Decisions

Part 1: The Lives We Lead

"Mr. Compton!" A young journalist flails her arms as she pushes her office chair away from her desk, calling after the elderly man who happens to be her boss. Emma stands and jogs to keep up with him as he continues walking a few steps, his beady eyes darting across the spacious office. She knows he is taking note of an empty chair that has been vacant all morning. She wants to say that she doesn't care where her fellow journalist is, but she would be lying. Any fool, she is sure, could observe that she had been staring at that vacant chair since she clocked in at exactly eight o'clock. She hadn't gotten any work done all morning because of it and her obsessive worrying had caused daydreams like a lovesick school girl.

Emma's boss abruptly stops in the middle of the walkway between the generously spaced cubicles. She is lucky enough to call one of which her workspace. Mr. Compton always reminds Emma of what a fashionable reporter back in the old days might have looked like, only shorter and plumper. He wore spectacles on a string though she is fairly certain he doesn't need them, and half the time he has a cigar at the corner of his mouth though he never smokes it. He turns, facing Emma with a smile that she knows all too well, with eyes always greedily searching for the next big story to happen in their relatively small town. She doesn't have to guess what that expression is for. Emma already knows.

In the days leading up to this moment, Emma's fellow journalist and long-time best friend Brooke Taylor landed an impressively large job interview in New York City and would be leaving in a short time to attend such a rare opportunity. It was never a question of if she was going, Emma knows, but when. Whether or not Brooke got the time off to travel to the interview was not of much concern to her, but she got the time off anyway. Mr. Compton, despite possibly losing an employee, is thrilled to have one of his protégés leave the nest to discover a world of possibilities in the form of a field reporter for a major television news station. It is a job Emma knows her best friend has always wanted and can never be more happy and excited for her friend.

"Miss Cassidy." Emma's boss addresses her as he always does, though she knows he is up to something. That sort of tone is one that usually means Emma will have to do some sort of extra work that she won't like. "As you know, Miss Taylor will be taking time off to chase her future. However, this leaves us behind in our business here in our humble home town." Emma wants to roll her eyes at her dramatic boss. "With Mr. McClintock who knows where that leaves my most loyal and reliable journalist left to pick up the work." She knows he means it as a compliment, but somehow, Emma just doesn't see it that way. Just once, Emma would like to be unreliable like Patrick McClintock, or anti-loyal enough like Brooke to chase the dreams she has buried deep down inside.

Emma does her best not to grumble her disappointment right in front of her boss. She hates Brooke's job, simply because Brooke is more of a people person, and dives right into interviews, whereas Emma sticks to coverage on local news and easily hides in crowds. Still, the extra hours she will have to put in might give her an extra pay increase if she does a well enough job to please her boss with the results. However, she doesn't know how much time she will have, considering her sister's wedding is just days away to which she has to carry out the bachelorette party and final wedding details, as well as finish her own six large news stories due the day after tomorrow.

Emma dares a glare at Brooke, who gives her a sheepish grin and ducks back into her cubicle. Just in this second, Emma doesn't feel so happy for Brooke. She hates talking to people. "Is there a problem, Miss Cassidy?" Mr. Compton looks at her sternly as she looks back at her boss, and Emma only shakes her head knowing she can't fight his stubbornness. "Good. Here are the details for the interview." He hands her a blue folder that Emma hadn't seen he was carrying. Emma groans when her boss departs in triumphant with a skip in his step.