The usual way, I wanted to say, but I thought better of it. “I got the highest score on my SATs. Yale was one of the colleges that offered me a spot. I was also offered scholarships from Harvard and UCLA if that helps.”
I had worked hard—damn hard. When I’d known I wanted to write and go down the journalism path, I had seized the bull by the horns and gone in guns blazing. In high school, come any weekend I’d shop till I dropped, but that was a treat for the way I worked during the week.
The weekdays saw me in the library studying. I started studying the first week of each semester. I knew that way I’d grasp all I needed to and add to my knowledge.
“Impressive, but why the minor in English? Does that mean you don’t have a full journalism degree?”
What I was about to say next was sure to impress her. “No. I have a full bachelor’s degree in journalism, and the minor was additional courses that amounted to a diploma. I loved English.” I adored it. The only other thing I would have become if I couldn’t write was an English literature teacher. I would have loved to teach others and watch them fall in love with the subject the way I had. Put simply, I loved, loved books. All the classics, anything by Shakesphere, any poem by Tennyson, anything of the romantic and post romantic era. Anything I could read. That was me.
Sally at least looked impressed.
“AndPeople? How long have you worked there?”
“Five years.”
“Is that all? How old are you? You don’t look old enough to have much experience in dealing with public figures like myself.”
Now she was getting personal.
“I’m thirty, and I have plenty of experience. Prior toPeopleI worked atThe Timesin New York. I did my internship there and they kept me until I left. The position opened up atPeopleand I went for it.”
“Why? Did someone make it easier for you to get that position?”
How rude to assume that, and why would she think it? Considering she wasn’t trying to be rude, I felt that was rude. I released a slow, shallow breath.
“No one made it easier for me to get my position. I worked for it and got it all by myself.”
“Okay. Great.” She actually sounded like she didn’t believe me. Then she gave me that weird assessing look again. “And five years? Can you tell me how many interviews of this nature you’ve done?”
“You’re the first notable public figure I’ve been selected to work with. The closest thing would be Todd Willman, before he went bad.”
Todd Willman gave the appearance of being a kindhearted soul who was always doing charity work, even working for the United Nations. However, two years earlier he’d been taken down for securities fraud and embezzlement. He’d stolen millions of dollars from all those charities he worked with and siphoned the money to offshore accounts. To say he’d disgraced himself wasn’t a strong enough word. He was also the reason for all the more stringent methods now used to screen people before they got accepted to work with charities.
Sally frowned—actually, she scowled.
“You interviewed that imbecile?” She straightened up and glowered at me.
“Yes, I did a piece on him when he did a fundraiser for the homeless.”
“Fundraising money hestole? From kindhearted people like me? I’m not sure how I feel about having you interview me. Your name would be linked to his.”
God in heaven.
I didn’t know why, but now I was starting to get the feeling she wastryingto find something wrong with me, something she could pick at, and I’d just handed it to her.
“Sally—”
“Ms. Weinstein to you,” she corrected.
Fuck. What the hell?
“Ms. Weinstein. I can assure you I do not support any of Todd’s activities. I also did my interview years before the world knew how bad he was. I was like every other journalist who interviewed him.”
“Miss Pierce—I’m assuming it’s Miss and not Mrs.” She glanced down at my hand and the absence of a wedding band on my ring finger confirmed her assumption.
“It’s Miss.”
“I figured—you look like the party girl type.” She shook her head at me with disgust. “You have no tact, and I find you completely unprofessional. You don’t know me, and yet you have mentioned a man who wasn’t just a criminal but a villain in my eyes. How dare you think you’re suitable to write an exclusive on someone like me?”
