Free Love Hurts by Brenda Grate

the little boy. “I try all I can to comfort him and explain that his parents did wrong to him, but he just cries and begs me to take him back to them.” She looked at Anna, her dark eyes brimming with both tears and anger.  
     
    Anna shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”
     
    “Me too, honey, me too.”
     
    The office began to fill up, nearly every cubicle occupied. Anna tried not to catch anyone’s eye so they wouldn’t talk to her. She was having a hard time summoning up any human warmth today.
     
    Cliff called the meeting and she still hadn’t finished the story. She printed it out anyway and brought it to the board room. At least she’d have something to show. Anna thought she could explain why she couldn’t finish it and maybe it would be her lucky day and Cliff wouldn’t be furious.
     
    The staff gathered around the table, talking among themselves about the weekend. The new girl hadn’t appeared and Anna wondered if Cliff would fire her. He didn’t have a lot of grace, especially for newcomers.
     
    “I was raised in the school of hard knocks. It’s the only way to make it in the newspaper business. It’s cutthroat,” he must have said a hundred times. Anna always had to stifle a giggle. He sounded like a hard-bitten New York mogul, but he was really just a go-nowhere editor of a go-nowhere small town weekly. All the same, Anna loved him.
     
    “Everyone, come to order,” Cliff demanded, leaning over them, his big fists clenched and planted on the table. His nose looked darker red than normal and the two tufts of hair that stood out on either side of his head seemed to bristle more than usual. Anna nearly groaned aloud. It would be a rough meeting. She loved Cliff, but some mornings he made it hard.
     
    “What’s on the docket for today? Anyone find any news out there?”
     
    Paul raised his hand like a good little schoolboy. “A fire broke out on Maple Street last night. I’m going to interview the fire chief and see if I can find out what caused it.” He sat back with a proud smile in Anna’s direction. She clenched her hands under the table and tried to keep her face impassive. He could be such a brown-noser.
     
    Anna zoned out and thought about Jilly. What if she doesn’t ever want to talk to me again? Anna knew she was probably exaggerating things out of fear, but she’d lately seen a side of Jilly that wasn’t familiar to her. She hoped they’d be able to mend their relationship and go back to the way things were. Is that what I really want? Or do I want things to change, too?
     
    “Anna? You awake?”
     
    Her head snapped up and everyone around the table stared at her. “Sorry, what did you say?”
     
    “I asked if you had your story ready for me?” Cliff seemed to be trying to give her a message, but Anna didn’t understand.
     
    “I’m sorry, I tried, but I’m not getting the ending. I’ve got most of it written, but—”
     
    Paul broke in. “Maybe I can take a look at it, see if there’s an angle you’re missing because you’re too close to it.”
     
    Anna clenched her fists again. “Thanks, I’ll …”
     
    “Bring it to my office after the meeting.” Cliff moved on to another topic and Anna’s heart sank. Obviously the others heard the tone because they sent sympathy glances her way, which also said, “Thank God it’s not me!”
     
    The rest of the meeting flew by. Anna tried to pay attention, but she kept losing her train of thought, like she’d suddenly become ADD. She couldn’t keep her thoughts in a straight line or even concentrate on one thing for more than a few seconds. It was starting to freak her out.
     
    The meeting ended with a sigh of relief from Anna. Cliff motioned to her as he left the board room and Anna knew he meant business. Crap!
     
    “Shut the door,” Cliff said as she entered his office.
     
    He said nothing more until she sat in the chair in front of his desk. He looked her over and now that the rest of the staff