Chapter Four
Ben wasn’t accustomed to being nervous about meetings with management—he wasn’t afraid of them, and he was confident enough in his skills not to fear for his job—but this was a special case.
Ballsy was on an eight-day time limit to prove itself, so every time he was called in for a one-on-one meeting, Ben worried that this was the one where they pulled the plug. He’d been promised a full quarter to get the project on its feet, but he knew it wasn’t going well.
He wouldn’t have beenhappyif management decided to scrap it early, but he wouldn’t have been all that surprised. Times were tough in the world of investigative journalism.
“Ben!” Claire enthused as he walked in. That wasn’t a good sign. “Take a seat.”
Ben liked Claire. She was smart, and shrewd, and she’d never had any trouble standing up to anyone at a magazine that had a ninety-percent male staff.
That didn’t mean he thought for a second that she was on his side. Only that she’d do what was best for the magazine.
The mood boost he’d gotten from seeing Sam earlier all but evaporated.
Ben sat cautiously, on the edge of his chair, as though he might have to run away at any moment.
“Don’t look so worried. We just need to borrow Eliot back over the weekend for something important,” she said, smiling a smile that didn’t encourage Ben not to worry.
It was the smile of realtors and used car salesmen. The one that screamedtrust meso loudly you couldn’t see what they were hiding behind it.
“Eliot’s just started working on what I think will be a very important piece,” Ben said, as diplomatically as he could. “I’d hate to drag him off it. It’s time sensitive. If you need a good reporter, I can recommend—”
“We need a married reporter,” Claire said. “There aren’t many of those around here. This place attracts bachelors.”
Ben couldn’t help but feel personally attacked by that statement, though he knew it probably wasn’t intended that way. A little pointed, maybe, meant to push his buttons so he’d do what he was told, but not maliciously.
“What the hell for?” Ben asked. Why would it matter if they were married?
Claire raised an eyebrow that said it was none of Ben’s business. That was too bad.
“You’re asking me to tell Eliot because you know he’ll take the assignment coming from me, but he might not from you,” Ben said. It was common knowledge that Eliot could walk away anytime—it was also common knowledge that he was one of their brightest sparks, so management had been working on a balancing act between getting him to work on things they needed someone on, and keeping him happy enough to stop him from quitting.
Once upon a time, they’d done the same thing with Ben. Now that Ben was older, and had been hidden away in an office for years, he had less prospects banging down his door.
Eliot, on the other hand, was constantly being courted by other publications.
Secretly, Ben was pretty sure he stayed for him.
Claire pursed her lips. “Fine. We want to send him to a couples’ retreat, so we need someone who has a partner to take. Our sponsor—”
“Sponsor?” Ben asked, disgusted. “You’re gonna drag Eliot off something important to send him out to do an advertorial?”
“Yes,” Claire said. “Because something important isn’t keeping the lights on or paying your salary. Advertorials are. That’s how this works. And we can’t keep giving those to unknowns. It doesn’t carry any weight if it’s not coming from a recognizable name. It’s only for the weekend. And it’s not the retreat itself. It’s for a marriage guidance service. Our readers can’t afford this place.”
Offended didn’t even begin to cover how Ben felt. Management’s big idea was to squander the talents of probably the best reporter they’d ever have on a fluff piece for acouples’ retreat.
It wasn’t even the piece itself that was the problem. Once you sold out your reputation once, there was no going back. Eliot deserved better than getting himself trapped here because his integrity was in question.
The fact that it wasn’t a straight-up paid review didn’t make it better, no matter how Claire wanted to frame it.
“This will pay for itself, and right now, Ballsy won’t. We could give you a little leeway if you give us this.”
Ben couldn’t help but feel as though he was being blackmailed.
“Eliot or the whole project,” Claire said. “It’s up to you.”
Ballsy or Eliot.
