Page 105 of His Curvy Happiness
“None of that happened. They were excited, happy. Their love is real.”
“Then make it up.” She scoffed. “I don’t know what makes you think we’re here to be friends with everyone, but we’re not. We’re here to sell newspapers. To showcase the interesting parts of this town. You’re not giving me anything that fits that. You’re not going to last long in this industry if you’re not willing to do what it takes to capture attention.”
I pushed to a stand and shrugged. “Then I guess I won’t last.”
“What are you talking about?” Gretchen demanded.
“I quit, Gretchen. I’m not writing an article about two good people and destroying their reputations. I told you that before, and you don’t seem to be willing to listen. So I quit.” I opened the door to leave her office.
“You can’t quit because I’m firing you.” Gretchen shouted above the noise of the rest of the office.
I turned back to her. “That’s fine with me. Either way, I’m not working for you or any editor who wants to print lies in order to sell papers.”
“Every paper does it. If you think you’re just going to walk away and find someone who’s telling the truth, you’re a fool.”
“Then I’m a fool, too,” Mike said, standing from his desk. “I’m not going to hold back, but you better believe I’m not going to lie and open myself up to a lawsuit because you can’t figure out how to run a successful paper.”
“Oh, please. You don’t care about that. The paper will protect you,” Gretchen said.
“Maybe they will, and maybe they won’t. But I’m not putting my name on something I don’t believe in. I quit, too,” Mike said. He gathered his things and walked to the door.
“I quit,” Stephanie said, following Mike.
“I quit,” Jose said.
“What is wrong with all of you?” Gretchen screeched. “Don’t you want to sell papers?”
“We do,” Jose said, stopping before he left. “But not like this. We love this town. We love the people who live here. We’re not going to be your pawns to ruin lives. Erik did enough of that, and we all agreed we wouldn’t let it happen again.”
“You can’t leave. You’re all fired!” Gretchen shouted after them.
None of them stopped, and I felt a swell of pride and joy. I didn’t want them all to quit, but knowing they had my back, that they agreed with what I was fighting for, was a great feeling.
“You,” Gretchen snarled. “You did this. You put them up to this.”
I shook my head. “I did nothing. You did, Gretchen.”
She growled, but she didn’t argue.
I followed my coworkers out of the office, not wanting to be alone with Gretchen, and found them waiting for me in the parking lot.
“Are you okay?” Mike asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry you all had to quit because of me.”
Mike shook his head. “We quit because of her. I filled them in on what was going on, and we all agreed we weren’t going to let her do what Erik did. It’s not what this town is all about.”
Jose cleared his throat. “None of us are okay with what Gretchen did a few weeks ago. That’s not how this is supposed to be.”
“No, it’s not,” I agreed.
We all nodded, sharing sad smiles. I never expected Gretchen’s arguments to come to this. I thought she’d back off.
I thought I’d get a full-time position working for the paper.
But instead, I was down to two jobs and very little hope I’d be able to pay my bills in the next few months.
I got in my car and lowered my head to the steering wheel. I was supposed to meet my match for lunch, but that wasn’t where I wanted to be.
