nervous!’ Evie reached a hand out to place along Buck’s pale chubby cheek. ‘Thanks for the ride. Will you wait?’
‘Of course I will. You go up there and show ‘em what you’re made of.’
Evie took a deep breath, doing her best to settle her rampaging nerves, and smiled at Buck. ‘I’ll sure try.’
The offices at the Herald Tribune were busy, and the constant movement between desks and phones ringing reminded Evie of a beehive. Men in dark suits manned most of the desks, many of them furiously typing as others spit words into their phones. A few turned to look as she passed between the desks, following the receptionist back to the office of James R. Tobias, the editor who had placed the advertisement that had brought her there.
The receptionist waved an arm toward an open door after she’d gone in herself to make sure Tobias was in. ‘Go on in,’ she said. She raised an eyebrow at Evie as she watched her enter. The skepticism in her look did little for Evie’s confidence.
‘Hello,’ the big man behind the desk said, rising. ‘Jim Tobias. Please sit down.’
Evie followed directions, placing her small bag on her lap and holding out a piece of paper outlining her scant qualifications.
The man waved it away as he sat. ‘You’re here about the ad, then?’
‘Yes sir, I go to the University, and I …’
‘No, no. Stop right there.’ Tobias barked it, doing nothing to help Evie’s frazzled nerves.
‘All right,’ she tried again. ‘Well, sir, I’m Ev …’
‘For God’s sake, don’t tell me your name!’
Evie swallowed her words and stared at the man. She could feel color rising up her neck as anger began to replace nervousness. He might be in charge, but Tobias was undeniably rude. ‘I might not have a lot of experience with jobs, sir, but it seems like telling you my name and giving you my qualifications would be the right way to start. Maybe I’ve come to the wrong place.’ Evie put her chin in the air, her Upper East Side roots getting the best of her. She didn’t care who this man was, he had no cause to be rude to a perfect stranger.
‘No, no, miss. I’m sorry. I come off rough, I know it.’ Tobias gave her an apologetic smile under his mustache and rubbed his ear. ‘It’s just that for this particular position, it’s better if I don’t know much about you.’
‘Why is that?’ Now Evie was curious.
‘We’re looking for a columnist who can get in with the society crowds, someone who belongs there already, maybe. Someone willing to be anonymous.’
‘Anonymous? Why?’
‘I’d like to do a new column as part of our society pages. A column that spills the news that other people aren’t talking about. A piece that will get people stewing … But no one will talk to you if they know you’re the one ratting out all the juicy secrets, right?’ Tobias smiled, his dark eyes twinkling in the ruddy face.
‘I see,’ Evie said, her mind spinning. She had come here to be a real writer, to learn how a newspaper worked. She had no idea that the advertisement she’d seen at school was to work as a gossip writer. Her parents would never approve.
‘Forgive me saying, but you look like you might be the right type of girl. You know some of the people regular New Yorkers would like to read about?’
‘I’m not sure who that would be,’ Evie said, not sure if she should be offended.
‘Look, I’m willing to give you a try, sweetheart. I know this isn’t exactly hard news. But you got a chance here to be on the edge of somethin’ new – stir things up a bit. Can you get in with the right crowds? Politicians, celebrities, society types? Would you be comfortable at the clubs?’ He raised a bushy eyebrow and shook his head, then muttered to himself. ‘Naw, probably not. Good girls who can run around like debutantes don’t go to clubs. Maybe this isn’t gonna work.’
Evie smiled. He had no idea how comfortable she was with just those types of people, and clubs would be nothing new to her. Her boyfriend, Roger, was the owner of a speakeasy on the east side, and she’d had a short interlude with another club proprietor, too. Despite the fact that she was only eighteen, and a sheltered debutante, Evie had a wealth of experience in just the types of situations Tobias was looking for. ‘I think I could manage it.’
Tobias stopped muttering and stared, surprise raising his eyebrows high. ‘All right. Let’s try ‘er out. Write me a column – something juicy that will get people’s wheels spinning; something you’d have to be an insider to know. Five hundred words? I’ll give you a week.’
‘But I shouldn’t put my name on it?’
‘Put a name on it, sure. Just not your real name. Got me? And if I were you, I wouldn’t mention this to anyone. You’d be surprised how people quiet down around you if they think you’ve got an agenda.’
Evie nodded slowly as she thought about what she was being asked to do. ‘What about payment?’
Tobias regarded her with amusement sparkling in his eyes, his head tilted to one side. ‘Drivin’ a hard bargain?’
‘No, I just believe that I should be compensated for my work. I came here looking for a job, sir. Not a hobby.’
‘Of course you did.’ Tobias stood up. ‘This one’s a trial run. If it works out, we’ll give ya fifty cents a column.’
Evie tried not to react. Though fifty cents was not a lot, it was also more than she’d ever made doing anything, and it sounded a lot like freedom to her. She gave Tobias a curt nod to let him know that would be acceptable.
‘All right, kid. Good luck.’ Tobias waved her off, and Evie picked up her bag and let herself out, her smile growing wider as she made her way through the noisy offices and back down to the car, where Buck waited.
‘Well?’ he asked.
She jumped up and down and squealed. ‘I have a job, Bucky!’ Then, as a thought crossed her mind, she stood still and made her voice small. ‘Please don’t tell Daddy.’
‘Should I even ask why, Miss Evie?’ Buck opened the door for her and they drove back up to the McKenzie home on the Upper East Side.
‘It’d probably be better if you didn’t.’
‘Oh dear.’
*****
‘Hello, darling.’ Evie’s mother had a knack for waiting just inside the door when Evie arrived home. Evie suspected that she could probably hear the car coming up the street. It wasn’t exactly quiet.
‘Mother.’ Evie couldn’t help but grin as she came inside. The chill March air clung to her coat and Buck pounded his hands on his thighs behind her, seeming to send puffs of cold off of him in clouds.
‘You look pleased.’ Mrs McKenzie looked worried as she said it, her lips pulling into a hard straight line and wrinkles appearing between her eyes.
‘And that makes you look worried,’ Evie said, hanging her coat. ‘I am happy, Mother. You should be happy, too.’
‘Why are we happy today?’
Buck passed them, heading for the kitchen, and Evie watched him go. He was a good friend to her. ‘No reason, Mother. It’s just a lovely day and I’m happy.’
Mrs McKenzie’s face relaxed. ‘Well, then I’m happy too.’ She turned to fuss with some things arranged on a shelf in the entry. As her hands moved over the shelf she said, ‘Evelyn, the Whites are coming for dinner. Please be ready at seven.’
‘That sounds lovely.’ Evie climbed the stairs to her own room, smiling at the thought of spending an evening with Roger. He had been at Yale for his last semester, but managed to return to the city almost every weekend to see her