Thirty Happens (6 page)

chapter seven.

“
W
ait, he said
what?
”

According to his nametag, which we were all forced to wear for this thing, James was an intern in the marketing department at the Beacon.

“Yeah, I guess I might get a chance to actually write something while I’m here. I’m super excited.”

James scowled at me a bit.

“Don’t know who you slept with to get the coveted internship, but good for you.”

He gave me a slow up and down look, from the top of my head to my toes and back again. I shivered a bit, completely unaccustomed to such blatant physical scrutiny.

He shook his head as if he couldn’t figure something out, then turned and slunk away from me as I stood in shock. Seriously? People were assuming that I’d slept my way into the internship? I mean, Jensen seemed like a nice enough guy, but, ew. It was getting more than a little annoying, and a hell of a lot of frustrating, when everyone in my life seemed to think I got good grades or great opportunities strictly by opening my legs.

I was no saint, hardly, I mean, I lost my virginity in the backseat of a car to my high school boyfriend just before he went to college when I was stuck in school for another year. Call it a going away present. Because he totally went away after that. Not kidding. He got what he wanted, what he’d worked for two years to get, and walked the hell away.

I emailed him, I had called him. I tried for about two months thinking maybe his class load was just so overwhelming that he wasn’t able to respond. I’m not saying I was completely naïve about the situation. I just was holding out hope. Until a breathless female picked up and told me to stop calling; that he’d moved on.

I took the subtle hint that we were apparently not a couple anymore. I moved on. I perhaps moved on a little too quickly and got myself a senior year reputation. Whatever.

But never had I even contemplated sleeping my way to success. I preferred earning my perfect grades that I spent many a night studying for.

“Don’t let him get to you. He wanted the prize and missed it by a mile.” A deep voice broke in on the internal dialogue running through my head. I was surprised by the intrusion into my thoughts, but considering those thoughts were working overtime to convince me that I wasn’t a slut, it was a welcome intrusion.

I turned around slowly, a questioning look on my face. I was met with kind eyes and a smile that only grew larger when it saw my confusion. I quickly glanced down where a name tag should be, but there was none. Odd.

I reached out my right hand.

“Thanks, I think. I’m Karyn.”

Warm Eyes chuckled.

“I know. You are pretty much famous around here.”

“Uh, okaaayyy. Not really sure how I’m supposed to take that.” I realized that I was still holding his hand and gently pulled mine from his grasp.

“There’s not necessarily a way to take it. You got the most coveted internship in the program. Every year, one lucky intern is chosen to work with
the
Marv Jenkins. This is usually the intern who is offered an actual reporting job when they graduate, not a copy editing job. There have been physical fights in the past over that internship, threats, blackmail, you name it. Somehow, you managed to avoid all of that by not even being interviewed. You are an enigma.”

Now I was confused and more than just a teensy bit pissed off.

“How the hell do people know that I haven’t gone through an internship process? Was it on some sort of memo to the entire building?” My eyes started darting around the room, taking in the way that other people’s eyes shifted slightly but quickly when mine landed on theirs. I hadn’t realized that people were looking at me.

Holy uncomfortable.

I tightened my hand on my purse and took a small step backward towards the door. Warm Eyes reached out and gently placed his hand on my arm.

“It was more a simple deduction of observation. Something you wouldn’t have known if you didn’t go through the normal steps. And there are
so
many steps. Basically, to make this succinct, you weren’t at any of the interview stages. All of the interns that were brought on had seen each other before. All but you.”

Huh. Okay, so that made sense and seemed a lot less creepy.

“So how do I keep them all from looking at me like I’m an interesting specimen in a laboratory, or stop them from thinking that I spread my legs to the top?”

His eyes widened at that last part.

“Not everyone thinks that. Actually, anyone who knows Jenkins knows that was not the case. That man has been married forever and is crazy devoted to his wife and kids. It’s more they are wondering if you are a relative or a prodigy. And they only way to stop rumor, is to mingle and let them get to know you.”

With that, he looped his arm through mine and started to walk forward. He looked back over his shoulder at me when he realized I hadn’t started moving with him.

A raised eyebrow asked his question for him.

“Look, dude. While I appreciate the intel, the fact of the matter is I don’t even know who you are, and Mommy told me to never go somewhere with a stranger.” I added an intentionally childish lilt to my voice with that last bit, to lighten up my words a bit.

He grinned and disengaged his hand from my arm, and executed a Prince Charming bow that would have had Disney suing for copyright infringement, had he been alive.

“Brian O’Conner, at your service, ma’am.”

I felt a smile growing on my face, as he looped his arm back through mine. He leaned in and put his lips close to my ear. I did my best to hide the warm shudder that involuntarily ran through my body as he whispered to me.

“By the way, I was Jenkins’ intern last year.”

“That makes you like my brother from another mother or something. Let’s go conquer the world together.” I squeezed his arm with mine, grateful to have someone who has stood where I stood, if not by the same means.

As we passed by people, I could hear conversations screech to a halt and their stares become more blatantly obvious. Ugh. Truthfully, I was a shy person. I know it didn’t seem like that to most people because I could turn it on and off and act like the life of the party if I had to. However, I chose newspaper journalism, not the Channel 8 television news. I didn’t really like walking into a room full of people who I didn’t know. I was more a ‘small intimate gathering with a few close friends’ type of person. I was slightly more introvert than extrovert, and completely fine with that. This was my personal hell, but I plastered a smile on my face and forced one foot in front of the other.

“Lynnie, I’d like to introduce you to Karyn.”

An adorably tiny sprite of a woman turned and immediately smiled at me. I took a quick step back as a feeling of odd warmth radiated just from her smile. She reached for my hand to give it a quick handshake. I couldn’t figure out why I was so instantly mesmerized by her.

“Hi, Karyn. It’s so awesome to meet the woman who has everyone talking.”

She winked at me to soften the statement. Ugh. She had confirmed all my fears. I was the center of attention and not for a reason that I particularly cared for. I couldn’t help it. I cringed at the statement.

Worry creased her brow.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’ve upset you already and I just met you. Damn. That’s a new personal record.”

I rushed to put her at ease. I had no idea why I cared, but for some strange reason, I did.

“It’s okay, seriously, I just hate being the talk of the town. It’s really nice to meet you, Lynnie. I hope we aren’t interrupting a conversation.”

I looked around to see that no one else was there. It was then I saw a brief sad smile cross her face.

“No important conversations going on here. So, no worry of interruption.”

She waved her hand towards her head as if that meant something. My eyes immediately drew up and I noticed that she wore a silk scarf as a head covering. But it wasn’t covering hair. There was no hair.

I looked back into her eyes, noticing a slight hint of sadness and withdrawal.

“No one wants to catch what I have. Even though they rationally know that cancer isn’t contagious.”

I was stunned. Seriously stunned. Were people really that close minded and ridiculous? I looked around the room one more time, remembering how sorry for myself I had been feeling simply because people assumed I spread my legs for an internship.

I felt about the size of a speck of dust in the middle of the desert. I turned to look at Brian, who was standing only about a foot behind me observing this interaction. He winked.

“Okay, then. I’ll just leave you two lovely ladies to whatever it is you guys talk about.”

He started to turn away and I reached out to touch his arm.

“Not so fast, mister. What do you say the three of us meet up and Karlson’s Pub for greasy bar food, watered down drinks and great conversation?”

Karlson’s was sort of a watering hole for the news hounds in town. If we were going to turn heads for all the wrong reasons, we might as well do so on a bigger stage.

The grins on both Brian and Lynnie’s faces were worth all this discomfort of this ridiculous mixer. I’d been so focused on achievement throughout my college experience, I’d forgotten to make lifelong friends and have crazy bonding moments. All those college movies that show people dressed in sheets, piling into tiny cars or into phone booths? Yeah, not so much. It was study, classes, articles, research and interviews. That’s it. I hadn’t even had a single drunken hookup that resulted in regret and a hangover.

I hadn’t been a saint, but nothing had happened as the result of mixing hard alcohol with wine coolers.

Ick.

Horrible combo.

We made a little bit more small chat, and before I knew it the socialization experiment had thankfully come to an end. We made plans to meet up in a couple hours at Karlson’s, and I ran back to my dorm to get ready for a night with my new friends.

chapter eight.

A
long wolf whistle broke through the din of heavy smoke, classic rock and the clinking of glass against glass.

“Damn, Karyn, you clean up really tasty.”

Gag.

That douche pickle, Anderson, just
had
to be there, leaning on the exposed brick wall and effectively blocking my path. I was very pleased with myself to be completely immune to his charms.

At least, that’s what I told myself. I swore to myself that the crystal clear blue eyes and solid chest that was clearly the result of a significant investment of time in a local gym had no hold over me. I ignored the drool that was pooling in my closed mouth and threatening to spill over, making me into a wolfish cartoon character.

I would talk myself out of Anderson. This screamed big trouble, and a good news lady never doubted her gut. Although my stomach was doing girly somersaults around him, but my gut was flashing a neon sign that read
danger, danger, danger
.

“What the hell, Anderson. I’ve got important people to see, and you are most definitely
not
on that list.”

“Once again, the lady wounds me with words that let me believe her tongue is as sharp as a dagger.”

I raised my eyebrow at him. I mean, seriously? That was lame. Beyond lame. Pathetic really.

“Get over yourself, Anderson. You aren’t exactly ‘God’s gift to women’ as you seem to think you are. I’m not the intern for you. Move on, creeper.”

I pushed past him and moved to the back wall where the interns of various news outlet held the walls up at nights. We were fundamentally ignored, but hopeful that somehow through our presence we would manage to pick up some of the brilliance that was collectively gathered in the room and end up
being
someone.

I found Brian and Lynnie sitting with a couple beers, trying not to look
too
longingly at the main attraction. That main attraction was the approximately seventy or so journalists crammed in the tiny dive bar. Some were talking respectfully, some were close to blows. It didn’t matter. To us, it was better than foreplay.

This place, this feeling was addictive.

This was the world I had dreamt of day in and day out my entire life. The hum of their conversations swirled around me, filling my body with more warmth than red wine, dark chocolate, and limb-numbing sex.

I was finally here. On the outskirts, perhaps, but here, none the less. Anticipation filled my soul as I could visualize myself at one of their tables, gripping my glass of wine tightly while debating a direct competitor. I could feel it. This was going to be me. No doubts.

I winked and smiled at future me and turned to join my friends and be present me. My day would come, it was time to enjoy the here and now.

“Hey guys, isn’t this place incredible?”

I sat down in the chair opposite Lynnie and leaned forward in anticipation.

Her eyes gleamed with happiness as she looked around the bar as if she was in the Taj Mahal as opposed to a bar that looked as if it could fall down around us with one good gust of wind.

“I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. This is
incredible
. Isn’t that Jim McKenna over there? From Channel Seven News at Seven?” Her voice took on an all too familiar pattern of speech when mentioning the extremely popular news program, mimicking the all-too familiar announcer that spoke at the beginning of the news program.

That was the funny thing about the television news guys, they were part of a promoted specific show, one that had a name and a set of voiceover promos that we, the unsuspecting public, were subjected to on a daily basis. You couldn’t see Jim McKenna without thinking ‘Channel Seven News at Seven’ in the deep, commanding voice of the guy who did their voice work.

“Yup, that’s him. He’s actually a pretty decent guy, which is surprising with all his fame, and stuff.”

Two sets of eyes fixed themselves on me pretty quickly.

“Wait, you know him?”

Brian sounded shocked at the fact that I’d met the superstar. I guess considering he’d been through all the appropriate steps of being the intern and rising through the ranks to become a reporter, it might seem unusual that an intern of only about a week would have met television news royalty.

“Not
know him
know him. Like, ran into him here a while back and he was kind. Not an arrogant dickhead like our good buddy Anderson.”

Lynnie snickered at the mention of the playboy of the Beacon.

“I don’t know, Karyn, for someone who really can’t stand him, you sure do bring him up an awful lot. I mean, I’ve only known you a half of a day and his name has come up, what, five times?” She looked over at Brian for confirmation, who smirked as he nodded.

“She’s right, thou dost protesteth and all that garbage.”

“Whatever, bitches.” I put my two hands up in a ‘W’ with my thumbs touching. Brian coughed and put an ‘L’ shape with his left hand on his forehead. I shook my head at him and decided to not point out to him that he had it all backwards and managed to fail at the late 1990’s.

“So, you’ve never been here before, Lynnie?”

My new friend shook her head slowly, eyes still wide as she looked around the room.

“How about you, Brian, is this your Karlson’s cherry pop?”

His surprised laughter made my lips curl in a smile.

“Nope, definitely not, but I have to say this is the first time I’ve been here on a date with two gorgeous women at once.”

Lynnie let out a very unladylike snort at this comment, which made me love her all the more. I looked at her a little more closely, studying her while she observed the room in her excitement.

She had changed her headscarf to a more ‘hippie chick’ type of pattern, a bit psychedelic but somehow it worked with her. I couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like without it. Would the liveliness seem to dim from her eyes if I saw her head naked and bared to me? Would the fear that I imagine
must
live in her heart show on her face if I didn’t see her in her cancer battle gear.

She turned at that moment and caught me staring at her head pensively and gave me a slightly sad smile, before letting the light back in.

“I- I was just admiring your scarf.”

The look on her face told me that she knew it was a half-truth, but she shrugged it off and made like she was fluffing her hair.

“Oh, this old thing?”

We laughed as she batted her eyes and struck a 1930’s pinup girl pose, complete with the cheeky pout. The serious moment was over, time to get on to the fun.

“Karyn, you obviously have been here before, how often do you come?” Brian took a long draw from his beer.

I chuckled.

“The day I turned twenty one I came here. I had heard of this place from my journalism professor, and I had managed to build it up in my mind, bigger than Buckingham Palace. As I saw it, this was where news was written, stories were made, and legends created.”

As I was talking, I could see myself a year ago bursting through the doors proudly clutching my identification in my hand, hoping to be carded that night. Hoping to be a part of this place that I thought would be incredible. I saw myself as I was then, naïve, young, excited. I had looked around, taking in the décor… or lack thereof. I remember a brief wave of crushing disappointment filling my soul. But then, I looked toward the center of the room and I had a total fangirl moment seeing Jim McKenna chatting with his friends. That was the day I had ‘met’ him.

“I come at least weekly. Not for the watered down beer or shit food, but because I just love the feel of this place. I love the buzz of excitement. You should have been here in November around election time. Holy crap, I thought this place was going to spontaneously combust from all the crazy energy.”

My two new friends glanced around the room one last time, enjoying the feeling of being here. All three of us knowing we had a long way to go until we moved to the center of the room, but looking forward to that journey together.