Page 1 of Drop Pass

1

Elena

“Another week of sunshine here in Los Angeles.” I gave an inward cringe at the familiar words. There were only so many ways to tell the public it would be clear, warm, and sunny. Just like yesterday and the next ten days.

I moved to the side of the frame while the seven-day forecast showed up on the screen. “We’ll dip into the low fifties on Thursday night so grab a jacket if you’re heading out.”

I smiled and waited for the camera to go back to the anchor. The red light blinked out and I sighed.

There it was, another day done. I went back to my desk just off set. Cami, the weather producer, slid me a stack of papers without looking up from her computer. I sighed and pulled my mic closer, opening the program on my computer to record the radio spots for the day. I had this process down so it took me less than five minutes to record the three pages and upload them for editing.

“Anything else today?”

Cami shook her head. “Nope, nothing’s coming in. We might get some swells in from Mexico, but it’s not looking likely.”

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It was almost one and I’d been up for twelve hours. I was more than ready to change and get home for an afternoon nap. I slipped into the women’s changing room and half unzipped the ridiculously tight dress the producers kept pushing on me and the other women at the station. I wasn’t sure how forcing us into corset-tight dresses would help us do our jobs. I needed to be able to breathe to speak.

I twirled a piece of my over-bleached hair and frowned at the dry ends. I wasn’t sure how much more of this job I could take.

My phone rang from the bottom of my purse and I sighed before picking it up. “Hello?”

“Ms. Curtis?” A male voice I didn’t recognize replied.

“This is she.”

“Ms. Curtis, this is Dean Rhodes, the HR director at SLBC, we spoke briefly a few weeks ago.”

I sat up in my chair. This is was the Salt Lake station that said they might have a position available for me after I covered the winter storm.

“Hi Mr. Rhodes.” My voice automatically switched into my professional tone.

“I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but there were some internal movements that had to take place.”

I held my breath. This sounded like good news.

“We’d like to offer you a position here with SLBC. The morning weather.”

I knew this would be the position from the meeting I had with their producers, so I was ready with questions.

“The four, six, and eight am slots?”

“Yes.”

I grinned. Some people might hate starting that early, but I loved it. Knowing people started their days with me and waited for me to tell them how to plan their day was my favorite part about my job.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Rhodes. I look forward to joining the team.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. I’ll send over the contract for your review. If you have any questions please reach out to me.”

“I will.”

“Then I look forward to seeing you next Monday.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. The silence had me thinking they’d changed their minds about me, but I was ready to scream it from the rooftops now. I was leaving Los Angeles for good!

“Of course. Thank you again.”