Heatwave behind the came.., p.1
Heatwave (Behind the Camera Book 1), page 1
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to Californian members of the Audubon Society of America. They do vital work conserving and protecting the natural habitat for the threatened species of birds all across the state. Find out more details and how to support their great work by emailing auduboncalifornia@audubon.org.
Published in 2020 by Ryeland Press
Copyright © Maggie McIntyre
First Edition
The rights of Maggie McIntyre to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Cover Photo: Attribution to Adrianna Calvo from Pexels
Cover Design: Karen D. Badger, Barbara Sawyer
Formatting: Karen D. Badger
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the author.
ISBN 979-8-677313-92-9
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks and appreciation go to Suzi Hautaniemi who was a superb proof reader and Karen Badger of Badger Bliss Books, my editor, formatter and cover designer. Once again you’ve both done a great job. I’d also like to thanks all my friends and host family in Los Angeles where I lived for a year as an exchange student. Everything I know about Southern California I owe to your kindness and hospitality.
Author’s Note:
This novel is intended to be a happy story, with a joyous ending. However it does contain some character memories of childhood sexual abuse, and a description of PTSD suffered by a military veteran. These are only over a few pages, but are essential to the plot, and I hope won't detract from your enjoyment of it.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
About The Author
Other books by Maggie McIntyre
Coming Soon from Ryeland Press
Sneak Peek from Wildfire...the sequel to Heatwave
Other Great Books from Independent Authors
Chapter 1
It was a hot and miserable afternoon on the second Wednesday in September. In Los Angeles the vacations were over and the kids had reluctantly returned to school. It was also Catriona Sinclair’s very first day of work in Montpellier Media Inc., a glittering West Coast TV channel, and unfortunately, it already seemed set to be her last.
Catriona, or Cat, as her family and friends invariably called her, stood outside her boss’ office and wiped her palms down her pant legs. Her glittering career, which had started so promisingly only the previous afternoon, now seemed about to be brought to an abrupt close after only eight hours at her desk. She was so new in the job that even finding her way up to the CEO office suite had needed a site plan. Now she had to face Katherine Konrad. And navigating her way around her presented even more of a challenge.
Frankie Carfax, senior editor of Montpellier’s flagship evening program, Montage, had called her in for an interview late the day before when many other staff members had been absent, including the CEO herself. Katherine normally wanted to see all short-listed candidates, and often turned away half of them, but Frankie hadn’t wanted to lose Catriona.
He guessed correctly, that she might be the answer to all his professional problems. He’d seen her excellent references from both her film school tutors and from the work placements she already done as a broadcast media student in her Journalism Master’s course. Frankie knew he needed saving, and this bright young bunny with the startling hair and bright green eyes offered salvation.
“When could you start? How about tomorrow?” He hoped she’d accept the position of his personal assistant on the spot.
Cat really wanted to specialize in hands-on film production, but this was a way through the door of a prestigious company, and so she happily accepted. She had a wide variety of successful student projects on her resume, and she was sure she could advance in the company later on.
“Don’t worry,” Frankie said. “I’m advocating you for myself so ‘She’ can’t say anything. It’s only a year’s contract, but there a fire-at-will clause I’m afraid; although that only applies if it comes from our esteemed CEO.”
Cat didn’t understand the inference, but was only too happy to accept his offer. She’d be inside Kat Konrad’s company--that was the main thing--and the middle-aged guy who’d hired her looked a real teddy-bear. He was warm and positive about her prospects, and obviously gay, so there would be no nasty office harassment going on.
Cat had already learned that she was extremely vulnerable to predation by men with antediluvian views on the treatment of young women, and so she deliberately dressed as boringly as possible to avoid trouble and to escape notice. This worked most of the time. She could only hope it would work at Montpellier.
***
She arrived bright and early the very next morning, negotiated her way around security and received her identity cards, as well as a site plan of the vast building complex and her pass key-cards. Her heart sank as she found her way to her work area. She could see immediately that she wouldn’t fit in.
If Montpellier Media represented the mainstream TV industry, Cat didn’t conform to the norm. She realized her style appeared as though she was deliberately flouting the culture of her colleagues; attention seeking through her non-conformity. At least that’s the message she inferred from the cold shoulders offered to her by the first girls she met.
Cat wondered if most of them were trying to be clones of their CEO. The girls all shared a uniformly boring look of dead straight blonde pony-tails, obviously expensive designer suits, very high heels and a pathetic ratio of height to weight. The young men had jutting chins, six-pack abs and well-groomed hair. All the young staff, male or female alike, smelled strongly of expensive cologne.
Most people, especially the under forties, looked undernourished. It struck Cat as rather odd. She was aware of the industry idiom you had to be thin because the camera added twenty pounds, but surely, that would only apply to actors and news anchors...and not to script writers, or production assistants?
Katherine Konrad may have established the company brand, and pulled it off spectacularly well, but she also had fire and wit, and a stunning on-screen presence. Not many of her minions managed to get anywhere near her. Instead, they swarmed about her like pallid, pouting princesses. Cat wondered how serious any of them really were about making quality television programs. She processed all this within one hour of being in the building.
Catriona could see she was obviously going to stand out from the start. On her first day at work, she sported flat shoes, fawn chinos, and a green fair-isle wool cardigan. Unlike the tall, willowy creatures around her, she barely topped five foot four, and wore a mane of auburn hair which reached all the way down her back and curled its way untamed to her waist. Her body also sported copious curves instead of looking like an ironing board. While weighing not much more than 120 lbs, she definitely wore a C-cup to keep her ‘girls’ firmly under control, and she had a malign sense of humor which far too often made her laugh at the most inappropriate of times.
Cat made her way to Frankie’s office after leaving the reception area. She settled in behind the desk he assigned to her, turned on her computer and then looked up the passwords needed for the various sections of the intranet. Cyber security was obviously a big priority at Montpellier. She wondered if they’d had any nasty attacks of hacking in the past.
***
By lunchtime on that first day, Cat realized why Frankie had hired her so quickly. He was buried under a pile of administrative chaos, and obviously, not in control of his own job description any more.
His proactive planning for future programs was in uproar, and he wasn’t showing any of the decisive qualities essential for an Editor of a prestigious daily current affairs program. Sure, he had a team of assistant film editors and producers answering to him, but the general direction of Montage seemed uncoordinated, as if there was no firm hand on the rudder.
Cat wondered how to best tackle the problem facing her. In no way was she going to snitch on Frankie to anyone else, but they had to get their act together quickly.
Based on emails already forwarded to Cat’s account, Simone Brown, the main anchor on the evening show—and the most senior African American woman in Montpellier—was already in a perpetual fury with Frankie. She had grown used to winning Emmy awards for their category of programs; however, if the declining ratings were any indication, that certainly wouldn’t be happening this year.
Cat learned just how scary Simone could be when she invaded her office space after lunch on her first day. The moment she entered, Simone fiercely began to interrogate her. It was like a second job interview, but much more forensic than the one Frankie had waffled through the day before.
She only knew Simone from her on-screen presence, but to
She answered Simone’s questions about her background and experience as best...and as honestly as she could.
“Tell me, Miss...Sinclair,” Simone began after glancing at Cat’s name tag. “What current affairs programs have you worked on?”
“Cat. You can call me, Cat. Ah, I haven’t worked on any current affairs programs as of yet. This is actually my first paid job in media.”
Simone raised her eyebrows. “I see. So what have you done before joining us here at Montpellier?”
Cat fidgeted with the notebook in her lap. “I...I worked as a house cleaner to pay my tuition through four years of UCLA film school and a Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism.”
“So you are newly graduated then?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Foreign languages...do you speak any?” Simone asked.
“Other than three years of Spanish in High School, no. No languages other than English.” Cat replied.
Simone leaned forward. “Have you ever travelled abroad?”
“No. I’ve never left the Pacific coast, but I’d like to go to New York, or to Washington DC someday. Oh, I have been to Canada once...to Vancouver for a weekend...but that’s it as far as foreign travel goes. My whole life had been spent in Portland Oregon, or in the forests behind it...that is, until I went to college in Southern California. I had to save up all my money to even get that far.”
Simone finished the interrogation at that point and shook her immaculate head. “Well, aren’t you the little fledgling waif.” She stood and stalked away without even bothering to end the conversation civilly. “Katherine must hear about this. It’s a travesty! As if we haven’t enough problems already.”
Cat returned to her desk with her heart in her throat and, as if on cue, her phone rang ten minutes later with a summons to the Executive Suite on the top floor. The patronizing call came from Brooke, Katherine Konrad’s P.A, whose Boston accent immediately imparted a sense of bored superiority. Cat immediately went to talk to Frankie.
“I’ve been summoned up to meet Katherine Konrad, right now,” she said as she hovered nervously in the door of Frankie’s office. “Do you think I should prepare my resignation speech already? Simone seemed seriously pissed off that I’ve been hired. She made me feel like a completely ignorant hick.”
“Oh, hell,” growled Frankie. “I’m sorry kid. I forgot to pave the way for you. Simone has obviously gone blabbing to Kat who likes to think she appoints everyone personally, that’s all. Don’t let her bully you. You have a good track record, and I really need you here. Kat and Simone are in cahoots to undermine me half the time.”
Cat was surprised by the venom of his feelings about Katherine and her prize anchor, but tried not to get drawn into what was obviously an ongoing feud.
“I’d better go up now then.”
She felt like a new kid in school being hauled up before the principal for breaking some rule she hadn’t known existed. She really didn’t want to lose this job...and not only because she badly needed the money. She had another, secret reason why she didn’t want to get fired. Catriona had only applied to join Montpellier Media because of Katherine Konrad’s reputation.
Katherine Konrad, was known to be the best in the business. Founder and CEO of Montpellier Media, she had built a TV station virtually from scratch. It now dominated the airwaves across California and most of the western states, and produced world-class programming. Unfortunately, Katherine had the reputation of being a world-class bitch as well, and one who fired at will. It was said that the box of tissues, kindly placed on her desk for when hapless employees started to weep, often needed replenishing.
Ever since she’d been in high school, Catriona had wanted to work for her. It was the main reason she’d come south to attend UCLA in the first place. Maybe she was a masochist, but the woman’s track record in television had fascinated her and kept her attention right through her days in film school and her Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. For eight years she had had a giant professional crush on her. Bitch or not, the woman was a genius.
Cat visited the rest-room on her way to the top floor. She washed her hands to calm her sweating palms, and smoothed her annoying mane of long hair and then looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Her own reflection usually amused her...with her unusually quirky smile, her silly around face and her green eyes...but not today. For the first time in her life, Catriona wished she could saunter in to the boss’ office with the same hauteur and ash-blonde perfection as her. But, no, that was not to be. Not now. Not ever.
“I’m here,” she announced to Brooke after she’d climbed the final flight of stairs. All the elevators had been busy so she had decided to walk up. Six floors couldn’t be too far, but she was rather winded by the top.
Brooke, with her blonde pony-tail, high heels...and seriously underweight, stared at her impassively and picked up her phone. “She’s here,” she said into it. Then to Catriona, “Go on in. You’re expected.”
It was like talking to an iceberg. Not a glimmer of a grin.
Catriona went through, and stopped in front of a long glass table which acted as a working desk. It was piled high with files and a large Apple computer. After a few seconds, she realized she was alone in the CEO’s office. The expected reception from the boss, whether positive or negative, simply never happened. No-one was sitting at the desk.
Cat looked around the room, and then jumped. Behind her, as if by magic, Katherine suddenly appeared. She stared at Cat as though she’d just dropped from Mars. She must have been in the private bathroom, or maybe a storage room, but it was enough to unnerve and fluster Catriona.
Katherine came around to the front of the table and took her seat. Catriona stood there, definitely on the carpet, which wasn’t red either. They stared at each other.
For a moment, a star-struck Cat almost forgot where she was. Here was Katherine Konrad in the flesh...the person she had fantasized about for years...the person she had watched on every available You Tube video...the person whose image she had downloaded from every Instagram snap she could find, and whose every piece of writing she had devoured.
The physical reality did not disappoint. The woman looked amazing. She actually shimmered. Cat nervously shifted from one foot to another and tried to control her response.
Sadly, it didn’t appear as though the admiration was mutual. Katherine looked her up and down in astonishment, and then asked laconically, “So, are you staying?”
“What...what do you mean? Yes, I hope so. I’ve just arrived I’m very happy to be here, thank you”, Catriona stumbled over her words and then shot them out in a rush.
A glimmer of amusement flashed across Katherine’s face. “I ask because you look as though you were about to bolt for the door. If you intend to stay, don’t just stand there. Pull up a chair.”
The meaning of Katherine’s words sunk in. Oh! So, Katherine had merely referred to her entry into the office, not her employment at Montpellier, What a relief!
Cat pulled a chair forward and perched herself on it, directly in front of the boss. She felt like a small mouse being scrutinized by a very large cat.
“Simone has told me all about you.”
Oh, definitely not good then.
“Yes, she came in to see me earlier. I’m afraid I didn’t make a very good impression,” Cat replied.
“Hmm. I rate Simone’s judgment very highly. Tell me why I should disregard it now, and keep you on here.”
Catriona gulped. “Well, I know I am young and inexperienced...”
“No! Stop at once. That’s the worst way to sell yourself to a skeptical employer. Start again. Tell me what you can bring to Montpellier. Make me understand why Frankie Carfax offered you a job without even consulting me.”
Katherine looked at her, but the expression on her face was impassive and neutral instead of hostile. She was giving her a chance to prove herself, a chance she had to grab.
