“She’s also a final candidate for a position at the NWS,” Sebastian adds, and I smile.
“So, you’re an influencer who thinks she’s qualified to claim that experts at the most prestigious weather centers in the world are wrong?” he asks.
“I am qualified, but am I even more qualified when theprestigious weather centers’ staffing is down twenty percent and can’t provide information as accurate as it was before? Yes. We saw this with Hurricane Claudia earlier in the season. The longer these organizations remain understaffed, the more mistakes are going to continue to happen. The data about the shift in Georgianna’s track is right there, and someone needs to break the news.”
Multiple things happen at once. Someone pulls the plug on the laptop and presses their nose against the screen, inspecting the map I just showed them. Three people stand and hustle out the door. A phone rings, papers get shuffled.
“Just got off the phone with Phil in Tampa,” a man announces to the room. “He’s in agreement: a north-northeast turn is occurring, which puts landfall ninety miles south.”
“Is there a Sebastian Dunn in here?” A woman pops her head in, scanning the faces at the table. “ABC headquarters called. We’re interrupting regularly scheduled programming to go on with the national news, and you’re going on-air. Ten minutes until we’re live.”
“Great.” Sebastian stands and rounds the table, not stopping until he’s directly in front of me. “You’re coming with me.”
“You want me to watch you? Sure. I’ll—”
“No. You’re going on-air with me. You’re going to be the one to let the nation know what’s happening.”
“What?No way. I don’t want to be in front of the camera.”
“You’re in front of a camera every day.”
“This is different. Sebastian.” I tug on his arm, stopping us in the middle of the hall. I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling lights above me. “What if I’m wrong? I could ruin my career.”
“But you’re not wrong, and you could save lives.”
Fuck.
He’s right.
Of course he’s right.
How could I care about a tarnished reputation when there are thousands of people in harm’s way? If being wrong about this is the worst thing I’ll do in my career, I’ll have done my job well.
I take a deep breath.
“Okay.” I reach for his hand, and he takes mine instantly. “I’ll go on camera with you.”
“This job is hard. Making the right call sometimes feels impossible, and even when you’re sure, you can still be caught off guard. If you’re doubting yourself, that’s okay, Quincy.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “But I need you to know I believe in you enough for the both of us. I trust you with my life, and I won’t let you take the fall for this alone. We’ll do this together.”
I don’t know if it’s the magnitude of what’s waiting for us or the easy, gentle way he holds my palm. It could be the exhaustion in his eyes, the paleness lining his cheeks. How his attention never strays from me, not even when someone calls out his name. Whatever it is, Ifeelit when he looks at me. An aching longing of patient years spent waiting. The start of something new, and for the first time all morning, I’m not scared.
“I can feel the cord for the microphone against my boob.” Quincy adjusts her shirt. “This is all very fancy. I miss my desk and sweatpants.”
“Never thought I’d be jealous of a microphone cord.” I fix my collar and flash her a smile. “You doing okay?”
“Okay as I can be, given the circumstances. There’s a huge hurricane heading for the state. I’m about to shit on a government agency’s forecast in front of millions of people. It’s a casual Wednesday morning in the life of a meteorological influencer.”
“Davis Kensington. That’s the guy who was questioning you back there. He’s a pretentious asshole who thinks because he went to Columbia, he’s better than everyone else. Want to know a secret?”
She moves closer to me. “Always.”
“He only graduated because his parents donated a bunch of money to the school. One of the research labs is named after his grandfather, and I’m pretty sure he still doesn’t know the difference between low-pressure and high-pressure systems.”
“So he’s an insecure man?” Quincy laughs. “Shocking.”
“Can I tell you another secret?”
“Doyounot know the difference between low-pressure and high-pressure systems?”
