A New Life in Lawrenceville

Chapter 15

I went to the office the next day at an early hour. My reason being I wanted to avoid Carla after that rather awkward visit. I snuck inside my office and turned on the lights by my desk. As I was about to plant myself in my chair at the desk, a knock came at the door. I hesitated to answer because of the possibility of it being Carla. Of course, with my lights on and my car parked out front, I couldn't very well pretend to not be here.

The knocking continued and a voice called out, "Albert."

I realized it was Miller, so I let him inside. "Hey Miller," I said, "Sorry to keep you waiting. I was still setting up for work this morning."

Miller eyed me with some suspicion. "It's pretty early for you," he said slowly, "but I guess it is to be expected from my star reporter."

I nodded my head and thanked him. "What brings you by sir?" I asked.

Miller sat on top of my desk. "I wanted to pick your brain about something," he said.

I chuckled and replied, "Pick away sir."

Miller looked rather serious. "I seem to be in a no-win situation when it comes to picking someone to run the politics section," he explained, "If I pick Carla, Josh will be upset. If I pick Josh, Carla will be upset. If I divide it between the two of them, they will fight for control over it. If I hire someone new, they will both be mad and may try to sabotage the new person."

"It certainly sounds like a complicated scenario," I said.

"You have a lot of experience reporting and you have worked with both of them. Who do you think would be the best pick?" Miller asked.

I thought for a moment and remembered that time Miller had to choose between Carla's article and mine. Miller is one of those people that never likes to deal with anything negative. He always wants to keep everything positive all the time and avoid conflict by any means necessary. This makes him a nice guy to hang out with, but a not-so-great boss when you need him to make a controversial decision. Hence, why he is trying to put it off on me.

"It is a tough choice. They both have skills and experience that would be useful in that position," I said carefully, "I would like to have some time to think it over before giving you my thoughts."

Miller nodded with approval. "That is perfectly fine, but let me know as soon as you can," he said, "Your counsel is vital to my decision."

Miller got up and set a folder down on my desk. "Here is your next assignment by the way," he said as he got up and walked out the door.

"Have a good day sir," I said.

"You too," he replied warily.

I breathed a heavy sigh as he left. I didn't really like being inserted into the middle of this situation. Especially, since things are rather complicated right now between me and Carla. A few minutes later, there was another knock on the door. I rolled my eyes and wondered what fresh hell this could be. On the other side of the door stood a bearded rabbi.

I did a double take. "Hello," I said, "Can I help you?"

The rabbi removed the beard and other latex applications from his face to reveal himself to be Josh. "Hey Albert," he said, "How are things going this morning?"

I was taken aback. The disguise was quite effective. I responded, "It's going well. What is with the getup?"

Josh responded, "I was investigating a rumor that the local rabbi secretly eats ham."

"Why would that be news?" I asked.

"It goes against a traditional Jewish kosher diet," Josh said, "Which is why it is news. It makes the rabbi a hypocrite."

"I hardly think that many people would care about such a minor scandal," I replied.

"I know," he said reluctantly, "There hasn't been any juicy gossip to write about in a while. I miss the good old days when there were bountiful amounts of cheating spouses, unexpected pregnancies, and people in the closet. Times have changed though."

"How so?" I asked.

"For one thing, a lot of stuff that used to be scandalous isn't a big deal anymore," Josh explained, "You're gay? Good for you. You're pregnant out of wedlock? You're a strong independent woman. You're getting divorced? Join the club."

"I see," I replied.

"Not to mention a lot of people are turning against gossip rags in general," he explained.

"It's almost like they are trashy and hurtful," I reply sarcastically.

"Ha ha," Josh replied annoyed, "Anyway. That is a big part of why I want to go into the business of writing on politics. There is always someone doing something scandalous over there. Besides, nobody can dig up dirt like me."

Sensing what Josh really wanted, I said, "So you eavesdropped on my conversation with Miller and wanted to convince me to encourage him to pick you."

"Nothing gets by you," Josh said.

"You make a compelling case, and I will certainly think on it," I replied.

Josh handed me a couple of photographs. "Maybe this will help you clinch the decision for me," he said.

The first photograph was Carla arriving at my apartment building with wine and donuts. The second one was me escorting her to a cab. I felt my face start to get hot. "Is this an attempt at blackmail?" I asked.

"Maybe," he said, "It shows how good I am at getting dirt. Word on the street is you and Misty are kind of sweet on each other. Will see if she still likes you when she realizes you and Carla had a little thing last night."

"I didn't do anything but talk with Carla while she got drunk," I said.

"Perhaps, but pictures can be interpreted a lot more ways than you can expect," Josh explained, "It's one of the tricks of the trade in the gossip business. It doesn't matter what you did, but what it looks like you did."

"Thank you for making the decision clear for me," I said.

I picked up my phone and called Miller in front of him. "Hey Miller," I said, "I just wanted to let you know Josh is attempting to blackmail me with ambiguous photographs and trying to get me to influence your decision in his favor. I thought you should know."

Josh stood there for a moment with his mouth hanging open. I hung up the phone as he stormed out of my office.