Montaine Read Online Free PDF Page B

never, ever coming out again, I would have
accepted it with gratitude.
    “Alright, that’s enough fun.
Let’s get back to business.” Trent’s abrupt shift to a cool and professional
tone extinguished any last flickers of mirth like a wind gust over a wavering
candle flame. He returned to his perch at the front of the room.
    “The August issue will soon
be upon us. We need something big for the cover, something bold and different.
I want a cover that jumps off the newsstands and demands to be read. To that
end, I am announcing a contest. Whoever writes the best story will see his…or
her…name on the cover of our August issue.”
    An undercurrent of
murmurings bubbled up from the assembled writers. Tony and I exchanged meaningful
glances. He raised his hand tentatively.
    “Yes, Tony?” Trent’s
voice cut through the chatter.
    “Is the contest open to
everyone?”
    “Yes. As a matter of
fact, the contest is open to everyone at the magazine.” Though he was answering
Tony’s question, Trent’s eyes met mine with a searching force.
    Kill emitted a wet
snicker like a horse. Trent turned and fixed him with a potent glare. Miklos
observed their interplay and smiled knowingly.
    Questions piped up from
the room’s periphery.
    “When is the deadline?”
    “Who are the judges?”
    “Can the story be on any
topic?”
    Trent heard all of the
questions and reeled off his responses with a mechanical efficiency.
    “The deadline is one
month from today. The judges will be myself and Miklos. Any topic is fair
game.”
    At the mention of
Miklos’s name, I noticed Kill’s eyes flash upward at Trent, quick as a snake.
Trent met his gaze with a flat unconcern and turned back to the room.
    “Any more questions?” He
waited for a few beats. “Meeting dismissed. Everyone get back to work.”
    I exited behind Tony in a
whirl of rustling papers and sliding chairs. I looked back once and, to my
dismay and confusion, caught Trent watching me like a hawk eyeing a field mouse.
Our eyes met for an electric second. Then he huddled over Miklos, deep in an
intense conversation that noticeably excluded the fuming Kill. I was carried
from the room on a wave of shuffling feet and excited chatter.
    “So, do you have any
ideas yet?” I asked Tony once we had found a clear space in the hallway.
    “None yet, but that’s a
great opportunity. You should start thinking of ideas too. You heard what he
said. The contest is open to everyone.”
    “Oh, I don’t know,” I said
with a glance at the conference room entrance. “That would seem a bit
presumptuous on my part, wouldn’t it? The intern?” Despite my apparent reserve,
my mind was already busily clicking through possible story ideas.
    “Spare me the false
modesty,” Tony said with a dismissive flick of his hand. “It’s no more
presumptuous for you to enter that contest than it is for anyone else. Besides,
how do you think you get ahead around here? How do you get Trent to notice you?
Take chances. Take a risk.”
    His serious, cutthroat
tone reminded me of Marcie’s earlier lecture on the subway. Show Trent you
mean business . An image of Marcie and Tony’s lingering handshake on the
street also flashed through my brain. Maybe those two could have a romantic
connection. I just needed to find a way to kick that sleepyheaded Vaughan to
the curb.
    “I guess you’re right.” I
smiled up at Tony’s eager expression and perfectly parted hair.
    “Get used to it. You’ll
be saying that a lot this summer.” He nudged me playfully with his elbow and
ducked when I countered with a light slap to his shoulder.
    Kill emerged from the
conference room, his normally pasty skin an unhealthy shade of pink, his head
bowed like a battering ram, and his thin legs knifing through the air like
swinging scalpels.
    “I wonder what’s going on
there,” Tony mused.
    “Don’t know. But I get
the definite impression that he and Trent are not on good terms right now.
Funny, because they seemed