Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
It’s only been a little over a week since I was in Newcastle, but I find my thoughts drifting back to the night I spent with Wrath more times than I’d like to admit. I’ve had a total of three boyfriends in my life and only slept with two of them, but that night I spent with him is one I’ll never forget. I’ll never admit it to anyone, but that night was only the second time I’ve had an orgasm.
My body tingles with desire every time that I think about it.
“So what time is the deadline for us to have the images across for approval for the morning edition?”
My face flushes with embarrassment, when I realise the new guy, Andrew is still sat beside me as I edit the photos we took outside the courtroom this afternoon.
It was the trial of a local guy Peter Nelson a twenty-three-year-old scumbag who likes to break into the homes of the elderly, where he terrorises them for hours, pushing them to hand over anything that may be of any value.
He assaults them, telling them he’ll be back if they tell anyone before leaving them too afraid to even call anyone to ask for help. He thought they would all be too scared to say anything, but his last victim had fought so hard that he had ended up in hospital. And once he came forward naming Peter, another six victims came forward, all giving similar statements.
And when some of their neighbours came forward claiming to have seen Peter leaving the victims houses at the time of the incidents, everyone thought it would be an easy win. Only it wasn’t.
Turns out Peter knows some pretty rich people, who are believed to have the right kind of influence over the right kind of people. There was uproar in the courtroom when the judge ruled that the victims had been coerced into giving the statements and they all exhibited some signs of possible dementia and Alzheimer’s, with that he ruled that Peter was innocent, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I save the last few edits I’ve made and then turn to Andrew. “Ok, so you need to decide which of these images you’re going to send over for approval. You need to send in four options. The images belong to the paper, so always apply the newspapers watermark before sending it over, one they agree and approve an image they’ll remove the watermark at their end before sending it print.”
He watches me with intent, his eyes flicking between me and the screen. I smile and place my hand on his arm. “Breathe Andrew. We still have two weeks left before I leave. We’ll go over all of your notes before I officially hand over to you and if I think you’ve missed anything then I’ll make sure to write it down for you. Now, the only thing you need to worry about right now, is which four images you want to send across.”
He looks at the screen then swallows the lump he has in his throat before looking back over to me. “How do I decide? What if I pick the wrong image?”
I pull up ten images on the screen, all the ones that he took.
“These are your images; you can’t go wrong. Pick the ones that capture the subject clearly. The image they choose will be the one they believe best fits the article. Don’t over think it, these are your images. You choose to take those shots at those particular moments. We still have thirty minutes before we have to submit. I’m gonna go pack up my things while you mull them over, when you’ve decided, attach them to the email and hit send.” I shake my head when I see a sliver a fear in his eyes. “Andrew, trust yourself.” I knock on the table twice then stand and head back over to my desk to clear away my equipment, giving him the space, he needs to make his choice.
Almost an hour later and the main floor is almost clear of staff. All pieces have been approved and only the editors remain to check the final print. As this was Andrew’s first official piece a few of us are heading over to the pub to celebrate.
I’m the last out the door, my head practically in my bag checking that I have my phone and house keys, when the sound of my name, has me coming to a dead stop. I look up unable to hide the surprise on my face, standing not four feet in front of me is Knuckles and Brick from the Soulless Knights. My eyes instinctively look around to see who else is with them.
“He’s not with us, Flex,” Knuckles calls out.
I school my features as I feel a wave of disappointment wash over me.
“I’ll catch you guys up,” I tell my colleagues before slowly taking a few steps towards the guys.
“Yo,” Brick bellows toward my friends. “She won’t make it tonight; we’ve got some catching up to do with our girl here.”
My mouth drops as my eyebrows raise in question. But before I have to ask what’s going on, they both laugh before each one pulls me in for a quick hug. Despite the fact that I barely know these guys, I’m a lot more comfortable hugging them then I think I should be.
“What can I do for you guys?” I ask, taking a small step back so I don’t have to crane my neck so much to look at them. What is it with the men in this club? They are all insanely handsome and scarily tall. They both look to one another, Brick pulls out a pack of smokes from inside his kutte, he holds out the packet offering me, and I shake my head and wrinkle my nose.
“Those things will kill you,” I tell him.
He huffs, but lights one up anyway. “These things won’t have a chance to kill me.” He winks leaning on his bike.
“We need to talk to you about something.” Knuckles watches me, his eyes focused on my mine as he continues. “Let’s head to the coffee shop down the road.” He gestures toward the end of the road. My mind races, wondering what the hell want to talk about.
“How about you just tell me now?” I state.
He smiles at me and reaches for my arm, turning me in the direction of the shop.
“We want to talk to you about Peter Nelson. I’d rather not do it in the street.”
“Ok,” I whisper, more to myself than him. I don’t question him any further as I let him lead me toward the coffee shop, Brick trailing closely behind us.