Free On a Slippery Slope by Melody Fitzpatrick

remarkable.” He shakes his head. “It seems that the public thinks that Marty Smart is trustworthy, funny, and handsome. Old ladies especially love him. They think he’ s cute. ”
    â€œHmmm … yes,” Gwendolyn agrees. “It seems they do.”
    â€œSo, Andy tells me that she’s hired a new production assistant.”
    â€œYes, Marty Smart’s daughter, in fact.”
    â€œReally? How wonderful.”
    â€œYes, she should be here by now. Would you like to meet her?”
    What! Oh my gosh! I’ve been hiding behind the desk trying to do something with this mass of tangles, except I’ve just been making it worse.
    â€œRodrigo, do something!” I whisper loudly. “I can’t let her see me like this, especially in front of that important-looking dude.”
    â€œThat dude owns the station,” Rodrigo whispers back.
    â€œWhat!”
    â€œHannah Smart! What are you doing behind that desk?” Gwendolyn barks. Her lips are pursed, her arms are crossed, and she is tapping her foot, obviously extremely annoyed. “Hannah, please answer me. And what did you do to your hair?”
    â€œ Um …”
    â€œWindy out there today, isn’t it?” Owner-dude says to Gwendolyn. “Looks like Hannah got a little wind-blown on her way to work, that’s all.”
    I look up at Gwendolyn who is still frowning fiercely.
    â€œSo, how do you like working at the station, Hannah?” Phillip asks.
    â€œOh my gosh, I love it!” I reply as I quickly stand up from my crouching position behind the desk.
    â€œWhat is it that you love about it?”
    â€œWell … hmmm …” I scratch my head. “I guess I just love all the smiles.”

    â€œThe smiles?” Phillip looks over at Gwendolyn whose frown suddenly shifts into an uncomfortable grin.
    â€œYeah. I’m pretty lucky,” I say. “I get to do all those little jobs that no one else wants to do or that they just don’t have time to do. I guess I kind of make people’s problems go away and that makes them happy and that … makes them smile.”
    Phillip nods. “I see your point.”
    â€œYes, Hannah is quite helpful,” Gwendolyn says, her thin smile quivering as she stares at my hair.
    â€œGwen, why don’t you send Hannah over to hair and makeup. Let them work their magic. I bet they’ll have her looking spiffy in no time.”
    â€œWonderful idea, Phillip!” Gwendolyn says, batting her eyelashes. “Hannah, please find your way to make up and then report to Andy as soon as you have yourself … put back together.”
    â€œOf course,” I say with a quick nod as I take off down the hall toward hair and makeup.
    â€œHannah, I need you, STAT !” Andy yells as I scurry past her office.
    â€œI’m on a mission, Andy; can it wait?” I yell from the hall.
    â€œNo, Hannah, it can’t wait. This is panic stations!”
    A quick U-turn in the hallway and I am in Andy’s office. “Okay, what do you need?”
    â€œOh my gawd, Hannah! What happened to your hair?”
    â€œWell, I was late leaving school and I got outside and …”
    â€œNever mind; it doesn’t matter. I need you to pick up cough drops. Mary-Lou has the NATT .”
    â€œOh my gosh! What’s the NATT ? It sounds awful!”
    â€œIt’s the worst! It’s the news-anchor -throat-tickle.”
    â€œ News-anchor - throat-tickle ?” I giggle.
    â€œThis is serious, Hannah. She can’t go on air like this. A tickle can lead to a cough and a cough can lead to a fit and a coughing fit is NEVER, EVER a good thing on live television. Don’t you think?”
    â€œYeah, I guess you’re right.”
    â€œOkay, so now that we have that settled, can you go and get some cough drops?” She holds out a twenty-dollar bill.
    â€œSure.” I smile, snatching it from between Andy’ s