Page 22 of Skipping Stones
“Linney—”
“I’m tired. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Linney hung up the phone and silenced it wondering how today had gone so wrong.
* * *
The next morning, Linney pulled herself together and headed to TCN ready to take on new challenges. Her self-confidence had taken a hit, but she was an award-winning journalist now, so she needed to act like one. She’d texted Mac before she left the house and she was concerned he hadn’t replied as she sat down at her desk.
“Good morning. Gemma wants to see you,” MJ told her as she turned on her laptop.
Linney grabbed her notebook and headed upstairs. The senior offices were in a ring around the open newsroom, the mezzanine convenient for announcements to the reporters and editors working on the floor.
“You asked to see me?” Linney stood in the door of Gemma’s office.
Gemma ushered her in and closed the door. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Linney’s brow furled. Closed door? Was something wrong with her performance? Had there been a mistake? Did they want to take her award back? Had something happened to Mac? Her heart lurched.
“This is off the record,” Gemma continued, confusing Linney even more. “Human Resources would tell me I’m not allowed to talk to you about this, but I think it’s important. I think you know that I consider Mac not just a colleague, but a friend.”
Linney knew that, but didn’t quite understand where this was going. She nodded and adjusted her glasses nervously.
Gemma smiled sadly. “Linney, I’ve worked with him a long time.”
Linney listened as Gemma told her more. “It’s no secret that journalists drink. Many of them drink a lot. It’s a taxing industry, with impossible deadlines and not always the nicest people. We drink to relieve the stress. We drink to celebrate great interviews and we drink to commiserate ones that fall through. We drink to dampen the ugliness that we see in the world. We drink to quell the fears that we’re not good enough.”
Gemma stopped for a moment while Linney absorbed her words.
“There are studies about the propensity for alcoholism in our profession. It’s real, Linney.” Gemma took a sip of coffee from the TCN mug on her desk. She looked Linney directly in the eye. “Some people can manage the drinking. Some can’t. You may not know this, but Mac is probably what people sometimes call a ‘high-functioning’ alcoholic. He’s come close to the edge a couple of times before. This isn’t his first flirtation with full-blown alcoholism, but he’s always been able to pull himself back. This time? I’m not so sure.” Linney’s head started to swim and her heart pounded in her chest. She sat down suddenly. What had happened after she left the gala?
Gemma noticed her anxiety and put a hand on Linney’s shoulder. “It’s alright. I got him home last night, and I spoke with him this morning. He’s okay.”
“Thank goodness.” Linney took a few deep breaths and her heart rate slowed a bit.
Gemma leaned on her desk. “Now for some advice. You’re a rising star here at TCN. To be blunt, even if he gets healthy, Mac’s glory days are behind him. He could be a great editor. But right now he’s not even a good reporter. As your boss, I’m not going to get involved in your love life. But you need to know—I haven’t seen him this bad before.” She sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’ll stand by him. We’ve walked this road before. But you’re good, Linney, and I don’t want you derailing your career over him. I think you may have a tough decision to make. And you may need to make it soon.”
Linney breathed, taking in what she’d learned. “Thank you, Gemma,” she said, standing up. “I appreciate your candour.”
“And Linney? This conversation never happened.”
Linney headed back to her desk, her head swimming as she tried to understand exactly what Gemma had been telling her. She didn’t get a lot of work done, as she wrestled with the two sides of Mac that she knew. There was the Mac who she was passionately in love with and who took her to heights she’d never experienced with anyone else. And then there was the Mac who cut her down and belittled her when he drank to the point that she didn’t believe in herself. Like Gemma said, she had a career to think about. But surely she also owed it to him to stand by him in his time of crisis. To support him. To be by his side. Didn’t she?
By mid-afternoon, Linney had convinced herself that Gemma had been exaggerating. She’d been too exuberant at her success at the gala. No wonder he had been upset. She shouldn’t have been so unfeeling about his loss. It had been her fault that he’d drunk so much. And now she had to make it right.
Hey. I’m sorry if I lorded my award over you. I didn’t mean to. Love you. ♥? ♥?
Dinner at my place Saturday? We should talk.
It was hours before he replied.
Deal.
* * *
Nervously, Linney chopped up vegetables for the stir-fry she was cooking. Hopefully, the only tears tonight would be from the onions she’d just added to the wok. She wondered which Mac she’d get tonight. After thinking about her conversation with Gemma she was more confused than ever. She loved Mac, and she knew he loved her. They could be so good together when he wasn’t drinking. Gemma seemed to be suggesting she distance herself from Mac. But how could she do that? Linney was twisting herself into knots when she heard Mac’s keys in the lock. She smiled. Mac was here.
Mac stumbled slightly over the threshold and then dropped his keys on the kitchen passthrough before joining Linney in the kitchen and putting his hands around her waist. He reached beyond her to turn off the burner and spun her around. “I missed you. I don’t like spending nights without you.”
Linney instantly melted when he whispered in her ear, but then she smelled booze on his breath. A flag went up, but the thought flew away when he nibbled on her neck and with a hand on the small of her back, pulled her close.