Chapter 82
Nora's POV
The conference room was already packed when I pushed through the door. Vincent sat hunched over his laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard. Ruby stood with her arms crossed, her expression thunderous. A few other colleagues I recognized filled the remaining seats, all of them looking varying degrees of stressed.
My supervisor sat at the head of the table, his brow furrowed deeply. He glanced up when I entered, giving me a brief nod of acknowledgment before returning his attention to the papers spread in front of him.
"—two hours!" Ruby was recounting what had happened with the interview, her voice sharp enough to cut. "Two goddamn hours I sat in that lobby, and he couldn't even be bothered to show up himself. He just sent his secretary to tell me he had 'other arrangements.' Like we're supposed to drop everything for him and then he can just blow us off whenever he feels like it!"
Vincent leaned toward me as I slid into the empty seat beside him, his voice low. "The guy's some big-shot entrepreneur. Left town years ago to make it on the East Coast, and now he's coming back with a pile of money, talking about investing in renewable energy. Local media's been calling it a 'triumphant return.'"
I nodded, pulling out my notepad. "And we were supposed to do a feature on him?"
"Not just a feature. A major profile piece. We've been promoting it for a week, and it's already slotted into next week's lineup." He grimaced. "Now we've got a giant hole in the schedule, and our backup material is either too old or too lightweight to fill it."
My supervisor cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "All right, let's focus. Does anyone have ideas for how we can fill this gap? We need something substantial, something that can carry the same weight as the entrepreneur profile."
Silence settled over the room. People exchanged glances, but no one spoke up. I could feel the tension building, thick and suffocating.
Then Ruby's gaze slid to me, and I felt my stomach tighten with instinctive wariness.
"Nora," she said, her tone deceptively casual, "you've been working pretty closely with the Federal Inspector General before, haven't you? I heard you even went to Cold Creek with him for that investigation."
The room went quiet. Every eye turned toward me.
I kept my voice steady. "I was assigned to accompany the audit team as a field consultant. It was a professional arrangement."
Ruby's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Right. Professional. But you two seem to have a pretty good rapport, don't you? So why not ask him to sit down for an interview? He's a Federal Inspector General and an Alpha elite. A profile like that would be huge for our ratings."
Vincent shifted uncomfortably beside me, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, but Ruby steamrolled right over him.
"I mean, if you've already built that relationship, it shouldn't be hard to just ask, right? It would solve our scheduling problem and give us an even better story than the entrepreneur piece."
I set down my pen carefully, meeting her gaze head-on. "First of all, I'm not close enough to Mr. Sterling to casually ask him to bail us out of a scheduling crisis. The Cold Creek assignment was exactly what I said—a professional arrangement made by DSW, not a personal favor."
Ruby's eyebrows rose, but I kept going before she could interrupt.
"Second, he's a Federal Inspector General. He went to Cold Creek to investigate cases and environmental violations, not to provide content for NPR's programming. I don't have the authority to make that kind of request."
The silence that followed felt like a held breath. Ruby's expression hardened, her mouth twisting into something ugly.
"That's a nice speech," she said coldly. "But I've heard he's been pretty... attentive to you. If there's no personal connection, why would he go out of his way like that?"
The anger that flared in my chest was hot and immediate, but before I could respond, my supervisor raised his hand.
"All right, that's enough." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried weight. "Ruby, you're out of line. This is about finding solutions, not attacking colleagues."
Ruby's mouth snapped shut, but the mockery in her eyes didn't dim. She crossed her arms tighter, her gaze boring into me like she could set me on fire through sheer force of will.
My supervisor sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look, let's take a step back. We'll reach out to them again, see if we can reschedule or negotiate a different approach. If that doesn't work, we'll figure out an alternative. Meeting adjourned."
Chairs scraped against the floor as people started gathering their things. Ruby shot me one last venomous look before stalking out, her heels clicking sharply against the tile.
I stood up, preparing to leave.
"Nora."
My supervisor stood by the door, gesturing for me to follow him. My stomach sank, but I grabbed my bag and trailed after him into the hallway.
He led me to the far end, away from the conference room. When he turned to face me, his expression was softer than it had been during the meeting.
"Don't take Ruby's comments personally," he said. "She's stressed about the schedule, and she takes things out on people when she's frustrated. It's not about you."
He didn't know that the antagonism between Ruby and me had its reasons.
"I'm used to handling these situations," I maintained a polite smile.
He hesitated, then continued. "Ruby's words were harsh... but connections matter in this industry, Nora. You know that. And if you do have a line to someone like Mr. Sterling, even just a professional one, it could be valuable. Not just for this situation, but for your career."
I felt my shoulders tense. "I'm not going to use him like that."
"I'm not asking you to 'use' anyone." His tone was careful, measured. "I'm just saying... if you could mention what we're working on, let him know we're open to collaboration, it might open doors. And if you could fill this scheduling gap, the byline would be yours. That kind of visibility would be huge for your position here."
He clapped me lightly on the shoulder, then turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway.
I stared after him, my mind churning. I knew he was right about the byline. In a place like NPR, visibility meant everything. It meant credibility, influence, the chance to be heard instead of ignored.
But I also knew what it would cost.
I pulled out my phone, opening Signal. Julian's name sat at the top of my chat list.
My thumb hovered over the keyboard. It would be so easy. One message. One question. And maybe he'd say yes. Maybe he'd agree to the interview, and I'd get the byline, and Ruby would have nothing left to throw at me.
But then what?
Then Julian would know I'd come to him because I needed something. Because it was convenient. Because I was willing to trade on whatever this thing was between us for professional gain.
And I couldn't do that.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket and headed for my desk, ignoring the curious glances from my coworkers. Whatever happened next, I'd figure it out on my own.