Page 6 of Perfectly Matched
“A lot of things can pay the bills. At least tell me you put in for time off.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“And it was turned down. Jason said that until they can hire another producer, I need to be here.” She glanced at the glass corner office and the overweight balding man leaning back so far in his chair, it looked like it was about to snap. He was taking sips of coffee during what appeared to be a very animated phone call.
“Screw Jason. That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Tegan pointed to the brochure of the exclusive, all-woman tropical island retreat that was tacked to Payson’s cubicle wall. “Thought you already put money down.”
“I did. They said they would refund my deposit, but I told them to hold on to it. I still plan on getting there someday.”She choked down the bitter taste of those words. After years of financial struggles, she had finally scraped enough money together to take a vacation. She’d put in for her time off four months ago, and Jason had approved it with the stipulation that Ryan, the weekend news producer, agreed to cover her shift.
He did, so she got online, booked her reservation, and sealed it with a deposit. She was finally going on a much-needed vacation. She had already bought new clothes and visualized days of soaking up the sun, drinking alcohol-laced multi-colored beverages, and maybe even meeting someone special. She was going to get away from the newsworthy horrors of humanity and unplug her life for ten glorious days.
She sighed now as she looked at the brochure of a woman smiling with a tropical drink in hand under a waterfall. She could almost hear the water cascading around her and smell the salt air mixed with her coconut sunscreen.
“Payson!” Jason’s raspy voice raced across the newsroom and jolted her back from paradise. “My office, now.”
Tegan bent and looked her in the eyes. “Honey, I’m saying this as your best friend, you need to get out of this job and get a life before this place completely drains your soul.”
“Too late for that.” Payson gathered her notebook and handed Tegan a piece of paper as she shuffled out of her cubicle. “I need you to check on this. If it pans out, you’ll go live for your first hit at seven after the hour.”
“Someone’s driving a tank down the north end of the strip?” She looked up. “Is this for real?”
“Don’t know, that’s why I want you to make some calls and see if it checks out.”
“Why can’t normal things ever happen in this city?” Tegan grumbled as she grabbed a second scone and hopped off the desk.
“Because this city wouldn’t know what to do with normal,” Payson said over her shoulder as she shyly approached Jason’s office with a light knuckle tap to his open glass door. He was the news director, and he lived and breathed all things news. He was in his office first thing in the morning and didn’t leave until late at night. He was in a perpetual bad mood, and every breathing soul that crossed his path seemed to annoy him. Payson’s shoulders slumped as she saw a reflection of herself twenty years from now if she continued down the same road. “Hey, Jason, you wanted to see me?”
He gestured to two chairs at the opposite end of his desk. Payson slid into one. “I just got off the phone with someone from corporate, and something odd came up. Apparently, they’re sending someone to shadow you for a few days and help you out a bit.”
“Wait, what? I’m getting a temp? I thought you said—”
“I know what I said, and that still stands. No new hires and no temps.” He glared at her over his reading glasses.
“So back up. If there’s no new hires and no temps, then why am I getting help?”
He tore a strip of paper from his notebook and flicked it across his desk. “Because this one’s coming from corporate, so it’s not costing me anything.”
She gently picked up the paper and scanned it. In a scribble that could rival a toddler’s were three barely recognizable words:Corporate. Temp. Payson.She turned the paper over to see if there was more information that would give her a clue as to what this was all about, but there wasn’t. She frowned. While she could use the help, having someone tripping over her was not what she needed. Producing was a fast-paced, stressful job; having someone hover over her shoulder asking a barrage of questions while she was trying to work was going to frustrate the hell out of her. “Why me?”
“Thought you needed help?”
“I do, as in, a seasoned full-time producer with years of knowledge under their belt so I can go on vacation, kind of help.”
He tossed his reading glasses on the desk and wagged a finger at her. “We’re not talking about your vacation again. That topic was already put to bed.”
“I need a break, Jason,” she pleaded as she slumped in her chair.
“You’ll get one…eventually. And don’t get mad at me. Ryan’s the one who left with only a week’s notice.”
She remembered the day Ryan came in and announced that he was jumping ship for a marketing position at one of the casinos. He’d apologized for the bind that would cause her but had said it was an opportunity he just couldn’t pass up. And as he’d rambled on about the new position, she’d watched his lips move without comprehending any of the words because her head was pounding with the reality of the ripple effect his leaving would have on her vacation. “Have you even started the interview process for that position yet?”
“What about the statement, no new hires, don’t you understand?” he snapped.
“I’m burned-out, Jason. We need another producer.”
“And you think I don’t know that?” He grumbled as he leaned over and referenced a folder sitting on his desk. “I have a broken studio camera, our news desk is in desperate need of an upgrade, and the satellite vans need to be wrapped with our new logo. Last week, I sent the proposed budget in for next year, and some bean pusher at corporate wrung it out like a wet rag. The station is hemorrhaging money, and if we don’t get our ad revenue up, there may be another round of layoffs.” He glared at her as he settled back in his chair. “So which of those do youthink I should sacrifice so I can hire someone to fill the producer position so you can take your little vacation?”