That was the meanest thing he could’ve said to me. “I am not domesticated!” My cheeks burned as he chuckled. “I am ... a wild stallion … I’m a rampaging shark. Nobody can survive my wrath.”
“If that’s what you need to tell yourself. It’s obvious you’re dealing with this in your own way, which is what I think Mr. Muscles expected. He wants you to work all this out before he sweeps you off your feet.”
“I don’t get swept off my feet.”
“Kid, he’s already done the sweeping. He was just so good at it, so stealthy, you didn’t see it coming.” He paused a beat. “You’re going to be okay, Avery. This ... thing ... is exactly what you need. I wasn’t certain this relationship would be good for you, but now I see it’s the absolute best thing for you. If you allow yourself a moment to breathe, you’ll realize he’ll make you happy.”
That wasn’t my problem. Er, well, it mostly wasn’t my problem. “Is that all?” I knew I was being snippy, but I needed to get away from him. He was far too sympathetic for my liking. “I need to file my piece. I’m meeting Mr. Wonderful for dinner.”
“That’s all. I’m always here if you need to talk,” he offered.
“Great. How do you feel about the Kardashians? Do you want to shoot them through the television, too?”
“I’m always here to talk when you want to talk about something serious,” he clarified.
Now it was my turn to grin. “I appreciate the offer. I really am fine, though. In fact ....” I broke off at the sound of voices, turning to the archway that led to the department. Duncan Marlow — aka the office tool — walked into view. He was The Monitor’s least favorite son, so I expected him to be alone. Instead, my best friend in the office, Marvin Potts, stood close by. Between the two was a young woman with blond hair and green eyes. She was short — a good three inches shorter than me — but she boasted one of those friendly faces that teen magazines try to recruit in malls.
“Oh, I don’t know what to say,” the girl gushed. If she was of legal age to drink, I would’ve been surprised. “You guys didn’t have to show me the storage closet together.”
“It was our pleasure,” Duncan said, tilting his head indulgently toward the young woman. He gripped what looked to be a box of desk supplies in his hands. “It’s the least we can do to make you feel welcome in your new environment.”
I was beyond confused, and when I slid my eyes to Fish I found him watching the scene with rapt attention ... most of which was reserved for the woman. “Who is that?”
“What? Oh.” Fish recovered quickly, probably because I caught him staring and I had a big mouth, one prone to saying outrageous things about men slobbering over young women. “That’s Sabrina Holden. She’s our new intern.”
The statement did little to alleviate my confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s a student at the community college. She’s conducting a project for her journalism class, and as part of that, she’ll be doing twenty hours a week here. Actually, she’ll be doing forty hours a week here during Christmas break.”
“To what end?”
“What do you mean?” Fish’s lips curved into a frown. “She’s going to help us and get her feet wet at the same time. We don’t have to pay her. She’s very enthusiastic. What’s the downside here?”
I could think of a few downsides. Two of them were fawning over the young woman. I expected this sort of nonsense from Marvin. He was an emotional vacuum when it came to the opposite sex. He couldn’t help himself from getting tongue-tied and stupid when a pretty girl paid him any attention. Duncan was another story. He was mired in an ugly divorce. His mail-order bride, a woman I was convinced married him only for a green card, had already moved on to some pot-smoking mechanic, something he took as a great affront. I’d never seen him flirt with any of the interns before, and it wasn’t pretty.
Fish cleared his throat to get the small group’s attention. “Sabrina, I want to introduce you to someone.”
Sabrina dutifully stepped forward, her wide-eyed innocent act on full display. “Of course.”
“This is Avery Shaw.” He gestured toward me. “She’s one of our best reporters. I’ll expect you to shadow her from time to time, so it’s best you two meet now.”
It took everything I had not to snarl out that she would only be able to shadow me if I were dead. “It’s nice to meet you.” I was reticent as I held out my hand. “I hope you manage to be comfortable during your time here.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Marvin said, his eyes never leaving Sabrina’s face. “She’ll fit right in here.”
“Much better than you,” Duncan agreed with a sneer. “In fact, Sabrina, you should probably avoid Avery as much as possible. She’s a problem child in the office. And she’s not friendly to newcomers.”
I wanted to argue with Duncan, but for once he was right.
“You should stick close to me,” he continued. “I’m the best reporter here.”
Fish, Marvin and I snorted in unison, earning dark glares.
“I’m the most professional reporter here,” Duncan clarified.
“Professionalism has no place in a newsroom,” Marvin volunteered. “That’s why I’m the best reporter. You should definitely hang out with me if you want to learn from the best.”
The show of testosterone was enough to turn my stomach. I didn’t care which of them ended up with the intern as a shadow. I only cared that it wasn’t me. “I have to file my story.” I inched toward my desk. “It was nice to meet you, Sabrina. I hope things go well for you here.”
“Um ... thank you.” She looked as if she wanted to follow me, but Marvin and Duncan made that impossible, for which
