Chapter 15

Alina: “Alina?” “Alina, say something.” “Alina!” “Huh?” I was startled back into reality as Erick’s face faded away and Ryan’s face appeared in front of me. “What’s wrong? You’ve been spaced out this whole morning,” Ryan asked as he sat himself down on one of the chairs in front of my desk. “Nothing. I’m just stressed, I guess,” I answered, putting my pen down on top of a bundle of papers and running my hands down my face The article that we worked on in the restaurant was going to go on air today, and I had to write the speech that our Editor-in-Chief will be broadcasting since I was the one who took down the notes. Ryan had, thankfully, kept all the equipment on my desk yesterday and covered for me when our boss noticed my absence. All that hard work would be for nothing if I wouldn’t be able to write the speech down before the two p.m. news bulletin goes on air. “I can see that. You look like you’ve been through hell,” he told me. “You have no idea...” I trailed off, thinking about