Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke #1)

[ 8 ]

I held the silver pole tightly with my hand as I stood patiently wearing earbuds in my ears. With the sultry voice of The Weeknd blessing my ears, I nervously looked out the window awaiting to arrive at my destination already. Today was the first day I began my duties as a junior sports reporter and as much as I was excited to go reporting out on the field, I was also feeling petrified to find out who my interview subject was. Since I wasn't the one who organised the interview, Derrick suggested for me to meet up with whoever it was that I was interviewing to get the basic questions down before we got into any of the more deeper questions, which would obviously involve a trip down to the football ground and interviews with other teammates I could only presume.

Looking out the window of the bus, it was already clear to me that I had no clue where the set destination for the interview was. However, I do my best to follow the directions I was sent ealier. I still remember when he was going through the basic procedures and guidelines for me to follow; which did also include tedious rules.

1. Always remain professional during all interviews conducted, regardless of the situation.
2. Be prepared to dig deeper if required and only if you see it adding to the news piece being covered.
3a. Don't put pressure on the person being interviewed if they find flaws with the questions (ie; too personal, inappropriate for time being etc)
3b. Under no circumstance, should you attempt to manipulate the interview subject to be forced to take the interview if they're aren't happy to comply.

With the build up and expression Derrick used when talking about the blind interview, it seemed to appear that the professional athlete he was talking about had either been involved in a sort of scandalous matter or has built up over the years a rather disgraceful reputation - knowing my luck, it was bound to be a person that applies to both options. I had enough with Kyle Wood, I didn't need to add extra problems to my plate.

The signal sounded as I slipped off an earbud and looked at the front of the bus realising that I was most definitely far from the city right now. Looking at the time, it was already 2:30pm in which the bus had stopped at the bus port at Williamstown. What exactly was Derrick planning sending me here for the interview? Don't get me wrong, as much as it was beautiful place with just as beautiful weather, it sure as hell confused me even more to who I was interviewing.

My mind rushed with who the mysterious man I was interviewing. Could they have played for the major league or prehaps was drafted earlier this for the minor league? Looking at the rate of how interviews looked in general for the newspaper, it could be anybody really. It could even be a retired player that's still popular as a result for jobs outside the sport.

As I hopped off the bus and landed my heels amongst the vibrant green strands of grass, my phone rang suddenly. I looked at the caller ID and trailed my upon the image of the blonde haired nurse wearing a monkey mask. That girl would probably kill me if she knew I still had this photo of her from when she was 18. Answering the phonecall, I could feel a smile forming upon my face.

"Hey girl, how's my favourite junior sports reporter doing?" Gemma asked as I heard crunching in the background. I felt like was asking her about it but then left it since she was probably on a lunch break or something.

"Great. I'm actually just on my way now to do an interview coincidentally." I chuckled, making my way down the street and past a large group of buisness people going on about their daily lives. Looking around, I was quite amazed of all the shops and the actual area since I haven't been around here since I finished high school a few years back.

"Oh my gosh, that's today? Where's you're interview at and also, do you know who you're interviewing yet?"

"Yes, of course it's today Gemma. I've been going on about it for weeks. Well, you'll never believe that I'm in Williamstown right now and unfortunately no, I have no actual clue on who I'm meant to be interviewing."