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“I brought us both some french fries for…” Hannah trailed off as her gaze rolled over Payson. “You look absolutely stunning.”
Payson felt the heat flush across her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Granted, she was feeling sexy at the moment—and she was glad Hannah thought so—but that feeling was more a reflection of the dress and makeup and less of a reflection of her true self-image. “Thank you. I, um, I have a date with Madison tonight, and since she picked an upscale restaurant on the strip, I thought I better dress a little more appropriately.”
“You’re going on a date with Madison?” Hannah averted her eyes. “Oh, I see,” she mumbled as she focused on her feet.
“Hannah?”
She didn’t respond.
“Hannah? Is everything okay?”
She lifted her head and nodded. “Yep. Nope, all is well. In fact, I uh…I think that’s wonderful news.” Hannah exhaled. “See, I told you there was something between you two,” she said in a less than enthusiastic tone.
“Payson,” Jason yelled from his office.
“I will put a smile on my face the day I walk out of here and never have to deal with him anymore.” She grabbed her notebook and headed to his office.
“Take a seat,” he grumbled without looking up from his computer.
She did as she was told. “What’s up?”
“Today, I want you…” He turned away from his computer and glanced at her. “What happened? Did someone die?”
“What?”
“You’re all dressed up in black with makeup on and stuff. You going to a funeral?”
“Seriously Jason, that’s where your mind went? No, I’m not going to a funeral. If you must know, I have a date later this evening.”
He scoffed. “I don’t need to know that. Why did you tell me that? As long as you have a good show tonight, I could give a shit what you do in your off hours.”
“But you just asked if…never mind.” She repositioned herself. “What’s up?”
He flicked a piece of paper across his desk. “A couple of Elvis impersonators apparently got drunk last night and thought it would be funny to run around the neon boneyard with just their guitars on while singing “Hound Dog.” A tourist claims to have caught the whole thing on his phone. See if you can get a copy of that video.”
“I’ll put Tegan on it.”
“Oh, and the strippers on wheels caused an accident in the early morning hours after one of the pole dancers flipped upside down and spread her legs. The city’s now talking about shutting it down. Put Patty on that story. I want it in the A-block.”
She nodded as she scribbled in her notepad. The stunt to encase a flatbed trailer with Plexiglas, lit from within, and have pole dancers in lingerie do their thing in it while the truck slowly drove down Las Vegas Boulevard might have been a great marketing stunt for the strip clubs, but it created friction with the city council from day one. But controversy translated to free publicity, and in this town of extremes, anything a business could do to rise above the weird won them the game. “Sounds good. Anything else?”
“Give it five minutes, but for now, that’s all I got. Oh, and don’t forget the humane society’s coming in with their puppies tonight.”
“I know, I’m giving them three minutes in the B-block.”
“Bump them to the bottom of the C-block, and cut their segment to two minutes. If the Elvis video pans out, give that more time.”
“But you know the viewers love to see the puppies. Why do I have to cut their time?” she said with a bit of a bite because she was starting to become resentful of Jason always undermining her decisions.
“Because I like the naked Elvis story better.” He waved a dismissive hand as he took a call.
Jason’s wrong, she thought as she strolled back to her cubicle. The puppy segment was much more appealing than a bunch of drunk Elvises. That story might be good for a quick laugh, but this was Vegas; who wasn’t drunk and doing stupid things all day long?
“Everything okay?” Hannah asked.
“Just the normal insanity of the—”
A scream stopped the newsroom in its tracks. Payson spun and looked behind her. Two legs were sticking up from behind Madison’s desk.
