Alonso
I’m not saying I was glad that Jennifer Marcingill left Action News, but I was glad Jennifer left. She was uptight and dull as a rock. I know that I look like a first-class jerk saying that, but really, everyone was thrilled. Just none as thrilled as I was.
As Jennifer’s cameraman and producer, I spent the last five years by her side every day. That’s eight hours a day, at least five days a week. Together we chased down stories, put together packages, and ate some terrible food. You would think we’d be close, but no. She was aloof, and I am a goof.
Still, she had tears in her eyes at her farewell party as she hugged me stiffly. She reminded me of someone’s old aunt that hugged you for no reason. I told my pal, Rex, I had only come for the cake, but I knew how to be a gentleman when necessary. I knew I needed to give the woman a proper send-off as she retired from journalism in Savannah.
When she exited the building, the real party began. People’s faces visibly relaxed and the conversation got louder and more animated. The entire floor took a collective sigh, happy to send Jennifer Marcingill off to live in Florida where she would probably never see the sun or the sand.
“What are you going to do now?” Rex, who was also a producer, asked as we both claimed another piece of cake. Well-wishers began to trickle out of the break room and get back to work or head home.
“I have some evergreens to work on until they hire someone else. And Nate is going on vacation so I’ll be filling in for him.” I scarfed down the sickeningly sweet icing. I usually avoided a lot of sugar because it made me hyper. “Want to go play a round of pool after work? This sugar will keep me going for hours.”
Rex clapped me on the back. “Aw, man, you know those days are over for me. Lil wants me to pull night duty with the baby.”
I nodded in understanding even though I did not understand in the least. “Hey, yeah. Another time.”
Plate discarded, Rex left the break room with a wave. I, too, tossed my paper plate in the trash and made my way back to my edit bay.
I worked steadily until the eleven started, then I checked everything one last time before shutting my equipment down. I stood and stretched, my muscles aching from sitting in the same position too long.
“AO! The new hire will be here next Tuesday.” My boss, Tyrell, bellowed at me as he came around the corner towards the editing rooms.
In the studio, I was known simply by my initials, AO. I never thought my name—Alonso Ortiz—was particularly difficult to say, but the nickname had been created and I answered to it easily enough, so it stuck.
I stopped and leaned on the door frame that had never held a door in my five years of being with Action News. “They hired someone already? Please tell me it’s a man.”
His pearly white teeth flashed in a devilish grin as Tyrell shook his head. “Hate to break it to you, AO. Female. But she’s young and pretty.”
I couldn’t help the groan that escaped my lips. “Young and pretty means nothing if she doesn’t know how to do the job. How green is she?”
The last thing I wanted was to work with a twenty-two-year-old girl fresh from college. Enough of them interned from local colleges and they got younger and younger each year. I had no desire to play babysitter to a little girl for a year before she moved on to another market or left to get married and have kids.
Tyrell laughed. “She’s been in the field for several years. She’s a Savannah local, been in Virginia for a few years, but wanted to come home. I think you’ll like her.” My boss raised his eyebrows.
My friends were always trying to fix me up with their cousin or their girlfriend’s sister. Just because I was almost thirty and unattached did not mean I needed to find some woman to attach myself to. It was not in my five- or ten-year plan. I planned to keep it out of my plans until I was too old for people to bother me about finding someone anymore.
I shook my head. “No thanks. Especially not if I’m working with her. At least she’s not green.”
“You packing up?”
I nodded.
“I’ll walk you out.”
I disappeared back into the dark room, now lit only by the glow of several LED button lights. I checked that everything was shut off. Rex’s desk had a framed photo of his wife Lily and their new baby Lex, as well as a wedding photo. My desk, by comparison, was void of anything personal aside from a coffee mug that said, “Coffee. Because meth is illegal.” I grabbed my keys from the drawer and came back out to Tyrell.
“Want to head to P’s and Cues?” Tyrell, Rex, and I used to play pool together every week.
“I kind of have a thing.” His expression got soft and he looked off into the distance.
“Who is it this time?” I jammed my keys into my pocket, lamenting our days of playing pool and staying up all night.
“Ashley still. She said she made me dessert.” His eyes wagged at me. He had been seeing Ashley for a few months now.
“Has she met the kids?”
“Last week, AO, I told you. Remember?” Tyrell had two kids but had never been married. If he introduced them to this girl, it was getting serious.
“Right, right. Well, have a good night.” I pushed through the heavy steel door, Tyrell behind me. He went left to his car while I went right to mine.
It was pitch black outside, which tended to be the case when you left work at almost midnight. Jennifer had left after the six o’clock news when everyone had bid her a public farewell on camera. It was usually a skeleton crew for the eleven, with packages being pre-recorded and only the anchors and a few others behind the scenes left at Action News. Tomorrow we will do it all again.
The next day I walked into work with a genuine smile on my face. I would be filling in for Nate, one of the other producers, and staying in-house the whole week. I don’t mind chasing stories, especially if they’re interesting, but a week of working behind a computer sounded like a dream to me. I could churn out video packages in my sleep and I liked the anchors much more than the woman I had been trailing behind for years.
“I heard your new Jennifer is coming in tomorrow to do paperwork.” Rex didn’t even look up from his computer when I entered the doorless room the next afternoon. His headphones were around his neck as he played with a video of a woman talking, children playing behind her.
It took a minute for me to register what Rex was telling me. The new girl was coming in tomorrow. “Definitely not my Jennifer, and I don’t want a new one of her. All I want to know is if she’s as clueless as Jennifer was.”
Rex paused his screen and turned to me. “Jennifer wasn’t clueless, just dreary. Lifeless. This girl will be in her prime, AO. I bet she’s a firecracker.”
I didn’t need a firecracker, either. Just someone who worked hard and stayed in their lane. “Did Tyrell say when she was coming?” My keys slid easily into my desk drawer as I sat down and looked over the daily schedule.
“I didn’t hear. Want me to put in a good word if you’re not here?”
I looked to my right at him and gave him my biggest cheesy grin, my unruly hair flopping over my eyes. “No way. Let her be surprised by my finesse and charm.”
Rex ran his hand over his balding head. “Maybe this one won’t constantly chide you about your hair.”
My hair was as unruly as I was. Wild and untamed curls erupted from all over my head, and it had driven Jennifer mad. At first, I kept it longer just to mess with her, but then I became famous for my hair. And when I went out, the girls I met always wanted to run their fingers through the thick, black tangles. I wasn’t about to say no to that.
Much like my hair, I was not a disciplined person in many respects and I knew it. Sure, I was easy to work with, but being focused was difficult for me. I loved my job, though, and did the best I could every day. My career was my life.
After a while, Tyrell came to ask Rex a question. Rex leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “Man, I had no idea having a baby would be so tiring. I have no idea what you just asked.”
Tyrell put his hands on Rex’s shoulders and shook him. “Wake up, man. I need that parks and rec piece ASAP. Tell Lil to get up at night.”
Rex turned around. “You tell her that. I’m not. She’s sleep-deprived, moody, and she needs a shower. I am not throwing myself to the wolves.”
A grimace crossed my face before I could stop it. “She hasn’t showered?”
“She’s holding Lex twenty-four-seven, man. Just wait, AO, one day you’ll understand.” Rex ran his hand through his scraggly beard.
“No way. Not me. Y’all can have your wives and kids and commitments. It’s not for me.” I stretched out, my long legs crossed at the ankle as if I was on the beach. “You two used to be fun but now you have all this, this baggage. I’m the last one left.”
Tyrell shot me a pitying look. “You are missing out, AO. The love of a good woman is all you need.”
Ignoring the comment, I asked after my new reporter. “What time is she darkening my doorstep?”
“She’s not darkening your doorstep for a week still, but she’s coming in to talk upstairs. I think she’ll be here at noon if you want to come play nice.” Tyrell winked in my direction.
I enjoyed sleeping in then hitting the gym after I got up. I didn’t arrive at work until three in the afternoon and I liked it that way. “I will be just rolling out of bed at noon, so no thank you. I can wait.”
Attention back to Rex, Tyrell rapped his knuckles on the door frame. “I need that package pronto.”
With a nod, Rex brought the headphones to his ears and got back to work. Tyrell disappeared, leaving me wondering what Kool-Aid they had drunk to think that a woman was all they needed in life.
All I needed in life was a good job, my apartment, and my freedom. All of which I had. Family only complicated things. I knew that because my parents had divorced when I was ten and instead of them fighting over who got to take me and my sister, they tried pawning us off on one another. Finally, when I was out of school and working, I took control of life and left my selfish parents out of it. Romance and family were messy and I didn’t need a mess in my life.
I pushed the thought from my mind and brought my attention back to a story about a new high school opening in Chatham County. Our anchor Russ Raity had already done the voice over and loaded it. With a sigh, I sped through B roll footage of schools to fill the time needed.