Page 67 of Bride Games
67
P aige hung the orange satin gown with the sexy hot pink cutout in her closet, which Nigel had already steamed and put in a clear bag. She set out ivory heels and an ivory clutch for the wedding, and took a deep breath. I can finally relax now that Marie’s gone. Paige stepped into her kitchen and made an open-faced egg salad sandwich topped with avocado slices. No chips. Just seltzer water. I don’t want to be bloated tomorrow.
She sat on the couch, head spinning, as she recounted the past few crazy weeks, especially how it had all unraveled—and by chance . Still jittery after the urgency with Marie’s dismissal, the podcast confession, and editing part of her wedding story, Paige stepped back into the kitchen. Maybe one glass of wine won’t hurt. I should celebrate this hard-fought victory. As she poured chardonnay in a wineglass, her cellphone rang. Staring at the screen, Paige could see that it was her boss. “Hello, Mr. Hales. I hope you’re enjoying sunshine and clear skies.” She paused. “I assume you’ve heard the news.”
“Thanks, Paige. This has been a once-in-a-lifetime trip. And, yes, I heard from Human Resources. I wanted to let you know that you handled Marie Fallon’s firing perfectly. I’m shocked and appalled that she was behind all of this. I don’t understand social media like younger folks, especially hashtags. But from what I hear, negative trending hashtags are bad. Really bad. I didn’t have any idea someone could make them up and pay people to post them. Er, what are they called?”
“Influencers,” Paige supplied.
“That’s the term. That’s unethical in my view. I didn’t know anyone could pay influencers to write lies about someone in a public online forum.”
Paige snorted. “Oh, yeah. Unfortunately, it’s a big problem for many, especially celebrities, athletes, and politicians.” Paige stared at the ceiling with relief. “Thanks boss. That means a lot. I had a list of possible suspects. Marie was on my list but she wasn’t at the top. It shocked me as well.” Paige took a sip of her wine for fortitude before asking, “Does this mean I’m going back on the road with Zach to cover games?
“You bet it does and”—Mr. Hales laughed—“something tells me the station doesn’t need to waste any more money on two hotel rooms.”
“Uh…oh, my goodness. Busted, I guess.” Paige felt her cheeks redden. “Is it that obvious? Yes, boss, Zach and I are dating, but we’ll always, always keep it professional. I hope it isn’t a problem.”
“That’s all I could ask for—professionalism at games and at the station. No kissing in the hallways, okay?” Mr. Hales chuckled. “Honestly, it’s not a problem on my end. You two are the real deal.”
“Thank you. What a relief to get that out in the open. While I have you on the phone, I have a scoop on a local community relations story that you’re going to love. Our viewers will eat it up.”
“Great. Give me a short synopsis. My wife is already waiting at the captain’s table.”
“In a nutshell, my best friend, Emma, is marrying her daughter’s former kindergarten teacher. They’re getting married at the school where they met. Her daughter still attends the school, and Eli is one of the school’s teachers. I met with the principal and several teachers at Appledale Elementary to hear about their wedding projects. All of the teachers and students have embraced this wholeheartedly. It’s going to be fabulous. They’re handling decorations and food. They’ve even included wedding projects in their curriculum for art, career day, history, and math. It’s going to be charming and historic.”
“Great job, Paige. That’ll be a heartwarming story. Before we hang up, let me say, I clearly misread Marie Fallon. I have a feeling you had her pegged all along. I feel partially responsible since I hired her and pulled you off the field. That’s on me. I apologize. It won’t happen again. You’re a star. Tell everyone at ATV 10 I said hello.”
When they hung up, Paige shouted, “Yes!” in her living room and did a fist bump. Take that Marie. Now, I can focus on Emma’s wedding tomorrow and get back to doing what I love. Zach won’t believe this.