Page 37 of Stranded with the Billionaire
Assuring herself that Grange was wrong about the blacklisting, Sterling grabbed a cab and went to Dubious’ competitor Vague. Two months ago, she’d had a job offer from Vague. Unfortunately, the terms weren’t more favorable than Dubious so she’d turned it down at the time. Perhaps they would consider extending the offer again.
A half hour later, Sterling was back on the street. This time she sat at a nearby café, calling every tabloid and newspaper that she could think of in the city, asking for an interview. Then she called other tabloids in other major city centers.
They all declined.
It was very polite. Yet whereas she’d been in demand only a couple months earlier, now she was gently shunned. Most expressed their regrets that they just couldn’t hire her at this time. Sterling started asking when would be a convenient time for them to hire her. They just couldn’t say.
She was indeed being blacklisted.
Next Sterling went through every publishing agent that she could find that had contacts in the city. She’d been approached not a week ago by an agent from a large publishing house to do a book deal. Sterling had wanted to have the contract looked over by a lawyer before making any moves on the deal. Now when she called the agent, she was told that she was no longer being considered for a book promotion and that the contract was being withdrawn.
No one wanted to work with Sterling Denver.
The more Sterling thought about it, the angrier she became.
She’d been doing her job and now she was shut out of an entire industry. The pen name, Sterling Denver had been a brand that she’d built up painstakingly for ten years. She’d come so close to cashing in on it with big ticket items like book deals and possibly speaking tours.
Now it was worth nothing.
It was all Jake Ramesly’s fault. He’d overreacted like some child who no longer wanted to play with a friend because that friend had said something that made him uncomfortable.
Stomping in anger as best as she could on her crutches, Sterling got a cab. It was going to be horridly expensive, but it was the quickest way to Dillon Ramesly’s estate. She believed that Jake would be staying with his brother or at the very least, Dillon would know which hotel Jake had chosen to stay at. Either way, she was determined to confront Jake about his bullying her out of a job.
He wasn’t going to get away with this. She wouldn’t let him.
Stewing in the cab, Sterling built up her anger in self-righteousness. How dare he!
“How dare you!” Sterling shouted into the intercom as she pressed the button at the gate of Dillon Ramesly’s home. She leaned on her crutches keeping the button pressed as the cabbie waited patiently through her tirade. “You bully! You insecure tyrant! Oppressor of people just trying to do their job! You think you can dictate an entire industry to keep me unemployed?! You’re the worst person on the planet Jake Ramesly! How dare you have me blacklisted for doing my job! The only thing you have to be mad about is that I lied to you about being a flight attendant. That’s it. That’s my crime. Otherwise I do what every other press person does, invade a small portion of your privacy to create an article for the curious public. I never once lied in any of my articles. Embellished the truth a little, sure. If you kill the career of everyone who lies to you just a little, I can’t believe what you would do to someone who dare do worse to Your Majesty! Just because someone chooses to do something that you don’t like, you destroy them professionally? Not only can I not get a job in this city, I can’t seem to find anyone willing to interview me for any other city either! Real mature Jake!”
“Um, Jake’s not here right now,” an embarrassed Dillon said when Sterling finally ran out of breath and released the intercom button.
“Fine! Tell me where that crustacean is,” she growled. “No, wait, crustacean is too good a word for him. He’s mud. No, muck from a dung heap. What’s the scientific word for that?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Dillon said faintly.
“You don’t know what the scientific word would be, or you don’t know where Jake is?” Sterling demanded.
“Neither?” Dillon’s voice was tentative. “I’m guessing you’re a reporter?”
“Sterling Denver,” Sterling confirmed with a huff. “Although my pen name is now completely shot so I suppose she no longer exists except in tabloid history.”
Suddenly tears came to Sterling’s eyes and she blinked them away furiously. Ten years of work completely blown by one angry man with a vendetta. This wasn’t just about Sterling, it was about so much more and now her life was in ruins because of Jake Ramesly. People were depending on her income and now she was jobless for the foreseeable future.
“You were on the mountain with him when the plane crashed,” he clued in. “Look Ms. Denver, I don’t know what happened or didn’t happen on that mountain, but Jake certainly hasn’t been in a good mood since.”
“Not in a good mood?” Sterling yelled. “He just destroyed my life and two hundred other people’s!”
“I thought Dubious had a much larger staff,” Dillon wondered aloud.
“He’s just destroyed an entire town,” Sterling whispered as the enormity of her situation sank in. Jake Ramesly had no idea what he’d done.
“Excuse me?” Dillon was obviously confused.
All the fight left Sterling. Now she had to explain to her parents what had happened. She had to explain why there would be no money coming home this month. There would be a domino effect of consequences.
It was all her fault. She’d overreached. If Sterling hadn’t gotten on the plane, she’d have the money for her share of the mortgage and loan payments. They were already on final notice with the bank. It was all about to come crashing down.
All because she’d wanted to push her career even higher, knowing that she needed to push for more money to keep things afloat, to try to get out of the ever climbing higher burden of debt. Now she’d blown it. She’d gotten on Jake Ramesly’s bad side and everyone she held dear would reap the consequences.
A sick, heavy feeling invaded her abdomen. Everything was over. Sterling cleared her throat. “I’m sorry Mr. Ramesly. My tirade was directed at your brother, not you.”
She didn’t wait for his reply, crutching her way over to the taxi.
It was time to make arrangements to go home with her tail tucked between her legs. Never had Sterling felt worse in her life. How was she going to let an entire town know that she’d let them down?
