Tuesday morning, Jane walked into sports editor Kirk Thornton’s office at the Seattle Times. Since she’d taken over for Chris Evans, she’d only met with Kirk once. Today he sat behind a desk piled with newspapers and layouts and sports photos. He held the telephone receiver to his ear in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He glanced up, and, upon seeing her, a heavy scowl lined his forehead and bracketed his mouth. He raised one finger from the mug and pointed to an empty chair.
She wondered if he was always in a bad mood, or if it was just her effect on him. Suddenly she wondered if coming in was such a good idea. She was crampy and had PMS, and she didn’t want to get ugly with him.
“Noonan covers the Sorties,” he said into the receiver. “I’ve got Jensen at the Huskies game tonight.”
Jane turned and looked out the door at the bullpen, at some of the other sports reporters sitting at their desks. She would never be one of them. They’d let her know that. But it was okay. She didn’t want to be one of the guys. She wanted to be better. Her gaze fell on Chris Evans’s empty desk. This job wouldn’t last forever; Chris would return to work. But when it ended, she’d have a fabulous addition to her resume and find something better. Maybe at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
“How can I help you?” Kirk asked.
Jane turned and looked at the balding editor. “You didn’t run my Pierre Dion interview?”
He took a drink of his coffee, then shook his head. “Post-Intelligencer printed an interview with him the day after he signed.”
“Mine was better.”
“Yours was old news by then.” He looked at the papers on his desk.
She didn’t believe him. If one of the guys had done the interview, they would have run it as a feature instead of burying it in her regular column.
“Anything else?”
“I got an interview with Luc Martineau.”
That got his attention and he looked up. “No one gets an interview with Martineau.”
“I did.”
“How?”
“I asked him.”
“Everyone asks him.”
“He owed me a favor.”
He lowered his gaze to her feet, then raised it back up again. He was too smart to say what he was thinking, but she knew. “What favor would that be?”
She was half tempted to tell Kirk she’d blown Luc, but not until after the interview. So technically she hadn’t exchanged sexual favors for her story. “When I was fired, I only agreed to come back to work if Luc gave me an exclusive interview.”
“And he gave it to you?”
“Yes.” She handed him a hard copy of the interview along with a disk. She could have sent it in an attached e-mail like she did all her columns, but she’d wanted to see his face when he read it. She was proud of the piece and knew every word by heart.
Martineau in His Zone
Controversy is no stranger to Chinook goaltender Luc Martineau. His private and professional lives have been dissected and discussed and written about until no one is quite sure of the truth. Martineau himself claims that most of what has been written about his personal life is fiction and has little to do with the actual facts. Fact or fiction, he will tell you that his past is his own business.
These days he is totally focused on what takes place between the pipes.
When I sat down to interview this enigmatic goalie, I discovered that he is by turns forthright and aloof. Relaxed and intense. Contrasts that make this Conn Smythe winner one of the best all-time tenders in the NHL.
What is not in dispute is that two years ago, he was reported to be finished, his days in the NHL all but over. Oh, how wrong those reports were. Currently ranked second, Martineau leads the league in goals against average at 2.00. Fast hands and cool control are the trademarks of this premier goaltender. He has as much aptitude as attitude, and when he is in his zone, his nuclear stare intimidates…
As Kirk read on, a begrudging smile lifted one corner of his thin lips. A modicum of respect, albeit reluctant, softened the lines on his face and her mood changed in an instant. Jane didn’t want to feel anything or take any pleasure in Kirk Thornton’s change in attitude toward her. But she did. She hadn’t known how much until now. It burned like a little light in her chest and filled her with pride.
He looked at the schedule. “I’ll make room for it in the Sunday edition after next.”
She’d be on the road next Sunday. “A feature article, right?” she asked just to make sure.