I looked at her, my lips slightly parted, skin flushed, because I didn’t know what to do.
What did I do?I hadn’t done anything wrong. Oftentimes when Todd’s name was mentioned, people would elaborate on how shocked they’d been to find out he’d done so much wrong. They’d never behaved the way Sally was now. Was I seriously in the wrong here?
It wouldn’t matter, not one damn bit, because Sally Weinstein wasSally Weinstein, and I was just Brooke.
I was Brooke Pierce, another journalist climbing up the career ladder, and she was one of my stepping stones.
“I’m terribly sorry if I offended you in any way.” That was truly toned down for me. I knew when I was right, and this woman was being completely unreasonable.
“If?” She raised her brows. “This is what I mean—even the words you’re using are all wrong. If you had more than a mere five years of experience atPeopleyou’d know how to speak properly. Clearly I’m mortified that you would mention Todd’s name, particularly since he embezzled huge amounts from Cancer Research, the charity I helped so much.”
Okay…
I would try to see her point.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Weinstein. You’re right, I shouldn’t have mentioned him.” It killed me to say that, but if she was offended, she was offended. “Perhaps we can move on to setting up a schedule for when I can come by and meet with you.”
“Are you serious? That’s the way you choose to change the subject? By brushing your errors under the carpet?” Her nostrils flared.
All I could do was stare. “No, I wasn’t brushing anything aside. I apologized and wanted us to move on to the topic at hand. I didn’t mean to upset you further.”
To my surprise, she stood up and announced, “This meeting is over. You can come back tomorrow and try again. Perhaps my opinion of you may change overnight, though I doubt it. Get here at nine, no later.”
She walked away from me.
I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in.
Meeting her was supposed to be the highlight of my life, but what had just happened was a disaster, an absolute disaster—kind of like everything that had happened to me since arriving in this town.
