The Other Side of the Coin
Copyright© 2023 by The Story Teller
Chapter 6
Jenifer Marsh was furious. A recent graduate of a journalism school, she had slaved away on the newspaper at a low-paying intern position for the last six months, hoping to secure full-time employment. Then, just before the probation period was ending, the editor gave her, her walking papers.
As she angrily cleaned out her desk, throwing everything haphazardly into a garbage bag, she spotted her notebook. The one she used to record her findings regarding her investigation of a rare coin dealer. She had started investigating Nick James on her own after becoming suspicious of his coin sales. She had planned to inform her editor of her findings as soon as she had discovered enough to create a sensational news story, but getting fired changed her attitude.
“To hell with the editor,” she mumbled. “After the way he pulled the rug out from underneath me, there’s no way I’m going to let him know what I discovered about Nick James. I think he’s as phony as some of his precious coins, and as soon as I check out a few more things, to get the proof I need, I’m going to expose him with a blockbuster story on my blog,” Jennifer cursed,
She stuffed the notebook into her bag as the editor watched her every move.
“I guess that’s all,” she announced. Ed Stephens wasChapter a tall, skinny guy who wore a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves. His bow tie matched the color of his red suspenders that held up his suit pants.
“Remember, anything you were working on at the time of your dismissal belongs to the newspaper. You aren’t trying to leave with company property, are you?”
Jennifer was glad she had used her own notebook for her research on Nick James. “No. I’m only taking my personal stuff.” She pointed to the scribbler on the corner of the desk that had a Journal logo. “There’s the notebook I used when I worked for you.”
Stephens seized the notebook like it held something worth while, only it didn’t. The important stuff was in her personal notebook. He thumbed through the Journal notebook and suddenly seemed apologetic.
“Look Jennifer. I knew you were hoping for a permanent position, and your work was good, so you deserved a chance, but I can’t swing it. My budget wouldn’t allow it, and besides, my orders to cut costs came from the bosses above me, so there’s nothing I could do about it.” The editor held out his hand, acting as if he wanted a goodbye shake.
Jennifer ignored it, and faced him with blazing eyes. “If you knew it wasn’t going to happen, why did you lead me on. You could’ve told me months ago, but you just wanted some cheap help.”
Before the editor had a chance to reply, she swung her knapsack over her shoulders, grabbed the half-full garbage bag, and marched out of the newspaper’s offices. As she stuffed her belongings into the back of her hatchback she vowed she would get even with Stephens by embarrassing him with a scoop on Nick James.
It wasn’t until she was ensconced in her usual seat at Momma’s Kitchen that she broke down. Thankfully, the seat was located in the rear booth of the restaurant, so only the owner saw her tears.
Margaret Tait was short, plump with a heart of gold. Her restaurant was right around the corner from Jennifer’s apartment, so she became a regular customer during her internship with The Journal, and Margaret had taken a liking to her. She even went so far as to designate the rear booth as Jennifer’s, allowing her to sit there for hours drinking coffee while studying her notes and writing news stories on her lap top.
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