The Assignment
1227 Words
The newsroom buzzed with its usual controlled chaos.
Phones rang incessantly.
Reporters hurried between desks carrying notebooks and half-finished coffees.
Television screens mounted on every wall flashed sports highlights, political scandals, and breaking news banners.
For Emma Hayes, however, none of it existed.
The world had narrowed to the blinking cursor on her screen.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she finished the final paragraphs of an article she'd been working on all morning.
The story was sharp.
Clean.
Award-worthy.
Exactly the kind of work that had earned her a reputation as one of the country's most respected sports journalists.
It had taken years to get here.
Years of sacrifice.
Years of proving herself.
Years of building a life that had absolutely nothing to do with Noah Callahan.
Or at least that's what she always told herself.
"Emma."
She didn't look up.
The article came first.
Everything else could wait.
"Emma."
Still typing.
A statistic needed verifying.
A quote needed tightening.
One more paragraph.
"Emma!"
Emma jumped.
Her fingers slipped across the keyboard.
A string of random letters appeared on the screen.
She looked up.
Her editor, Martin Rhodes, stood beside her desk with an expression somewhere between amusement and annoyance.
"Earth to Emma."
A few nearby reporters laughed.
Emma rubbed her forehead.
"Sorry."
Martin raised an eyebrow.
"I figured you were either writing the next Pulitzer winner or planning a murder."
"Can it be both?"
A ripple of laughter spread through the surrounding desks.
Martin pointed toward the glass conference room overlooking the newsroom.
"Conference room. Now."
Immediately, conversations around her quieted.
Nobody liked surprise meetings.
Especially meetings involving senior editors.
Emma frowned.
"Am I in trouble?"
"Just get in there."
That wasn't reassuring.
She quickly saved her work and followed him.
As they crossed the newsroom, she noticed several department heads already gathered inside the conference room.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
A national assignment, maybe?
A special project?
A promotion?
The possibility sent a flicker of excitement through her chest.
Emma had spent years climbing her way to the top.
Opportunities like this mattered.
Martin closed the door behind them.
The room settled down.
Everyone took their seats.
The large screen at the front illuminated.
Martin smiled.
"We've landed exclusive coverage for this year's championship race."
Excited murmurs immediately filled the room.
Emma sat straighter.
This was huge.
The championship race was dominating headlines.
Television ratings were breaking records.
The assignment would guarantee national exposure.
"We need our best journalists covering every angle," Martin continued.
"Behind-the-scenes access. Exclusive interviews. Travel coverage. The whole package."
Now everyone looked interested.
Including Emma.
This could be career-defining.
Martin clicked the remote.
A team logo appeared.
Then a player profile.
The room disappeared.
Emma's stomach dropped so suddenly she thought she might actually be sick.
No.
No.
No.
Not him.
The image filled the giant screen.
Dark blond hair.
Strong jaw.
Piercing blue eyes.
A smile she had once loved more than her own heartbeat.
Noah Callahan.
Captain.
Superstar.
Future Hall of Famer.
The man she had spent five years trying to erase.
The man who had once held her face between his hands and whispered forever.
The man who had broken her.
Everything inside her froze.
For one terrible second she wasn't twenty-seven years old anymore.
She was twenty-two.
Standing in an airport.
Watching Noah walk away.
Watching her future disappear.
Watching the love of her life choose hockey over her.
"Emma?"
Martin's voice cut through the memory.
She blinked.
The conference room returned.
Everyone was looking at the screen.
No one was looking at her.
Thank God.
She forced herself to breathe.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Her heartbeat refused to cooperate.
On the screen, Noah smiled during an interview.
The smile hit her like a punch.
Five years later and it still had the power to wreck her.
That should have embarrassed her.
Instead, it terrified her.
Because she'd spent years convincing herself she'd moved on.
Apparently her heart hadn't received the memo.
"Callahan's team is favored to win it all this year," one editor said.
"He has become the face of the league."
The screen shifted.
Highlight reels began playing.
Noah skating across the ice.
Noah scoring goals.
Noah lifting trophies.
Noah laughing with teammates.
Every image felt like another blade sliding beneath her ribs.
Five years.
Five years of pretending she didn't care.
Five years of avoiding interviews.
Five years of changing channels whenever his games appeared on television.
And now she would have to see him every day.
Martin pointed toward her.
"We want Emma leading the coverage."
The room erupted into applause.
"Congratulations."
"Well deserved."
"Perfect choice."
Emma couldn't hear any of it.
Her ears rang.
Her pulse thundered.
Her eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Noah was giving an interview.
Confident.
Controlled.
Untouchable.
Nothing like the boy she remembered.
The boy who used to sneak into her bedroom through the window.
The boy who kissed her beneath the stadium bleachers.
The boy who swore fame would never change him.
A sharp ache spread through her chest.
Maybe it hadn't changed him.
Maybe she'd simply never known him at all.
"Emma?"
Martin smiled.
"Say something."
Everyone turned toward her.
She swallowed.
Hard.
Her career had taught her many things.
One of them was how to lie convincingly.
So she smiled.
Professional.
Polished.
Perfect.
"Of course," she said.
"I'd be honored."
More applause.
More congratulations.
Inside, she was unraveling.
The meeting continued for another twenty minutes.
Travel schedules.
Media credentials.
Access permissions.
Exclusive interviews.
Emma took notes mechanically.
The words barely registered.
Because one thought kept repeating in her head.
You're going to see him again.
For the first time in five years.
The meeting finally ended.
People filtered back into the newsroom.
Emma remained seated.
Frozen.
The screen still displayed Noah's face.
Martin lingered behind.
"You okay?"
She looked up.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
His expression softened.
Because Martin knew.
Not everything.
But enough.
He'd been her mentor when she'd first joined the paper.
He remembered the heartbreak.
The sleepless nights.
The tears she'd hidden in bathroom stalls.
The months she'd thrown herself into work because the feeling was unbearable.
"You don't have to take the assignment."
Emma laughed.
The sound came out hollow.
"Are you kidding?"
"It's Noah."
There it was.
His name.
Spoken aloud.
The first time she'd heard it in years.
The syllables hurt.
Far more than they should have.
Martin folded his arms.
"You're our best reporter."
Emma stared at the screen.
At Noah.
At the stranger wearing the face of the man she'd loved.
"No," she whispered.
Martin frowned.
"What?"
Emma stood.
Straightened her shoulders.
Lifted her chin.
The old wound inside her chest burned fiercely.
But she refused to let it show.
"Noah Callahan doesn't scare me."
It was a lie.
A massive one.
Because the truth was much worse.
Noah Callahan had once owned her heart.
And she wasn't entirely sure he'd ever given it back.
As she walked out of the conference room, her phone buzzed.
A calendar notification.
First team media session.
Tomorrow.
9:00 a.m.
Emma stared at the screen.
Then slowly locked her phone.
Tomorrow.
After five years.
She would finally come face-to-face with the man who had ruined her.
And something deep inside her whispered a warning.
Seeing Noah again wasn't going to reopen old wounds.
Because those wounds had never healed.
- Writer
