I should have gone to church today.
I swear God, I had every intention of going to church today. There is this cute little chapel right down the street from the hotel I’m staying at. Pretty building, with an actual bell tower at the top and striking red doors. I pulled up in front of the chapel and prayed that God would give me enough strength to enter. My legs went numb. The thought of entering a church again was much easier than the act itself. I put the gear shift back into drive and headed off down the street, reminding myself that my father was long years dead, that he couldn’t hurt me anymore and that it wasn’t the church’s fault in the first place. “A church is just a building,” I thought out loud.
I drove down the street until I saw traffic cones blocking the road ahead of me. Was there no Starbuck’s Coffee anywhere in this section of the city? Glancing around I saw a gas station, a paycheck advance place and a CyberCafe. I shrugged and pulled into a parking space. What the hell, it didn’t look like my usual kind of hang out, but coffee was coffee and something I desperately needed.
So far the news story that I had been sent to this hellhole to cover had turned up nothing. My boss was breathing down my neck via emails and phone calls at a more urgent pace every day. I kept promising him if he gave me enough time, this would be the one. This would be the news story that put us above the other stations. I knew if things went right, the story would be huge and would mean I went from being Diane Winters, the geeky newswoman who could barely find a job in local television in my home town to Diane Winters News anchor for a major network. Some might call my mission a vendetta. I call it a quest for success.
The cafe was nearly empty when I entered. I looked around for a few moments, wondering if this could be a regular cafe as well or if I had to pay for a computer. I was on a strict budget, and we didn’t have any of these things in Wensford, Ohio.
Toward the back of the cafe a guy who looked to be in his late teens was busing a table and in the far right corner was a woman who appeared to be having an intense conversation on her cell phone. Just as I paid for a to go coffee and a sickly-sweet looking roll, the woman burst out into tears. The manager of the cafe shrugged at me, as if to say “I just work here.” I rolled my eyes at him and walked over to the woman.
She was pretty, even with her tear streaked face and mascara. I pulled a napkin from a container behind her and offered it, extending my hand slowly toward her as one would a frightened animal. She glanced up at me, guarded at first. I gestured at the chair across from her and she nodded.
I don’t usually approach people randomly. Even as a reporter I am not as social as I should be. If I don’t think they have anything to add to my story, I don’t bother. Another lesson learned. Sometimes miracles happen in the most unexpected places.
Thirty minutes later I was once again on the phone with my boss. “You can’t be serious,” I said to him.
“If you want to keep your job and have a way home I am,” He replied.
“I don’t have the slightest idea how. I can’t even dance.”
“Wiggle your ass around and collect dollar bills to shove in your panties. You don’t exactly have to go to Harvard.”
“Prick.”
Great. My big chance at a story and I end up becoming a stripper. It was going to be a long week.
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A big “Thank You” to Ionia Martin for her character Diane Winters! Check out her other websites here and here
