"Yeah, sure. He is big. But he was a big nothing. He is slow and most of all he sm---"
"Yeah, yeah... I know. He smells bad."
"Yes, he does."
Abby agreed right away and Joe could not help but chuckle seeing how straight forward the other party was.
"The ends justify its means. Gaston may have shortcomings, but he is a good man. You should try working with him more often."
"No thanks. I can manage on my own just fine."
Abby replied while she began to gather the stuff that she almost forgot to bring with her.
"You are such a spoiled brat. Have anyone told you that?"
Joe said but Abby's eyes only raised heavenward.
"Like duh???"
She said simply, while still chewing the gum in her mouth that had long lost its flavor. Joe said nothing afterward but clipped Abby across the top of her head as a response.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
The other party protested while touching the spot where Joe hit her.
Just when she was about to take her leave, Abby's attention was once again caught by the TV screen.
On-screen, a petite blonde lady could be seen covering a field interview. But judging from how awkward the other party carried herself in front of the camera as she was forced to get herself in the dirty setting, it was obvious that she was a newbie who had no idea of what exactly was she doing.
Seeing this, Abby could not help but snort.
"Who was this noob, Joe?"
"It's Alyssa Puentabello, niece of Director Espinoza. She is pretty, isn't she?"
Joe replied as he also took a proper look at the lady reporting in the late evening news. However, Abby only rolled her eyes upon hearing his comment.
Tsking in annoyance, she prepared to leave but not before making her scorn obvious for Joe's ears to here as there was no one other than him at the room anyway.
"What was with these kids nowadays?! They don't even know how to do their job right."
Then a pink bubble started to grow from between her lips. It ballooned to a noteworthy proportion before bursting and flattening over her lips and chin.
Absent-mindedly, Abby lifted the gum off with her tongue while at the same time scribbling something on a tiny piece of paper. After she was done, she walked towards the door, and on her way out, Abby pressed the palm of her hand against the man's forehead. She did it ever so lightly as though she was afraid that Joe would get hurt. Then she removed her hand and scurried away as fast as her feet could take her.
Joe, on the other hand, put a hand in his forehead and peeled the sticky note pasted on it. He looked down at the words written on the bit of paper and smiled afterward.
It was a short, sweet message.
'Don't forget to eat your lunch', the letter said.
"I wonder when this little girl grew up?"
He thought and chuckled at the same time as he watched the departing figure of the other party.
He was happy seeing how passionate Abby was in pursuing her beliefs and having her voice heard, but conversely, Joe also could not help but feel conflicted regarding the other party's well being.
She was good at her job, there was no doubt about that. But at the same time, her fearless personality and her persistence in pointing out the errors in the system was what troubling Joe the most.
He hoped that it would not put her into a disadvantageous situation in the future.
Even up to that point, Joe could still clearly remember when the other party once raised a petition on the network before. It was way back when the director officials of the TV network that they were currently working at suddenly announced a mass dismissal of employees.
Even Joe found it absurd that time when the network chose to retain those newbies who were better looking but often less talented individuals over those who were actually capable but less telegenic.
Supposedly, the dismissal issue should not be a problem for Abby as she would not be affected by this sudden change in the first place. Her excellent credentials were a given and at the same time, she also owned a face that could topple nations. In fact, Abby was already close to the idea of perfection.
However, Abby's sense of justice kicked in at the right moment and she made an uproar.
As a veteran in many newsrooms, Joe fully understood the young blood's sentiment. It was indeed unfair, let alone say disheartening to see juicy scoops and assignments going to the better-looking, or better connected or more self-promoting upstarts.
But sometimes, he also wished that Abby could be less passionate when it came down to throwing herself headlong into trouble all just because of the sake of equality and fairness that she was fighting for.
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