Chapter Twelve
Evan
“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
Hamlet
As soon as Elizabeth turned and left, I peeled my eyes off the radar I’d been staring at to force my body to behave itself and not betray my immediate physical reaction to seeing her with no warning at all.
But like an afterimage, the vision of her remained clear.
I couldn’t shake it from my mind if I tried.
That skirt cut to just above her knee, that form-fitting blouse open low enough to remind me what lay beyond, those heels that I’d fantasize about for the rest of the day.
All of it, so different from the last time I’d seen her.
And her makeup. Jesus. She’d been pretty without. But that dark eyeliner and glossy lipstick caught me completely off guard and sent a jolt straight through my core. My imagination went into overdrive, and I pictured her, the way she’d lain in her bed, all decadence.
Why was she here?
Was this another sick joke?
After I’d fabricated a ridiculous backstory to keep my workplace free of unwanted sexual advances, she came in and blew it all to hell.
Though maybe she wasn’t going to be a problem.
I’d seen the expression on her face, and she looked like she’d rather murder me than talk to me. Probably for the best.
Bob sidled up next to me with a pat on the back. “What was that all about?”
I side-eyed him. “I, uh, have some history with Elizabeth.”
“Already?” He shook his head and shambled back around the monitors, muttering, “Romantic entanglements on your first day?”
I exhaled my frustration. “It isn’t romantic.”
Had Lauren called her an associate producer? Elizabeth had told me she was a writer. Was that one more lie? A horrible thought occurred to me: what if she’d been working here when I interviewed? What if she’d followed me to that bar?
I didn’t have time to parse the mystery. The six o’clock newscast was rapidly approaching, and Bob still needed to walk me through the graphics.
“Looks like showers tonight, possibly into the weekend,” Bob said. “You seeing this?”
I shook off my invasive thoughts and turned to the weather map. Sure enough, the seeds of change were there. “Interesting. If this moisture persists, you think we might see snow in the next few weeks?”
He twisted his mouth in thought. “Possible. Probably not though. It rarely snows here this early. Might up higher in the mountains. Something to watch.”
“Never say never,” I said without conviction. My thoughts were still overrun with Elizabeth, wondering when I’d see her again. Wondering if I’d meant anything to her at all.
It was simple lust, I told myself. How could it be anything more when I didn’t even know her?
But then I remembered how easily we’d fallen into conversation, how delightfully quirky she’d been.
When I closed my eyes and recalled every moment of that night, I knew it was her I wanted to get to know better.
A rose by any other name, indeed.
If I could trust her at all, I’d walk down the hall and tell her so. But she’d chosen violence.
Besides, the way she’d looked at me before, maybe I was complicating her life. She’d asked to live in the moment, and here we were, surviving the aftermath.
Close to the broadcast, Lauren peeked her head around the door. “Evan, could you come get some shots for the intro trailer?”
Her heels clicked on the tile as she led me to the newsroom where a couple of the anchors also wandered around.
She proceeded to move me physically into the space where I’d need to stand, lowering her impressive cleavage before my eyes.
I prayed Lauren wouldn’t make this environment as uncomfortable as my last job.
“We could do this later if you’re not ready,” she said as she pointed me toward the green screen, “but it will make my life a little easier to put this to bed now.”
Ignoring the innuendo, I shook my head. “This is fine.”
“Can you remove your glasses?”
“If you want me to stumble around blind,” I lied. I knew they were paying for me to look good on camera, but the glasses added some IQ points. I wanted people to take me seriously.
“You’re not going be stumbling anywhere.” She waved toward the camera, its inky black lens pointed right at me. “You can’t stay upright for a couple of lines?”
“Fine.” I slipped the glasses off and dropped them in my pocket, already resenting the way Lauren was showcasing my face instead of my acumen. Bob clearly hadn’t gotten this job for his looks.
When Lauren backed away, it was just me and the camera lens. Out of nowhere, panic constricted my throat. I’d done TV news for the past five years in more than one market, but transitioning into a new job always spiked my anxiety.
But this fear felt more acute.
Had I chosen a job in the wrong town? I didn’t think so, but something felt amiss, like the wind before a tornado. Only more subtle. Like the smell of snow on the air.
And then it hit me like a tsunami. What if Elizabeth was watching me from the control room?
Lauren pressed an earpiece on me, and I shook off the creeping dread. I wouldn’t let a woman get under my skin. My training would carry me through.
But as the red light came on the camera, I swallowed down the rising doubt. What if I made a fool of myself?