AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I always liked the view of my building at night. It was located in the middle of Manhattan, and the city beat around it like a pulse. It felt like we were in the center of everything.
I walked out of the OVT building, not able to help the satisfied grin that spread across my face. I wasn’t even sure why I was smiling. It was unusual, which was confirmed by the odd look my driver, Gerald, shot at me as he opened the car door.
“Good evening, Mr. Oviatt,” he said. He was an older man, close to retirement, and unlike me, Gerald was always smiling. “You seem quite happy tonight, sir.”
I shook my head and grinned a bit wider.
“I’m always happy, Gerald,” I said as I slid into the seat. Gerald chuckled as he firmly shut the door.
Soon, we were crawling through the traffic. There was something unusual about tonight. It was almost magical. Typically, I didn’t pay attention during the drive. I usually had my nose in my phone, still working. But something about tonight drew my eyes up and out the window. The buildings seemed taller. The lights seemed brighter. Everything felt more alive.
“Are we headed directly to the penthouse, sir? Or do you have other plans?” Gerald asked as he pulled up to a red light. Soft jazz music whispered in the background. It was Gerald’s choice, but I didn’t mind the relaxing notes. He glanced at me in the rearview mirror and I saw him do a quick double take.
“If you don’t mind me saying,” he said almost hesitantly, even though we’d known each other for years. “Something really does look different about you tonight, sir. It’s like you have a glow. Are you pregnant?” I saw the smirk in his eyes from the rearview mirror.
I barked out a laugh but, honestly, I appreciated him being straightforward with me. Most people close to me worked for me, and a lot of them pandered to what they thought I wanted. Except Eric. Although sometimes I wish he did. But while Gerald worked for me, he had also witnessed me growing up, in a way. He became something closer to a friend than an employee. Not in the way I had with Eric, who could be brutal at times. Gerald was always incredibly kind, but he had a way of saying exactly what he was thinking.
“You must be seeing things, Gerald. I’ll give you a referral to my ophthalmologist so you can get a new pair of glasses.”
Gerald chuckled, the sound low, and shook his head. He adjusted the wire frames that currently sat on the bridge of his nose.
“Sir, my eyesight might not be what it was when I was a younger man, but I know joy when I see it.” He caught my eye in the mirror. Something tightened in my gut at his words.
“Oh yeah? And just what does joy look like, Gerald? Humor me.”
“Joy is inexplicable, but also something you’ve known your entire life,” Gerald said, taking a right turn. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “It’s different for everyone. But I’ve known you since you were just starting out. Usually, you look determined, tired, maybe pissed-off sometimes. But this look," he paused, looked up at me from the rearview mirror, and shook his head as he turned his attention back to the road, "I rarely get to see it.”
“And that’s my joyful look, you mean?” I felt myself leaning forward in my chair, suddenly hopeful that the older man would know the solution my life needed.
“You are cunning sometimes, sir, so I really can’t say for sure,” Gerald said around a hearty laugh. “I’m just saying that you seem happier.”
I sat back in my seat and stared out the window, thinking about his words.
Happier, huh?
Chapter 4
Olivia
“Youwantmetoget on top of this… horse?” I asked, carefully eyeing the beast.
My first story for OVT, the fantastic piece about James Jensen’s restaurant, eventually went straight to social media, skipping the broadcast. That was just fine in my book, but I was kind of embarrassed that it had relatively low views on social.
Abysmal, really.
Especially since it had a movie star’s name attached to the headline. The icing on the failure cake was that it had no engagement, only a few comments about how hot James Jensen looked. Literally, no one cared about the story.
So I stayed at the bottom of the priority list when it came to assignments. Janet was sent to Idaho to cover a senate candidate. Lucy was given the biggest story: alleged tampering of the ballots for a local election in Ohio. What was new girl Oliva assigned? A dude ranch in suburban New York.
So here I was, staring down a horse that, on further inspection, looked a bit like a malnourished donkey.
“Are you sure this, uh, animal is okay to ride?” I was honestly scared of falling down and making a big fool out of myself. I was already the underperforming news reporter at OVT, and I didn’t plan on being sentbelow rock bottom.
“Are you kidding? Bessie here is the strongest of the bunch!” The dude ranch owner confidently patted the donkey. It was definitely a donkey. A weak-looking one for sure, but that was no horse. I might be a city girl, but I knew what a horse looked like.
Thankfully, I convinced the owner to just guide the poor little donkey while I did my report. I wasn’t going to have a recording of me exhausting the animal to death.
My next important, hard-hitting story was about this winery where they allowed guests to do grape stomping. Long story short, I don't know when my feet will be a normal color again.
