"Rolling in 3… 2…"
I took one more deep breath before the light went red.
"We're here at the newest hotspot in town: Blaze Pub and Grill. It's owned by actor James Jensen and…" I honestly felt sparkles and unicorns coming out of my mouth with how bubbly I was forcing my voice. But I knew this was the type of piece where I needed to be perceived as approachable. I barely heard the words I was reading, but Mark seemed satisfied with the result.
"So make sure to come by for the most extensive draft beer list and their own special-style wings!"
I smiled at the camera until…
"And…cut," Mark yelled and my face immediately fell. He gave me a thumbs up. "That was great for your first story, Olivia. Pretty soon, you'll be the one taking the lead."
I shot him a small smile as I put my microphone down.
"Yeah, well, thanks Mark. I just wish we could be covering something that matters."
Mark's face contorted into something sour.
"You're lucky James Jensen didn't hear you say that."
I slapped my hand against my mouth, feeling like an idiot. I knew better than that. I knew I couldn't trash the people we were doing a story about. I was a Serious Reporter, after all.
"You're right. Thanks for the catch. By the way, where's James? Didn't he agree to be featured?"
Mark shrugged.
"You're not new in this industry. You should know that most celebrities don't show up on time."
He made himself comfortable at one of the tables.
"Might as well sit down and relax for a minute." He gestured to the other chair.
"I know I have to earn the bigger stories," I said as I dropped into the chair. "I just wish—"
"You just wish you were covering the election," Mark said nonchalantly. He pulled his phone out and started scrolling. "That's what all the reporters say. Until they're actually out there covering the serious stuff."
"I'm not in this for the screen time. I'm in this to make a difference."
Mark chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you all? In the meantime," he shifted his eyes up to mine, "you're just gonna have to wait for celebrities who are always late and do the best with the story that you're doing."
I sighed. But unfortunately, whether I liked it or not, Mark was right. Waiting was the name of the game. And, boy, did I wait. For three fucking hours. But I had to suck it up and do my job if I wanted to get anywhere in this industry. So when he waltzed in with no apology, I just had to smile and let the camera roll.
"And what would you say is the actual star of Blaze Bar? Why would people want to become a regular here?" I flashed the most saccharine smile I could muster.
James Jensen, wearing thick sunglasses and some casual, cool-guy, button-up shirt that likely cost a fortune but looked like he couldn't have been bothered to make any effort, ran his hands through his long, thick hair that was likely full of extensions.
"The real star of this place is me." Ugh. Gag. "I'll be here a lot, so come on by if you want to join in on the action."
These were things he actually said out loud. In front of a television camera. That was how highly he thought of himself.
I smiled through the nausea and forced out a laugh, trying my best to match the energy of this asshole. From the corner of my eye, I caught Mark as he visibly cringed. Even the actor's entourage looked like they wished he had said anything else but that. But, at the end of the day, he was the reason we were all being paid for today's work.
"Well, folks, there you have it. Come over to Blaze Bar so you can hang out with James Jensen." James was clearly feeling the camera, flashing a brilliantly white smile and cracking up laughing like he thought he was the funniest person on earth.
I fought hard not to roll my eyes, so I rolled my shoulders instead after Mark said we were clear.
"Thanks so much for your time, Mr. Jensen." I put on my saccharin smile again. Mark was quickly putting his camera away, clearly as anxious as I was to get the hell out of here.
Unfortunately, James took that moment to give me all of his attention. He lowered his sunglasses and winked at me. I wanted to hightail it out of there immediately, so I went to help Mark pack up. But James put his hand on my arm.
"No problem,baby girl." Barf, again. His hand felt slimy. I squirmed under his gaze. I really, really didn't want his attention. "Come back any time." He winked again, and I did my best to fight the full body shudder as I just nodded dumbly.
"Well, this superstar's gotta bounce. Smell ya later, losers!" God, this man was like a parody of a Y2K heartthrob. Even though he was decades too old for that kind of title.
I practically sprinted to Mark when James left.
"Let's get the hell out of here," I whispered, as I grabbed the few things I had brought. Mark gave me a thumbs up and he zipped up his bag.
"Let's go hide in the van and then I'll send the footage to HQ."
"You can do that from here?" I asked, hiking my very sensible tote bag on my shoulder. I wanted to get out of here. My skin was feeling tight and itchy. I knew I would never be coming here again.
Mark flattened me with a look like he was seriously concerned about my well-being. Which was fair. I knew my question was stupid. I was just flustered from this whole experience. We turned to walk out the door toward the truck.
"This isn't the stone age, Olivia," he said flatly.
"Of course. The internet, cloud, etcetera, etcetera," I said, waving my hand around like that added anything to the conversation.
Mark laughed and opened the van door. I climbed inside and sat on my hands to keep from anxiously picking at my nails while I waited for Mark to finish sending what we'd just recorded.
I blew out a heavy breath and tried to remind myself what I was even doing here in the first place.
Ben
Campaign season was always the most important time for any news outlet. There were a lot of people out there who relied on us to give them the lowdown on the candidates and their platforms. At least that's what I would say people cared about. But truthfully, people only cared about and worse, remembered the scandals. For the most part, they knew who they supported, and they only cared about the bad press on the other side. They wanted to rub salt into the wound.
It was a season of tarnished reputations, but I always tried to keep OVT away from all that mess. Admittedly, that seemed an impossible goal at times. Sometimes, people really were just messy and it was still our duty to report that information.
"We got another invitation to a photo op with our favorite congressional candidate at the community center across town," Eric said, barging into my office. "I'm sure that'll make everyone forget all about that, ahem, footage with his mistress."
I rolled my eyes as Eric passed me his tablet.
"It certainly does smell like desperation," I said as I glanced through the press release. "Is someone going?"
"Of course," he said, shrugging. "We can't be the only ones not there. It'll be quick. Probably just a voice over, maybe with a sound clip if he says anything useful."
I nodded and handed back the tablet to Eric. Among many other things, he was my news director. I trusted him to keep me filled in with what was getting coverage. We had a standing meeting each morning after stories were assigned and he'd give me a high-level run down. I never wanted to be caught by surprise about what was happening on my own network.
He walked me through the stories on deck for the day and sent me the schedule.
"Do you want to head down for the newsroom leadership meeting?" Eric asked, checking the time on his phone. "We have about fifteen minutes."
A non-committal hum slipped from my throat as I scanned the schedule. One story in particular caught my attention: Olivia's first feature story about Blaze Bar?
"I see the new girl has her first story." I hadn't even meant to say it out loud. I'd probably already given her a little too much attention.
"Olivia?" Eric looked up from his phone. "Yeah, James Jensen's PR folks were really adamant about getting a story on his new bar or whatever. It seemed like a good way to get her feet wet with OVT."
I shot him a questioning look. At the same time, I wondered why this was all bothering me so much.
"You really thought she was ready?"
Eric shrugged. "She's not brand new, Ben. She has six years of experience before joining us. Granted, she was doing press releases and we haven't really tested her in front of the camera, but there really wasn't anyone else to send. Everyone with any experience was already off knocking out the heavier political stuff."
"Well, I can't wait to watch it and pass along some notes."
"Uh-huh," Eric said, leveling me with a look. "I know that look, Benjamin. How much shit is Olivia in now?"
I clenched my jaw and pinched my brows together.
"I know you think I have it out for her. But I don't. I just expect the best here and she hasn't proven herself yet."
Eric exhaled a heavy sigh and we both stood up and left the office silently.
Truthfully, Olivia had no idea what she was in for. I preferred a world where those who were talented and hardworking got all the good things in life, and all those who rode on other people's backs got nothing.