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“I do,” Susan said
Toni pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her hand
“Well, are you going to coh me?” Susan snapped
Toni entered the room, deposited her cases, and closed the door
“Sit” Susan waved to a chair across from her desk
“I don’t think I have time Julian—”
“Sit!”
Toni perched on the edge of a blue club chair and clenched her fingers into her long skirt She wasn’t sure what it was about this woman that ratcheted her anxiety into the stratosphere Toni didn’t handle disapproval well She always strived to ure out how to n Susan to take her place But Toni refused to back down in this case She wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted; she just didn’t want raphy a success, even if it o fuck herself Toni rubbed her lips together Okay, no, she doubted she’d ever be able to say so so crass to anyone’s face, but she’d think it, by God
Susan slid a legal pad across her desk “Here are the interview questions I came up with”
Toni read upside down Whichor dead would you most want to spend a day with? She blinked hard so she wouldn’t roll her eyes She was pretty sure fans didn’t care whichout with She sure didn’t Toni picked up the legal pad, however, and stuffed it into her
“I still don’t think you’ll be able to handle this job,” Susan said
“I disagr—”
“You’ll probably spontaneously coht of them”
Well, they were incredibly attractive men All four of them, but—
“And the way you dress?” Susan shook her head “You won’t fit in with a group of rock stars They’re not going to open up to someone like you”
Pressure began to build behind Toni’s eyes “Someone like—?”
“You have absolutely no experience as a reporter I’ve interviewed hundreds of musicians over the years Howto rise, and that scary vein over her left eye bulged
“Well—”
“Zero! That’s how nht? I mean you hardly ever come in to the office”
That was because Toni did most of her work from home so she could take care of Birdie
“and you have no field experience So what if you can code and do graphic design and write? You can’t talk Journalists have to kno to talk”
She ht have talked if Susan had shut her mouth for more than half a second
“If you can’t talk, you can’t ask questions So what good are you?”
Susan actually paused long enough for a response What good was she? Toni didn’t know She wouldn’t know until she tried But every point Susanmusicians—or anyone famous, for that matter She wouldn’t fit in with the crew on tour with the band or the fans and definitely not four faht the flood of tears that suddenly burned her eyes What she needed right noas a pep talk, not to be berated and belittled by a jealous cow
“Are you seriously going to cry right now?” Susan asked, tilting her head forward so that her silky burgundy hair swung over one sharp blue eye The silver hoop that pierced the corner of one of Susan’s nostrils caught the light and Toni’s attention Susan would fit in better with a rock band Toni couldn’t deny it
“No” Not at that very ether until she found a bathroom before she unleashed a torrent of tears
“I don’t knohy I’hed hollowly “You’ll take one look at the tour bus and flee in terror”
Toni lifted her chin, which betrayed her by quivering ly “I won’t”
“We’ll see You mother already told me that if you fail, I can take back the job I was hired to do I guess I’d better start packing You’ll be hoht”
“You only kno to do interviews You don’t kno to do anything else this job requires,” Toni said
“I’ll send all the inforether into a book That’s what you’re good at”
It hat she was good at Design In the past, Toni had been forced to use the inforraphs, illustrations, videos and audio clips that so interactive book For this project, she was in charge of collecting everything necessary to capture the men behind the rock stars And she was deterraphy Even Susan And maybe her mom would realize that Toni was , not as the head of it Toni had to get this book right the first ti on second chances
“Call me on Monday to check in,” Susan said dismissively “Unless you’re already back in town Then let me know so I can meet up with the band at their next tour stop”
“I’ to fail,” Toni said She lifted her chin another notch “I can do this”
Susan rolled her eyes and turned toward her co Toni without a word
Toni scooped herself out of the chair, unco knees If Susan intimidated her this easily, hoould Toni ever hold her oith a bunch of cocky rock stars?
She lifted her ca over one shoulder “I’ to fail,” she said resolutely and rushed out of the office, sla, cory exit
She fled to the bathroom down the hall Hot tears slipped down her cheeks as she shut herself into the largest of the three stalls She dropped her case on the floor, then yanked toilet paper frolasses Why was Susan so mean to her? Toni was nice to everyone, whether they deserved her kindness or not She didn’t understand how anyone could say such cruel things to someone else It was almost as if Susan wanted to rattle her Wanted her to fail No one could really be that much of a selfish jerk, could they?
Toni dropped the tear-soggy toilet paper into the bowl and yanked another length off the roll
“Are you in here, Toni?” a familiar, masculine voice called into the bathroom
“You can’t come in here, Julian,” Toni called to hi for more toilet paper
“Did Susan ain?”
“N-no”
She heard the door close and took a deep, shaky breath, glad Julian had left She wasn’t quite ready to face hi like a leaky faucet He’d recognize
that she was lying as soon as he saw her
“Toni, she’s a horrible jealous bitch,” Julian said through the crack in the stall door “Don’t let her hurt your feelings”
“Julian! This is a women’s restroom”
“Trustin here that interests me,” he said
She could picture the disgusted sneer on his pretty boy face
“Exceptyou smile Now come on out of there”
“In a ain and rubbed her face with the palm of her hand
“What did she say to you this time?” Julian asked
“That I’ to f-fail” Toni dashed away a stray tear God, why did she have to be so soft-hearted? It was a freaking nuisance
“You aren’t going to fail,” Julian said “You’re going to kick ass I guarantee it”