2. New assignment

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring, my head pounding like a jackhammer. As I reached for my phone to turn it off, the memories of last night came flooding back.

I had gone out to a bar with Samantha to try and forget about my ex, but instead, I found myself making out with a stranger at a hotel. It wasn't something I was proud of, but it had happened.

"Andrea!"

I could hear my aunt Clara yelling my name from the kitchen, trying to get me to come join them for breakfast—which was probably because I was already late for work.

Dragging myself out of bed, I stumbled to the bathroom and splashed water on my face, trying to shake off the fog in my head. As I looked in the mirror, I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me.

What had I done? How could I have been so reckless? Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about the hurt I had caused myself and the one Ethan caused me.

I knew I had to go to work, but the thought of facing anyone made me want to crawl back into bed and hide from the world.

As I blow-dried my hair, my phone buzzed with a text message. It was from the stranger I had made out with last night.

When did we exchange contacts? I wasn't so sure because I had too much to drink last night after Samantha left.

"Hey, it was nice meeting you. Want to grab coffee sometime?"

I couldn't believe it. Did he really think that a quick hook-up meant we could have a relationship? I felt sick to my stomach.

"No thanks," I replied, tossing my phone on the bed. I didn't need any more complications in my life.

I was running late for work, and I had an important interview with a potential source for an upcoming story. My boss had been breathing down my neck all week about it, and I knew that if I messed it up, it could cost me my job.

Work usually starts at 8:00 am, and I needed to report there at least ten minutes early. But considering how much time has already passed, I would most certainly be late.

Reporting for a newspaper corporation is widely regarded as one of the most stressful jobs a person could undertake in their lifetime. If I had it my way, I would have quit a long time ago.

However, given that I never finished college and have no other qualifications, this is the only job I am qualified for at the moment.

"Andrea?" My aunt called again.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes!" I replied at the top of my voice.

I got dressed as quickly as I could, throwing on a blouse and slacks before rushing towards the door.

Gathering my things, I made my way out of the room and into the day, trying to put on a brave face and forget about the mistakes I had made. But deep down, I knew that this was only the beginning of a long and painful journey of self-discovery and healing.

My aunt and her son Max were already at the dining table, and she had made breakfast for us. But I didn't even have time to sit down and eat with them. I kissed them both goodbye and ran out the door, feeling guilty and stressed.

The bus was crowded, and I had to stand in the aisle, holding onto the rail for dear life. My mind was already racing with thoughts of the interview and how I would handle my boss's scrutiny.

When I arrived at the office, I felt unprepared and anxious. My colleagues stared at me as I made my way to my desk, and I could feel their judgment weighing on me. I knew they were thinking about how I was late and had missed the interview.

"You are late Andrea," with a concerned look, Susan uttered.

Susan Mateo is a coworker of mine and also works at the same desk as me in the office. Even though we both started working around the same time last year, she has been allowed to conduct interviews with several guests over the past three months.

But look at me—this is the very first time I've had the opportunity to interview a guest, and I've already botched it.

"I woke up late while trying to gather information about the guest," I lied as I sat beside her.

"The boss has been here almost 3 times, asking for you. He looks really pissed!"

"Really?" I shrugged. "Let me quickly go see him then!"

Immediately I stood up, I saw him approaching our direction. I knew I was in trouble the moment he walked into the office.

My boss was standing at our desk, arms crossed, and a frown etched on his face. I tried to muster up an apology.

"Sir, I—-"

"Shut it, Andrea!" He angrily yelled and interrupted me while I was about to speak. "Can you tell me what time it is right now?" He abruptly pointed at the watch on my wrist.

I stammered in a low voice, "8:58 a-am, sir."

"8:58 am? And when is the interview with the guest supposed to take place?"

"8:30 am... I'm sorry sir, I had—-"

Before I could continue to say anything, he started scolding me.

"Where have you been?" he said, his voice sharp and stern. "You missed the interview with our guest, and you're almost an hour late for work. This is unacceptable, and I'm very disappointed in you."

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I knew how important that interview was, and now it was all ruined because of my stupidity. I could feel my eyes starting to well up with tears, but I fought them back, not wanting to show weakness in front of my boss and colleagues.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I overslept while working out questions. I didn't mean to miss the interview. It won't happen again."

My boss didn't look convinced, and I knew I had lost his trust. I had always been a reliable employee, but now I had let him down, and there was no way to make up for it.

"Sir, I planned on-–--"

"Please, don't bother explaining anything to me! Since you've started working here, this is the first person you've been tasked with interviewing, and you did a terrible job of it! What if Susan wasn't there to take care of it? Is this how you would have caused us to lose an important guest?!"

I couldn't do anything but keep my composure while he continued to scream at the top of his lungs. Since I am to blame, I can offer no excuse or justification for the things I did.

"Why not walk away from this job if your personal issues are having an impact on your performance here? This is the limit of my tolerance for almost always having to deal with your lateness!"

"I'm sorry, sir."

As I apologized to him, my head was slightly buried in between my chest. I am completely at a loss for words at this point. Everything was my fault.

"This is your final cautionary message! You better work on yourself!" He mumbled and then stormed off in a furious rage.

As I sat down at my desk, I could feel the weight of my mistake pressing down on me. I had messed up, and there was no way to undo it.

The memory of the stranger from the hotel room came back to me, and I felt sick to my stomach. How could I have been so stupid, so reckless with my own life?

I tried to focus on my work, but my mind kept drifting, consumed by the regret and heartbreak of my mistake.

I knew that I had a long road ahead of me, one that would require me to rebuild my reputation and earn back the trust of my boss. But for now, all I could do was sit at my desk, head down, and try to make it through the day.

"I don't care what you have to do before you leave the house in the morning; please, you should make every effort to get to work early." Susan suddenly uttered.

"Alright Susan, and thanks for helping out with the interview," I made a conscious effort to hold back my tears while I was speaking.

"Don't worry about it, Andrea; I'm just doing my job to the best of my ability," Susan replied with a smirk and walked away.

I opened up my notebook and started to prepare for another meeting, hoping that I could impress my boss and salvage my job when he summoned me all of a sudden.

I swallowed hard as my boss called me into his office. I don't know what was coming.

I walked into his office, feeling a mix of nerves and anticipation. The last assignment he had given me had been a disaster, and I knew that I had a lot to prove if I wanted to keep my job as a newspaper reporter.

My boss looked up from his computer and gave me a stern nod. "I have another assignment for you," he said, handing me a file. "You'll be interviewing the young heir to the Rodriguez family fortune, Miguel

Rodriguez."

"I won't let you down," I said, trying to sound confident.

"Listen, Andrea," he said, looking at me sternly over his glasses. "You know we can't have any more mistakes like the last one. We need to maintain our reputation as a top-notch newspaper, and that means getting the job done right."

I nodded, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. I had messed up my last interview with a prominent politician, and my boss was rightfully angry about it. I had been given a second chance, and I knew I couldn't afford to blow it.

"We received word that the billionaire heir is in town, and I want you to get the scoop. You need to interview him, find out what makes him tick, and get the story out immediately after the interview tomorrow morning."

My heart skipped a beat as I looked through the file. He was one of the most prominent make-or-breakers in the country, and I knew that this interview would be a make-or-break moment for me.

My boss raised an eyebrow. "You'd better not botch this one. This interview needs to be perfect, and I won't accept anything less. One more thing Andrea, if you make even the slightest mistake during this interview, you need to hand in your resignation letter the very next day!"

I nodded, feeling the weight of his words. I knew this interview could be my chance to redeem myself, to prove that I was a capable reporter who could handle even the most challenging assignments.

As I left my boss's office, I felt a mix of excitement and trepidation. The clock was ticking, and I had a lot of research to do before I could sit down with Miguel Rodriguez. But I was determined to make this interview a success, no matter what it took...