It’s a question, but there isn't much room for a debate. Mike heads inside and Samantha and Danielle follow him. I sit down and look around me. Samantha pulls out a sheaf of newspapers. I recognize them as Page Eight sections that she’s apparently torn out and grouped together.
She looks at me and holds up the first of the Abigail Adams columns. “The Prince and the Paupers – We hear how Prince Sin is turning into Prince Win with a host of charity events he has scheduled.”
She pauses and looks at me for a second. I look back at her. I’m not ashamed of what I wrote. Mike approved every word.
Samantha continues, moving on to the next cutout. “Has The Prince Changed His Ways?” Samantha reads out, waving the paper at the three of us.
“Prince of Pleasure – Royal abs to complement his sinful package…” Samantha continues, tossing the cutout onto the desk, and moving on reading a series of headlines from Page Eight. “Sin Is Sweet. Sin Saves the Day. New York City Loves Sin!”
She drops the entire sheaf of cutouts onto Mike’s desk with disgust. “And the one that I really couldn't get over,” Samantha continues, holding the last page. “Royal Bad Boy Reformed – What we hear about how New York’s most notorious playboy has changed his life…”
There’s a moment of silence in the room. I don't know where this conversation is going but I hold my tongue, waiting to see what Samantha will say next.
“I had one job for you, Mike,” she’s talking to Mike now. “Give me a city that hated that fucking man. Give me a city that realized what kind of overgrown child he was and make sure people understood why I was going to kick his sorry ass out of the country. That’s all you had to do. Your girl only had to write the truth.”
“Now hold on just one second…” Danielle jumps in, but Mike cuts her off.
“Samantha, you’re going to have to know that everything that was printed was done so with my full knowledge and consent.”
Samantha takes a deep breath and looks at Mike who matches her gaze as he continues. “If you have something to say about one of my star reporters, you tell it to me. There’s no need to single her out. You think she’s Abby? She’s part of a team. An important part of the team, but she doesn’t deserve what you’re trying to do to her.”
“You’re going to need to let her go Mike,” Samantha says evenly. I gasp and she looks at me. “You’re fucking the Prince aren’t you?” she asks me.
“Don’t answer that, Alicia,” Mike warns me sternly.
But I have nothing to hide. Not to this woman. Not to anyone.
“We’ve been seeing each other, and we’re in love, yes,” I say to Samantha evenly. “I’ve been professional about it and I’ve informed Mike and had him vet each of my articles for bias. That’s the industry standard…”
“Fuck the industry standard!” Samantha yells. “You went way off the reservation there, little girl. And if you want to keep your job, you better destroy him in your next article, or start searching for another job. It’s time you learned a little lesson.”
“Well then, Samantha, you’re going to have to teach me a lesson too, I’m afraid,” Danielle says quietly standing up. “Page Eight is part of News of the Times, and ultimately my responsibility. Alicia and Mike are therefore my responsibility and I stand by what she has produced with him. We’ve had some of the highest circulation numbers based on Page Eight alone and our website hits are through the roof.”
Samantha looks at Danielle and her mouth falls open.
“Samantha,” Mike says and she turns towards him. He sighs and leans back in his chair. “You’re going to have to let me go too as well if you want to take it out on Alicia.”
Samantha’s stunned and quiet. “And you’re going to have to explain to every news outlet why you pursued a personal vendetta against the Prince that you were unwilling to drop when I showed you sales figures showed that we should proceed in the other direction. The shareholders are going to love that.”
“And the papers will love it even more when we sell our stories,” Danielle finishes.
You could hear a pin drop. Like there is no sound at all.
Samantha looks at me. “You’ll pay for this betrayal. I don’t forget betrayal easily.”
And then she gets out of her chair and walks out the office.
I sigh, and look at the mess she’s left behind.
“You okay?” Mike asks me as soon as Samantha’s left his office.
I nod my head. I’m glad it's over, but there was never really any doubt about what the right thing to do in my head was. Not with Derrick. Not anymore.
I’m going to tell him everything. I'm not going to hold anything back.
“Take the day off, Alicia,” Mike says. “That’s an order.”
I can do that. I need to go find Derrick. I need to tell him.