Her Time, page 4
“Fantastic, thank you.” I smiled at him and sat at my cramped cubicle.
“Don’t worry, you won’t spend much time here. We’re going to need you for fieldwork more than anything.”
And Lord was I grateful for that. I couldn’t even straighten out my knees in this cramped space.
“And I’m excited for that,” I told him politely.
“So are we!” he said eagerly. “You know, I was really glad you agreed to come on. We really needed someone with experience for this position. Every inexperienced journalist we’ve hired has not been able to keep from violating the terms of their contract.”
This caught my attention. “Oh, how so?”
“Well, as I’m sure you realize, it’s important to us to maintain the dignity of our journalism. It may seem like only sports to you, but our readers take these games very seriously. It’s important we be unbiased. And that means no player involvement.”
“Player involvement?” I asked, not really catching on.
“Well, you know… dating the players. We forbid anyone to get personally involved with any official athlete.”
My eyes widened in embarrassment. “Oh, I see, uh… That’s really been that big of an issue?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, we had to fire our last two journalists because they began dating players. A volleyball and basketball player, respectively.”
“Oh, wow… Well, I assure you that’s not going to be an issue with me. I don’t date.” I smiled.
Well, unless my random hookup the other night counted as a date, which I don’t believe it did. And, even so, it was the first time in years I’d done something like that. It really was a nonissue, I was married to the job.
“Honestly, even if the fact that I’m a total workaholic didn’t interfere with my dating life, I don’t think I could ever be interested in any of the jocks I meet on the job. Ever since high school, athletes haven’t been my type.”
“I see. Well, just try not to let your distaste for them shine through during your interviews,” he said jokingly as he pushed his glasses up. “Hold on, I’m going to find Jeff for you. He was supposed to be here by now and he’s the head of the department, he’ll be training you today. Just give me a second.”
“Absolutely, take your time.” I wasn’t too eager to get started, anyway.
He stepped out of the office and down the hall. It was a good fifteen minutes until he arrived back.
In the meantime, I glanced around the department. It was filled with small cubicles just like mine, and people were slowly filtering in and taking their places at them.
I plastered a grin on my face so I’d seem friendly to any of my new coworkers who happened to glance my way. But none of them did. They didn’t even converse with each other.
I could tell immediately that this wasn’t going to be anything like my last job.
I sighed and started putting paper clips together in my boredom. I jumped when I heard Saul’s voice pop up from behind me.
“So, uh, some bad news. Or possibly good news, depending on how adventurous you’re feeling. Jeff can’t come in today, he had a family emergency. Which is concerning, because he had an interview today with one of the biggest Olympic athletes in the United States. We’re going to have you fill in today.”
“Me?” I asked, shocked. I looked around the room. “I’m the only one who can fill in? On my, uh, first day?”
“I’m afraid we have a limited number of field journalists and they’re all scheduled today. You’re the only viable option without kicking someone off of another interview which would be terribly unprofessional.”
“Right, okay,” I acknowledged.
Though, honestly, it seemed completely unprofessional to send someone out to such an important interview on their very first day as well.
“I can see you’re worried, but don’t be. I have all of Jeff’s questions so there is no prep work you need to do. You just simply need to go out there, record answers, and represent us well.” He handed me a few papers worth of interview questions.
“And who is it I’ll be interviewing?” I asked.
“Her name is Brynne Wright. She’s a volleyball player and she was on the team that won the gold during last year’s games. She’s become quite popular with the team’s fan base. She is damn good at what she does.”
“I think I’ve heard of her before,” I said. Her name did sound really familiar, though I couldn’t put a face to it. “When is the interview?”
“In just a few hours. Feel free to leave and take your lunch before heading over there, I know you might want some time to go over the questions and mentally prepare. You’ll meet her at the gym where the team is practicing as we speak. At three, when you arrive, they’ll be finishing up with practice. Brynne already knows to expect you.”
“Alright then,” I tried to say more confidently then I felt. “Then I’ll just… Go read up on these questions and head over there.”
“Perfect! Thank you for filling in on such short notice.”
“Of course.” I smiled, as if I had a choice.
It was only my first day here and already I found myself fantasizing about getting another job. I mean, Christ, how could they be so disorganized? We never gave field interviews to people who had been with us less than six months at my old job.
Not that I wasn’t qualified. I was. I had years of experience, but they didn’t know that. They had never seen me work within their company. I could be poised to ruin their reputation and they’d never know it.
But I guess this was better than sitting in that stuffy cubicle surrounded by people who wouldn’t even look at me, right? At least I’d be doing something.
And a big something, too, if this Brynne Wright was as big as Saul made her out to be. This was probably a big opportunity in the realm of sports journalism. Which was not the realm I wanted to be in, of course, but at least if I could put some quality work in here I could use it in my portfolio.
I looked over the questions as I ate clam chowder at my favorite lunch cafe. They were pretty run-of-the-mill questions, but I wanted to make sure I understood all of them and that they didn’t reference any events I wasn’t aware of.
They didn’t, they were all very general, so I didn’t even bother with looking her up. If nothing personal was going to come up, I wasn’t going to waste my time.
This would likely be a short interview, anyway. This famous athlete wasn’t going to want to suffer through this interview any more than I was.
I arrived early; it was twenty minutes to three and the team was still practicing. I had no intention of interrupting their practice. I just wanted to be punctual, but the coach noticed me immediately.
“Are you the reporter? For Brynne?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, I am.”
“No problem, I’ll pull her out after this play for you.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” I assured her. “I can wait.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I think it’s best to get her off the court early. She’s a little aggressive today.”
An aggressive athlete, big surprise. I thought to myself.
“Okay, thanks,” I told her as I pulled my recorder out of the bag.
Thankfully, it was a clear, sunny day. There was a court inside and one outside, so they’d all chosen to practice outside today. The wind tended to muffle the words on my recorder, so I was happy for the weather being what it was.
I sat down a few rows back as they finished the play. I didn’t want to distract the coach by conducting the interview mere feet away from her.
And as soon as I saw Brynne for the first time, I was glad I had put distance between the coach and myself… Because I didn’t want anyone hearing what she had to say to me.
As soon as she walked off the court and looked in my direction, I froze. I had seen that face before… just the other night. And I suddenly realized why the woman I had slept with had looked so familiar.
She was an Olympic athlete? God, I should have known that some level of fame came along with a penthouse that extravagant. Fuck, why didn’t I get her name that night?
Or, better yet, why didn’t I just stay away from her? Why did I have to go and sleep with a total stranger?
I had already broken the rule my boss warned me about. I’d had sex with one of the players. But it was before I even took the job… so it didn’t count, right?
No, it did. I knew it did. It made me biased, even if it happened before I was hired. That was what they would care about. Shit, I was going to lose my job. What the hell had I gotten myself into this time?
My heart was pounding with every step Brynne took toward me. I knew my face must’ve been scrunched up in anxiety, but her face showed the exact opposite emotion.
She looked happy to see me. She was completely at ease with running into me again. Then again, why wouldn’t she be? She didn’t break any rules.
I was still mentally panicking when she finally reached my seat and sat down with a grin on her face.
“Hey, stranger.”
6
Brynne
“Brynne, off the court!” I heard the coach call to me. “Reporter is here!”
Shit, I had completely forgotten I had an interview today.
On a normal day, I hated these things. I had to sit there and make small talk with someone I didn’t even know to impress a fan base that already loved me. Yeah, that sounds conceited, but let’s be honest here. I was the most popular player on the team.
So it didn’t benefit me much to do these interviews. It didn’t add to my allure. But the coach always pushed me to do them, said that the team takes any good press it can get.
Which I guess I could deal with, but today I was feeling too frustrated. I didn’t know how I was going to humor some sports reporter. I already came off surly most of the time, and today was going to be even worse. Is it still good press if you piss off the journalist who is supposed to make you look good?
My coach pointed me to the direction of the reporter after I’d gotten subbed in. Immediately, my mood changed entirely. Because I knew this reporter.
She was the girl from the bar the other night, the one I hadn’t been able to get off my mind. The one I was sure I’d never see again.
Since seeing Courtney, I had tried even harder to push her out of my head. I told myself over and over that my fantasies of her were just that… fantasies.
I didn’t know who she really was and I didn’t have any reason to suspect she was different from other people I’d met. So I had no reason to want to see her again so desperately. Honestly, I kept thinking pessimistic thoughts to keep my mind from being occupied with her.
But all that pessimism dissipated the moment I saw her again. God, she was beautiful. Just as gorgeous in the sober light of day as she had been that night. The sun shone against her dark hair and her pale skin was glowing in the sunlight.
But the closer I got to her face, the more I realized the expression that was laid upon it was not a positive one. Whatever happiness I felt seeing her, she clearly didn’t reciprocate.
But that wasn’t going to stop me from being as charming as possible.
“Hey there, stranger.” I smiled at her.
She was speechless.
“You don’t look half as happy to see me as I am to see you,” I observed.
“I, uh, no, that’s…” Her sentence trailed off.
Maybe she was just shocked from finding out about my status as an Olympic gold medalist. Then again, usually when a woman is surprised to find out who I am it’s shocked in a good way. This most certainly appeared to be shocked in a bad way.
“You didn’t leave your number,” I told her. I might as well be up front. “Was that an accident or were you not planning to ever see me again?”
“That was an… uh…” She was thinking. She almost seemed like she was going to say accident, but then she decided to be honest too. “No, I guess I wasn’t expecting to see you again. Not that I didn’t have a wonderful night with you, I really did. It’s just that I don’t really date so I figured it would be a one-time thing. I actually thought you might appreciate that it was just a hookup and that I wasn’t looking for anything more.”
“You know, usually that’d be the case. Usually I’m glad to have a hookup out of my bed before I wake up in the morning. But for some reason it was different with you. I actually was disappointed to see you go.”
She blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You don’t owe me anything, of course. But, I must admit, I’m glad to see you again.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Well, I mean… Like I said, I don’t date.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t really have the time. I’m very attached to my job. Or, I mean, my last job.”
“And I take it your last job didn’t involve sports journalism?” I asked her.
“No, it didn’t. How’d you figure?”
“I’m pretty sure you’d know who I am if it did. And you certainly did not recognize me until this very moment.”
She was scanning my face. I think she was trying to figure out if the lack of recognition insulted me or not. It didn’t, it was actually a relief that night.
“So,” I continued, “how do you feel about the new job?”
“I’m iffy about it,” she admitted.
“So you won’t be as attached to it as your last job, huh?” I pressed.
“I don’t think so, no.”
“So there’s no reason you can’t actually try to date now, then, huh?”
I wasn’t holding back with this girl. Seeing her again was giving me feelings I hadn’t felt in a long time and I wasn’t the kind of girl to pussy out and miss my chance with someone.
But she wasn’t taking the bait. The more I talked about dating, the more uncomfortable she got.
It was the exact opposite of what I normally experienced. I didn’t generally have to do very much pursuing to get someone’s attention. But the more interest I showed in this girl, the further away she pulled.
“Am I bothering you?” I asked her.
She sighed. “Can I just be blunt with you?”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Okay. Well, you seem like a nice girl. Well, uh, actually you seem more like a famous athlete than a nice girl, but you get what I mean. You’re attractive, you’ve clearly got your life together… Maybe in normal circumstances I would consider the idea of a second date.”
“But?” I asked.
“But this isn’t a normal situation for me, like, at all. See, I found out just this morning that it’s actually forbidden for a journalist to get involved with one of the athletes. And I very clearly told my boss that this would be a nonissue for me. Come to find, I actually broke that rule a few nights ago.”
“I see.” I thought on this for a moment. “Well, I’m sure that rule isn’t as set in stone as you think. I bet—”
She cut me off. This was another thing that caught me off guard, most people I spoke to didn’t.
“No, it is set in stone. The last two people to be in my position were fired for entering into relationships with the athletes. The thing is, I can’t exactly afford to be fired. I might not love my new job, but it is going to keep a roof over my head and that’s kind of important to me. So no matter how cute or charming you are, nothing is going to make me voluntarily lose my job.”
Wow. Her boldness just had me more infatuated with her. I think this may have been the first time in my adult life that someone actually rejected me. It was clear that my fame added literally no romantic interest for her. She didn’t look at me with dollar signs.
On the contrary, she saw the absence of money when she saw me because she was independent and being with me could cause her to lose everything she’d worked for.
And I appreciated that. With every word that came out of her mouth, it became even clearer that she was a potentially perfect partner for me.
“I need to know something,” she continued.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, this is kind of a complicated question, but… what kind of girl are you? Are you, like, one of those obsessive women that will chase after me and when you can’t have me you’ll do anything to ruin my life?”
I literally laughed out loud. “What? What are you talking about?”
“What?” She shrugged. “There’s women out there like that, you know! They can’t stand someone telling them they can’t have something, even if it’s themselves.”
“Well, no, I’m not that kind of girl. I can’t promise not to be passionately into you, but I’d never try to ruin your life because I couldn’t have you.”
“So, I can expect your discretion, then?”
“Discretion?” I asked.
“About what happened between us. I can trust that you’re not gonna, like, call my boss and tell him that we’ve had relations.”
“No! Of course not,” I answered, appalled.
“Good. I just don’t want to lose my job, you know? And I meant what I said! You seem like a lovely woman, it’s just… I can’t lose my job.”
“I understand. Don’t worry, I get it. But can you promise me something?” I asked.
“What?”
“If you do find another job, will you hit me up? Let me take you out on a proper date?”
She laughed. “I guess I can swing that.” But then she eyed me suspiciously.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You seem genuinely interested in me.”
“I am,” I agreed. “Why does that raise suspicion for you?”
“I don’t know. Because you’re a famous gold medalist?”
“And?”
“And what interest could a woman like you have with someone like me?”
“Well, you don’t have a lot of self-confidence, huh?” I asked.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I do, trust me. I know who I am, and I like me. A lot. But you’re famous, for crying out loud. You can have anyone you want. What do you get out of pursuing me when you could have a different girl in your bed every night this week?”
