Any Way You Want Me by Yuwanda Black Page B

Him!
     
                "That's
him. That's the one I was telling you about, Katrina."
     
               
"He's the crime reporter?" Katrina responded to her friend.
"He's yummy. I can see why you fan yourself when you say his name. Even
it's sexy as hell … Gatlin … Gatlin Matthews. I betcha he is a son-of-a-gun —
in more ways than one," Katrina continued, going into dreamboat mode with
Kylie as she did a word play on Gatlin's name.
     
               
"Why don't you ask him out? You've been mooning over him for how long
now?" Katrina queried.
     
               
"He got hired a couple of years ago if I remember correctly. But when I
first saw him, I was seeing someone. Then, I didn't see him for months; I heard
through the grapevine that he  had a girlfriend too."
     
               
"But as far as I know, now he's a free agent. I don't see him that often
and when I do, he always seems so pre-occupied. Besides, I'm not one to make
the first move," Kylie said.
     
               
"Oh that's so old-fashioned," Katrina chided her. "If you like
him, ask him out. Besides you said you two don’t see each other that much. Are
you going to spend the next two years mooning over him?"
     
               
"I don't care what anybody says, I think a boy should ask a girl out first
…"
     
               
Katrina interrupted her friend, saying, "That's your problem right there.
You're acting like a teenager. You're right, a boy should ask a girl out first. But it's perfectly acceptable for a grown woman who knows
what she wants to ask a man out."
     
               
"Touché," Kylie said. "I've never thought about it quite like
that. I'm a southern girl; ah, excuse me, woman — and the way I was raised is
females don't ask males out."
     
               
"Kylie Andrews, you mean to tell me that you've never, ever asked a man
out on a date?" Katrina said, incredulously.
     
               
"No." Kylie responded. "Truly."
     
               
"And how old are you again?"
     
               
"I'm 29," Kylie said.
     
               
"I guess some women have it like that, because from what I see you
definitely don’t lack from male attention. … Hell, maybe I should be taking
advice from you instead of the other way around," Katrina laughed.
     
               
Kylie joined in her laughter and replied, "You've given me something to
think about though. I've had a thing for this guy ever since I first laid eyes
on him. And I'm not getting any younger," she grinned. "Maybe I
should pop my 'ask a guy out' virgin cherry on Mr. Gatlin Matthews."
     
               
"Now that a girl! Er, excuse me, I mean woman!" Katrina said.
"Come on. Let's get to this meeting. You know how Larry pitches a hissy
fit when anybody's late."
     
               
"Oh God yes," Kylie agreed, putting her daydreams about Gatlin
Matthews on pause.
     
               
The two women walked down the hall to the monthly meeting all reporters on
staff at The City News , a popular online newspaper in New York City,
were required to attend.
     
               
Kylie was the entertainment reporter. Katrina reported the business news and
Gatlin was a crime reporter. There was also an op-ed writer, an arts and
culture journalist, a sports writer,  a political reporter, and a fashion
editor/blogger in addition to other professionals you'd expect to find at a
growing, online news outlet, eg, a weather person, copy editor, proofreader,
videographer, social media consultant, managing editor, etc.
     
               
If not for these monthly meetings, the whole staff would never be present at
one time, as the reporters in particular spread out to the nether regions of
the New York City metropolitan area to research, interview, fact check and
track down leads for existing and upcoming stories they were working