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He continued. “I’m so grateful to Blair Robertson for inviting me here tonight. I have a love/hate relationship with the press – I love my girlfriend – who’s an investigative journalist. And I hate Gerald Stinger – who’s an asshole.”
A few more nervous chuckles rippled out across the huge room. Eleanor didn’t know where Stinger was at the moment, but she knew he’d be here somewhere. And she guessed he might be getting hot under the collar.
Joseph carried on. “As you saw, I just proposed to Ellie – a woman who I’ve been in love with for about six months. She’s intelligent and articulate – and she’s very good at her job. Her professional name is Eleanor Davison. Would you like to meet her?”
A wave of approval swept over the crowd, muttering that yes they would like to meet her. Eleanor’s muscles tensed with terror and nervous tremors gripped her knees. This wasn’t part of the plan!
Joseph gazed out into the crowd. “Eleanor, sweetheart, would you come up please? They’re all dying to meet you.”
A surreal state gripped her and she glued her feet firmly to the floor, shaking her head. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be doing all the talking – he said he’d expose Robertson and talk about her article. She breathed. Okay, perhaps he just wanted her up there with him. She wouldn’t need to actually say anything to the thousands of people watching here and all over the internet and television… Shit!
Okay, come on, one foot in front of the other; please legs remember how to work!
With her heart threatening to burst out of her ribs, Eleanor dragged herself towards the front of the room. She halted at the bottom of the steps and gazed up at Joseph, who was waiting for her at the side of the stage. He offered her his hand, which she took with trembling fingers, then she climbed up the steps in her heels, onto the wooden boards.
He wrapped her in his arms, and they kissed like teens at a prom. Everyone cheered.
“You look beautiful,” he said away from the mic. “So stunning.”
Her voice came out a nervous whisper. “Thanks. Would you like to tell me what the fuck is going on please?”
“Did you get my message?” he asked.
“Which message?”
He gestured to his undone shirt. “The one on my chest.”
She laughed. “I did. And yes, I’d love to.”
“Yes!” He picked her up in his strong arms and twirled her around, making her giggle self-consciously.
“Come on,” he said, placing her back down. “You’ve got a story to break to the world.”
“No, Joe. You’re telling them. That’s what we decided.”
He caressed her cheek. “It’s your story – you should get the glory. You’ll be fine. Come on.”
He held her hand and led her over to the microphone, which suddenly seemed as if it might grow teeth and gobble her up whole. She stood a foot away from it, just in case. Then she reached up to remove her mask, so that she could look at everyone properly and concentrate on what she was doing. From up here, she saw that everyone else in the sprawling crowd was still masked.
She pushed herself to speak to the sea of blank faces. “Er, thank you for asking me up here…”
She muttered a few more incoherent words, not really knowing what to say. If only she’d prepared something – a proper speech. Her heart sank into her feet as she realised some people in the crowd were now turning to talk to each other, uninterested in what she wanted to tell them.
Joseph appeared at her side. “You need to stand nearer the mic, babe. Here…”
He dragged the mic stand closer to her, but that meant the microphone was suddenly too high. Joseph chuckled, then knelt to adjust the height of the stand. He glanced up at her from his knees and winked. She chuckled, allowing herself to relax slightly. He was always on his knees, wasn’t he?
Joseph stood back, so Eleanor tried speaking again. She uttered a few more words, but she closed her mouth as an ear-splitting squeal of feedback caused everyone to put their fingers in their ears. A few people heckled, telling her to get off. But she refused to do that. This was her mission now – to tell the world about what had been happening. The feedback suddenly disappeared as the sound engineer adjusted the levels. She stood up tall, summoning up how she felt when she was in the throes of orgasm with Joseph… powerful and brave. Okay, here we go… She picked out Blair Robertson in the crowd and reminded herself of the importance of what she was doing here tonight. She stood tall and embodied the cocky spirit of Joseph Quinlan.
“As a journalist, I believe in a free and fair press. However, by going undercover at News Scape this week, I’ve learnt that Blair Robertson wields so much power over his editors and reporters that they’ll do anything for a front page story. He treats them mean and keeps them keen. And they in turn treat the people who they interview mean.”
She paused. Her knees surged with terror as she realised everyone was suddenly captivated – they were staring at her in shock; unable to believe what she was saying at the most powerful man in media’s own party.
Come on, Ellie, just say what there is to say…
“I’ve written an exclusive article in an independent newspaper called The Big Society covering my story. In the article, I expose how Blair Robertson and his organisation have broken all sorts of privacy laws. They’ve been hacking phones, paying off corrupt officials, and bribing the police.”
“Rubbish!” someone shouted.
