Obsession Falls (The Haven Brothers #1)

The office was wide open with several desks placed at haphazard angles. A closed door at the back had a nameplate that said Editor and another in the corner was a restroom. The opposite corner housed a kitchenette, with a mini-fridge and a coffee maker on the counter. Framed copies of the Tribune decorated the walls and most of them were slightly crooked.

A woman with a gray pixie cut looked up from her laptop and smiled. She was the only other person in the office. One desk was completely empty and, although the other one had a desktop computer and a few odds and ends, no one was sitting there.

“Hi.” She stood. “You must be Audrey. I’m Sandra O’Neal.”

“Yes, hi.” I walked in with my hand outstretched. “Audrey Young.”

Sandra took my hand and shook. She was dressed in a black shirt and khakis—more casual than what I was wearing, so I was glad I hadn’t opted for a suit jacket.

“Nice to meet you. Lou’s in his office.” She gestured to one of the desks. “Ledger, the useless intern, sits there. He’s not here yet, obviously.”

“I’m sorry, did you sayuselessintern?”

“Don’t worry, I call him that to his face.” She pointed to the empty desk. “You can have that one. Unless you like Ledger’s better. We could move his stuff, he probably wouldn’t even notice.”

“Oh, no, this is fine.”

“Great.” Her smile faded as she turned her attention to Lou’s office and raised her voice. “Lou! The new girl’s here.”

She paused, as if listening, but I didn’t hear a reply.

“I’m sure he’ll be out in a minute. You can get settled. I’d show you around, but there’s not much to show. We’re a pretty small operation. Do you have your own laptop?” She glanced around. “We probably have an extra one around here somewhere but if we do, it’s a piece of garbage. I recommend using your own.”

“I have my own.” I put my bag down on the empty metal desk. It had seen better days. The bottom drawer was dented—I doubted it would open—and there were rust-ringed dings on the legs.

But it was fine. I was here for a paycheck, not for luxurious surroundings.

The front door opened and a lanky guy with a brown mullet and an attempt at a mustache came in. He wore a faded Led Zeppelin t-shirt, skinny jeans, and a thin maroon scarf around his neck.

“Ah, Ledger, you decided to grace us with your presence today,” Sandra said. “This is the new girl, Audrey.”

“Hey.” Ledger barely glanced my direction before dropping into his chair. His phone seemed to appear out of nowhere and he leaned back, already scrolling.

“See?” Sandra gestured toward him. “That’s why I call him the useless intern. He doesn’t do much.”

He glared at her over the top of his phone. “I do work.”

“Since when?”

“I did research for an article.”

“That was a month ago.”

He shook his head, his attention still on his phone. “You guys need to check your expectations. I have a lot of homework.”

“It’s summer break.”

“Yeah, and I deserve a break.”

Sandra met my eyes and shrugged. “He surprises us once in a while but mostly he just sits there. Lou doesn’t care because he’s an intern and we aren’t paying him.”

I slowly lowered myself into my chair. “Okay…”

“We’re probably not making the best impression, but what can I say? We’re a small-town newspaper trying to survive in a post-newspaper era. You’ve got Lou, who’s been here forever and won’t let the thing die. Then there’s me, who thought it would be fun to get a job a few years ago since my kids had to go and grow up on me. And Ledger, here, who’s been working on his journalism degree over at Tilikum College for what, six years?”

“Five and a half,” he said.

“As you can see, we’re desperately in need of someone like you.”