Page 40 of Fool Me Twice
Maddie’s eyebrows arched nearly to her hairline. “That’s interest if I ever heard of it.”
“I can’t do it again.” A pinch formed beneath my breastbone. “I was going to shape my life around him, you know? And then, in one instant it all blew up in my face.”
“Yeah.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m glad you came home early, then. You’re back where you belong.”
Unexpectedly, her response irritated me. I wanted her to fight harder. Maybe I didn’t believe Rodrigo was good for me, but it would be kind of nice if someone did.
“He’s super successful,” I said. “And he has the sweetest kid. I don’t know what happened to Sebastián’s mom, though. Come to think of it, I don’t even know if she and Rodrigo were married.”
Maddie dramatically inspected her nails. “For a guy you say you want nothing to do with, you sure are talking about him a lot.”
I opened my mouth to argue, found I didn’t have an argument, and shut it. Luckily, someone knocked on the dressing room door, saving me.
“Come in,” I called.
One of the interns poked his head into the room. “Mr. Sanderson is calling everyone for a meeting in five minutes.”
“Thanks.” I waited until he closed the door to frown at Maddie. “Did you know about this?”
“No.” She looked worried. “The last time we had a last-minute meeting it was to announce that the complimentary sushi the company bought us all had gone bad.Afterwe ate it.”
“I’m glad I was out of town that day.” I struggled to standing.
“Hey.” Maddie paused, her hand on the door. “I know I joke a lot, but I do understand what you went through with Rodrigo. I mean, not fully, since I didn’t live it… but I think you get what I mean.”
“Yes. I do.” I hobbled my way over to her. “I would give you a hug right now if it didn’t mean I would fall over.”
“That’s okay. I’ll hug you.” She squeezed my shoulder from the side.
“Thanks,” I laughed. “Seriously, though. What do you think this meeting is about?”
“I really don’t know.” She collected her laptop and clipboard. “It’s giving me anxiety diarrhea, though, I’ll tell you that.”
“I did not need to know that.”
“Sorry. I’m trying to share less.” She cringed.
I shook my head and grinned. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet, and already Maddie had me sore from laughing—something she could usually be counted on to do.
We made our way to the boardroom, where all of the staff meetings took place. Everyone, from the front-desk receptionist to the producers to the makeup artists to the camera operators, was packed into the room.
“This must be a big announcement,” I murmured to Maddie out of the corner of my mouth.
She nodded and made a point of getting me a chair to sit in. Grateful but embarrassed, I took a seat and cast the people standing behind me an apologetic look.
The room was full of chatter, but as soon as our boss came in, the din started quieting. Don Sanderson stood at the head of the table, a calm smile on.
“Good morning, everyone,” he said, breaking through and scattering the last few conversations. “Thank you for joining me.”
All heads cocked in his direction, and the curiosity was palpable. Routine meetings were a daily part of life working in a newsroom, but this morning was something different. You could nearly hear the questions and theories swirling in everyone’s heads.
Don cleared his throat. “First of all, I want to say it’s been a pleasure working with everyone here. In my three decades in the business, this is the best environment I’ve been in.”
Maddie and I shared a look. Was he quitting?
Don continued. “I’ll make this brief. The station’s owners have decided to sell.”
Collective anxiety took over the boardroom. A station selling wasn’t unusual, but it often meant a complete overhaul. One that came with new hires—and new fires.