team in no time.
I was seeing a whole new side of Ethan. I had always known that his interests were wide-ranging, that he was bright and creative. Even in his earliest days at the paper, he had been ambitious and competitive, but—in large part because of problems of his own making—the
Express
had never allowed him a leadership role. KCLP, on the other hand, had given him major responsibilities and power. “All the rope I need to hang myself,” he’d say to me with a rueful smile.
So far, he was using the rope to climb higher. After a littlemore than a month at the station, he was offered the position of news director—KCLP had fired the previous one, who had resented the power Ethan had already been given to cover local news on his show.
Not long after that, he called me into his new office, which was small, but at least it was an office. He hadn’t had one before. Now he even had a narrow window that looked out onto the parking lot. He was standing behind his desk, looking through some paperwork.
“Yes, Mr. Shire?”
He looked up and winced. “You know I hate it when you do that.” He looked at my arm and said, “How’d you get that nasty bruise?”
“Rachel’s teaching me self-defense.”
He seemed ready to make the obvious retort but changed his mind. “Have a seat.”
I took one on the couch that occupied most of one wall, but he stayed standing. “I have a request,” he said.
I waited, and for once in his smooth-talking life, he seemed to have a hard time coming up with what he wanted to say. Finally, he said, “You know John and Stuart made it clear to me they want to stay retired.”
“Yes … ,” I said warily.
“It kind of surprised me.”
“They were in the newspaper business longer than the rest of us. I don’t think they wanted to try to start over here.”
He paced the two short steps the office allowed him, then said, “You’ve been best friends with Lydia since grade school, right?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“I’m thinking that you’ll be able to explain something to me. When I started the evening show, you and Mark were the only people from the paper that I wanted here and had budgetenough to hire. Since then, about half the former staffers of the
Express
have asked me for jobs, but she hasn’t even stopped by to say hello.”
“You don’t take that personally, do you? You know she likes you—she probably just thinks you’re busy.”
“I’m more worried she was insulted that I didn’t ask her to work here.”
“No, not that she’s mentioned to me.”
“Do you think she wants out of the news business for good?”
I hesitated. “I don’t think so. But she knows that the chances of landing another job as a city editor are slim to none.”
He was silent for so long I figured we were done and started to get to my feet. He motioned me back down. “You’ve never taken an editor’s position?”
“No,” I said. “I’ve covered for people a few times, but I didn’t enjoy it. It’s not what I do. I’m a reporter. Lydia—she’s a good reporter, but writing and editing are where her real interests are. Can I ask where this is leading?”
“I have the title of news director now, but when they offered it to me, I didn’t accept it right away.”
“No? I thought you would’ve jumped at it.”
He smiled. “I wanted to, but I negotiated.”
I couldn’t repress a laugh.
His smile became a grin. “Yeah, I know. A little over a month ago, I was out of work. Now I’m making demands. Anyway, the conditions were that I could divide the previous director’s salary, take some for myself as a salary increase but use most of it to hire an assistant director.”
“Ethan—I don’t get it.”
“The deal is, I can hire an assistant, and if the station starts to get better ratings and support, they renegotiate my own salary in six months. Otherwise—well, otherwise, up to them.”
I just stared at him for a moment, then said, “I assume you
I was seeing a whole new side of Ethan. I had always known that his interests were wide-ranging, that he was bright and creative. Even in his earliest days at the paper, he had been ambitious and competitive, but—in large part because of problems of his own making—the
Express
had never allowed him a leadership role. KCLP, on the other hand, had given him major responsibilities and power. “All the rope I need to hang myself,” he’d say to me with a rueful smile.
So far, he was using the rope to climb higher. After a littlemore than a month at the station, he was offered the position of news director—KCLP had fired the previous one, who had resented the power Ethan had already been given to cover local news on his show.
Not long after that, he called me into his new office, which was small, but at least it was an office. He hadn’t had one before. Now he even had a narrow window that looked out onto the parking lot. He was standing behind his desk, looking through some paperwork.
“Yes, Mr. Shire?”
He looked up and winced. “You know I hate it when you do that.” He looked at my arm and said, “How’d you get that nasty bruise?”
“Rachel’s teaching me self-defense.”
He seemed ready to make the obvious retort but changed his mind. “Have a seat.”
I took one on the couch that occupied most of one wall, but he stayed standing. “I have a request,” he said.
I waited, and for once in his smooth-talking life, he seemed to have a hard time coming up with what he wanted to say. Finally, he said, “You know John and Stuart made it clear to me they want to stay retired.”
“Yes … ,” I said warily.
“It kind of surprised me.”
“They were in the newspaper business longer than the rest of us. I don’t think they wanted to try to start over here.”
He paced the two short steps the office allowed him, then said, “You’ve been best friends with Lydia since grade school, right?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“I’m thinking that you’ll be able to explain something to me. When I started the evening show, you and Mark were the only people from the paper that I wanted here and had budgetenough to hire. Since then, about half the former staffers of the
Express
have asked me for jobs, but she hasn’t even stopped by to say hello.”
“You don’t take that personally, do you? You know she likes you—she probably just thinks you’re busy.”
“I’m more worried she was insulted that I didn’t ask her to work here.”
“No, not that she’s mentioned to me.”
“Do you think she wants out of the news business for good?”
I hesitated. “I don’t think so. But she knows that the chances of landing another job as a city editor are slim to none.”
He was silent for so long I figured we were done and started to get to my feet. He motioned me back down. “You’ve never taken an editor’s position?”
“No,” I said. “I’ve covered for people a few times, but I didn’t enjoy it. It’s not what I do. I’m a reporter. Lydia—she’s a good reporter, but writing and editing are where her real interests are. Can I ask where this is leading?”
“I have the title of news director now, but when they offered it to me, I didn’t accept it right away.”
“No? I thought you would’ve jumped at it.”
He smiled. “I wanted to, but I negotiated.”
I couldn’t repress a laugh.
His smile became a grin. “Yeah, I know. A little over a month ago, I was out of work. Now I’m making demands. Anyway, the conditions were that I could divide the previous director’s salary, take some for myself as a salary increase but use most of it to hire an assistant director.”
“Ethan—I don’t get it.”
“The deal is, I can hire an assistant, and if the station starts to get better ratings and support, they renegotiate my own salary in six months. Otherwise—well, otherwise, up to them.”
I just stared at him for a moment, then said, “I assume you
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