It's a Cinch

Chapter 1: Accustomed to Rejection

"You can't just lay it on his desk?" I say pleading with the lady at the reception desk. She doesn't get how much this means to me, my family.

"I'm sorry Ms.?" She asks me for my name. She didn't even have the idea to look down at the draft of my story that I handed her not too long ago. Not to mention I told her my name when I got here. I roll my eyes and scoff out. "Tulsa. Rebecca Tulsa."

"Oh yes." She said recalling the information that she already knew. "Well as I told you before Mr. Hearst has writers working for him. He will be fine without your ideas."

This fires me up. I slam down my hands in the top of her desk. Her face is very shocked and scared at the same time. "These are not ideas, these are cold hard facts meshed together to create something called a story. Which Hearst's writers haven't been able to provide in weeks. I am a journalist not some hum drum girl who is over her head. I know that this story his good. Better than that Trolley Strike story. You have been feeding the people weeks on end."

She stands up from behind the desk and looks at me coldly. "I'm afraid I am going to have to ask you too leave." I look at her and snatch my draft off the desk. I turn straight on my heel and walk out. I say nothing else to here. Everything I needed to say has already been said. Nothing more could change her mind.

I push open the door and walk out onto the streets of New York City. Everyone is carrying about their daily lives. Not paying any attention the the fuming mad girl dashing out of the Journal newspaper offices. Like they would care anyways. The only time when people care about newspapers is when those Newsies would shout headlines and then all of sudden people had to know exactly what was going on in the city.

Five. Now that the Journal has rejected me it tallies to a total of five newspapers that have turned me down. There was the Sun, which said I had no creativity. Then the Trib, they noted that I was a women and turned me down.  This next paper was a blur, they said my story lacked what they needed. Lastly was the World, this paper has to be the worst of them all. They wanted nothing to do with a "no-name reporter who was too demanding to go anywhere in the future."

Is this all I am? Is this the life I'm meant to live? Getting no where, no time fast.

In my defense, the article I wrote is rather exposing. I wrote about the Children's Refuge run by Mr. O. Synder. This is supposed to be a place for troubled kids, adolescents, and teens. But instead it's a place where hope dies. According to my source kids get beaten and food for them is a rarity. I thought that if I wrote something that just gutsy, the Newspaper Giants would have to let the article be in their papers. Boy, was I wrong about that.

I keep walking down the street and I see two boys who look about a little older than me walking down the street. They are dressing in fine button ups with rolled up sleeves showing roughly big muscles. I am almost positive by the way they conduct themselves that they are very strong headed. One has a red tinted outfit with a black vest and a straight brim fedora  The other's outfits is similar but has a dark blue tint to it and had a hat almost the same to the other.

I keep walking down the street, the two boys pass me. But just then I hear shoes clicking and the sound gets closer to me. The boy in the red runs up and then starts walking beside me. "Why, Hello miss." He says. I think he's flirting. No one has ever flirted with me before.

The other one runs up to him confused. "Oscar? What are ya doing?" Apparently that boys name is Oscar and he hits the other one to shut him up.

The boy who apparently seems to be Oscar then goes back to flirting again. "I don't believe I've ever seen you before."

Being extremely uncomfortable I keep walking ahead and nervously answer him back. "Well New York is a big city." I simply say to him.

"Do you have a name doll face?" He says keeping ahead of his own game. I stop walking and turn towards him. "Excuse me?" I say with a hint of disgust.

"A girl walking all alone in the city, I was thinking you could use some company." Oscar smilingly said with a tip of his hat.

"You thought wrong. I lived here my whole life. I pretty sure I can handle it." I say. It was obvious to see that he didn't take the rejection well.

For the first time the other one spoke up to talk to me. "Ya gotta ignore my older brother here.  He's got hit a little too many times on the head."  When he said that Oscar slapped the back of his neck. That should have been my hint to leave. I looked at those two brothers oddly for a few seconds.

Now I meet people on the street all the time, that doesn't mean I will be seeing more of them. Like I said to him New York is a big city. The odds that I would ever meet that person again is very slim. Something about these brothers though gives me a weird feeling inside.

"I really don't have to the time to waste with this. Good day gentlemen." Now I said gentlemen but they are far from it.

I keep walking and then don't follow me this time. I hear a laugh and then a slap. I can make a pretty good guess as to which one made which sound. See now I know for a fact that those two must be trouble. I'll make sure I don't run into those fools again.

I have matters that I have to take care of first though.