Chapter 9 #2
“It means you’re getting too close to these women. Your job as a journalist is to report what you see. You can’t let others influence your position on a topic. And that’s what’s happening here.”
“No, it’s not. I’m writing a story about two people who are in love. People who are celebrating their happiness with the town. And instead of you wanting it to be a joyous thing, you want to twist it.”
“Didn’t you get divorced a year ago?”
I pulled up short. “I… I did. Why?”
“Why are you so big on love? From what I’ve heard, you got your teeth knocked out by it. Why are you sugarcoating this love story?”
“I’m not sugarcoating anything. I’m telling the truth. Natalie and Omar love each other. They are sharing the parts of their lives that they want to share with the people of this town. They love MacKellar Cove, and they want to—”
“No one cares, Casey. No. One. Cares. People want to witness the misery of others because it allows them the chance to feel better about their own pitiful lives. We don’t want to see joy. We want despair.”
“I don’t. Why would you want that?”
She scoffed. “Get out of my office.”
“Natalie is done,” I said, not moving.
“What?”
“She texted me this morning. She said the article you published wasn’t what we agreed on. It wasn’t what she expected, and she isn’t willing to work with me going forward.”
Gretchen leaned forward, her eyes boring into me. “You have to convince her to change her mind.”
“Why? I can’t go to her and promise that this won’t happen again. That the article I write won’t be changed after I turn it in.”
Gretchen sneered. “You showed her the article before you submitted it?”
“I did. I didn’t think there was a reason not to. I wasn’t aware that what I wrote wasn’t what would be published.”
“Did you do the same before you published your articles about Mr. Levine?”
“Mr. Levine was an underhanded manipulator who was lying and left this paper vulnerable to lawsuits. The only reason Mayor Knight didn’t sue was because of me. Because I wrote the article about Mr. Levine and his involvement in the articles about Omar.”
“Do you think that wins you something? That you used your relationship then and you’re doing it now, so you should get something for it?”
“I am not! I was asked to write an article about Omar. Everyone who knew him knew the articles were lies, but Erik printed them anyway. I am not to blame for any of this, but you’re going down the same path Erik did, twisting things and making up stories that you think will sell papers. It doesn’t work like that here.”
Gretchen pursed her lips so tight they turned white. “Fine.”
“Fine, what?”
“I won’t change anything in your next article. And we’ll see how things go from there.”
“I can’t go to Natalie and say you’re going to leave one article alone but not the rest.”
“You want full control. That’s not how this works.”
“Then, I expect any changes to be run by me at least twenty-four hours before going to print so I have time to show them to Natalie.”
“Then your articles need to be in a full day earlier from now on.”
“Fine, I can do that.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Gretchen glared at me, then snarled. “Now get out of my office.”
I stood and walked out, leaving the door open because I knew it annoyed her.
That was not the way things were supposed to be. If someone’s name was on the byline, the article was theirs. If Gretchen wanted to make all those changes, she should have put her own damn name on it.
“That was a pretty interesting article you wrote,” Mike said as I approached his desk. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“I didn’t write it.”
“What?” He examined me closely. “What do you mean?”
I glanced back at Gretchen’s office. “She changed everything I wrote.”
“She did what?” Mike cupped my elbow and guided me into his cubicle space.
I shrugged him off. “She told me you were going to write the articles if I didn’t find an angle. I wanted to write something about the wedding, about Natalie and Omar, but she didn’t want that. She wants dirt.”
Mike snorted. “There’s no dirt on either of them. They’re good people.”
“You didn’t help her with the changes to my article?” I was a little surprised to hear that.
“No. Hell no. I like Omar. He’s a good man.
Mayor Levine was a piece of crap. He liked to manipulate everything.
My sister works at town hall and told me some of the things Levine did when he was still here.
I was pissed when those articles came out last year about Omar because I thought he was just as big of an asshole, but I was happy to see your articles exposing Levine. ”
“Thanks, Mike. I… Gretchen doesn’t understand how things work here. I know you like to push the line and expose people, but that’s not how I work.”
“I expose people who need to be exposed. I might push a little harder to find the information I need, but I don’t chase after things that don’t need to be chased after.”
I thought about what he said and realized he was right. He wasn’t telling lies. He was sharing things others didn’t know but needed to. “Thanks, Mike. I think you’re right.”
“What are you going to do about the rest of your articles?”
“She agreed not to change anything and to give me twenty-four hours’ notice before going to print so I can talk to Natalie.”
“Smart.”
“I hope. But now I need to convince Natalie to give me another chance.”
“She saw your article before Gretchen got her hands on it, huh?”
I nodded. “Yep. And she’s not happy about the changes.”
“Good. Maybe it’ll teach Gretchen a little about how things work around here. We’re not all out to get each other. This isn’t a place where everyone hates each other.”
“I hope she understands one day. Or I’ll leave. I won’t work for someone who only wants to destroy everyone around.”
Mike’s dark brows shot up. A smile lifted his lips. “You let me know if it comes to that. I’ll walk with you.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded.
“Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it.”
“Good luck with Natalie.”
“Thanks. I’m definitely going to need it.”
“She’s not so bad. She’ll understand.”
“I hope so.” Hope was all I had.