Bitzi (7): Lost (1)

The Lost Story

Trigger Warning: intense fear/anxiety scenes

Getting together my stories was sometimes a pain, and this particular issue was no different. It was the Sunday Weekend Edition, and it was supposed to be thicker than usual due to some big events happening both the previous week and the following week. It was a lot to report, but I thought I had everything. I sorted through and put everything in its rightful place, organizing it on a large boardroom table so I could take it all in.

"Hey, Bitzi, how goes it?" a cheerful man asked.

I looked up to see Jeremy Dalton, one of our greatest local reporters. His current assigned specialty were local restaurants and hotspots. His articles about the area's newest restaurants were highly praised in the community, and I received hand-written requests each week for his upcoming articles. I had a long waiting list for him to hit up, a list he was well aware of.

"Just getting this issue in place. Is there anything I can help you with?" I questioned.

Jeremy nodded, "My article about the winery from this week? I've got to change the address on it because they have a shop in town. Do you have it on you?" he asked, looking over the chaos. He laughed, "I don't know how you keep this all straight."

"Neither do I," I grinned, trying to be funny. I looked over the piles before looking behind me to my desk, "I swear I saw that—"

"It's okay if you've already put it in—"

"No, it's not over there, but I don't see it here either," I said, sighing, "Oh I hope I didn't lose it."

"Same here. That's actually my only copy. The computer crashed in the workroom, so I typed it up on a typewriter real quick—"

"Oh no!" I cried.

"No, no, no, it's not that catastrophic! I still have my notes back home, so it'll just have to wait a week is all. It's fine—"

"This is the biggest issue we've had in ages. It needs to be in this one. How quick can you get those notes and send me the redo?" I asked.

Jeremy checked his watch, "At this hour? Two hours. One-way. It's not going to happen. It's okay—"

"No, it's not okay! I shouldn't be losing people's stories, and you shouldn't have to redo them because I lost them. Oh, those people are going to kill me—"

"No they're not," Jeremy said, taking my shoulders in his hands, "It's fine, all of it. They were just glad we talked to them, okay? I'll call them when I get home and explain, and it'll be fine, okay? If it's not, you can put it in Monday's issue, can't you? If it's an emergency?"

"But you said it's not—"

"But if they get antsy?" Jeremy asked.

I sighed, "Okay, but—"

"I'll explain everything. Get back to work. You're doing great, Bitzi, I swear you are."

Well it didn't feel like I was doing great. As soon as Jeremy left, Harry came in. I shook my head at him, "I can't do Sports right now. I've got to get the Living section in order, and it's a disaster—"

"I was just coming over to ask you about lunch, maybe dinner if you're busy," he smiled.

I shook my head, "I can't, not until I'm finished here."

"Is everything okay?" Harry asked softly.

"No, I've lost a story, and things are just a mess in here. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing anymore. Get out, okay? And close the door behind you," I commanded, watching him leave. I closed the blinds over my door and locked it.

I tried to sort through the chaos, finding places for things and putting the stories in their proper order. When that was done, I could start the next step, but Jeremy's missing story was bothering me. While I worked on the next steps, I kept retracing my thoughts to see if I could remember what I did with his story, but nothing came to mind. If it wasn't on my desk, it wasn't here—I hadn't filed it away and I hadn't intended to. Everything from this week was carefully organized on my desk, so it shouldn't be gone. No one had been in there but me during office hours, and I'd even stayed late. The only one responsible for this was me.

An hour later, the phone rang. Jeremy called to say the winery people were understanding and looked forward to seeing the story in the next issue. He was going to write it at home and email it to me over the weekend, which I told him was fine, but I was still kicking myself.

And then I lost track of myself. I looked through the layout and realized something was missing there too, and then a story I had just had on my desk seemed to walk off. I looked all over for it, digging in the trash even to make sure it wasn't there, but it was nowhere to be found.

I was almost in tears when the phone rang again. Harry had gotten a demand from his boss that he prod me to get the Sports layout done. I had to abandon the Living section to get started, but then I thought there were missing pieces there too.

I was done. I called my assistant into the office and slammed the door behind him, "I'm losing my mind!" I cried.

"Calm down, Miss Baxter. What's wrong?"

"Stories are missing, and I've got to get this layout worked out, and I just—"

"Breathe, breathe, it's okay," he said soothingly, looking over the layout. He approached the table and turned back to me, "I thought you said you were doing Sports now."

"I am—"

"Well no wonder you're so confused. These are the headlines—"

"I finished those this morning, hours ago," I said, looking over his shoulder to see he was right.

I couldn't take it anymore. I yelled loudly that I was going to lunch, but before I could get off the floor, Harry's boss was blocking the entrance to the elevator.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded, stepping towards me, "You have to find my stories and finish my layout. You're not doing your job! I can have you fired you know!"

"I just need a break!" I cried, heading for the stairs.

But the door kept running away. I would step closer and the door would get farther—

—and that's when I realized it was all a dream. Suddenly my eyes were open and the newsroom fell away. My bedroom was there with everything in its place. I checked my phone and found it was Wednesday night, nowhere near time for any weekend issues, and I couldn't think of any crazy deadlines. It was all in my dream, every bit of it. I hadn't lost anyone's stories, and I hadn't messed up the layouts either. It was all in my head for real.

I shook my head and stared at the ceiling. I was too hyped up to sleep, so I watched television in the living room for the rest of the night, glad it was all just a dream.

~End

A/N: Piece 28 of 100 for my 10x10 Challenge. I'm doing this challenge for NaNo2018 so I can have plenty of words to wrap up 2018 with. If you'd like to join me, the challenge's rules and themes are on my profile. PM me with any questions, and keep in mind that you don't have to do them in a month like me.