Page 20 of Worth the Fall
“Anyway, go on.”
“Anyway,” I continued, “the videographer and I make our way over to where he and his girlfriend are. As soon as she sees me coming, she practically starts marking her territory with him. She is tiny, so she pulls him down, spins him so hecan’tsee us, and starts sucking on his neck!”
“Oh, what?” Jeff’s voice chimed in.
“Yes! So, Billy, the videographer, and I are just standing there, and finally, I clear my throat. He turns his head and sees us, and his face is as red as a tomato with a hickey as big as a quarter! She peers over her shoulder and glares, and says, ‘Press isn’t allowed in the arena today. ’ Before I can say anything, she grabs him and drags him away.”
Jeff laughed as Martha chortled. She had the ugliest laugh that could make anyone smile and join her. “Did you get your interview?”
I wiped away a tear from laughing so hard. “No! Not even close. I’m sticking behind the chutes. As soon as his event is over, I can snag him before he disappears. Mr. Sterling needs this interview done by Saturday morning, so this could be my only chance.”
“Well, as soon as you do get a video, we request it so we can see if he is as hot as you claim,” Martha said, still laughing.
From across the arena, I saw Dennis and his wife take a seat in the front row, carrying corn dogs and drinks. “I literally never said he was hot. I am engaged, Marty!”
“Not yet!”
“Okay, it’s about to start, I gotta go. Talk later?”
“Call anytime, sweetie. I miss you!”
My heartstrings tugged as I thought about being in Chicago with Martha. “I miss you too. Sorry for interruptingyour night. She’s all yours, Jeff!”
“Finally,” he said sarcastically. “Just kidding, see you, Allegra!”
I made my way out of the tiny office just as the announcer cut the music. I was drained and jazzed all at the same time. Right before the rodeo, I had scheduled a meeting with the board to go over all my progress thus far.
It went about how I expected. Thompson grumbled and groaned, Micky didn’t say a word, and Dennis was smiley and enthusiastic the whole time. I went over the vests with the Agri-Corp logo that all the riders would wear at the next show. I showed them a mockup of the chute banners I had made at two in the morning in the hotel room. I showed the little footage I had of Jimmy Nash and a few other riders praising Agri-Corp.
The social media posts I had been working on had piqued Micky’s interest at least a little. I had taken the blurry, boring pictures into real-life shots of the rodeo in action. The engagement numbers spoke for themselves.
In only a week, their pages had gained three hundred followers, and counting.
Thompson and Micky left in a hurry, only stopping to take one of the cookies I had brought for them. Dennis shook my hand, praised what he had seen so far, and asked again to go to dinner with his family sometime. I agreed, and he gave me a high five.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had gotten a high five. I laughed as he left.
Billy waved as she caught my eye. “Sorry! I had some car trouble. Am I late?”
“And with that, ladies and gentlemen, THE NATIONALRODEO TOUR IS LIVE! Get ready to ride!”
I shook my head. They had a teenager sing the National Anthem, said another beautiful prayer, and it was finally time to get into the action. “We’re just about to start. How are you feeling?” After she sent me her footage from Jimmy Nash’s interview, I hired her full-time. She was incredible, and her editing skills made the interview seem a lot more casual than it was in real life. She squealed when I offered her the job.
Billy and I were going to get to know each other well in the next few months, and I was excited to have someone so positive around me.
She was wearing a college t-shirt, confirming my suspicions about her age, another baseball cap, and her big, round glasses. Her grin was even wider than yesterday. “I could not be more excited. How are you?”
The announcer was introducing the first bareback bronc rider.
“Good, thank you,” I said professionally, grateful I got to have my childish conversation with Martha. “So, I looked at the program. Colton Nash is the last rider in this event, so be ready. We’re gonna video his ride and snag him for the interview as soon as it’s over.”
“Got it!” She bounced on her tennis shoes. “I wore lip gloss!”
Not sure what that had to do with anything, but sure enough, her lips were coated in a cotton candy pink.
Noticing my confused gaze, she laughed. “Because he’s cute! Don’t tell me you didn’t dress up for him!”
I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a brown plaid button-down dress with brown heels. My hair was curled everso slightly. And yes, I was wearing lip gloss. “Oh, no. I was just trying to find something in my suitcase that wouldn’t look so bad covered in dust.”
