Words Under Red

Maybe

Maybe...

Maybe, if she stared at the mirror long enough... through the tears and the redness... then backward behind her eyes, and into the shelter of a warm thought... she might just stop the endlessly repeating words, she'd read only an hour ago...

* * *

The newscast began as it did every night, but at this hour there were always more crew on the floor and more viewers watching their screens. Not because of any breaking story or new Hollywood scandal that might be reported. All eyes were fixed on Katie.

"Good evening, I'm Katie Johansen and this is News Night..."

With her arctic eyes and bound black hair, she was obviously gorgeous, but also more. Unlike most of the talking heads found in television news, Katie wrote and produced many of her segments, all of her interviews, and hosted a political roundtable on Sunday mornings.

"...But when asked, they repeated 'No comment'..."

Katie had come to the network three years earlier after a stint as a foreign correspondent for the "other network". She spoke four languages, liked the travel, the people, the assignments, but moved back to the States to settle down with her new husband, Joseph, an international banker with a thick Boston accent. She interviewed him one cold day in Zurich. They went for coffee, for dinner, and were engaged six months later.

"...She agreed with the President's proposal, but said that further negotiations..."

She loved working at the network and would usually arrive early, check the wires, meet with producers, talk to the writers; anything to guarantee a smooth show. She would walk from make-up to the desk at five minutes before Air, sit, check her screens, adjust her earpiece, memorize the first few lines on the prompter, and then she was on.

"...Two Navy fighter pilots were killed this morning when their F-15 fighter jets collided during a routine training maneuver in Northern California. It is unknown at this time what caused the accident. The names of the two pilots involved in the incident are Lieutenant Kenneth Jonas of Denver, Colorado and Lieutenant Chase..."

Katie stumbled.

"...and Lieutenant..."

The Control Room went silent. The crew snapped to the Director and then back at the wall of monitors.

"Katie, are you alright?" came a voice in her earpiece.

"Ah..."

She stared at the prompter, tears welling. The Director cut to a commercial.

Katie got up, freed herself from the monitor, and dashed toward her office. She was met halfway by the Director.

"Katie, what's the matter?"

She pushed past him, her voice and body trembling.

"I know one of the pilots. Please, Keith, have Peter finish for me. I'm sorry."

She moved through her door, swinging it closed behind her. Beyond the glass, he watched her grab the phone, and with a quick turn he darted back to the Control Room.