tonight. To her shock, Lance was thrilled.
“It’s about time you showed some interest,” he’d said.
“What are you getting at, Lance?” she now asked him on the phone. “Why are you calling me at six in the morning about some article I wrote on Mo Ryan?”
“Not so much the article, darling, as the headline.”
Nikki’s eyes stretched again. Phil Lopez and the Gazette’s editorial staff were solely responsible for determining what the headline of any article would be. The reporters wrote the articles, and the slug lines, but the editors wrote the headlines. “What about the headline?” she asked Lance.
“Just that it’s brutal, girl,” Lance said.
Nikki threw the covers off of her and got out of bed. “Let me call you back, Lanny,” she said and hung up the phone before he could agree.
She grabbed her housecoat, ran downstairs, and slung open her front door. The Jacksonville Gazette was waiting, as usual, on the step. When she saw the headline, her heart grew faint. Because Lance wasn’t exaggerating. The Gazette was known for its provocative, attention-grabbing headers, Nikki knew that going in. But this was different. She knew Mo Ryan. She’d never had such a strong reaction to a man the way she reacted to Mo Ryan in Cleveland, and again yesterday, in his office. But now, instead of patting herself on the back for one of her feature articles making the front page, all she could think about was what Mo was going to think about her when he read that headline himself. They were scheduled to go to dinner tonight. Would he call it off? She would actually be very disappointed, she realized, if he did. Because Lance was right. It was about time she showed some interest.
She fell against the door and shook her head. Nothing she could do about it now. But she could just kill Phil Lopez.
Then she went back upstairs and hurried to the shower. And she suddenly couldn’t get to work fast enough.
When she did get to work she dropped her hobo bag on her desk, hurried past the Copy desk, and hurried into Phil’s office, dropping the newspaper on his already cluttered desk.
“What is this, Phil?” she asked him.
Phil was reading the Sports section of their newspaper when she walked in. He sat his own copy of the paper down and picked up hers. “It’s the article you wrote, whatta you think it is?”
“But the headline, Phil,” she said, pointing at the headline. “ Judge Maximum: Hero or Zero ?” Her voice rose as she read the last word of the headline. “Seriously?”
Phil smiled. “Clever, wasn’t it?”
“Hero or Zero , Phil?”
“Yes! You wrote it, what’s the big damn deal?”
“I didn’t write the headline. You decide the headline.”
“Based on the story itself.”
“But I never referred to him as some zero.”
“He’s no hero, you made that clear in your article. It was just a play on words, come on.”
Nikki folded her arms. She knew arguing with her boss over some headline was a losing proposition. But this bothered her. “It’s so disrespectful,” she said. “That wasn’t the tenor of my article. Yes, I questioned his hero status. I questioned Nathan Crump’s hero status, too. But this goes too far, Phil. The last thing in the world I wanted to do with my profile of Mo Ryan was to disrespect the man.”
Phil frowned. “What’s the matter with you? You never complained about any of my creative headlines before, and a lot of them have been far worse than this one. What’s the big damn deal here?”
Nikki didn’t know herself. She honestly didn’t know herself. “Nothing,” she said. “I’m just. . . tired, I guess. I went to this party with Lance last night and didn’t get home until really late.”
“How’s Lance doing?” Phil asked. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
Nikki didn’t know if
“It’s about time you showed some interest,” he’d said.
“What are you getting at, Lance?” she now asked him on the phone. “Why are you calling me at six in the morning about some article I wrote on Mo Ryan?”
“Not so much the article, darling, as the headline.”
Nikki’s eyes stretched again. Phil Lopez and the Gazette’s editorial staff were solely responsible for determining what the headline of any article would be. The reporters wrote the articles, and the slug lines, but the editors wrote the headlines. “What about the headline?” she asked Lance.
“Just that it’s brutal, girl,” Lance said.
Nikki threw the covers off of her and got out of bed. “Let me call you back, Lanny,” she said and hung up the phone before he could agree.
She grabbed her housecoat, ran downstairs, and slung open her front door. The Jacksonville Gazette was waiting, as usual, on the step. When she saw the headline, her heart grew faint. Because Lance wasn’t exaggerating. The Gazette was known for its provocative, attention-grabbing headers, Nikki knew that going in. But this was different. She knew Mo Ryan. She’d never had such a strong reaction to a man the way she reacted to Mo Ryan in Cleveland, and again yesterday, in his office. But now, instead of patting herself on the back for one of her feature articles making the front page, all she could think about was what Mo was going to think about her when he read that headline himself. They were scheduled to go to dinner tonight. Would he call it off? She would actually be very disappointed, she realized, if he did. Because Lance was right. It was about time she showed some interest.
She fell against the door and shook her head. Nothing she could do about it now. But she could just kill Phil Lopez.
Then she went back upstairs and hurried to the shower. And she suddenly couldn’t get to work fast enough.
When she did get to work she dropped her hobo bag on her desk, hurried past the Copy desk, and hurried into Phil’s office, dropping the newspaper on his already cluttered desk.
“What is this, Phil?” she asked him.
Phil was reading the Sports section of their newspaper when she walked in. He sat his own copy of the paper down and picked up hers. “It’s the article you wrote, whatta you think it is?”
“But the headline, Phil,” she said, pointing at the headline. “ Judge Maximum: Hero or Zero ?” Her voice rose as she read the last word of the headline. “Seriously?”
Phil smiled. “Clever, wasn’t it?”
“Hero or Zero , Phil?”
“Yes! You wrote it, what’s the big damn deal?”
“I didn’t write the headline. You decide the headline.”
“Based on the story itself.”
“But I never referred to him as some zero.”
“He’s no hero, you made that clear in your article. It was just a play on words, come on.”
Nikki folded her arms. She knew arguing with her boss over some headline was a losing proposition. But this bothered her. “It’s so disrespectful,” she said. “That wasn’t the tenor of my article. Yes, I questioned his hero status. I questioned Nathan Crump’s hero status, too. But this goes too far, Phil. The last thing in the world I wanted to do with my profile of Mo Ryan was to disrespect the man.”
Phil frowned. “What’s the matter with you? You never complained about any of my creative headlines before, and a lot of them have been far worse than this one. What’s the big damn deal here?”
Nikki didn’t know herself. She honestly didn’t know herself. “Nothing,” she said. “I’m just. . . tired, I guess. I went to this party with Lance last night and didn’t get home until really late.”
“How’s Lance doing?” Phil asked. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
Nikki didn’t know if
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