Chapter 1
Frances
The phone rings as soon as I sit down in the car. "Hello." With a huff, I answer it after just one ring as I put my bag on the passenger seat.
"How are you already done with your workout?" my sister mumbles, and I can hear the rustling of covers coming from her end of the line.
"I couldn’t sleep," I answer, "so I figured I’d start the day early."
"It’s the ass crack of dawn." Her voice sounds far away, so I know she’s under the covers.
I laugh, pulling out of my driveway. "You know what they say." I have to roll my lips, knowing how much she hates this saying. "The early bird catches the worm."
"No one says that," she groans. "Let me take that back. No one under sixty says that."
I shake my head, laughing. "I’m an old soul."
"I’ve seen your soul. There is not much there, and what is there isn’t old."
"Aw, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me," I joke.
"But seriously," she says, and I can hear her moving. "It’s six o’clock."
"I have that big meeting today," I remind her. "And I want to make sure I’m ready."
"You were born ready." She tries to give me a pep talk.
"You weren’t there yesterday," I tell her. "Do you know how many times one of the men said ‘yes, dear’?” It’s my turn to groan. “Like, I’m not your fucking dear.”
“Did you answer them like that?” She laughs while she asks, and I can hear a cupboard door slam. “Because if you didn’t, maybe you should.”
“No, God no.” I pull into the line at Starbucks and order my drink. “Can you imagine what they would have said?”
“Yeah, they would have said don’t fuck with that one. She comes from New York.” We both laugh.
"It’s been two days." It’s still surreal that I have this job. When they came to me a month ago, I thought it was a joke. I was creating content for an online sports show, and even that was a fluke. I started creating the content for my high school and really enjoyed it, so I decided to pursue journalism. After I completed the internship at my grandfather’s media company, I knew the only reason I got a job was because of who I was. "They just have to get to know me. I figure we can have this meeting today, and they can see what I’m going to do."
"Or they expect you to bow down to them." I cringe at the thought. When Andrew Keeland came calling, I knew I had to take that leap. He loved what I did, and then he offered me my whole show, producing my own show. It was a dream come true, and I got it because of my skill and not who I was. So, I took the job without telling anyone or asking anyone’s advice. Jumped in with both feet without testing the water or even looking at it. Little did I know what I was walking into. You see, apparently, it’s a man’s world.
"Well, I’m not doing that," I say as I pull up to the office building. "They are going to have to pull me out kicking and screaming if they expect me to just cave."
"That’s my girl." I can hear her clapping her hands. I put the car in park and look out to see the sun starting to come up. "Now go get your fishing rod and get that fish."
I laugh. "No one ever says that." I grab my bag and my phone, changing it from Bluetooth to speaker, then turn back to grab my coffee. "Now, wish me luck."
"I’ll get a shovel, just in case," she jokes, and I laugh, putting the phone in my purse as I walk into the office building. I'm the only one here, and my nude pumps click on the tile floor as I make my way toward my office.
I take a deep breath when the elevator doors open, and the sun streams in from the windows. The big brown desk right in front of the doors sits empty since Tanya doesn't start until eight o’clock.
Turning to walk toward my office, which I moved into two days ago, I have all these flutters in my stomach. Looking around, I see I’m the first one in. I smile at myself, knowing that people will notice, and it means I have one check mark in my column. A column I’m the only one participating in.
Walking into my office, I toss my bag in one of the empty chairs that face the desk. Reaching over, I put my coffee cup on the desk while I slip off my black blazer. I must have changed my outfit five times this morning before finally settling for cream pants with a sheer white silk, short-sleeved shirt.