Serpent's Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

reassigned."
        "Reassigned?"
        "We're starting a new segment."
        "A new segment?" She realised she was repeating everything he said; she also realised she was semi-hysterical (her world was about to come crashing down) but she couldn't stop herself.
        " Holland on the Town ." He smiled but it was a sad and defeated smile. "I kind of like that, don't you?"
        "What the hell is Holland on the Town ?"
        "Events."
        "Events?"
        "Yeah, you know, stuff that goes on in the day. It'll be on the six o'clock strip three nights a week"
        "It's a community bulletin board, isn't it?"
        "Huh?" he said, feigning stupidity.
        "It's a goddamn community bulletin board. That's what you're talking about, isn't it, Walter?"
        "Now, Chris, I wouldn't go that far. I-"
        She stabbed out her cigarette. "Maybe you haven't noticed, Walter, but I'm a reporter."
        "But this segment-"
        "I report news, Walter. I don't report on DAR meetings or bake-offs or garden clubs."
        "But, Chris, I-"
        She held up her hand like a traffic cop in the middle of a busy intersection. "Don't say anything more. Please. Not right now."
        So he didn't. He sat there and stared at her and looked ashamed of himself.
        After a time she said, "You got me the Holland on the Town thing, didn't you?"
        He said nothing, just stared at his folded hands riding on his stomach.
        "The consultants told you that you had to fire me but you came up with this dipshit community calendar so you could save my job, didn't you?"
        He still said nothing.
        "I'm not going to start crying," she said.
        He said, "Good."
        "Look at me, Walter."
        He kept his eyes down.
        "Walter, goddammit, look at me."
        Like a chastened little boy, he raised his gaze to meet hers.
        "Now tell me the truth, Walter. You came up with the On the Town thing, didn't you?"
        He just sort of shrugged. "Well."
        "You came up with it so I'd at least have some kind of job, didn't you?"
        "Well," he said again.
        Abruptly she leaned over the desk and kissed him on his forehead. "I really love you, Walter."
        And then she sat back down and put her head down and tried very hard not to cry.
        "You okay?" he said.
        "Uh-huh."
        "You want a Coke or something?"
        "Huh-uh."
        "You want another cigarette?"
        She shook her head.
        "Why don't you cry?" he said.
        She shook her head again. She didn't want to give the bastards the satisfaction.
        "I really feel bad, Holland, I really do. If I didn't have child support payments and a big suburban house I can't unload, I'd quit and tell them where to put it."
        She had composed herself again. She tilted her head up and looked straight at him purposefully and said, "How come they wanted to fire me?"
        "They said you were too old."
        "What?"
        "They said the men in the focus groups all said they wanted a younger woman in your slot."
        "With bouncing breasts and a wiggling backside, no doubt?"
        "No doubt."
        She made a fist and then lunged for a cigarette and lit it with almost terrifying ferocity. "Those sons-of-bitches."
        "Absolutely."
        "What do they know about journalism, anyway?"
        "Not diddly shit."
        She narrowed her eyes and said, "Are you making fun of me, Walter?"
        "Nope. Just sort of saying that I have this same conversation every time I have to let somebody go. It's sad-the consultants don't know anything about journalism but they get to dictate to us how we should put our shows together."
        "I won't do it. The On the Town thing."
        "I know."
        "I really appreciate what you were trying to do for me, but I won't do it."
        "I don't blame you."
        "I'm serious."
        "I