Disclaimer: I imply no ownership of any of the characters. They are the property of Shed Productions and
the BBC. I use them only for creative purposes.
Part One
Victoria Merrick woke to the sound of the alarm clock ringing loudly in her ear. She struggled out of the
depths of sleep to see the wind and rain pounding against the bedroom window. She looked at the time.
Seven o'clock was a time that no sensible person should even contemplate, never mind consider getting up
at. But she couldn't let herself drift off back to sleep this morning. The first day of her new job as a junior
crime reporter on the Lark City Post. It was her first job since she'd graduated with a 2/1 in English from
University college London and even though it was ridiculously early for her, she was excited. Her first real
job. Victoria had wanted to become a reporter ever since she could remember. Writing was what she loved.
She might be completely scatty and disorganized most of the time but when it came to writing, she was as
dedicated as it was possible to be.
As she showered, she wondered about the people she would be working with. Would she get on with
them? Would she come up to their expectations of a reporter? She could remember her interview. Three
people had been interviewing her: the one who'd had made the biggest impression on her was a man with
brown hair and eyes and with an olive coloured skin. She remembered thinking, as he was asking her
questions, that she would do everything possible to keep out of his way if she got the job. He didn't
exactly scare her but she certainly didn't want to come under his glaring eye any time soon. The other man
present was very tall and he would be her immediate boss. He was the crime Editor and Victoria thought
he'd probably be okay to work for. The only woman who'd been there was blonde, blue-eyed, and Victoria
surprised herself by thinking how attractive this woman was. There was one problem with all this, she
couldn't remember any of their names to save her life.
At a quarter to nine, as Victoria walked down the high street, she rummaged through her handbag for the
scrap of paper which held the name of the person she was to report to first. She glanced down at it, Mike
Barrett. She had a feeling he'd been one of the people who'd interviewed her but she couldn't be certain.
As she strolled through the main doors of the Lark City Post, she could see two women standing at the
reception desk talking to the woman sitting behind it. As she approached they turned toward her.
"Are you new here love?"
"Yes, how did you guess?"
"Well, you don't look all that sure of yourself to me."
"No," chimed in her companion. "look like you could do with some help to me."
"It's my first day here," Victoria said with some trepidation. "I've been told to see a Mr. Mike Barrett?"
"Oh you'll be all right with him," Said the first woman.
"Yeah, he's lovely!" Victoria was beginning to feel a little like she was umpiring a tennis match the way she
had to keep switching her gaze from one to the other.
"I'm Julie Saunders and this is Julie Johnson. What department are you in?"
"Crime, and I'm Victoria Merrick."
"Oh you'll be working with Nikki," Julie J chipped in.
"Nikki?"
"Yeah," said Julie S. "Nikki Wade. You'll get on all right with her. Now, if you need anything while you're
working here, you come to us."
"Yeah, you just ask," echoed Julie Johnson.
"Oh, right, thank you." Victoria found herself wishing that everyone would be as nice to her. Then she
leaned towards the woman sitting behind reception. Her name badge said Crystal Gordon.
"Hi, I'm here to see Mr. Barrett." Crystal smiled.
"I've just phoned him. He said to look out for you."
As Victoria waited she looked round the entrance lobby of the Lark City Post. For a small town newspaper,
the offices were clearly the paper's pride and joy. Then she heard a voice behind her.
"Victoria, good to see you." She turned round and saw the very tall man who'd been at her interview. She
held out a hand.
"Hi." Mike looked to where the Julies were still talking to Crystal.
"You've met our resident gossips I see. It's a shame those two aren't reporters, they know more about the
goings on round here than any of us professionals."
"Yeah, I gathered that. They were very complementary about you." There was a smile in her voice and
Mike laughed.
"They never miss an ounce of male charm. Now, I'm going to take you and introduce you to Nikki. You'll
be working with her mainly and I'll get her to give you a tour of the office. I hear you got a 2/1 in English,
well done."
"Thanks. Getting the job kind of depended on my result."
"I don't doubt it. Anton's a stickler for standards. He says he only likes reporters with "real degrees." The
day they brought out a degree in media studies, Anton vowed he'd never have anyone with that degree on
his paper."
"Anton?"
"Anton Meyer, our boss. So just make sure you're good at your job."
Mike led Victoria upstairs to a large open plan office.
"This is where all the reporters from all four departments work." Victoria was impressed. The office
appeared to take up the whole of one floor and was light and airy. A desk had been assigned to her and she
was pleased to see that every reporter had access to their own computer. She could see a couple of the men
looking her up and down as if she were the favourite in the Derby. Victoria knew she was good looking but
she didn't like the way one of the men was staring at her. He almost made her feel like she'd forgotten to
dress. Then she saw a tall dark-haired woman walking towards them. Mike turned to her.
"Victoria, this is Nikki, your immediate senior, she'll be showing you the ropes."
"Hi. Would you like to come and get a coffee while I tell you what we're doing at the moment and show you
around?"
"Yeah, that'd be great."
"I'll leave you in Nikki's capable hands then," Mike said with a smile. "And if you need anything, Nikki will
show you where my office is." Mike strolled away towards the stairs and Nikki led Victoria over to an empty
desk.
"This is where you'll be working. On your left is Cassie and on your right, well, some total bastard's put
you next to Fenner." Hearing his name Jim Fenner, the man who'd been ogling her assets, approached.
Victoria wasn't amused to see that he still couldn't lift his gaze above chest height.
"Nice to meet you love," He said and Victoria found herself cringing at the oily tone that addressed her.
"Fenner, this is Victoria Merrick and she's our new crime reporter, which means I'll be keeping an eye on
her."
"Oh I'm sure you'll get on fine here, Victoria. You need anything, just ask."
"That won't be necessary Fenner," Said Nikki in an icy tone. "The day I need you too look after anyone, is
the day they give your job to a chimp."
Nikki led Victoria to the staff coffee lounge where people only usually went in their breaks so at nine in the
morning it was completely empty. As Nikki brewed the coffee, Victoria asked,
"Why the tension between you and Jim Fenner?" Nikki turned an looked at her with slight pity in her eyes.
"Not to put to fine a point on it, you're a very pretty woman and Fenner will waste no time in trying to pull
you."
"Hmmm. I did wonder. The way he looks at you, I felt like I'd forgotten to do up my blouse." "I wish,"
Thought Nikki silently.
"So, who do I avoid and who's who?"
"Well, it'll help that everyone round here wears name badges. Avoid Fenner like the plague and don't tell
Cassie anything you'd rather not have broadcasted to all and sundry. But otherwise, everyone's pretty
much okay. Where we were just now is where all reporters work no matter their department or level of
seniority. The editors offices are on the second floor and most of them have secretaries. On the top floor is
Meyer's office and personnel. I'll take you up and introduce you to Kirstie. With Fenner on staff, she has
her work cut out."
As the coffee lounge was on the ground floor, Nikki led the way to the only other area that Victoria would
need access to. Nikki threw open the door to a very cluttered but still huge office. All around the walls were
boxes of film, rolls of cable and numerous tripods and camera cases.
"This," said Nikki. "Is photography. All four photographers are at your disposal at any time. They all work
for all of us. Denny, Shaz, Danny and Ray. They're all brilliant and always in demand so if you need the
services of any of them, you'll probably need to get in quick. Denny," She called to a little woman with
tattoos on both arms. "Are you busy this morning?"
"No, don't think so. Why?"
"I need you to come with us to that suspected arson. A young mother with a ten months old baby. There's
got to be a story in that one."
"Yeah, I'm free till one," Said Denny consulting a battered looking diary.
"Denny's so easy, she's always free," A cold voice said from the door. Nikki turned round and glared at
Fenner.
"There's no need for that is there?"
"Danny, can I borrow you for the same story?" Danny, looking excited at the possibility of two departments
fighting over the same story turned to Fenner and said,
"Can News and crime publish the same story?"
"No," Said Fenner with glee. "So it's up to us to come up with the better pictures and the snappier
headline." For all Nikki hated Fenner, he was good at his job. He always seemed to know the best story to
be had from a situation.
After Nikki had shown Victoria where Personnel was and where Mike's office was if ever she would need it,
they met Denny out front by Nikki's car and on the drive, Nikki began telling Victoria what they were going
to see.
"Rachel Hicks, 19, single mum of a ten months old daughter,. Her house caught fire in the middle of last
night. The fire service got there in time to get Rachel and her baby out but they're both under observation
in hospital which is where we'll be going after this. The fireman in charge has opened an investigation
because he thinks it may be arson. So, let's hope that some of them are there now. But we need to get all
we can on this, or Fenner or someone else from the news department will scoop the story and if it's arson, I
want this coming from crime."
"Any reason why it should be arson?" asked Victoria.
"We don't know as yet, that's why we'll go and see Rachel Hicks as soon as we've finished here. I
certainly don't want Fenner going to see her. A single mum in distress is a sitting target to someone like
Fenner."
the BBC. I use them only for creative purposes.
Part One
Victoria Merrick woke to the sound of the alarm clock ringing loudly in her ear. She struggled out of the
depths of sleep to see the wind and rain pounding against the bedroom window. She looked at the time.
Seven o'clock was a time that no sensible person should even contemplate, never mind consider getting up
at. But she couldn't let herself drift off back to sleep this morning. The first day of her new job as a junior
crime reporter on the Lark City Post. It was her first job since she'd graduated with a 2/1 in English from
University college London and even though it was ridiculously early for her, she was excited. Her first real
job. Victoria had wanted to become a reporter ever since she could remember. Writing was what she loved.
She might be completely scatty and disorganized most of the time but when it came to writing, she was as
dedicated as it was possible to be.
As she showered, she wondered about the people she would be working with. Would she get on with
them? Would she come up to their expectations of a reporter? She could remember her interview. Three
people had been interviewing her: the one who'd had made the biggest impression on her was a man with
brown hair and eyes and with an olive coloured skin. She remembered thinking, as he was asking her
questions, that she would do everything possible to keep out of his way if she got the job. He didn't
exactly scare her but she certainly didn't want to come under his glaring eye any time soon. The other man
present was very tall and he would be her immediate boss. He was the crime Editor and Victoria thought
he'd probably be okay to work for. The only woman who'd been there was blonde, blue-eyed, and Victoria
surprised herself by thinking how attractive this woman was. There was one problem with all this, she
couldn't remember any of their names to save her life.
At a quarter to nine, as Victoria walked down the high street, she rummaged through her handbag for the
scrap of paper which held the name of the person she was to report to first. She glanced down at it, Mike
Barrett. She had a feeling he'd been one of the people who'd interviewed her but she couldn't be certain.
As she strolled through the main doors of the Lark City Post, she could see two women standing at the
reception desk talking to the woman sitting behind it. As she approached they turned toward her.
"Are you new here love?"
"Yes, how did you guess?"
"Well, you don't look all that sure of yourself to me."
"No," chimed in her companion. "look like you could do with some help to me."
"It's my first day here," Victoria said with some trepidation. "I've been told to see a Mr. Mike Barrett?"
"Oh you'll be all right with him," Said the first woman.
"Yeah, he's lovely!" Victoria was beginning to feel a little like she was umpiring a tennis match the way she
had to keep switching her gaze from one to the other.
"I'm Julie Saunders and this is Julie Johnson. What department are you in?"
"Crime, and I'm Victoria Merrick."
"Oh you'll be working with Nikki," Julie J chipped in.
"Nikki?"
"Yeah," said Julie S. "Nikki Wade. You'll get on all right with her. Now, if you need anything while you're
working here, you come to us."
"Yeah, you just ask," echoed Julie Johnson.
"Oh, right, thank you." Victoria found herself wishing that everyone would be as nice to her. Then she
leaned towards the woman sitting behind reception. Her name badge said Crystal Gordon.
"Hi, I'm here to see Mr. Barrett." Crystal smiled.
"I've just phoned him. He said to look out for you."
As Victoria waited she looked round the entrance lobby of the Lark City Post. For a small town newspaper,
the offices were clearly the paper's pride and joy. Then she heard a voice behind her.
"Victoria, good to see you." She turned round and saw the very tall man who'd been at her interview. She
held out a hand.
"Hi." Mike looked to where the Julies were still talking to Crystal.
"You've met our resident gossips I see. It's a shame those two aren't reporters, they know more about the
goings on round here than any of us professionals."
"Yeah, I gathered that. They were very complementary about you." There was a smile in her voice and
Mike laughed.
"They never miss an ounce of male charm. Now, I'm going to take you and introduce you to Nikki. You'll
be working with her mainly and I'll get her to give you a tour of the office. I hear you got a 2/1 in English,
well done."
"Thanks. Getting the job kind of depended on my result."
"I don't doubt it. Anton's a stickler for standards. He says he only likes reporters with "real degrees." The
day they brought out a degree in media studies, Anton vowed he'd never have anyone with that degree on
his paper."
"Anton?"
"Anton Meyer, our boss. So just make sure you're good at your job."
Mike led Victoria upstairs to a large open plan office.
"This is where all the reporters from all four departments work." Victoria was impressed. The office
appeared to take up the whole of one floor and was light and airy. A desk had been assigned to her and she
was pleased to see that every reporter had access to their own computer. She could see a couple of the men
looking her up and down as if she were the favourite in the Derby. Victoria knew she was good looking but
she didn't like the way one of the men was staring at her. He almost made her feel like she'd forgotten to
dress. Then she saw a tall dark-haired woman walking towards them. Mike turned to her.
"Victoria, this is Nikki, your immediate senior, she'll be showing you the ropes."
"Hi. Would you like to come and get a coffee while I tell you what we're doing at the moment and show you
around?"
"Yeah, that'd be great."
"I'll leave you in Nikki's capable hands then," Mike said with a smile. "And if you need anything, Nikki will
show you where my office is." Mike strolled away towards the stairs and Nikki led Victoria over to an empty
desk.
"This is where you'll be working. On your left is Cassie and on your right, well, some total bastard's put
you next to Fenner." Hearing his name Jim Fenner, the man who'd been ogling her assets, approached.
Victoria wasn't amused to see that he still couldn't lift his gaze above chest height.
"Nice to meet you love," He said and Victoria found herself cringing at the oily tone that addressed her.
"Fenner, this is Victoria Merrick and she's our new crime reporter, which means I'll be keeping an eye on
her."
"Oh I'm sure you'll get on fine here, Victoria. You need anything, just ask."
"That won't be necessary Fenner," Said Nikki in an icy tone. "The day I need you too look after anyone, is
the day they give your job to a chimp."
Nikki led Victoria to the staff coffee lounge where people only usually went in their breaks so at nine in the
morning it was completely empty. As Nikki brewed the coffee, Victoria asked,
"Why the tension between you and Jim Fenner?" Nikki turned an looked at her with slight pity in her eyes.
"Not to put to fine a point on it, you're a very pretty woman and Fenner will waste no time in trying to pull
you."
"Hmmm. I did wonder. The way he looks at you, I felt like I'd forgotten to do up my blouse." "I wish,"
Thought Nikki silently.
"So, who do I avoid and who's who?"
"Well, it'll help that everyone round here wears name badges. Avoid Fenner like the plague and don't tell
Cassie anything you'd rather not have broadcasted to all and sundry. But otherwise, everyone's pretty
much okay. Where we were just now is where all reporters work no matter their department or level of
seniority. The editors offices are on the second floor and most of them have secretaries. On the top floor is
Meyer's office and personnel. I'll take you up and introduce you to Kirstie. With Fenner on staff, she has
her work cut out."
As the coffee lounge was on the ground floor, Nikki led the way to the only other area that Victoria would
need access to. Nikki threw open the door to a very cluttered but still huge office. All around the walls were
boxes of film, rolls of cable and numerous tripods and camera cases.
"This," said Nikki. "Is photography. All four photographers are at your disposal at any time. They all work
for all of us. Denny, Shaz, Danny and Ray. They're all brilliant and always in demand so if you need the
services of any of them, you'll probably need to get in quick. Denny," She called to a little woman with
tattoos on both arms. "Are you busy this morning?"
"No, don't think so. Why?"
"I need you to come with us to that suspected arson. A young mother with a ten months old baby. There's
got to be a story in that one."
"Yeah, I'm free till one," Said Denny consulting a battered looking diary.
"Denny's so easy, she's always free," A cold voice said from the door. Nikki turned round and glared at
Fenner.
"There's no need for that is there?"
"Danny, can I borrow you for the same story?" Danny, looking excited at the possibility of two departments
fighting over the same story turned to Fenner and said,
"Can News and crime publish the same story?"
"No," Said Fenner with glee. "So it's up to us to come up with the better pictures and the snappier
headline." For all Nikki hated Fenner, he was good at his job. He always seemed to know the best story to
be had from a situation.
After Nikki had shown Victoria where Personnel was and where Mike's office was if ever she would need it,
they met Denny out front by Nikki's car and on the drive, Nikki began telling Victoria what they were going
to see.
"Rachel Hicks, 19, single mum of a ten months old daughter,. Her house caught fire in the middle of last
night. The fire service got there in time to get Rachel and her baby out but they're both under observation
in hospital which is where we'll be going after this. The fireman in charge has opened an investigation
because he thinks it may be arson. So, let's hope that some of them are there now. But we need to get all
we can on this, or Fenner or someone else from the news department will scoop the story and if it's arson, I
want this coming from crime."
"Any reason why it should be arson?" asked Victoria.
"We don't know as yet, that's why we'll go and see Rachel Hicks as soon as we've finished here. I
certainly don't want Fenner going to see her. A single mum in distress is a sitting target to someone like
Fenner."