Ben
Passion was what got me to where I was today. I had learned a lot of lessons the hard way working up the ladder, and I tried to share these experiences with my employees. I valued good work above all, and I made sure to let the entire world know.
So, when someone had the audacity to yawn while I was trying my best to coach my reporters, there were going to be consequences.
Her eyes quickly filled with panic, the golden tones shining with moisture.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean any offense."
"So, explain to me what you just did." My voice had the same deadly tone. Was calling her out for a yawn excessive? Probably, but I wasn't letting any crap get through.
Olivia started picking at her bare thumbnail. She refused to look at me.
"I… I…" she stammered, much like she did the first time I met her in this very newsroom. I tapped my fingers against the meeting table impatiently, signaling to her once more that she was wasting my time. "I… yawned, Mr. Oviatt. I'm sorry," she admitted, stunning the room silent once more.
I sighed deeply, disappointed at the results of this meeting.
"Everyone can leave," I announced as I began to rub my temples. I could feel a headache coming on.
Eric merely looked at me with concern, but he knew he couldn't do much to mitigate this disaster.
"Alright, you heard the boss. Great job today, everyone," he said out loud, gesturing toward everyone to get out of the room as quickly as possible.
"Olivia. Stay."
The rest of the staff walked around her frozen frame before she got out of the way and walked back to her seat.
Olivia simply sat there, avoiding eye contact, as we waited for every single person to exit the room. I never let my eyes leave her. I never allowed her to get out of my sight after that brilliant performance of hers.
Eventually, we were both left alone in the meeting room. I stood up and walked toward the glass wall that separated us from the larger newsroom. Though the other staff members were trying their best to avert their eyes, I knew they were all still very much paying attention. They were journalists, after all. They were naturally curious. Eric shot me a look that kind of said that I should go easy on Olivia, but I simply responded with a blank look before pushing the button near the door. The blinds then slowly rolled down from the ceiling, eventually covering the entire glass wall. No one could see us now, but I knew that would do nothing to dispel any office rumors from this emergency one-on-one session I had with Olivia.
"Not getting enough sleep, are we?" I walked back to my chair. The air conditioning was running and without the extra bodies in the room, the cold was noticeable. Olivia grabbed her elbows like she was trying to warm up.
When she finally looked at me, her eyes were filled with worry. Something twisted in me at her expression, almost like I wanted to reach out and comfort her. Chase away the cloudiness in her usually sparkling eyes. My body yelled at me that those pink lips shouldn't be dipped in a frown. My thumb wanted to smooth the knot between her eyebrows.
What the fuck?
"Mr. Oviatt, I really am sorry and I—"
"Answer the question." I stuffed down my body's reaction. I'd deal with that later. For now, I interlaced my fingers in front of me on the table and waited.
"N-No… I've been having trouble with my sleep schedule, sir," she finally confessed. "I guess I'm still not used to traveling so much and the deadlines." I could see the hope in her hazel eyes, begging for me to understand.
I stayed silent for a beat, letting the uncomfortable moment stretch between us until Olivia shifted in her seat. I watched as her delicate hand moved first to her mouth, poised to bite on the nail before thinking better and moving to her hair. She ran her hand through the slight curl of her copper hair that shone brightly under the conference room lights.
I let out a heavy exhale as I sat back in my seat, trying to present a casualness that I didn't know if she was buying.
"You know, every single person in the world who works in some way, shape, or form faces the same adjustment period at the start of their job," I said, looking down at the table before moving back to her eyes. They moved anxiously around the room. "There will always be time mismanagement, quality issues, and misunderstood instructions, and here at OVT, we allow those things to happen." I stood, moving toward the exit, near to where she sat.
"I… I've been very grateful for your patience with me so far, Mr. Oviatt." I could see her lips quiver slightly.
Without thinking, I leaned forward on the table from just behind her chair, bracketing her with my strong arms. She looked so small like this. My lips were mere inches from her ear and I couldn't escape the floral smell of her shampoo. I saw the light trail of freckles across the bridge of her nose and suddenly wanted to lean closer.
"But you have exhausted my patience, Olivia," I said slowly, venomously in her ear. I saw the corner of her hazel eyes as they widened in horror. She caught her lower lip in her teeth, and from this close, I could see how it was slightly fuller than her top lip.
"S-Sir?" Olivia squeaked for clarification. Her shoulders were completely still. She wasn't allowing herself a breath.
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."
Olivia
What the fuck was that?
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 absolutely hated it, 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.
"Nothing at all, boss." He put his hands up in defense.
I looked at him deadpan, not impressed by his terrible lying.
"What is it?" I asked once more, not letting him sneak away with this one when his general attitude had been bothering me for the past thirty minutes.
"Fine," he said, finally sitting down on the sofa. "So, what exactly did you say to Olivia?"
He finally asked. I knew that was what he was going to ask, but I was kind of hoping that it was going to be something else.
"Why does it matter?" I turned my attention back to the document I was trying to read.
"Did you fire her?" Eric's tone was more serious now. He wasn't just interested in office gossip.
"If I did, you would be the first to know."
"Then what did you say to her? Come on, man."
After signing the last of the papers, I capped my pen and put it aside, still ignoring Eric's questions.
"Again, why does it matter?"
"Oh, don't act all coy,Mr. President," Eric responded. He only brought in the formality when he was annoyed with me. "You never ask anyone to stay behind. Olivia just yawned, for fuck's sake."
"Yes, while I was doing my duty, trying to help everyone step up their game. We're on a tightrope every single election season," I said, defending my actions. "You know as much as I do that this time is crucial for us. One wrong move, and our credibility will go down the drain. Her yawning is a sign of disinterest in what we're doing."
Eric's lips pressed tightly together. After a few seconds, he let out a breath.
"Okay, but still, this was entirely out of character, even for you. I never thought you'd change your methods so much for the new girl."
I froze, thinking about how Eric worded his sentence. There was something there that I wasn't quite certain of, but I was pretty sure he was hinting at something.
"I gave no thought to how long she'd been working for us. If Lucy had yawned, I would have treated her the same way. Even if you had yawned, I would have done the same thing."
I really wanted to be done talking about this. Eric was circling something, and I didn't know how I felt about it.
"If you say so, boss," Eric said, standing up and leaving me alone in my office.
Deep tension was knotting the muscles of my shoulders. Maybe Eric's pacing hadn't been the elephant in the room after all. Maybe it was Olivia.