CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ashley’s fingers flew across her keyboard. She had a tight deadline and needed to finish her story.
“I just got a text from Harry.”
She peered around the edge of the partition separating her desk from Bonnie’s. “Are you talking to me?”
Bonnie rolled her office chair toward her. “There’s a rumor going around that The Reaching High Foundation is selling the building we visited two weeks ago.”
“What will happen to the youth center?”
“I don’t know, but Harry’s heading there now. Want to come?”
She looked at the mess on her desk and sighed. “I can’t. I need to finish this article by four o’clock.”
“You’ve still got three hours. It will do you good to get out of the office. You’ve practically lived here since Matthew left.”
Ashley would like to think Bonnie was exaggerating, but she wasn’t. Working had helped dull the ache of not having Matthew here. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. For three years, she’d been reasonably happy with her life. Missing Montana, her friends, and Matthew was the price she had to pay if she wanted to be a reporter.
When she felt really low, she slapped a smile on her face and kept going.This time, it wasn’t working. “Can I meet you at the youth center? If I can’t make it, I’ll call you.”
“Have you finished your first draft?”
“I should have it done in ten minutes.”
“Awesome. Harry will be here in fifteen minutes. That gives you enough time to finish the draft. You can edit it once we’re back.”
Ashley bit her bottom lip. “How long will we be at the center?”
“No more than half an hour. Anita, the youth center manager, is meeting us there.”
“Okay. I can do that, but I can’t stay any longer. Can I ask a favor?”
“Sure.”
“I haven’t had lunch. Could you get me a sandwich from the cafeteria?”
“Vegetarian, beef, or chicken?”
“Vegetarian.” She handed Bonnie some money. “If you want to buy something for you and Harry there should be more than enough money.”
“Thanks.” Bonnie reached for her bag. “Keep working. I’ll be back soon.”
Ashley frowned at her computer screen, then started typing. This story was about the latest exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It wasn’t as groundbreaking as her story about Congressman Welsh, but it was still important to write a good story.
Her phone rang and she picked up the receiver. “Ashley Fisher speaking.”
“Hello, Ms. Fisher. This is Des Malone, the investigations editor forTheWashington Post. Do you have a couple of minutes to speak to me?”
Ashley stopped typing. “I do. How can I help?” Since her first story about Congressman Welsh had been published, she’d had calls from a lot of reporters, but not their editors.
“I’ve read the series of articles you wrote about The Reaching High Foundation and Congressman Welsh. I was impressed with each of them. The reason I called is that we have a position vacant in our investigations team. If you’re interested, I could email you a copy of the job description and application forms.”
Ashley’s eyes widened.The Washington Post’sreadership was huge. “That would be great. Do you have my email address?”
“It was onThe Daily Times’website. I’ll send it through now. Applications close this Friday.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your call.”
