Three Men On Tour: 7

After three articles, two cups of coffee and one trip to the loo, I found myself standing outside of Jamie’s door.

“Come in,“ he called, motioning me over while he finished a couple of edits. Then he swivelled his chair to face me and gave me a reassuring smile.

“Now. What can I do for you?“

“It’s about the next issue. I know you wanted me to write two short pieces and a leader for the next issue, but I reckon I can get that done by Thursday so…“

“Perfect. You’ve come just at the right time.“

“I have?“ I asked, surprised that chance had swung in my favour for once.“

“Yes. Very serendipitous. You see, it seems that Alex has rather dropped the ball on his piece about sailing on the Hanningfield reservoir. I was expecting two pages from him by yesterday. Unfortunately, it turns out they don’t actually do sailing on the Hanningfield reservoir, which has left the article somewhat shorter than expected.“

“Didn’t Alex leave for Portugal this morning?“

“Ah, well, yes, that’s somewhat the crux of the matter. I don’t suppose you…“

I sighed. “Alright,“ I said feeling defeated. “I guess I could come up with something.“

I started to walk back to my desk when something made me pause. “Actually…would a short piece on the Cotswolds do?“

“The Cotswolds?“ Jamie looked surprised and then thoughtful.

“I understand if you don’t…“ I added but Jamie shushed me into silence.

“Tell you what, I’m pretty desperate to fill the space. Even the Cotswolds is worth a shot. I’m assuming this is all an angle to get a holiday at the company’s expense?“

“Absolutely not,“ I insisted. “In fact…“

“Alright,“ he said grudgingly. “Day rates for food and sundries, you cover your own travel and you have a first draft to me by the end of Monday.“ Then he shooed me out of the office and I walked back to my desk trying to work out what had just happened.