6. Dani
Dani
“Dani! Can you stop with the man-made earthquake?” Alexa yells.
“Huh, what?”
She points to my leg under the desk. I’m bouncing it so much, it’s making everything around us shake.
“Guess I’m a little nervous.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Alexa reassures me. “I’m sure the ratings are great, and Gavin is hiding in his office, too embarrassed to admit you were right.”
The thought of Gavin eating his words makes me smile.
I’m just starting to work on story ideas for the day when I notice Mr. White out of the corner of my eye.
“Good morning, Mr. White,” I say eagerly. “What brings you to the newsroom?”
“Dani, Alexa. In my office, now,” he demands.
This doesn’t sound good. Alexa and I quickly exchange glances before immediately following Mr. White.
His office is at the back end of the building with the sales department, an area we rarely visit.
The space is filled with cubicles, and despite everyone sitting at their desks, it’s eerily quiet.
Mr. White has the only actual office in this area.
Family photos hang from all the walls, along with dozens of journalism awards.
He was a great reporter before he switched to management, becoming well known for doing live reports from active war zones in the Middle East, decked out in a bulletproof vest and helmet.
He signals for us to take a seat in the chairs in front of his desk. As he settles into his large leather chair on the opposite side, there’s a knock on the door.
“Come in!” he yells.
Gavin pokes his head into the room. “You wanted to see me, Mr. White?”
“Yes, Gavin. Please take a seat next to Dani.”
He whips his head over to me, confusion on his face. I shrug back signaling I have no idea what’s going on. He takes the empty chair to my right, leaving me in the middle of him and Alexa.
“You alright, Dani? You look nervous,” Mr. White asks.
“Just not sure why we’re here.” I gulp. “It’s not every day the general manager calls us into his office.”
“I wanted to talk to you three about the ratings from yesterday. Have you seen them?”
We all shake our heads.
Mr. White hands each of us a piece of paper. I quickly scan mine and I can’t believe what I’m reading.
“Holy fuck!” My head shoots up when I realize what I just said. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry, Mr. White.”
He laughs. “Totally acceptable response.”
“We came in first?” Gavin questions.
“Not only did you come in first, but these are the best numbers we’ve had in years,” Mr. White confirms. “Mainly during the Tate story.” He turns towards Alexa. “But why wasn’t your story longer? You got an impossible interview. I feel like we barely got to hear from the man.”
“Sir, I was given limited time in the show,” Alexa responds confidently.
Mr. White turns his attention back to me. “Dani?”
“To be honest, we were lucky we got her story as much airtime as we did,” I say, still shaking from the roller coaster of emotions my mind just went through in the last few minutes. “There was a difference of opinion in—”
“It was my fault, Mr. White,” Gavin cuts in. “I didn’t think the Tate story would do well for us, so I tried to push it down to later in the show. When Dani made the case for moving it up, I gave her the okay, but only if it was kept short. She said it needed more time, but I didn’t listen.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Yes, it was Gavin’s fault. But usually, the executive producer is the scapegoat in situations like this.
Mr. White nods. “Well, I appreciate your honesty, Gavin. But until you get the lay of the land in town, I would suggest you listen to Dani more.”
Gavin nods, managing to avoid eye contact with me.
“Now, the real reason I called you three in here,” Mr. White continues. “I want you to put together a one-hour special just on Tate. Include everything—his background, the accusations, all of it. And I want to hear his interview answers in full.”
Alexa squeaks. “I don’t know what to say, Mr. White. Thank you!”
“Don’t thank me just yet. I want it to air Friday night.”
“This Friday?” Gavin and I both gasp.
“Yep. I want to keep the momentum going. Dani, have one of the other producers take over your responsibilities for the rest of the week. And Alexa, reassign any time-sensitive stories. I want you two only focused on this. You only have a few days to put this together.”
“Well, if that’s the case, Mr. White, I think Alexa and I need to get to work,” I stress, trying to lift myself from my chair.
“Yes, go!”
The three of us stand up and quickly walk out of the room. As soon as the door shuts behind us, all the air comes rushing out of me. “Is he nuts? It’s Tuesday. We can’t do this in less than four days!”
Alexa grabs my shoulders and glares at me. “We can and we will.” She’s so confident. I could really use some of that right now. “I’ll go grab every piece of video I have on Tate and my notes while you go get the coffee. Meet me in the editing suite in twenty minutes and we’ll figure this out.”
Before I can respond, Alexa disappears towards the newsroom. I turn to Gavin and give him a little smile. “You really didn’t have to take all the blame.”
“Yes, I did. I didn’t listen to you. You were right and I let my ego get in the way.”
Hearing those words lifts a weight off my chest. “Well, I appreciate you saying that.”
“Come on. I’ll buy your coffee. Do you want to go to the shop next door?”
“Sounds great.”
As we make our way through the parking lot, a loud motorcycle rips through the open front gate, stopping right in front of us.
The rider stretches his leg over the red and black bike to dismount, and his wide, muscular frame hovers in front of me.
He says something, but it’s muffled from the sound of the helmet.
I tap my head to signal he needs to take it off, and when he does, instant recognition of the man with the brown crew cut hits me.
“Sam,” I manage to get out, despite my mouth suddenly going dry. “What’re you doing here?” I shift my gaze between him and the very expensive Ducati behind him. “Wait, whose bike is that?” It’s about three times the price of the bike he’s been riding for the last few years.
“Hey, babe!” He leans over to give me a quick kiss on the lips. “It’s mine. You like?”
I’m not quite sure how to respond. I’ve known Sam practically my entire life, meaning I’ve grown up around motorcycles, so I know there’s no way we can afford this.
“How the hell did you pay for that?”
He shrugs and flashes me one of his thousand-watt smiles, as he likes to call it. He could get away with murder with that thing. “I got a good deal. Don’t worry about it.”
I’m just about to rip into him about making big purchases without talking to me when I hear an awkward laugh come from Gavin. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Sam Lincoln is your boyfriend?”
Sam takes a second to look at Gavin, and his eyes go wide. “Fucking Baker? What the hell are you doing here? Did you track my girl down or something? Didn’t you do enough damage all those years ago?”
Sam lunges towards Gavin, and I jump in the middle of them, raising my arms to separate them.
“Whoa! So, clearly, we need to have a little catch-up.” I turn towards Sam.
“I was planning to tell you last night, but you didn’t give me the chance.
Gavin is the new news director. Surprise!
Total random coincidence. It’s awkward as hell but we’re working through it.
” I turn my head towards Gavin. “Yes, Sam is my boyfriend. I kind of avoided telling you his name when I mentioned I was with someone, considering you know each other.” I swivel my head between both of them.
“Now that we’re all caught up, am I safe to move out of the way, and ask that no one dismember anyone please? ”
Both Gavin and Sam nod. I lower my arms and move to stand next to Sam. The anger on Gavin’s face grows as I pull Sam aside so we’re out of earshot.
“What are you doing here?” I rub my hand up and down his arm, and can feel the tension pulsing through him.
“I wanted to see you since I was gone last night,” he grits out. After a brief moment, he shakes it off, and it’s like an entirely new person is in front of me. “I know this is usually when you take your lunch, so I thought I would treat you.”
“That’s really sweet, but Mr. White just gave Alexa and me an almost impossible task. Gavin and I were heading next door for coffee before getting started.”
“Oh, okay. That’s cool. How about dinner? I’ll make reservations.”
“I think I’m going to be working late every night this week. I’ll explain more later when I have the time, but for now, I really need to grab these coffees and get back.”
“Dani, I’ve barely seen you the last few weeks. I was hoping we could finally get some time together. I even told the guys I couldn’t do extra training tonight so that I could be home with you. Just start this thing tomorrow.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “I appreciate the gesture, Sam, but I won’t be made to feel guilty because you finally took a night off and now, I need to work. I sit alone almost every night while you’re out. Maybe you should try it for a change.”
I didn’t mean for the words to come out so harshly, but it’s how I feel. Sam’s face morphs back into frustration. “You just want to hang out with him, right?”
“Are you kidding me? I had no idea Gavin was going to be here, let alone even working in this industry. I haven’t heard from him since Pennsylvania. You know that. We’re work colleagues. That’s it.”
“Mm-hmm. Just remember, I’m your boyfriend now, not him,” he fumes.
“Seriously?”
Sam huffs back to his bike and roars the engine. He throws his helmet over his head, and races out of the lot.
“Really, Dani? Sam? Of all people. Sam fucking Lincoln?” Gavin shakes his head, running a hand through his hair, the kind of stunned disbelief written all over him that says he still isn’t sure what he saw was right.
I start walking towards the coffee shop, and I hear Gavin running behind to catch up. What is with this guy and chasing after me in this parking lot?
“I know you guys didn’t always get along when we were together,” I start. “But I didn’t expect either of you to react this badly.”
When Gavin and I were together, Sam was stationed just a few hours away and came to visit as often as he could.
I thought the boys would become best friends.
I was very wrong. They’re like oil and water.
I just never figured out why. At least, they tolerated each other for my sake.
Fine, maybe tolerated is putting it nicely.
They put up with each other for me. Barely.
When Gavin ended things and I was a complete mess, Sam was there. He let me cry on the phone, played unofficial therapist, and even took leave to help me move my life from Sacramento to San Diego when everything blew up.
“He’s not good for you, Dani!” Gavin yells, still trailing behind me.
“How the hell would you know? Sam’s been my friend since we were kids. He was there for me when you left, when I had no one else.”
“Oh, I’m sure he was.” His tone is sharp and clipped, the restrained edge of someone trying very hard not to show he’s hurt.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we didn’t even get together until a year after you dumped me.”
“And you’re not married yet?”
“I don’t know if it’s for us. We’re comfortable with how things are, and I don’t think we want to mess with that.”
“Ooo comfortable. What every relationship aspires to be.”
I stop walking and turn to look him right in the eye.
“You don’t get a say in my life anymore, Gavin. You lost that right.”
“I don’t trust him, and honestly you shouldn’t either.”
“I don’t care what you think. I’ve known Sam basically my entire life. He’s been there for me, unlike someone else I know.”
I refuse to release my gaze. I won’t give him the upper hand here.
“Okay. I won’t say anything else. Let’s go get that coffee. I’ll even get you an extra shot of espresso to make you feel better.”
“Music to my ears,” I spit out with sarcasm. I turn and keep walking, trying to get his warnings out of my head.