Edge of Thorns 2 - Pt 9

Part 9
Like hell am I going to let him slide on this one.

"What's the rush?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I thought you'd want to get more interviews. This is a pretty big story, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well," Scott said nervously. "I think I've got enough for the Citizen, so..."

"Mr. Prescott Dasari!"

The report cringed and slowly turned around. Nathan prepared to brace himself for whatever his partner had gotten himself into, but was surprised that the woman approaching them was smiling. And beautiful. Very, very beautiful. It didn't matter that her costume of choice was Miss Piggy, she was the sexiest Miss Piggy he'd ever seen. And possibly the first black one.

"Prescott!" she called again, stopping in front of him with a wide, gorgeous smile, a few of her dark curls falling into her face. "Long time no see! How's life treating you?"

"Hey Gloria," Scott sighed, clearly not as enthused. "Things have been good. Still single."

"Awe, poor baby."

Despite their outward friendliness, Nathan could sense that there was some serious tension between them. Scott looked less scared and more agitated, while Gloria's smile was so obviously fake, it made his eyes hurt to look at it.

"What brings you to town, Glo-Jo?" Scott continued, smirking when she grimaced at the nickname. "Work, pleasure, or both?"

"Work, though I do enjoy visiting my hometown." She flicked her hair back. "Doing some shots for a series of romance novels with Fabrizio this week. The photographer can't wait to have us in frame together. 'Sexiest couple to never exist,' he says."

"Speaking of couples, where's your better half?"

Gloria dropped the façade and shot him a glare. "Back in New York performing, where else?"

"Oh, so who's the flavor of this month?"

"None of your goddamn business! Anyway..." She put the fake smile on again. "I know you just love to be the first to get a crack at an exclusive interview, so I'm doing the nice thing and extending the offer. Unless there's someone else at the Citizen you want to give the credit to..."

"When and where, Gloria?" Scott drawled, already bored with this. "I'll gladly accommodate your rigorous schedule."

"Wednesday, eleven o'clock, Five Little Piggies for lunch and a chat, then we'll go back to the shoot and you can talk to the crew for extra interviews. I know how you love the details."

"Sure. Great. Whatever."

"Excellent."

Gloria gave him a small wave, then strutted off the way she came. As soon as she was gone, Scott growled, turning to Nathan with a frustrated frown. "Well, since you let her catch up with me, guess who gets to interview the bitch this Wednesday."

"Why does she look familiar?" Nathan figured he should have mentioned this before, but he knew better than to get between two highly irritated people. "I know I've seen her somewhere before..."

"Miss Gloria Joanne Anderson," Scott declared, gesturing in the direction she'd sauntered off. "Also known as international supermodel Famina. And to think, she was going to be a lawyer..."

"And dare I ask what shit's going on between you two?" Obviously, he did dare ask. Scott snorted and rolled his eyes.

"We were engaged. Only a few days after she accepted my proposal, I caught her sleeping with someone else, and she broke it off before I could."

Nathan winced. "Ouch... no wonder you don't want anything to do with her. I don't know how I would have taken finding my fiancée with another man..."

Scott laughed, shaking his head. "I wish it had been another man. No, it was her maid of honor, Maureen."

"Oh... well..." That explained a lot, but Nathan wasn't going to push it. "Then I will gladly take the burden of interviewing her off of your hands."

"Good." Scott wiped his hand across his face. "I want as little to do with her as possible. Hell, take credit for the story too. I don't want my name attached to anything related to her." He took a deep breath. "So, home then?"

Finally, Nathan thought. "Yes. Please."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He hoped he had everything he needed: pencil, notebook, and an audio recorder. Nathan had never done an interview before. He supposed he should have expected to do this eventually, working at the newspaper, but he had hoped that being an editor would mean he could avoid taking interviews. When he walked into the small café, he immediately spotted Gloria sitting at a small table, nursing a cup of tea and reading a magazine. Just sitting there she looked like she was posing for a shoot, and Nathan took a deep breath as he started his way over.

But someone behind the counter called his attention first.

"Psst! Nathan." The writer turned, startled to see Wren waving him over. The teen bounced excitedly as he moved towards him, constantly glancing over to Gloria's table. "Dude! Do you see who's here?"

"Um, yeah?" Nathan scratched the back of his head. "So?"

"So? That's Famina!" The youth gave a small squeal of joy. "She's the sexiest woman in the world, and she's here, where I work!"

"Are you even allowed to be doing this? Don't you work at your parents' restaurant too?"

Wren waved him off with a laugh. "Yeah, it's no problem. Different foods, different styles. I asked first. Besides, I'm just a waiter there. Here, I get to work in the kitchen. I make one mean sandwich." He dropped his voice. "But don't tell my mom, okay? Dad's totally cool, but she'd have a fit if she knew this was where my second job was."

"Right..." Nathan wasn't sure why he'd called him over and started to scoot away. "Anyway, I've got some work to do..."

"Oh! Wait! Can you do me a favor?" Nathan blinked, but waited for him to go on. Wren squealed again. "Can you let me bring your food over? I'd really love to meet Famina in person."

Oh geeze! He's totally fanboying over this, isn't he? I guess it couldn't hurt... although given his enthusiasm, that might be a really bad idea. I don't know this woman, and from the little I saw of her with Scott, she seems like a bit of a diva. Bringing Wren over could cause more problems than it's worth.

What should I do?