The Newsmakers Read Online Free PDF Page B

you.”
    Erica hangs up and feels nurtured by her daughter—she only hopes that Jenny feels nurtured by her. Sometimes amends take a long time.
    â€œHow are you holding up?”
    Erica looks up. Greg is standing in the doorway, looking concerned.
    â€œI’m good.”
    â€œYou are good. You’re very good.” He steps into the office. Evening stubble makes his jawline look even stronger. “Have you eaten?”
    â€œActually, I don’t think I have.”
    â€œHow about I take you out?”
    â€œWhat a nice offer. But I just want to decompress a little and head home. I’ve got some leftovers in the fridge. Early call tomorrow.”
    â€œYou’re a pro, Erica,” Greg says.
    â€œListen, Greg, I’d like to do an in-depth follow-up on today’s crash. Find out what happened, why, and what can be done to prevent it happening again.”
    â€œGreat idea.”
    â€œI’ll get my first report in this week, while the story is still fresh.”
    â€œThere she is,” Nylan Hastings says as he appears in the doorway.
    Erica has never met Hastings before and—remembering Rosario’s words—she feels a little wary. This emotion is followed by a sudden surge of insecurity and inadequacy. She’s the kid with the dirty cheeks and the dirty clothes, the kid who never invited other kids over to her house, ashamed of what they would find. She’s the student at Yale on a scholarship, all the privileged kids with their prep school pedigrees and condescension masked as curiosity. She suddenly remembers Suki Waterson, who carried a Hermès purse and wore Chanel flats to class, saying, “Oh, you grew up in rural Maine? What was that like?”
    Using all her psychic might, Erica pushes the dreaded feelings aside. She’s proud of what she’s accomplished. She’s earned that pride. And her experiences at Yale made her determined to treat everyone she meets with respect and dignity—it’s one of her core credos.
    Hastings steps into the room and extends his hand. “Nylan Hastings.”
    â€œI think I figured that out.” Erica stands, shakes his hand, and smiles. “After all, I am an investigative reporter.”
    â€œWhat a charmer.” Hastings laughs, but it’s a hollow laugh, almost like a learned behavior.
    Hastings, who is in his midthirties, is lanky. He’s wearing jeans, some very hip Nikes, and a T-shirt that reads R OCK THE C OSMOS . The cool-kid effect is undercut by an emergent potbelly and dark circles under his eyes—they hint at something unsavory going on behind the façade. A shock of sandy hair hangs over his forehead, and his skin is unnaturally smooth—has he started Botox already? He radiates casual confidence, even entitlement.
    And no wonder. Hastings invented Universe, a video game in which users explore the galaxy and interact with intelligent life on other planets. It quickly became a global phenomenon, with over two hundred million monthly users. He sold Universe—which he solely owned—to Facebook for $5.7 billion. And then he founded Global News Network.
    â€œWe made history today,” Hastings says. “Our ratings spiked, and for three hours we beat every other cable network. That’s never happened before.”
    â€œI was just doing my job.”
    â€œGreg told me you were a world-class talent”—his eyes roam up and down Erica’s body—“and so very attractive.”
    It’s inappropriate and unnerving. And why doesn’t he look her in the eye? She suddenly feels like an object, something to be admired and owned. It’s disquieting, but so be it. You don’t become a billionaire and then found a network without being a little bit—as Rosario put it—strange.
    â€œGood work, both of you. Keep it up,” Hastings says, suddenly perfunctory, as if he has better things to do. He turns and leaves.
    Erica