Page 78 of Sparks Fly
Melanie was silent for a moment and then she laughed.She actually had the audacity to laugh. Stella frowned as Melanie continued laughing, wiping tears from her eyes as if Stella had said the funniest thing she’d ever heard.
“I’m sorry, Stella,” she said, once she caught her breath. “But you can’t be serious? You think going viral with some silly little posts about zodiac signs qualifies you to move to the Spark News team? Really?”
“My posts aren’t silly,” Stella said. Then she added, “I mean some are, but even those are strategic. I know what people care about and what they want to read. I can translate that to more long-form work.”
“No,” Melanie said.
“You’re not even going to try to do this for me?” Stella asked, and she hated how disappointed she sounded and felt. She’d never trusted Melanie, not really. But she also hadn’t ever really thought of her as an enemy before now either.
“It’s not about trying to do anything,” Melanie said. “Do you know how crazy Miles would think I was to actually bring him this ask? What part ofyou embarrassed himdid you not understand? He’s not going to even give you a viral cowboy hat, much less a promotion. Jesus, Stella. When I asked what you wanted, that wasn’t a real question. You have to have known that.”
A knock on the glass door had them both whirling their heads. The other editors were standing outside and the video team editor, Ryan, pushed open the door.
“Mel, you good here?” he asked. “We need to start the meeting.”
“Yeah, one sec,” Melanie said, waving him off. When the door closed again, Melanie turned her attention back to Stella.
“Look, I’m not trying to be mean,” Melanie said. “You are good at what you do. But that doesn’t mean you’re a good writer. If you want to be a full content writer instead of doing quizzes, that’s a switch we can make, although it doesn’t come with a salary bump. But that’s all I can do for you. Okay?”
Melanie stood then, and it was clear Stella was dismissed. She got up without another word and quickly walked out before furious tears fell down her face.
Thirty-Nine
Stella
Hey. Sorry to bail but I’m not feeling well so I’m going home.
Max didn’t see the text until the end of the workday and by then, Stella must’ve already been back in Brooklyn. He texted her back anyway.
Max
Are you okay? Do you want me to bring you anything?
Her response was surprisingly immediate and short.
Stella
No, thanks.
Max stared at his phone, feeling like he should do something but he wasn’t sure what. He just had the feeling that something was wrong, and he wanted to fix it.
There was a knock on his door, and when he looked up, Miles was standing in his doorway.
“Yo, you busy?” he asked. “I need a drink.”
Max frowned. “What happened toHello, how are you?”
Miles rolled his eyes as he stepped into Max’s office and grabbed a seat.
“Hi, hello, let’s get a drink,” he said, slipping down in the chair. “It’s been a day.”
This piqued Max’s interest.
“What happened?”
“I’ll tell you if you come get a drink with me!” Miles said, leaning forward. “Come on, I haven’t seen you in ages. You’re a terrible big brother, you know that?”
Max got the feeling that Miles meant it as a joke, but it didn’t really sound that way, not that Max could blame him. He was pretty sure the last time he’d seen Miles was right here in this office, and Max hadn’t been making an effort to keep up with Miles since then. Truthfully, it’s not like they were grabbing beers with each other every week before, but they’d text or call at the very least, if only to discuss regular sibling things like what to get their dad for his birthday and the number of times their mom had called.
