Somehow, she did not hesitate at all when she dropped that same draft on her editors table the next morning.
She had written the article that would change her life.
* * * *
Mike awoke to a near constant buzzing of his cellphone from underneath his pillow the next morning. Groggy and annoyed, he brought the metal square to his ear and barked out an unfriendly greeting.
“Why are you calling me this early in the morning, Cameron?” he said, irritated that his manager had the nerve to contact him at 10pm on a Saturday afternoon.
“Have you seen your social media this morning?”
“Why would I?” Mike replied, “I have only just woken up. That, too, pretty abruptly. Hint hint, thanks asshole.”
Cameron decided to ignore the sarcasm in his words, “You need to get on it – what the hell did you do in that interview with that lady journalist the other day?”
Mike racked his brain and then remembered that miserable bar interview where he was half drunk out of his mind. “Oh that nightmare,” he said in recollection, “I do not even remember man. I just used the answers you gave me – those ones work for everything.”
Cameron groaned from the other end of the line, “Well, whatever you did, she had absolutely ripped you apart in her interview. The whole internet is talking about it!”
This caused Mike to sit up suddenly in his bed, “What do you mean?”
“Read it yourself,” Cameron said and then the line went dead. He had hung up on Mike.
Mike opened up his social applications and saw that his notifications had been flooded. He found a link to the article and by the time he was finished, his hands had clawed into fists and he was genuinely annoyed.
“What the hell,” he cursed under his tongue, “Arrogant, full of himself? She’s made me look like a total douche. What is the deal with this woman?”
He tried to recall the evening and no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember it being as bad as she had made it seem like. It was not until he went to read what other people were saying about the article that he truly got upset.
Mike Ferguson had worked very hard in his life to get where he was and the fact that some pompous journalist had the audacity to defame him like so made him beyond past the point of annoyed.
He dialed Cameron’s number. “Get this removed,” he barked into his cell phone as soon as Cameron picked up on the other side.
“We are not going to get it removed, Mike. Everyone has already read it – this is the age of the internet and no one can erase anything once it had been put out there,” Cameron replied.
“But I cannot have her out there like this making me look this total douche,” Mike replied, sounding pissed off.
Cameron was quiet for a moment. “Well, then I guess we have no other option.”
“What do you mean?”
“You need to have a do-over interview with this girl.”
* * * *
In the age of the Internet, the act of going viral was a feat that was heavily cherished in the online journalism community and when Megan had woken up to the news of having her article breaking several thousand hits in just the span of a few hours, there had been no words to describe her joy.
"You're so brilliant," Anne grinned at her friend as she walked into the office for work that morning. "Honestly - who knew that he was such an asshole? I am so glad that you exposed him"
Megan simply grinned in response. She had been a woman of few words that entire morning as she was bombarded with words of congratulations. It would not be unfair to say that she was basking in the attention.
"You're so lucky," Anna continued, "Honestly I would die to have a piece like yours."
"I don't believe in luck," Megan said simply, "it’s all hard work." And with that, she grabbed her purse and decided it would be best if she took a day off to enjoy herself. A gift to herself.
* * * *
When Megan received a call from Mike’s management, she had half a mind to ignore it completely. After all, why did she have to sit around and do fix his public relations for him? All she wanted from him was a story and that he had unwittingly bestowed on her. She knew that the buzz created from this article would be enough to keep her on top of the hierarchy for the coming few weeks at least.
But finally, she succumbed to his incessant phone calls. She saw some of the things that were being said about hi, with so much as the story getting coverage on national news. She began to see how now it was a delicate issue – and maybe some PR control was in order. She knew she was the only person who could help him do so.
And so, another do-over interview was arranged.
This time, Megan did not bother to spend hours in the salon to prepare for her interview in the evening. There was no nervous pacing and no words of encouragement needed from Annie. This time, Megan was doing just fine on her own. She grabbed a pen, her phone to use as a recorder and a curiosity whim and she was ready to go.
She parked up outside his apartment. This time, Mike had wanted the interview to be much more personal and so he had chosen none else than his humble abode to host the interview. Apparently, this was a big deal as he rarely let anyone other than close family and friends anywhere even near the vicinity of his residence.
She rang the doorbell.
“Welcome,” a cheerful Mike greeted her at the door and invited her inside. Megan walked in; surprised by the warmth he was exuding. Completely contrary to how he had behaved the last time they had met.
Megan greeted him with a nod. She resisted the urge to go for a hug – she was still a little peeved about his behavior the last time they met.
“Nice to see that you are not drunk this time at least,” she said casually as he led her into his living area. He laughed and plopped down on one of the couches and gestured for her to do the same.
“Well, I like to party hard and my manager just happened to plan an interview that clashed with that. Happens to the best of us,” he shrugged.
Megan expected him to bring up some form of conversation centered around the interview that she published but it looked like he was genuinely not interested in speaking about this. Seeing this attitude of his, she decided to forget about the subject as well.
“So, do you want to have a look over at some of the questions I have prepared for you?” she asked him.
“That’s really okay. Surprise me.”
“Wow, okay,” Megan couldn’t help herself, “You are a lot more mellowed out when you aren’t drunk.”
This made him laugh. “I am a chill guy,” he shrugged, “the media would know that if they ever asked me any questions of substance in their interviews.”
“Wow, that puts a lot of pressure on a girl,” she replied, now mentally going over the questions she had prepared for him.
“No pressure,” he grinned back at her, “Give me what you got.”
Megan did not fully understand exactly what it was that convinced her but at that point, she made the decision to discard the list of questions she had prepared. Somehow, right now they seemed too generic and bland to be asking him. Instead, she decided to come up with an impromptu list on the spot – candid and not consisting of the usual questions she always asks.
“So, tell me more about you family,” she told him as she cozied up on the side of his sofa. As long as she was here, she might as well make herself comfortable.
“What do you want to know about my family?” he asked and Megan could tell that he was probably taken by surprise by the question.
She shrugged, “Tell me your relationship with them. Growing up, what that was like? Anything, it’s your choice,” she explained.
He bit down his lip in concentration and then a smile spread across his face, “I have enjoyed a close relationship with my family. I was brought up in a house full of females – my father left when I was young and I have 3 sisters. It was a happy time.”
Megan was surprised to hear that, “You think growing
up around that many female influences had any sort of impact on you?” she found herself asking.
“I mean, definitely,” he shrugged, “I respect the women in my life and that is why it bothered me when you penned down that article about me. I really am not like that – yeah, I’m an asshole when I am drunk but I am not a bad guy.”
Megan did not know whether to buy it or not but his words sounded sincere. She nodded. She came up with another question for him and before she knew it, hours had passed. They talked and shared life experiences. It was unlike any interview that she had ever conducted – this guy was sitting here opening up to her in way that most celebrities shun. She felt as though she got exposed to a more vulnerable side to him that she had not been aware of before and it had definitely made him more likable to her.
“Thanks for this,” he told her at the door of his apartment just as she was about to leave.
She laughed and shook her head, “It really was not a problem. Honestly, this interview went better than I expected. I feel like I have enough material here to do an entire spread on you,” she said, looking down at her phone.
“Well I hope they’re good words,” he joked, “but no, I haven’t been this comfortable with an interviewer in ages. You really have some talent there.”
Megan blushed and let out an incoherent jumble of words in response. It was bizarre- she usually had the ability to handle compliments very well so why had she just gotten so flustered in front of him? She cleared her throat.
“Right, I must get back on my way now.”
But even as she retreated from the steps of his front door, she had an odd warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. It seemed that she had started liking this guy a lot more than she had expected to.
Chapter 4
“Did she publish it yet?” Mike asked Cameron the next day. Cameron nodded.
“It’s been doing well,” he said with a impressed face, “Somehow; she made you look like a good person again.”
“These writer types man,” Mike mused, shaking his head, “I tell you – they have the ability to contort reality to their liking.”
“That’s true and that is why you should keep people like that in your good books,” Cameron advised with a knowing raise of the eyebrow.
“Well, you know how it goes,” Mike shrugged and then a smile plastered his lips, “She was definitely interesting though.”
“Stay away from her,” Cameron warned him, “There can be no good in trying to pursue a woman who has the ability to alter your image with one stroke of her pen.”
But Mike just grinned in that way that he always did when he was up to no good. “Hey I never said anything about pursuing her,” he said in his own defense.
“The implication was enough for me to understand what that mind of yours is working up to,” Cameron replied. He knew Mike too well – they had practically grown up together.
“You really need to relax,” he said but in his mind, the gears had already started to roll.
It was not that Mike was interested in pursuing Megan. Hell, he was a lover of beauty and always appreciated a pretty face whenever it came his way but there was something different about Megan. She was interesting – as in, her mind had many ideas that Mike wanted to explore. Also, I only helped that she was also pretty easy on the eyes with her brunette hair and oval face.
Mike shook his head to remove all thoughts of her from his head. Cameron was right – he should not be thinking of pursuing her but then again, the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong has never stopped Mike Ferguson before.
* * * *
In the journalism world, reach was everything. Numbers, statistics, how many shares your article got – that was the new religion. It was a cruel system but right now, it had been forgiving to Megan. The numbers had granted her enough notoriety to be considered relevant enough to be invited out to parties. There was an opening at a nightclub whose invitation she had accepted and brought Annie along.
“This place looks fancy,” Annie noted as they walked in. Megan nodded – she had access to the VIP area and she knew that place would be crawling with big names.
Megan nodded. “You’re right.”
Megan was smart in her social interactions. She knew that in order for her to climb the stairs of success, she had to go out and make connections in parties like these.
“I heard Mike is going to be here,” Annie commented, “He better come up to you with an elaborate thank you,” she laughed.
Megan shook her head, “Please – that is never going to happen.”
Megan was aware that Mike was one of the VIP guests in the list tonight. If she was being honest, he was one of the reasons she had decided to come tonight but she was never going to admit that out loud. Truth was, Megan was fascinated by Mike. Not from his fame or his lifestyle – she had never been the sort of person to get dazed or stars truck but she felt as though there was more to him than what was revealed on the surface.
Years of studying journalism had instilled an acute sense of curiosity within her and when she saw someone like Mike, she was intrigued.
The evening progressed on and while there was no sign of Mike, Megan had for sure made the evening worth her while.
“We need to get you over to the dance floor,” Annie nudged her. Her sequined dress shone under the dim club lights. “Like, right now.”
Megan was pushed over to the middle of the dance floor before she even had the opportunity to respond. But once there, she felt herself immediately fall at ease. The steady mellow of the music relaxed her, along with the alcohol that was now swimming in her system.
Megan danced with whoever she could find willing, letting her body sway to the beat of the music. A guy came up to her and put his hands around her shoulders and she decided to vibe with him for the remainder of the song.
“What’s your name?” she slurred out to him, keeping her mouth close to the stranger’s ear so he could hear her over the loud blare of the music.
“Fred,” he replied back with a cheeky grin. Fred was about to suggest that they ditch the club all together and head over somewhere where they could talk in private when Megan felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, what gives?” Fred shouted, annoyed at the stranger who was stealing his girl but his words fell silent as he saw the person who had interrupted them.
“Mike!” Megan called out, seeming surprised at his sudden apparition.
“Oh, so it is actually you!” Mike called out and nodded to the side, “I thought I saw a glimpse of you – came here especially to check. What are you doing here?”
Megan shrugged, “You know – you and me run in the same circles now. You were bound to run into me one of these days,” she laughed. She decided to keep the part where she only accepted this invite because she knew he was going to be there to herself.
“Well, I am glad it was sooner than later,” he said and held out his hand for her, “Care to dance?”
She grinned and took his hand in hers, “Who am I to refuse?”
The song playing in the background did not match the dance they were performing but it did not seem to matter to the either of them. They both belted out their ridiculous moves and laughed.
“That was really fun,” Megan told him as she stumbled forward in front of him. He promptly slipped an arm around her waist to help steady her and grinned.
“We both really don’t know how to dance, do we?”
“I don’t care – I’m too drunk,” she grinned back.
Suddenly, an idea popped up in Mike’s head and he grabbed her tighter by the waist. “Hey, you want to leave this place and go for a drive with me?”
Megan was nodding before she even considered thinking about it properly. “I would love to!”
They slid past through the backdoor and avoided the rush of people on the front. He opened the door for her and she slid into his car.
He started to drive. “I’m so glad we are out of there,” Mike admitted,
keeping his eyes on the road.
Megan laughed, “Me too. I don’t know if it’s just a case of me getting older or what, but the club scene just loses its charm after a little while.”
“Mhm, but a good party is essential every now and then,” Mike remarked casually as he took a turn. “Where do you want to go?”
Megan shrugged, “Honestly, I don’t really care. Can we just cruise?”
“I like that idea,” Mike grinned, “So that new article you wrote – it’s been getting a lot of traction.”
“So you’ve been keeping up,” Megan replied, “I thought I remembered you telling me that you do not pay attention to what’s been published about you.”
“I don’t – but I guess you can say I liked the last one,” he shot her a look but she did not catch it in the darkness of the car in the night time. Street lights blurred past besides them.
“I’m so validated,” her reply came out sounding more sarcastically than she had imagined.
“No I am being honest,” he said suddenly, “I have given a lot of interviews over the course of my career but that one had to be one of the better ones. I think people are seeing that, too. You are one of the most capable journalists out there right now, if I do say so myself.”
“Well, thanks,” Megan replied. She did not feel tongue-tied but she also did not know what the appropriate response would be. Modesty was a virtue.
Mike noticed the sudden comfortableness, “Hey, it’s a compliment and you definitely deserve it.”
Megan laughed at her own awkwardness, “I know – no, thank you. I’m just not really used to getting feedback like this from big sport celebrities like you. I need a moment to sink it in.”
Mike laughed in response, “But hey – how come you never even asked me one of the most common questions?”
“What?” Megan was suddenly racking her brain for what she had possibly missed.
“The infamous ‘are you single?’”
“Well, are you?” Megan asked him, turning over to face him properly and raising her eyebrow ever so slightly.
Romance: Seducing The Quarterback Page 8