Page 22 of Filthy Professor

Jamie: Hello to you too. I couldn’t confirm his new trip, so I had to add doubt to his claim. I knew you had a date this weekend, so I decided not to bother you with it.

My mouth dropped open. He knew? Was he jealous? I thought we’d left things on a good working relationship, but I guess I was wrong.

Me: And all the comments basically calling him a liar and washed up . . . you just felt like adding those, hey? I can’t believe you overhauled my article without consulting me.

Jamie: Yeah, well, guess you were too busy fucking him to bother with backing up the claims you made.

Me: It’s none of your business who I fuck. How did you even know any of this?

Jamie: You forget, darling. He’s not the only one to take you to The Melting Pot.

I slammed my phone down on the counter as rage poured through me. So that’s how he knew. He had friends who had seen us. With my head in my hands, I wondered if Harrison had seen the article. Was that why I’d woken up alone? Picking my phone back up, I sent Harrison a text.

Me: I did not approve the changes my editor made, I swear. My original article was NOTHING like that. Where are you? Please come back so we can talk about this.

As the minutes ticked by and no response came, my mind spiraled. I paced my apartment, realizing he was probably on his way back to Chicago. Shit. Even if I hadn’t written a bunch of that article, my name was still on it, and I’d made the mistake of not confirming with a second source. Jamie had nailed me with it too because of his jealousy. Rubbing my face, I came to a decision and sent my boss an email, noting my mistake but also that a misleading and false article had been published instead of allowing me time to fix my error. I didn’t want to leave this job, but if my editor was going to sabotage me, I couldn’t stay. I’d always be worried about him changing my articles without talking to me. It was my own fault for dating him, but I’d beaten myself up about it enough.

To my surprise, an email from my boss came through, even though it was Sunday.

Kat,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ve pulled the article. I already got a complaint from the organizer of the dig, so it has been verified. Since it was simple to do, Jamie lied to us both about not being able to get a second source. Because of this, I have let him go. I would love to talk to you over lunch tomorrow about you potentially having a larger role within our organization.

Byron Alberts

PS. Please have a revised version for me ASAP.

My mouth dropped open. Byron was the kind of guy I loved to work for. He’d protected the business at the first whiff of something amiss. Jamie was probably pissed. My phone vibrated again.

Emma: Now it’s gone, and so are you. What the fuck happened?

Me: Jamie changed my story and got himself fired.

Emma: Holy shit! That’s awesome. So you and Harrison are cool then?

Me: I don’t know. He left earlier without saying goodbye. He must have seen it.

Emma: And he ran? Lame.

I sighed and sent him another text.

Me: My editor ex-fiancé screwed with my article and got let go. It is no longer live. Please call me.

When no immediate response came, I made coffee and opened my laptop, determined to fix the mess Jamie had made of my article.

***

The next day, as I was getting ready for lunch with Byron, Harrison still hadn’t answered my messages. I’d fixed the article and Byron had even sent me the extra source, who I’d spoken to that morning. They’d moved up the dig to this weekend—Memorial Day—instead of waiting. I’d added that to the article and sent it to Byron immediately. It was going live this afternoon.

I made my way over to Byron’s table, and he stood as I approached. “Hi, Kat. It’s been a while. Take a seat.”

We sat, and I looked over my boss, who I only usually saw through video chat. He was a handsome man with black hair and bright blue eyes. “Nice to see you in the flesh, Byron.”

He smiled. “You too. So, I had an idea.”

I sat up straighter, even though I was going crazy not hearing from Harrison. “Oh?”

“I want you to cover the dig,” Byron said. “You uncovered it, after all. I want you to go, take loads of pictures, talk to the team, and get an exclusive feature story for me.”