Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
“Hey,” I return.
He sent me a text message half an hour ago asking me to not interrupt until he said so. He said he had to do a video call. A week ago I’d be asking right now how that call went. But today, I’ve got other things on my mind.
Alannah tried to get me to meet her for lunch today, but I’ve made an excuse. She knows me so well, so she’s going to know things aren’t okay when she talks to me or heaven forbid, sees me, and I’m not supposed to tell anyone what’s going on. My brain has been working in overdrive and not giving me answers.
He scratches his temple thoughtfully. “I, uh… got a last-minute assignment to cover a story in Bowling Green.”
“Oh?”
“Uh huh. I told them at work I have wheels now and said I’d wanna be considered for more assignments where it’s accessible, you know, and they had someone interview me just now on the fly through video call for their morning show tomorrow, which is why I asked you not to come in for a while. And that’s done and they’re running a clip tomorrow on the local news about how that fundraiser got me mobile even though it didn’t hit the goal. They’re adding the link to the story so it might even go viral and help cover the rest of the cost.”
“That’s great,” I say, and my mind flashes to how much of the costs Derek covered.
Both directly and indirectly. And also… the fact he told me he dropped a hundred thousand dollars in my bank account. I’ve been afraid to look.
“The magazine wants to do a trial run on a new accessibility column, so part of it means me covering a story up there, attend a town hall where some issues are being brought up and… I wasn’t sure I wanted to become the poster child for it but… I figure it’s an assignment. A lot better than the crap they’ve handed me the last few months since I’ve been housebound. The column could take off. Could help me get my book published, too. When it’s ready, I mean. Who knows?” He shrugs.
“That’s great,” I say, genuinely pleased for him. “Exciting stuff.”
But he looks uncertain. His mood has been great the past few days with his newfound freedom that came with the new van.
“I don’t want to get too excited,” he says.
“Get excited, Adam. It’d be good to get excited about work again.”
“Yeah. I guess. So, I won’t be back until tomorrow night. The company is gonna have assistive tools sent to the hotel in Bowling Green for me. Things I can use going forward. I told them I need portable stuff to help me when I travel, so they’re footing the bill for that. And they’re talking about sending me to do a story at a related expo in Cincinnati next week, too.”
“That’s great. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” he says, not seeming overly thrilled.
“Are you not happy about this?” I ask.
“I am, I think. But, I don’t know if I should be. Catching a break on this new column and doing away assignments when they’ve only had me covering local just because I lost use of my legs seems a little strange, doesn’t it?”
“If they didn’t think you could do it, they wouldn’t give you the opportunity, would they?”
He shrugs. “Maybe.”
“If you do a few assignments and it’s not for you, you don’t have to keep doing them, do you?”
“Don’t know. Don’t know if I wanna be known as the paralyzed journalist. Not sure if this’ll mean they start pigeonholing me.”
“Don’t let them. And I say for now, be open-minded. This could be good for you. You’re new to this world but that doesn’t mean you can’t use your voice and your writing skills to be a champion for others in your position, right? It doesn’t mean you only need to write about accessibility issues. It’ll increase your audience, too, won’t it?”
He smiles. “Guess so. Yeah.”
He used to be so confident.
“And you can make the most of it. Seize the opportunities that come and don’t let them pigeonhole you. When do you need to leave?”
“Soon.”
“Need help packing?” I ask.
“That’d be great. Thanks, Chloe. This helps.”
I’d be relieved about having the house to myself tonight if not for the fact that I’m being watched. I don’t know if Derek watches recordings of everything happening here, if he’s watching a live feed, having someone else watch it and report things to him, or if he just watches me when he feels like it.
I do know that I know a little more about him than I did before, but it’s still not much. Because I’ve been doing internet searches about him and his family. He probably knows about that too, or will if he’s got someone watching my internet browsing history.