I would land a story so perfect, the Chronicle would be insane not to offer me a permanent position.
It wasn’t my first time in a limo, but as we slid inside the luxury vehicle, I became acutely aware of how important this event was for my career. I only had two-and-a-half-months left to prove myself, and there were only so many celebrity events a month. I had to make each one count.
“You have an idea who you’re looking to interview?” Zach asked as the limo wound its way through Seattle traffic. The sky was clear and sunny for once like the rock gods had decided to take mercy on the annual music festival whose objective was to end world poverty. The festival held special charitable concerts all over the world with all proceeds to benefit those in need.
“Not sure,” I finally answered as I looked away from the sunny sky and back to him. “I’ll know the story when I feel it.”
He arched a brow at me. “And if you don’t feel it?”
“Then I’ll do my best to talk to as many people as I can before I find it.” I nodded more to assure myself than him. A-listers flocked to these shows all the time. There was a story there, somewhere, that would earn my dream job. I just had to look in the right spot.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and a brawl will happen,” Zach said. “Or two celebs hook up when they’re supposedly dating someone else.”
I furrowed my brow at him. “This isn’t the Inquisitor.” I sighed. “The Seattle Chronicle is about breaking celebrity news—”
“And a fight isn’t breaking news?” He cut me off.
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, it could be, but to hope for the darker parts of the world—”
“Well Hollywood isn’t all about glitter and limelight, you know?”
“Of course, I know that,” I said, shocked the boy had decided to say more than ten words to me. “But those stories are a dime a dozen and half the time they aren’t real.”
Cheating celebs? God, I’d seen enough of those stories in the news about the Sharks to last a lifetime. Some paparazzi prided themselves on making celebrities lives’ miserable.
Not me. I wanted to break the stories that mattered. That made a difference. Like the celebrities who went above and beyond to use their status and wealth to benefit the communities around them. Or the ones who treated fans like gold and took care of their families and were genuinely good people. There weren’t enough of those stories circulating, and I was ready to start a trend of positivity in the business.
“You’re the boss,” Zach said, accepting defeat.
I nodded again. I was running this ship. All he had to do was document it.
“But,” he continued. “If I see something worth capturing, I’m snapping it.” He looked out the window, eyes going wide as we approached the massive outdoor arena.
Whatever I’d been about to say to him died on my tongue as I took in the scene.