I give Viv and the crew the first night off. It’s customary, at least for me, to let them settle in and get a feel for the town. I spend the afternoon and early evening calling contacts, shoring up the schedule, and generally prepping for the coming work.

Trace, Miller, and Bill all head out to a local watering hole to get a feel for things. At least that’s what they tell me, since technically WBN will be paying. I know they’re actually just going to get fucking hammered and tell stupid war stories all night, but that’s fine by me.

I want my crew happy and bonded. I wish Viv went with them, but I can’t force her to go. Instead, she stays in her room all night. I knock on her door at around eight and invite her to dinner, but she declines, citing some bullshit excuse. I don’t press and end up eating alone in my room watching old reruns of Chopped.

The next morning, we’re up nice and early. The boys are moving slowly, but Viv is already downstairs, dressed and prepped by seven, sipping on awful hotel coffee.

“What’s on the schedule for today?” she asks as I approach her. She’s wearing a simple gray dress with some jewelry for flair. She looks understated and professional, but still fucking gorgeous. And she knows exactly what’s up for today.

“You’re meeting with Doctor Sawyer,” I say. “Addiction Specialist at Sellersville General.”

“Right,” she says, nodding. “Questions all prepped?”

I nod and pull a paper from my binder. “Here you go. Feel free to wander off script if the interview’s going well.”

“What do you expect from this?” she asks as I sit down across from her.

I shrug. “Honestly, not much. They’ll give us some nice general filler, but you never get good stuff from the professionals. They don’t want to risk their career by possibly saying something worth saying.”

She smiles at me and cocks her head. “Is that coming from experience?”

I grin back at her. “Sure is.”

Trace and Miller appear and sit down, obviously hungover. “Bill’s outside,” Trace says.

“Why?” I ask him.

“Puking in the bushes.”

I groan and stand up, checking my watch. “Come on, let’s get going. Bill better get his shit together.”

“Always does,” Trace says.

We head outside and Viv falls into step beside me. “Bill’s puking?” she asks softly.

“Drinks too much, but he’s solid,” I say back. “Don’t worry.”

She gives me a tight nod and seems reassured. Truth is, I’ve never heard of Bill puking in the bushes before, which worries me a bit.

We find Bill standing next to the van, smoking a cigarette.

“You good, man?” Trace calls out.

He gives us the thumbs up. “Fucking moonshine,” he says. “Don’t drink fucking moonshine.”

He looks puffy and tired, but otherwise okay. “Good advice,” I say. “Let’s roll out.”

We get into the van and head out to the hospital. The guys in the back are surprisingly quiet, probably because Bill is trying his hardest not to puke again and Miller doesn’t talk much anyway. Viv is busy going over her notes, which is good, so I just concentrate on driving.

We get there pretty fast and reception shows up to the doctor’s office on the fifth floor. The guys get to work, setting up lighting and mic’ing up the doctor while I prep her for the interview. Meanwhile, Viv is quietly going over her notes, giving me only a tight smile when I ask how she’s doing.

I can tell she’s nervous, and that’s fine. I can’t blame her. This is the first interview she’s doing for WBN and while it’s basically a layup, she’s still uncertain. I do everything I can to help her get set up, and when things are ready, we get the cameras into position, and we get started.

“Okay, Dr. Sawyer,” Vivian says once we’re rolling. “We’ll start with some simple questions about you and your practice, if that’s okay?”

“Of course,” Sawyer says, smiling. “Please, call me Linda.”

“Okay Linda. How long have you been practicing medicine?”

I have to admit, I’m impressed. As soon as it’s time to perform, Vivian is all business. Gone is the nervous girl not wanting to speak, and in her place is the consummate professional. I was a little worried that she might be tongue-tied or too nervous to really get a good interview out of the doctor, but she’s falling into stride like a professional runner.

Viv knows she likely isn’t going to appear on screen in the final piece, but she comports herself like she’s going to be. I didn’t expect that, to be honest. She’s going to be the voice that guides the viewer, but we’ll likely never actually see her. She’s just meant to guide the narrative behind the scenes, and then we’ll stitch it all together in post.

But she’s taking control of the interview and leading Dr. Sawyer exactly where she wants her to go. Usually doctors and professionals like to fall into jargon terms and to hide their real opinions behind science or long strings of facts, but Viv is doing an exceptional job at teasing out the meaning behind that Sawyer is trying to say.

I’m reminded all over again of how impressive Vivian really is. I mean, I knew she was smart and capable, but actually seeing it in person… it reminds me of how things used to be.

I was always in awe of her back then. Top of our class, sharp as a fucking tack, she ran circles around everyone with pretty much no effort. I’m smart, don’t get me wrong, but she makes me look downright dim compared to her sometimes, and it’s something I’ve always loved about her. But she’s humble, never wanted to make people feel stupid, never wanted to brag. She inspired me though, always made me want to be better.

She’s why I got into journalism. I can’t recall what made her want to do it in the first place, but that was her dream, ever since we were kids. When I got to college at Michigan, buried in student loans and struggling just to get by, I decided to go into journalism, too. I knew that if Viv thought it was important then I should too.

Slowly, I fell in love with it, and the rest is history. But originally, I was drawn to journalism because I knew she loved it, and I knew she was studying it.

Maybe that’s odd, to devote your life to something because an ex-girlfriend thought it was a good idea. But I’ve always held onto Viv, never wanted to let her go in the first place, and getting into journalism was a way to feel close to her again.

And look how far she’s come. I catch glimpses of the girl she used to be in the way she twirls her hair when she’s nervous or stressed, in some of her little speaking habits, in the way she bites her lower lip when she’s thinking. But she’s also a woman now, strong and capable, and I can’t help but find it attractive as hell.

The interview finishes, and I’m totally blown away. It went so much better than I could have possibly guessed. The guys pack up their stuff, having done their jobs just like I knew they would, despite the hangovers. We thank the doctor and load the van back up in the parking garage.

“You guys should go grab something to eat,” I say once we’re finished. “I’ll hang back and take a look at the footage.”

“Roger that, boss,” Trace says. “What are you guys thinking? Some greasy ass burgers?”

“Yes,” Bill says seriously. “Greasier the better. Gotta line my stomach for that moonshine.”

I give him a look. “Didn’t you say you don’t want to drink that stuff again?”

He grins and shrugs. “That was hours ago. I’m feeling like a new man.”

I groan. “Trace, don’t let him get too drunk.”

“You got it,” he says and the guys start to head out.

Miller pauses as they’re leaving. “He’ll be fine,” he says to me. “I’ll make sure.”

I nod to him. “Thanks, Miller.”

He nods back and hurries to catch up with them. I sigh, shaking my head. I know I don’t really have to worry, but they can drive me crazy sometimes. I worked with Bill in Afghanistan, and he was the most reliable man I knew out there, but he has a partying streak to him, and sometimes he can’t turn it off, despite being older.

I turn back to the van and spot Viv leaning up against it. “Not going with them?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “I want to see the footage.”

I grin at her. “First time’s always the hardest.”

“That wasn’t my first interview,” she points out.

“Still. First time in front of a new crew. Always a little awkward.”

“Yeah,” she admits, a little grudgingly.

I grab my laptop out of the back and hook it up to the camera. “You did good though,” I say to her. “Seriously, you did really good. I was impressed.”

She cracks a little smile. “Thanks.”

“Really. There’s a reason Greg hired you, you know.”

“Oh yeah?” She cocks her head as I pull up the footage.

“Yeah. He’s got a good eye for talent, gotta give him that.”

“Of course he does. He hired you, after all.”

I grin at her and she nudges me with her shoulder. We both laugh as I pull up her interview and we go through it together.

There’s not much to say. There are a few tiny things I critique, and she takes it in stride. She suggests some editing spots, but overall it’s really clean and straightforward. Once we’re done, I shut the laptop and we sit on the edge of the back of the van together.

“How’d you end up doing this?” she asks me, breaking the comfortable silence.

“What, working for WBN?”

“No, I mean, producing in general.”

I shrug a little. “Did journalism at Michigan. I was interested in the TV side though so I took a bunch of production courses, ended up getting a minor and a bunch of certificates, which I guess is what lead me here.”

“I didn’t know you were into it,” she admits. “You weren’t back then, at least. Did you ever read?”

I laugh and shrug a little. “I read descriptions of movies. Does that count?”

“Nope,” she says.

“Guess I came to it late. I mean, I’m not a writer.”

“Explains the production.” She grins at me and I know she’s joking around.

“You’re right though,” I say. “I can’t do what you do. Guess that’s why we’re such a good team.”

“Are we a good team? I thought I was doing all the hard work.”

I laugh and hop down off the van. “Hardly. You asked a few questions and didn’t fall off your chair. I’m the backbone of this operation.”

“Oh, is that what I do?” She quirks an eyebrow at me, but she’s smiling.

“You have to look pretty while you do it too, of course,” I say.

She hops off the back and smacks my arm. “Be professional,” she says, but I just laugh. She used to hit me like that all the time back in the day.

“I’m very professional. Just telling it like it is.”

She hesitates. “I looked good though, right?”

I grin at her. “You looked fucking great. You’re really all grown up.”

“Thanks,” she says, looking away, but I can tell she’s blushing.

The guys come back, fortunately sober. We all climb into the van and head back to the hotel. I have some editing work to do, and the guys’ll get another night off to go partying.

In the morning though, we have more work. I just hope I can stop thinking about Vivian in that hot little dress long enough to concentrate on what I have to do.