Read Online It's a Waverly Life by Maria Murnane - Free Book Online

was amazing how inarticulate I could be at times, given that I was being paid to use…words.
    “Did they give you any details?”
    “Not many, but Scott Ryan said it would be a pretty straightforward panel, probably just two or three of us. He thought they’d probably ask me to share an example or two of typical e-mails I get from readers, then offer a piece of advice for Valentine’s Day.”
    Larry unwrapped a big piece of green taffy and popped it into his mouth. “I like it. You’ll need to grab people’s attention, make them want to check out the column, give that panel some oompf .” He made fists with his chubby little hands, which made him look like a Cabbage Patch Kid. I wanted to hug him.
    I stood up. “Will do. I certainly have enough material to consider. I got an e-mail this morning from a woman who was accused of cheating after she didn’t respond to ten text messages from a guy she’d been on like three dates with. He’d sent them over the course of two hours on a Saturday afternoon, when her cell phone was turned off because she was at a movie. I swear, Larry, people are crazy .”
    He shooed me out the door. “I like it. Now go make us proud, Waverly.”
    I saluted. “I’m on it.”
    On my way out of the building, I ran into Nick in the lobby. He was carrying a brown paper bag from Noah’s Bagels and had on a light blue T-shirt with Cougar Bait emblazoned across the front.
    “Walgreens?”
    “T.J. Maxx.”
    “Nice.”
    “You know it.”
    “Don’t you ever get in trouble for wearing stuff like that to work?”
    “Are you serious? This is a newspaper , Waverly.”
    “So?”
    “ So , it’s a paper dinosaur in a digital world. In the middle of Silicon Valley , of all places. They’ve got much bigger problems to worry about than my choice of office attire.”
    “Really? I didn’t realize.”
    He laughed. “Don’t you read the papers? Oh, wait, that’s right, no one does .”
    “Is it that bad?”
    He shrugged. “I just know it’s not good. But they need me, because I’m the only one around this place who knows anything about technology.”
    I smiled. “So it’s all about Nick?”
    He headed for the elevator. “You know it is. And don’t think I don’t have that on a tee shirt too.”
    As the doors closed behind him, I wondered if he was right. Was the Sun doomed? Was my column doomed? I pulled my phone out of my purse. This could be important, and I wanted to talk to someone about it. Someone who cared about me and my future.
    I stared at the phone in my hand.
    I’m calling Jake.
    I squeezed the phone.
    I’m totally calling him. I’m not calling McKenna or Andie this time.
    I took a deep breath and dialed his number, then exhaled and smiled.
    I did it!
    I’m moving this relationship forward. I’m opening the kimono.
    It went straight to voicemail, no ring.
    Ugh , his phone is turned off.
    I thought about leaving a message, but I couldn’t think of something witty to say, and I wanted to be witty. I wanted to be charming. I wanted to be something completely different than what I was feeling at the moment.
    Before his voicemail got to the beep, I hung up and called McKenna instead.
    I’ll call him tomorrow, I thought.
    I stood there for a few moments, then slowly turned toward the bus stop. On the way I passed my favorite homeless person in San Francisco, the guy who carries a sign that says “I bet you can’t hit me with a quarter.” I smiled at him, then hurled a quarter in his direction. In a city where on any given day you are one hundred times more likely to be asked for spare change than for your phone number, you’ve got to reward anyone with the ingenuity to stand out like that.
    I mean it. I’ll really call Jake tomorrow, I thought again.

     
    When I got back to my apartment, I picked up the phone to call Scotty.
    “Okay, it’s official. I’m in. They said yes.”
    “That’s great news, sweetheart.” Scotty was the only man I knew who could call me