started — but Tanya looked like the bearer of bad news.
“We’re instituting weeklong, unpaid furloughs. Everyone needs to take a week off sometime this month or next—
A chorus of grousing interrupted her.
“We have bills to pay!” Cat said loudly.
“So does the newspaper, Cat,” Tanya returned. “We have to cut costs or there will be no newspaper to provide your jobs.”
“That’s an exaggeration,” Reg, the staff’s most veteran reporter, muttered.
It kind of was. They wouldn’t go under without doing this. They just wanted their profit nice and fat.
“Also,” Tanya added. “We are in talks about cutting one more position from the news staff.”
The grumbling instantly stopped. It was like a vacuum descended as everyone sucked in a breath and stared at her.
Tanya looked strained. “We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of possibilities. It’s not yet set in stone, but I wanted you all to be aware that it could happen so you won’t be shocked by it. If anyone leaves voluntarily before we have to take action, we’ll cut the staff by leaving a position vacant rather than laying off a staff member. But we don’t know how all this will play out yet.”
“Who is on the chopping block?” Sean asked. “Why sideswipe ’em? We’d rather have some warning.”
“That would be premature. No need to stress out staff members who may never have to face that situation. I’ll give you an update as soon as I have one, and in the meantime, please know I appreciate your work and I know this is a crappy atmosphere to do your best work in. But your work is important, so keep it up.”
We began filing from the room. More than one reporter looked uneasy, and for once, I couldn’t hold myself above them.
Fighting for my column
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