TWENTY-FOUR Quincy #3
“Listen up, y’all. This is Quincy Monroe,” Sebastian says. “Her PhD is in atmospheric science, and she finished top of her class at UCF.” His eyes bounce over to me, a secret smile tossed my way. “She has something she needs to share with us.”
“Hi.” I give the group an awkward wave. “I’m sorry for interrupting you, but there’s something you need to see.” I gesture to the open laptop at the head of the table. “May I?”
“Please,” one of the men says.
“I know you all have been meticulously tracking Georgianna’s path.
I have too, and I noticed something unusual this morning.
” I stride to the computer and pull up the NHC’s homepage.
The image of the hurricane is in the middle, a small marker off the coast of Florida indicating her position. “Georgianna is turning.”
“Later today,” someone says. “That’s anticipated.”
“No. The storm is turning right now,” I answer.
“Hurricane hunters just went in, and that’s not what the advisory says.”
“Look at the satellite.” I type in a web address, displaying a new image on the large screen.
“Look at the longitude. It changed. The last four advisories, it’s been the same.
There’s deviation now. The system in the Gulf is turning it earlier than projected, which results in the storm not going as north as we thought. ”
Silence answers me as ten men gape at the screen. I clasp my hands together, waiting for everyone else to catch up.
“Hang on.” A guy in a tailored suit leans forward, the first to speak. His eyes narrow in my direction, and I brace myself for what might be coming next. “I want to make sure I’m understanding this correctly.”
“Was there a question?” I ask.
“Your name is Quincy?”
“Monroe, yes.”
“Are you a scientist, Ms. Monroe?”
“I have a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and, like Sebastian mentioned, a PhD in atmospheric science. So, yes. I am.”
“Do you work for NOAA?”
“I run a weather page,” I explain, not bothering to go into detail.
“She’s also a final candidate for a position at the NWS,” Sebastian adds, and I smile.
“So, you’re an influencer who thinks she’s qualified to claim that experts at the most prestigious weather centers in the world are wrong?” he asks.
“I am qualified, but am I even more qualified when the prestigious weather centers’ staffing is down twenty percent and can’t provide information as accurate as it was before?
Yes. We saw this with Hurricane Claudia earlier in the season.
The longer these organizations remain understaffed, the more mistakes are going to continue to happen.
The data about the shift in Georgianna’s track is right there, and someone needs to break the news. ”
Multiple things happen at once. Someone pulls the plug on the laptop and presses their nose against the screen, inspecting the map I just showed them. Three people stand and hustle out the door. A phone rings, papers get shuffled.
“Just got off the phone with Phil in Tampa,” a man announces to the room. “He’s in agreement: a north-northeast turn is occurring, which puts landfall ninety miles south.”
“Is there a Sebastian Dunn in here?” A woman pops her head in, scanning the faces at the table. “ABC headquarters called. We’re interrupting regularly scheduled programming to go on with the national news, and you’re going on-air. Ten minutes until we’re live.”
“Great.” Sebastian stands and rounds the table, not stopping until he’s directly in front of me. “You’re coming with me.”
“You want me to watch you? Sure. I’ll—”
“No. You’re going on-air with me. You’re going to be the one to let the nation know what’s happening.”
“What? No way. I don’t want to be in front of the camera.”
“You’re in front of a camera every day.”
“This is different. Sebastian.” I tug on his arm, stopping us in the middle of the hall. I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling lights above me. “What if I’m wrong? I could ruin my career.”
“But you’re not wrong, and you could save lives.”
Fuck.
He’s right.
Of course he’s right.
How could I care about a tarnished reputation when there are thousands of people in harm’s way? If being wrong about this is the worst thing I’ll do in my career, I’ll have done my job well.
I take a deep breath.
“Okay.” I reach for his hand, and he takes mine instantly. “I’ll go on camera with you.”
“This job is hard. Making the right call sometimes feels impossible, and even when you’re sure, you can still be caught off guard.
If you’re doubting yourself, that’s okay, Quincy.
” His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “But I need you to know I believe in you enough for the both of us. I trust you with my life, and I won’t let you take the fall for this alone. We’ll do this together.”
I don’t know if it’s the magnitude of what’s waiting for us or the easy, gentle way he holds my palm.
It could be the exhaustion in his eyes, the paleness lining his cheeks.
How his attention never strays from me, not even when someone calls out his name.
Whatever it is, I feel it when he looks at me.
An aching longing of patient years spent waiting.
The start of something new, and for the first time all morning, I’m not scared.