Chapter 5
Lena
“I understand.”
“Can I expect to see different content, clickable content, by the end of this week, Ms. Dillain?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, until I see solid evidence or something juicy that other reporters aren’t speaking on, I need you to drop this. I like you. I see your potential, which is why you are still getting a check this time. Next time you will have wasted your own time and resources.”
“Can you offer me a few examples of what you consider clickable content?”
“You live in a city of national and international figures. You are an investigative journalist. Investigate.”
“Okay, so like, what salons are they using, most recent affairs? Is that what I’m aiming for.”
Lena’s distaste was palpable.
“Now you’re cookin’ with gas! Perfect.”
The woman tossed an unopened envelope to slide over the surface between them at the other side of the desk.
“Thank you for the clarification. I feel like I’ve been tossing stones into an ocean lately.”
Lena reached for the envelope.
“You’re welcome kiddo, that’s all a part of the job. Stop aiming at minnows. Shoot for the sharks.”
She winked. “Alright, that’s all. I have my next meeting in less than five minutes. I’ll expect new, fresh content on my desk before the end of day Friday.”
“And you’ll have it.” Lena stood up to leave. “The last thing, let’s say I come across something interesting and easy to identify with on, on a human level? Like ten traits likely to be portrayed by figures in power?”
“If you can get my attention, I’m sure you’ll have the readers by the drawstrings, write like your only audience is me, darling, you will figure it out.”
Lena shut the glazed office door behind her, stuffing in earbuds as she went. She closed her eyes, disappearing into the soundscape pouring in to comfort her and drown out the noisy office ambiance.
She opened her eyes. The busybodies now fluttered from cube to copier to cube, to the sound of birds, running water pouring through rocky alcoves, and light classical piano. Much better. She smiled, observing the space with more benevolence as she passed through.
It was a beautiful day to be nosy. Nothing could dampen the mood, not even digging through strangers’ trash. Lena smiled, deciding to collect her bearings in the only way she knew how. People-watching in Central City Park. The crowning jewel of the Emerald City in her book. It had always been a sanctuary, and today she felt the need to apologize and make amends with her younger self over the direction their writing career had taken.
The walk sign chimed and turned from a little red hand to a walking stick figure, and she, along with the herd surrounding, moved to obey.
Everything is more pleasant when you can’t hear the noise. Lena smiled at the thought.
It was true. At one point, Lena had imagined sticking in earbuds and watching her superior’s lips move. She could pretend her boss was congratulating her on an excellent breakthrough piece.
Thank you, Lena, for bringing to light the fundamental flaws in current movements and revealing the irony between what they proclaimed to do and what they really do.
The crowd around her disbursed as she continued forward, and each spun off to their pods. The suits and pin-skirts steered toward the open mouths of glamorous massive glass and steel giants. While the blue collars and nametagged shuffled busily into the back alley entrances, ready to maintain the bones and structures without pomp and circumstance.
Lena scratched the idea. No one wants to read about that. She pulled open her phone and switched to the next track—an upbeat oldie, but goody that reminded her of home.
The final turn in the sidewalk revealed a vast open space full of trees and greenery. Brass and concrete memorials poked through the natural wonder to remind the contents of the city of the roots they’d stemmed from.
Lena kicked off her shoes and strode over the final stretch of grass, pulling a bud out as she went to listen to the birds and happy sounds of children at play.
The grass was cool and refreshing under her feet. The ambiance doubled as a backdrop as a million play sessions from home fluttered through her memory.
Lena closed her eyes and took a deep breath as June Lea came to mind. Their days of bike riding and paddling over the local lake. A sting of old pain shot through her. I miss you. She breathed out.
The sun was hot. No clouds offered to come between her and it, so she set her sights on a grove of trees on the far hill from where she stood. It was the perfect place to observe without being observed. She smiled and made a beeline toward it.
What can I possibly find on these public figures that their loyal followers haven’t already seen or received leads over?
The question echoed through her coming back void. She set her backpack down in the shade and proceeded to unpack its contents.
Is this what my craft has become? Why doesn’t anyone care about anything real?
The follow-up questions poured in, delivering a punch of frustration that scattered her pens across the green. She watched her oval pencil sharpener tumble down the slope in the grassy knoll.
She imagined it would feel a lot like she did if it had an ounce of consciousness attached. Displaced and left to tumble, only it had something invested in it staying attached. The comparison sparked hope. Maybe she did too. Perhaps that’s why she’d made it this far while others who’d walked with her to specific points hadn’t. Even though they seemed more likely to succeed than she did, maybe that was the point because they were gone, and she, well, she was still here. That had to mean something.
“I think you dropped this thingy.” The melodic voice jolted Lena from her thoughts.
“Oh, yes, that’s mine.” Lena blinked back in surprise as she took in the stranger holding the sharpener out to her. The slender girl smiled and extended the item, dropping it into Lena’s open hand before she turned and walked toward the trees shading them.
How curious. Lena watched the stranger disappear through the bushes. Something about her caught the young reporter’s attention, and she wasn’t sure if it was the oversized teeshirt that seemed to act as a dress over her frame or the fact that she, too, had been barefoot. Maybe it was her deep emerald eyes that seemed too large for her face or the fact that her sunken cheeks didn’t seem to have housed a good meal in long enough to make her seem homeless? No way.
She lept to her feet, determined to thank the kind stranger for helping her to pick up her mess.
“Miss?!” She called as she launched through the underbrush. “Um, Miss?” The grove was shaded and relaxed. The moment she entered in, it was apparent the arena was lived in. no way. The thought echoed again.
“Yes?” The voice returned softly. The little sprite had leaned against the tree with a soiled and torn notebook in her hands.
Lena took in the well-kept clearing. A crate full of odds and ends rested near an especially knarled tree at the far end. A discrete firepit lay hidden under broken tree limbs. Her eyes came to rest on the girl once again, her heart throbbing with newfound concern.
Lena took a few steps closer. “Is… is this your home?”
The girls’ eyes widened. “I, I know I’m not supposed to.” She stammered. “Please don’t tell on me. I know I’m not supposed to be here but. I, I have nowhere else to go. They took my friend, and he was the only one who. Who understood.” She burst into tears.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Lena cooed, rushing to her side. “I’m not going to tell anyone! You are safe, I mean, safe as you can be. Are you living out here by yourself?”
The girl sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of a hand. “Yes, I didn’t use to, but I do now.”
Lena reached out and placed her hand comfortingly on the surprisingly warm shoulder of her new acquaintance.
“Do, do you have family in the city? Anyone I can call?” Lena pulled out her phone readily.
The girl sniffled and shook her head. “Not that I know of.” Her eyes started to water again.
Without a second thought, Lena stuck out her hand. “My name is Lena.” She smiled warmly.
“I’m Beatrice.” Her smile lit up the grove.
“Have you had anything to eat today?” Lena asked. Beatrice shook her head.
“Can I take you to lunch?” Lena offered. Her new acquaintance smiled so vibrantly it blasted through the shaded arena. She nodded.
“Thank you. You are the first person who seems to have seen me since I returned to the park. I was starting to wonder if I was invisible out there.”
Every word she spoke impacted. Lena’s curiosity shot skyward. “wonderful! I know this little place I love just down the street from my apartment.” She hesitated, looking down at the girls’ dirty feet.
“They require shoes, I’m afraid. Do you have any?”
Her new friends’ cheeks turned red. She shook her head. “This is all I have. The police gave me some jeans, but I didn’t like them, so I gave them away.”
The police. Lena pondered. She was hooked. Her inner writer was determined to get to the bottom of this story. All she and her boss had spoken of earlier flew from the window.
“I have more clothes than I know what to do with. We seem to be similar in size, can I offer you something fresh to wear? If you don’t like them, you only have to wear them to lunch.”
“Thank you so much for your kindness and to think all I did was hand you your thing-a-ma-bob.” Her eyes welled over with tears.
Lena laughed. She was already attached to this little sprite. “Come with me!”
She offered Beatrice a hand which she accepted readily. When they met, a shock pulsated and shook Lena’s entire body. She blinked back in surprise, searching Beatrices’ expression, but her new friend’s face betrayed nothing. It was as if she’d felt nothing as she rose to her feet with help.
Maybe it was nothing.
Together they made their way from the shaded grove and into the bright noon sun.
To Be Continued…