Make Sure To Get My Good Side!

“I’m not looking for sorry excuses! I want HEADLINES!” As soon as I found myself standing in the center of the busy Daily Bugle lobby I could hear that almost iconic voice from a mile away, even from behind two closed doors and about a hundred different workers. For a second I hesitate, not sure if this is the best idea in the world, before I take a quick breath and focus.

I just had to deal with a psychopathic pigeon carrying the world’s most powerful aphrodisiac, I’m sure I can deal with some stuffy loud mouthed news woman. I took a second to regain my composure, breathing softly as I closed my eyes, before opening them and practically strutting through the busy open floor of the Bugle, and pushing through the doors to Jamesons office, where I saw her screaming at two reporters.

“If you two bimbos didn’t spend the last week sucking each other off then I’d be sitting here with a fat, juicy story to read!” She screams at them, her voice just as shrill and arrogant as it was the thousand other times I heard it… but something about hearing it in person was a bit different. “I want you two out of my office now! And don’t come back until you get me some front page news! Or you’re fired!”

One of the women, who was a bit younger and seemingly newer, was a bit more scared and was frantically nodding at JJ’s request. The other must have been a senior reporter and was used to dealing with her supervisor, as she just rolls her eyes and shrugs, before the two of them start to push past me and walk out the door.

“And YOU!” Jannette turns her attention to me which makes me jump, slightly startled, as I walk in the room with more of a blush painting my face. “I have been waiting for my coffee for thirty minutes! You’d think we’d hire better assistants at this point!”

I hesitate for a second as I let Jannette go off on a mini rant before I clear my throat and put on a smile. “Um… I’m actually not your coffee runner?” I say awkwardly, as I hold up a manilla folder and give a small patient smile.

Jannette’s eyes actually widen softly and she clears her throat, sitting back down in her chair as she looks me up and down. “Oh! Sorry. You just look too young to be a reporter.” She says with an actual hint of politeness that surprises me. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“I um, actually may have something you’d want to see.” I say softly as I approach her desk and hand her the manilla folder. Jannette hesitantly takes it as she stares me down, but then slowly opens it, and her jaw drops at the contents.

“How in Gods green earth did you get this?” She asks, the rage boiling deep in her throat, but I could tell she was holding back to not scare me off. I couldn’t hold back the smile on my face as I watched her demeanor shift, as she turned the picture around to see the clearest photo of Spider-Woman that had ever been taken.

“I have my ways.” I say quickly… and in fact my ways had to do with specifically placed cameras webbed up on buildings. I was in the middle of a quick photoshoot whenever I saw Norma falling from the sky this morning, and luckily I was only a couple blocks away and was able to get to her in time. “Do you like it?”

Jannette goes back and studies the picture more, turning it at different angles and even… sniffing it? That one was a little weird. She grunts and grumbles something under her breath before putting the photo to the side on her desk and turning back to me.

“The angle is shit, the actual camera quality is garbage, but this is the best image of Spider-Woman I’ve seen come across this desk.” She says coldly, and my heart starts racing as I’m not sure where this conversation was going. “Do you think you can get me more?” A smile grows across my face and I nod very quickly, and I could actually almost see a smirk grow across the older woman’s cold face. “Then I’ll give you $500 for this one, and go talk to Ms. Brant at the front desk about a loaner camera. That will give you a better quality when you bring me in my next batch of photos.”

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped at her words. $500 would do so much for me right now! I could even send some to May to help with the house payments. I almost start to jump in giddy excitement as I try and hold in a squeal, but Jannette just raises one hand to the sky as if to tell me to calm down.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, kid. You still have more work to do. Now get the fuck out of my office before I change my mind.” I nod very quickly and practically start to drool as Jannette writes me a check here and now, handing it to me as I shove it in my pocket safely.

“Thank you Ms. Jameson!” I say in a very excited voice, before turning around and heading back out to the busy floor, as another reporter takes my place in her office.