new life | depeche mode

Chapter 19 - Good News

I sit at my makeshift desk at work, editing an article. I wasn't very good at grammar in school, but I have a knack for finding little errors, like the wrong form of your or when an apostrophe is in the wrong place.

"Eve, Mr. Watson wants to see you." Cathy says, standing in front of my desk. A smile is on her face. I quickly stand up and follow her to Mr. Watson's office.

She knocks on the door.

"Come in." Mr. Watson says.

Cathy opens the door and I follow her inside.

"Ah, Miss Reynolds, just the woman I wanted to see." Mr. Watson says.

"Do you want me to stay, Mr. Watson?" Cathy asks.

"You may leave, Miss Monk." Mr. Watson replies.

After Cathy leaves, he starts to talk again.

"This paper is owned by a parent company, Tyche Publishing. They own newspapers in towns all over England. Every year they have a conference, where all the newspapers get together and discuss highlights and strides the papers have made over the past year. This year the conference is in Birmingham, and I can't go because it's the same day as my niece's wedding. I was wondering if you would like to accompany Miss Monk to the conference. You've done a fantastic job as an intern so far. In the past, I've had lazy interns who barely did their responsibilities, you on the other hand, have gone above and beyond expectations. You are great at editing article and the pieces you've written for the paper have been wonderful. Normally interns don't get to write pieces, but let's face it, we are severely understaffed here. It's you, me, Miss Monk, Mrs. Haydn, Mr. Gillen, Mr. Freeman, and Mr. Davis. The conference is next Friday. What do you think?"

Wow, I can't believe what I'm hearing. Mr. Watson is really impressed with my work. I didn't really think of what I did as going beyond what I was supposed to do.

"Mr. Watson, I'd be happy to attend the conference with Miss Monk." Is all I can get out. I'm so pleased with myself, I can't even begin to explain.

"Also, I hope you wouldn't mind taking notes at the convention and write an article about it when you come back?" He asks.

"It's no problem, I'd be happy to, sir." I reply.

"Great, I'll let you discuss all the specifics with Miss Monk. You can go now." Mr. Watson says.

I get up out of the chair and turn to leave his office.

"Thank you." I say, before I leave.

Cathy is waiting for me outside Mr. Watson's office.

"What did he say?" She asks.

"He told me we're going to Birmingham together!" I cheer.

"Aren't I good at playing dumb? I knew the whole time!" She says, excited. She looks up at the clock. "It's almost time for our lunch break, do you want to grab lunch and discuss the trip?"

"Sure- wait, I told Andy I'd meet him for lunch. You know what, I'll cancel on him. I never cancel on him, and it's for work, so he wouldn't get mad. I'll call him." I say.

I walk over to the phone on Cathy's desk and dialed Andy's number.

"Hello?" He says when he picks up.

"Hi Andy." I say.

"Eve! How are you? I'm just about to leave to come get you, is everything alright?" He asks.

"Everything's fine. Listen, can I take a rain check on our lunch date? I got big news at work just now and I need to spend my lunch hour with Cathy discussing it."

"That's fine. What's the news?" He asks.

"I'll tell you later. Listen, I feel bad for cancelling on you. Are you free later, how about dinner. Do you have band practice today?" I ask.

"It just got cancelled. Vince has the sniffles, apparently. I'm free later." He says, and he laughs when he says sniffles.

"Alright, I'll call you when I get out of work. See you tonight." I say.

"See you tonight. I love you." He says.

"I love you too." I reply. I hear Cathy make smooching noises behind me. "Oh shut up!" I say to her.

"What?" Andy says.

"Not you, Cathy." I say, and I laugh.

We exchange goodbyes and I hang up.

"Alright," I say. "Let's go to lunch."