Chasing Flames | Short Story

Chapter 1

The newsroom always smelled faintly of burnt coffee and printer ink.

Hailey Brooks sat perched on the edge of her desk, flipping through her notebook while half-listening to the chatter around her. The hum of conversation, clatter of keyboards, and occasional barked laugh from the sports desk gave the office its pulse.

To Hailey, it sounded like possibility.

She'd been interning at the Los Angeles Chronicle for six months, balancing the job with her final year of college and telling herself every exhausting day would eventually be worth it.

She just needed someone else to believe that too.

At twenty-two, Hailey knew exactly what people saw when they looked at her: young, blonde, eager. An intern who could be trusted with press releases, community events, and the occasional coffee run when someone was particularly desperate.

She wanted more.

She hadn't come to California to spend her career writing blurbs about farmers' markets and ribbon-cuttings. She wanted the stories people talked about over breakfast the next morning. Stories that made someone stop scrolling. Stories with her name printed underneath them.

HAILEY BROOKS.

One good byline.

That was all she needed.

"Brooks!"

Hailey's head snapped up.

Mr. Kendall stood in the doorway of his office, waving her over with two fingers.

"Office."

A few heads turned as Hailey slid from her desk.

Great.

Being summoned into the editor-in-chief's office could mean one of two things.

She was either finally getting something important-

—or she was getting fired.

She grabbed her notebook just in case.

Kendall's sleeves were rolled past his elbows, his tie loosened around his neck. A half-empty cup of black coffee sat dangerously close to a stack of papers on his desk. He didn't look up when she entered, so Hailey hovered awkwardly beside the chair.

"You wanted to see me?"

"You want to make yourself useful?"

Not fired.

Probably.

"Always."

The scratching of his pen stopped.

Kendall finally looked up, his sharp brown eyes settling on her.

"Last night's fire near the Hollywood Sign."

Hailey's expression changed immediately.

She'd seen it.

Everyone had.

Footage of orange flames crawling across the Hollywood Hills had dominated local news all morning. For several terrifying hours, it had looked as though one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world might actually disappear.

"Everyone and their mother's already written about it," Kendall continued. "'Historic symbol nearly destroyed.' 'Tourists evacuated.' 'Hollywood landmark threatened.'" He waved a dismissive hand. "Same story, different headline."

Hailey leaned forward slightly.

"But none of them have what I want."

"Which is?"