“Hey, Shayna. Looking forward to working with you.”
They all took their seats, and her belly did a little flip in anticipation of learning about the new assignment.
“Andy,” Joe began, “why don’t you share the feature idea you pitched?”
The man nodded. Probably in his forties with round wire-framed glasses and salt-and-pepper hair, he had a kind face and a passionate energy about him. “It’s on the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, which pairs volunteers with area school-aged kids to provide additional mentoring, support, and opportunities for new experiences.”
Shayna smiled. This was going to be fun.
“I want to profile some of the matched bigs and littles. Talk about how the program is changing kids’ lives. Interview parents about the ways that the program supports them and their families. Track down alumni of the program to do where-are-they-now follow-ups and gather their reflections about how being a little impacted their lives. All leading up to a gala fundraiser they have in a few weeks,” Andy said, his enthusiasm absolutely infectious.
Her picture editor, Rose, sat forward. “Shayna, everyone here has seen the photos you took for the heritage trail unveiling event and we thought you’d make a good fit for this assignment.”
Shay gave herself an inner fist pump, because her morning was totally looking up.
Andy nodded. “In fact, you’ve already met one of the big-little pairs I want to feature. Josiah Johnson and his sixth-grader little, Barry Huss.”
“Of course.” From the heritage trail event. They’d been at the front of the crowd when the mayor did the ribbon-cutting, and she’d captured a shot of them in profile looking on as the mayor grasped the ribbon.
Conversation with them had followed afterward, because it turned out that Barry was really interested in cameras and photography. So he’d been completely excited to let her get another shot of him, this time with his little black hand pointing up at one of the heritage trail signs that had a picture of the former slave and civil rights activist Frederick Douglass on it.
The latter photograph was her first that had appeared in the printed Gazette, the cut-out of which was now framed and sitting on her desk. “What a small world.”
“It is. And you made a good impression,” Andy said. “Some of these families are going to be shy about talking, and Josiah thought you were great with his little.” Inside, Shayna was squeeing so hard.
Rose slid her a sheet of paper. “This is a preliminary list of names, contact information, and events to cover. The program is going to be emailing everyone on the list that you two might be in contact for the story, so that should lay some groundwork.” Shayna scanned it over, nearly chomping at the bit to get started, even as the length of the list meant she was going to be running her ass off for the next few weeks. Which, bring it on!
“I’ll email you more names as they emerge,” Andy said. “The first thing to note is the back-to-school Little Celebration at the Northeast Recreation Center on Sunday. Is that going to be doable for you?”
She nodded and made a mental note to move an appointment for an apartment she was scheduled to see on Sunday afternoon. “Yes, no problem. I live not too far from there and I’m available all day.”
“Good,” Andy said. “It’s like a festival with food and games and a moon bounce and a DJ, so it’ll be a good opportunity to meet some of the families in a laid-back environment.”
A lot about journalism rested on relationship-building, and this event was going to be a perfect first step for gaining the trust of everyone involved. “This all sounds great. I’m really excited to get to work on this.”
She spent the morning making calls and sending emails, and only when her stomach growled around twelve thirty did she realize she hadn’t asked Havana if she was up for a probably crazy house-hunting adventure. Shayna found her in the lounge, eating lunch and reading a book. Leah and Malik were there, too.
“Hi, everyone,” she said as she threw leftover stir fry into the microwave. They all made small-talk while she waited for her bowl to spin round and round, and then she joined Havana at her table.
“Hey, girl. How’s apartment hunting going?” Havana turned her book face down, revealing an intriguing black-and-white cover of a beautiful woman in profile wearing a glitt
ering crown.
“What is that?” Shayna asked, spinning the book so that she could read the title. The Controversial Princess.
“It’s a romance about the daughter of the king of England who has a torrid affair with a hot American actor. It entirely fictionalizes the royal family and it’s rocking my world.”
“Ooh, I might need to borrow that when you’re done,” Shayna said, waggling her brows.
“Why not read a book about the actual royal family?” Malik asked, grinning as he came over to take a look.
Havana smirked up at him. “Because I’ve read every freaking thing that exists about the real royal family and I can’t get enough. I need more royals. All the royals. Damn Harry and Meghan ruined me. I’m obsessed.”
Shayna laughed. “It is pretty cool that we have an American princess now.”
“Mm-hmm. And I don’t even care if Brits wanna say that she can’t be Princess Meghan. She’s Princess Meghan to me.” Havana threw everyone a look that brooked no arguments.
Malik held up his hands in surrender. “You recall that we purposely threw off the monarchy, right?”