He nodded complacently. “It’s my duty as a citizen to ensure accuracy in the fourth estate. Who will watch the watchers?”
Finally the librarian was gone, waving through the doors of the elevator as they closed. Nadine dropped her head on the table. “So grateful to all our subscribers,” she said. “And for the purity of our political leaders.”
Wes was too busy laughing to do anything besides tap her hand in what she assumed was a momentary and misplaced sense of camaraderie. “He told me theSpearwasn’t a proper news organization and he actively opposes the library’s purchase of a subscription.”
“Good to know we both suck. He makes me grateful for the incredible librarians of my youth.” She looked up. “He also blew your cover.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The rumor?Thirty Pieces of Silver?”
“Again, I’m only doing background research for a story on Dot Voline. You might not understand what it means to be thorough.”
“I’m thorough.”
He pulled out his phone to read aloud. “‘Literary icon Dot Voline has died after a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of seventy-two.’ Yeah, very thorough.”
She wanted to throw a book at him. All the books. “That was a single error in judgment, and you have no right to come here and horn in on my story.”
“It’s not yours, but noted.” He flipped through his clips.
“I have asked the gods to curse you in many inconvenient ways.” She always felt as if she was tempting fate to wish truly bad things on people, even if they deserved it.
“Like what?” He pulled out a pair of reading glasses and perchedthem on his nose. She ignored how cute they looked. Wes was not cute.
“Your shoes will become constantly untied.”
He stuck out his foot to show a polished loafer. “Do your worst.”
“Your coffee will always be decaf.”
“I should cut back anyway.” He opened a new folder.
Nadine felt a bit desperate. “Your favorite brand of notebook will be discontinued.”
“Oh.” Wes looked up at her, bowed lips turning down. “That’s mean.”
“You deserve it. I know why you’re here. It’s to upset me. It’s part of your ongoing need to steal my ideas.”
“That is narcissistic as well as wrong. You know that you take up a very small amount of my day?”
“Then why do you care about Dot Voline? It has nothing to do with you. Admit you’re here because of the scandal.”
He only shrugged, leaving Nadine seething.
“Fine,” she said. “May your every meal be ruined by a person talking in exquisite detail about their dreams.”
Wes ignored her and got up to check a cabinet, leaving her staring at his back.
It was confirmed. She hated Wes. She stalked off to the stacks to find her own answers to Voline’s story. And to ask the gods to put salt instead of sugar into Wes’s desserts. That would show him.
Six
Two days later, Wes’s luck changed. Not at work, where he’d pitched a story about the impact of digital face editing hooked to the release of a new app and had been told what theSpearneeded was a profile of a woman making furniture from abandoned tires.
“Sustainability is one of theSpear’s editorial pillars,” said Rebecca, patting him on the shoulder as they looked at the monstrosities the designer called chairs. “Make sure you stress that part.”
Wes put his head in his hands. “Why me? Why?”