Save Me, Sinners

“Hi! I'm Carrie, from Coyote magazine. I’m here to interview you?” I say meekly. The woman just stares at me, as if I’m speaking Greek.

“Why are you here?” she asks finally.

“Er... to interview you,” I say again. I’m mortified, standing on the pavement, staring up at the window.

“Yes, you told me that already. But you must speak to my agent first. Are you new or something?” She’s visibly irritated.

“No... yes... I mean…” I stutter.

“Amateurs,” Ana rolls her eyes. “Talk to my agent first.” With that she shuts the window and goes back inside.

Shit!

No one told me that I was supposed to talk to an agent and I don't even know who he or she is. Goddammit. My day isn’t exactly going according to plan.

“Hey!” A man’s voice says from behind me.

“Phil! Where the hell have you been?”

“What? I'm here, aren’t I?” he says, flicking a cigarette onto the sidewalk.

“You’re late!”

“Yeah, whatever. Is she in there?” he asks.

“Yes. But she won’t let me in. She told me to call her agent,” I cross my arms. Phil just chuckles.

“What? What is so funny Phil?”

“You're new to this. You'll get used to it all soon.” He takes a long drag of his cigarette. I hope not. I don’t want to get used to this kind of work.

“What she means is that she needs to get paid for the story and for that we need to contact her agent. In advance.”

“Why the hell would we pay her for a story?” I ask sending Phil into fits of laughter again.

“Because that’s how the world works! You’ve gotta get with the program if you're planning to survive in this industry!” What a patronizing attitude.

“Watch and learn!” He smirks as he walks up to the door and rings her bell.

“There’s my favorite supermodel of all time!” He exclaims as the model appears at her window again. This time she puts on a slight smile.

“Phil. Hey.”

“You look younger every time I see you. What is this sorcery?” He grins but Ana’s not amused.

“What’s it Phil? Get to the point,” she says.

“Carrie, here, is new. She is still getting the hang of how things work and today she needs to interview you. Won’t you do us a big favor and let us in?”

“I told her already, she needs to call my agent first,” Ana answers in her thick accent that would surely appeal to men of a certain taste.

“Let’s cut to the chase, sweetheart. You sold us the story, cause you need exposure and you know that we always pay you on time. Just cut her some slack so we can get on with this. I'm sure we all have other things to do today.” He smiles a greasy smile.

Ana seems thoughtful but isn’t in any mood to concede.

“I want to be on the cover,” she demands. Phil just chuckles under his breath.

“Why don’t we come up there and talk to you about this. Besides I got a little gift for you too,” he says and takes a small plastic bag with white powder in it out of his pocket. There’s a gleam in her eyes as she smirks and moves away from the window. Moment later she buzzes us in.