“Sorry, Wes. It’s not for us.” Rebecca held up a hand to halt his objection. “I have my marching orders,” she continued. “The vision for Lifestyle is to bring delight to a reader’s inbox. Our readers engage most with joyful content.”
“Cancer might not be delightful, but it’s important.”
Rebecca gave him a sympathetic look. She’d been a friend before she became his editor, and he didn’t know if he would have lasted so long at theSpearwithout her support. That, and Rebecca letting him ransack her emergency jelly bean stash on bad days. He reciprocated by leaving bags of shrimp chips on her desk.
Rebecca lowered her voice. “I know you want back on the I-team.”
“It’s not that I don’t like Lifestyle,” he said.
“It’s just not the kind of work you want to do,” she finished for him.
“I give you my best,” he protested.
“That’s why I want you on my team. Your Lifestyle stories have the highest engagement scores across the company, and you know why that’s important.”
Wes did know. “Money.”
“Muh-nee. Traffic for those sweet ad dollars that keep us employed.” She cocked an eyebrow at him as if to ask,Do you want to be employed?They’d heard the rumors around theSpear’s lack of profit, which neither of them had been able to confirm, so the question was relevant.
“I get it,” he said.
“You’re right though. It is important,” Rebecca said. “Let’s think about how we can sneak in that research without making it the whole story.”
Wes was ready. “How about a skin care myths and facts feature?”
“That works. I can always count on you.” Her phone rang. “Oh, give me a second. I was expecting this call.”
Rebecca left for the phone room, and Jason came up as Wes logged into his email. “Wes, buddy, do me a favor.”
“Yeah, of course.” Wes sat straighter. Helping Jason wouldn’t directly impact his chances to get back on the I-team, but it couldn’t hurt.
Jason sat on the desk and put his foot on his chair, scratching at his reddish beard. His boot pressed into Wes’s leg. “I need your perspective. What do the Chinese think about the International Monetary Fund?”
Wes had become used to these kinds of questions during his career and fell back on his usual line. “Why would I know?”
Jason gave him a come-on look. “You must have a sense.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Jason as the spokesperson for all Chinese people on earth the IMF sucked balls, but Wes restrained himself. “Sorry, man, couldn’t tell you.”
“Too bad.” Jason shifted as if to leave, and Wes panicked, wanting to redeem himself. There was that pitch he’d been thinking about…
“Hey, Jason, you know I’m very interested in rejoining the I-team.”
“I know that.” Jason looked around as if checking for eavesdroppers. “Look, I’ll be honest. You have solid ideas, but I barely heard you speak up in meetings. I need my team to be assertive, capable of fighting for a story.”
Since that was what Wes was doing at the moment, it was a win-win. “It’s connected to the lobbying piece I was working on,” he said.
“The one theHeraldran? What about it?”
“I heard several Chinese cultural centers had their funding cut after work by unregistered lobbyists,” he said. “A direct result of the changes.”
Jason looked intrigued. “Yeah, I like it. There might be something there if we can broaden it out to other organizations.”
“What do you think of me taking a look?” Wes tried to keep the golden hope from filling his every cell. “Rebecca would probably be open to me doing this on the side.” She knew it was important to him and that he wouldn’t let it interfere with his work for her.
Jason pressed his lips together. “No offense, Wes, but there might be concerns you’d be too close to the story.”
“Too close?” Wes echoed.
