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I forced myself away from her, standing and taking a step back.
“If you fail to impress me with your next assignment…” I started as I put my hand on the door handle. “Don’t bother coming back.”
Chapter 5
Olivia
Whatthefuckwasthat?
Walking out of that meeting room after getting a lecture from my boss was a nightmare to me. I had stated before that I hated being the new girl. I absolutelyhatedit, though I accepted that it was a part of any new job. But this was the one part I hated the most. Every single step I took from the meeting room going back to my office, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I mean, they had done this a lot of times before, but this was the first time when I could actually confirm that they were, in fact, being judgmental. I knew for sure that they were taking out their frustration on me—the person who messed up the most today. They were criticized for their stories, but I knew in their heads, they were probably thinking they could never be as stupid as me.
They never had to say anything out loud. The silence spoke for itself. And it was exactly why I hated being the new girl. I appreciated the straightforwardness. I appreciated that Ben Oviatt did that for me, but I didn’t appreciate how it instigated all of this to happen to me.
The other reporters didn’t even bother looking at me. I literally did not exist to them, except for Lucy.
“Rough day?” she asked while she was finishing up the last of her story. “Don’t worry, at least he didn’t fire you yet.” Her reassurance was somewhat appreciated as she closed the file on her desk and directed all of her attention to me. Her comment earned some snickers from the other reporters who were willfully ignoring me, but I knew there were better things to put my energy in.
“I might as well be,” I said, plopping down in my chair in disdain. I ran my hands across the desk, thinking about how much I was going to miss this place. I quickly shook my head. I couldn’t afford to think like that—not right now.
“But how am I going to impress him if I keep getting all these stupid and inconsequential stories?” I asked Lucy, desperate for any guidance to please Ben Oviatt’s near-impossible standards.
Lucy simply chuckled, probably thinking that I was just being dramatic. I couldn’t help it. I just didn’t have her experience to navigate my way out of this mess.
“I actually thought your piece on the dude ranch was very entertaining and informative,” she commented. I couldn’t tell if she was being truthful or trying to make me feel better or both, but I still appreciated the sentiment.
“And I think that’s actually your problem, Olivia,” she turned toward me, seemingly inspired. She genuinely wanted to help me. If I was being honest, though, I had no idea what she was talking about.
“What’s my problem? That… I’m being assigned bad stories?” I barked a humorless laugh and spun around in my chair.
“Not exactly. It’s that youthinkthey’re bad stories. So you don’t put all of your effort in.”
I stopped spinning and saw that Lucy was looking at me seriously. But I just shrugged, confused.
“If you think it’s already bad before you even do the story,” she continued. “Then it will turn out badly. You have to understand that you won’t always get the story you want to cover, but you have to cover them with the mindset that they’re stories worth being told. We’re covering them for a reason”
Suddenly, all the pieces started to fall together.
“So… it’s my attitude towards them that’s ruining it?” I inexplicably felt a surge of confidence rushing throughout my entire body.
“Bingo,” said Lucy, tapping her finger to her nose. “Remember, the camera doesn’t lie. Everyone can see right through to your true sentiments.”
Before I could really think more about this revelation, Mark strode up to my desk.
“Yo, Olivia. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” He was so nonchalant, like I wasn’t the office kryptonite right now. “I’ve got the details in place for our story tomorrow. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I’ll email this to you, too.”
He handed me a piece of paper, the scribbles that could very much define my destiny here at OVT Broadcasting Network.
I nodded at Mark and told him I’d be ready. Lucy smiled at me as she returned to her own desk and I spun toward my laptop. With newfound confidence, it was time to get back to work.
I was going to knock this story out of the park.
Ben
There was an elephant in the room, and it was in the form of Eric’s unabashedly silently loud curiosity. I was doing my best to focus on the pile of papers that required my signature. The life of a president meant a lot of signatures, among other things. But the way Eric was fidgeting and pacing in my office was getting annoying.
“What is it, Eric?” I asked with a sigh. I usually wasn’t one to ask something of my employees because they usually just told me what I wanted to hear right away. Eric was a special case, though, since we were actually friends before he became my right-hand man.
Eric scratched his head, all false nonchalance. It was exhausting.
