Penny
It’s already 9 pm, but my mother’s still in her office. I can see that the lights are still on, their orange glow showing under the door; I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to catch her in her office, but it turns out I was right about her whereabouts.
After Magnus’ impromptu conference on City Hall’s steps, we left in a hurry and rushed toward One57 in his limo. We made it out all the way, and it took only half a minute for him to rip my dress apart once we were inside his apartment. He was in a celebratory mood and, I’ll admit, so was I.
We fucked until our bodies were drenched in sweat, and then we fucked some more. We did it until our muscles grew cramped, and only then did we allow exhaustion to finally take over us both. Afterward, I lay naked in bed by Magnus’ side, fully knowing that, sooner or later, I’d have to face my mother.
My job was a simple one: to destroy Magnus Davion and make sure that the Equinox deal never came into fruition. I managed to do just the opposite. Despite not agreeing with my mother, there’s no other way to say it: she misplaced her trust in me and paid the price for it.
I got dressed and, despite Magnus’ insistence for me to spend the night, I got out of One57 and grabbed a taxi. I tried to call my mother several times, but she never picked up; as such, I decided to head for the Daily Journal’s office. After Laurel Trask lost her battle with Magnus, I figured my mother would be hiding in her office, fuming about everything that happened.
And that’s where I am now, slowly making my way across the long rows of empty desks. Most of the staff has already gone home by now, and only a few unlucky souls remain in their desks, hunched over their laptops. They barely notice me walking in, and I make my way toward the Editor in Chief office with a knot in my stomach. I knock once, and then twice, but no answer comes.
Not willing to give up this easily, I open the door and step inside. My mother’s sitting by her desk, reading glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, and she doesn’t even raise her eyes from the documents she’s reading as I enter her office.
“I’m busy. I don’t want to be disturbed right now, so --”
“Mom, it’s me,” I say, and she finally raises her eyes to look at me. With careful movements, she takes her reading glasses off her nose and places them on top of the folders she was reading.
“What are you doing here, Penny?” she says, almost too casually. Breathing hard, I close the door behind me, walk toward the desk, and sit across her.
“I came to… apologize,” I whisper softly, waiting to see a look of sadness and disappointment creep up on my mother’s face. That doesn’t happen, though. She just looks at me with a blank expression, waiting. “I know we don’t agree on a lot of things, but I know that you didn’t want it to end like this, with Magnus getting the Equinox contract. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she whispers back at me, and then a faint smile takes over her lips. “You’ve played your part, Penny. Maybe you couldn’t see the whole chessboard in front of you, but you did everything you were supposed to.”
“I… I don’t understand,” I start, and my mother’s smile widens even more.
“You don’t need to understand. Your job is almost done, Penny. There’s one last thing for you to do, and then this is all going to be over,” she continues, her voice strangely calm. This isn’t how I envisioned things would go. I expected a shouting match, a mother and daughter fight for the ages… and all I get is her quizzical smile and confusing words. What the hell’s going on?
“What…?” I ask her, and she picks up a sheet of paper from her stack of documents and slides it across the desk.
“This is a draft. It’s the only weapon left that we have against Magnus. I want you to write this column and own up to what’s in there. And then this whole thing will be over. I promise you. It might not be easy, but Laurel Trask is on our side… And she’ll look after you.”
Not understanding a word of what my mother’s saying, I grab the sheet of paper in front of me, and I feel my blood freezing in my veins as I start reading through the document. It’s a Gossip Central rough draft, and what’s in there is so vile I feel nauseous right now.
“What the hell is this?” I ask, anger turning my voice bold. “Are you insane?”
“I’m not insane,” she responds calmly, as if my answer wasn’t a rhetorical one. “Rewrite that draft in your own words, and publish it under your name. You always said you wanted to be a journalist, it’s time for you to become a real one.”
“Journalist?” I crumple the paper harshly, turning it into a rough white ball, and throwing it on top of the desk. “These are lies! You don’t care about the truth… You just care about… I don’t even know what you care about, mom! I don’t even know you anymore.” I stare her down for a few tense seconds, and then I give her my obvious reply to her request. “I’m not doing this.”
“You have to, Penny. Or else you might find yourself out of a job.” Her words feel like a precise jab to my stomach, but I recover from it in a heartbeat. A threat? I know exactly where she can shove these threats of hers.
Without a word, I get up from my seat and start making my way out of her office. I open the door and, just before leaving, look back at her from over my shoulder.
“Guess I’m out of a job then,” I say, and then slam the door behind me.