Apocalypse Cow Read Online Free PDF Page A

intently at the blank grey wall of the building on the other side of the alleyway.
    Clearly she hadn’t listened to Lesley, which was a fairly normal state of affairs. This time she would have to pay attention.
    Lesley was leaning across the desk, ready to relate the gist of the tip-off, when Alexandra turned to face her and blurted out, ‘We’re letting you go.’
    ‘What?’ Lesley asked, wondering how on earth the editor knew what she was about to ask. ‘You’re letting me go to the facility?’
    Alexandra ignored the question and launched into what seemed like a well-rehearsed spiel. ‘You know the paper’s been having problems. Online news, bloggers, the global recession: they’ve all cut into our market. Circulation’s down and we’re haemorrhaging money. We need to cut costs. Unfortunately, you’ve been selected for redundancy.’
    ‘Oh. You’re letting me go.’
    Lesley shook her head. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. This was her big moment, the scene where the plucky hack talks her boss into letting her do something foolhardy, not the scene where the superfluous loser gets the boot. Sure, she had known they were reviewing the paper’s operations, but the newsroom had been assured only support staff would be cut.
    ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ she asked.
    Alexandra shook her head.
    Lesley’s lips, which only seconds before had been tingling with the anticipation of revealing her big break, flapped numbly as she croaked, ‘Who else are you letting go?’
    Alexandra coughed. ‘Well, three in accounts, five from distribution—’
    Lesley cut her off. ‘How many journalists?’
    The editor once more studied the side of the building, which had not become any less featureless in the past few minutes and seemed undeserving of such close attention. ‘Just you.’
    To call the resulting silence uncomfortable would be like saying having your eyeballs prised out with a spork stung a little. The numbness that had started in Lesley’s lips spread down her neck.
    ‘Just me? Shouldn’t it be last in, first out? You could fire Stephen.’ She waved at a skinny youth who just happened to be hurrying past the window. ‘He’s only been here a year.’
    ‘It doesn’t work that way.’
    ‘Why me?’ Lesley asked, unable to keep the plaintive tone out of her voice and hating herself for it.
    Alexandra blew out her cheeks and cast a last longing glance at the wall before meeting Lesley’s gaze. ‘To be honest – and I’m telling you this because I think it will be good for you long-term – you’re not very good. You only got this job because your old man called in a favour with the managing editor.’ She shrugged. ‘I wanted to hire someone else.’
    There it was. The truth – as naked as a fat German naturist and just as welcome in the small room. Lesley kept her face expressionless.
    Alexandra must have thought she was holding back an emotional outburst, for she babbled on in an attempt to mitigate the blow. ‘Not that I’m saying you’re a bad journalist, just not a very good one. At least, not good enough for the
Tribune
, which has exceptionally high standards. I’m sure you would fit in well on a free paper. Or maybe a lifestyle magazine.’
    What Alexandra didn’t realize was that when Lesley showed no emotion, she was usually holding back a desire to inflict bodily harm, rather than tears. Being made redundant was one thing, and it had certainly throttled the life out of her excitement. Being told she was a bad journalist was something else entirely . Lesley closed her fist around the voice recorder and wondered if she would have the speed and strength to whip down Alexandra’s trousers and jam it up her bum before her colleagues intervened. Lifestyle magazine. Cheeky cow.
    Then she remembered the revelation on the voice recorder and smiled. It was perfect. Alexandra had never given her a fair crack of the whip. Now she was letting the biggest story in the rag’s history