Читать книгу A Big Circle of Friends - Erica Bentel - Страница 16
ОглавлениеSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. BEGINNING OF MARCH
Gary Michaels, journalist with a major national Australian newspaper, The Daily, is one of the first 1000 people to receive the email.
He was meant to have met his girlfriend and a group of her friends for pizza and a movie earlier but had been called out to cover another murder.
Now back home, he opens the email, simply wondering whether he still has a girlfriend. As he starts reading he feels a quick rush of relief.
hi
missed u 2nite.
thought u should c this. forward to 4 good friends (if u still have any;-)
sam xxx
He reads through it and presses delete.
It’s close to midnight and he still has to write up his article. He showers, puts together a cheese and tomato sandwich, and starts working.
This is so damn boringly written.
He closes his eyes for a few minutes. When he opens them again it’s 2.46am.
2.46am! Bloody hell!
His deadline is 6.30am and he has nothing worth anything.
He finds himself dwelling on the fact that others are getting the better stories to report on. He tries to focus on finding a decent angle on the story in front of him. Apparently, the screaming had gone on for five minutes. No one called the police. Everyone he interviewed said they had assumed someone else would phone, so they didn’t bother. One woman said she ‘ … didn’t want to stick her nose into someone else’s business.’
It’s always the same depressing crap. He wishes he could write about something positive. Something powerful and worthwhile. Something that has some hope …
Please don’t say I deleted it.
He starts searching through his messages, but he knows the answer already. He goes into his deleted file. Gone. He picks up the phone.
— Hello?
— Sam?
— Gazz?? What’s up? Are you okay?
— I’m fine …
He hears her Dad in the background asking who it is …
— It’s okay Dad, sorry, it’s Gary …
— Gazz, it’s three o’clock in the morning!! Hold on …
— Sorry, Dad. Go back to sleep
— … What’s up?
He starts asking her about the email.
— You couldn’t wait until morning? I’ve gotta go.
She turns off her phone.
Gary is desperately trying to rework his article when her message comes through. He replies.
IOU. Thx! – DINNER tonight to make up for it??
In 15 minutes he writes his new article, attaches the Big Circle of Friends email and sends it to his editor. Once it is off, when he can stop and actually think about what he has done, he realises that he has written something good. For the first time in months he closes his eyes and sleeps like the proverbial baby.
So when the phone rings at 7.30am and he hears his editor on the other end of the line, he isn’t expecting the tirade that pounds at his left eardrum.
— What’s this crap?
— What d’you mean?
— You were supposed to be covering the Grahams story. Where’s that? When you’re asked to cover a story I expect you to cover a story, not send me your girlfriend’s chain letter …
That is so on the button it hurts.
— You seriously think one little email is going to make the world a better place?
Gary can picture the editor’s scowl. His temples creased with frustration.
— Any better ideas?!
Damn. It’s out of his mouth before he has a chance to stop it.
— Excuse me?
Well, having started, there’s only one way to go … on.
Suddenly, Gary is ready for the fight of his life. He sits upright and clenches the phone so hard he can feel the muscles tighten up his arm.
— Look. I got into journalism for a reason, and it wasn’t to report on every lowlife, scum act of mankind. That’s all I’ve been doing for the past six years. And I’m not proud of it. You think the Grahams story is going to change the world in any way? Yeah, it is. For the worse. One more piece of bad news. Another murder. Another rape.
— Listen to me, mate …
— No. Listen to me. You always say ‘readers buy what they want to read.’ Crap! I’m telling you, they’re as sick of it as I am. So sure, stick with your Grahams story. I can knock it out in ten minutes, and nothing will change. Or we can try to make a difference. It may not even cause a ripple. But at least, at least this has a ‘what if’ factor. You never know. Everyone sends it to four people. You know how fast that spreads? You do the maths. You could actually do something good for this sorry world of ours. Just consider that for three seconds …
Years of disappointment have erupted in these three minutes and he is only starting to warm up. Gary takes a deep breath…
— Stop.
His editor is chuckling.
— You know what Gary? When I first read it I liked it too. It’s so simple it feels like it could actually work. It’s ridiculous. Totally ridiculous …
His editor pauses.
— … I actually phoned to fire you.
Gary feels all the blood drain from his face, all his energy seep out of his body. He did not expect this.
— You still there?
— Yup.
There is a full 40 second silence …
— Tell you what … I’m probably losing it or going soft or something … but what the heck, let’s run with it. Let’s give it a go. We’ll go with it Wednesday. I’ll give Gavin the Grahams story. We’ll go front page. Second section. I need 1000 words by first thing tomorrow. Get Dino to set up a website where people can log in and add their names to the list. See if you can trace the message back to its source - that can be a follow on story if you can’t trace it in time. I reckon if we’re going to give it a go, let’s give it a real go.
Pause …
— Who knows?
The editor hangs up. Gary sits there stunned.
After a few minutes he remembers something.
Shit … He’s going to have to cancel Sam again.
This time though, he knows she won’t mind.
