Her Anchor (3 page)

“After this story?  I bet you’ll get all the assignments that you can handle.”  Jason grinned.

“I can hope.  It was….my plan after all.”  It had been.  And from the sound of her editor, it was going to be great.  She couldn’t wait to get back to Houston. 

After this afternoon, of course. 

They spent the afternoon sunning themselves and frolicking in the waves.  At six, Jason suggested they head back to their hotel and clean up for dinner. 

“If you’ll have dinner with me.”  He gave her a smile that was almost shy.  Julie felt herself blush. 

“Yeah, I think that’s great.” 

As they drove back to the city, Julie thought about all of the things that had happened today.  She had probably had her break as a reporter thanks to Billy Johns.  And then she and Jason had had such a lovely day.  He was the type of guy that she had always looked for.  He was career driven, and focused, and not to mention extremely good looking. 

They parted at the hotel lobby, agreeing to meet in an hour.  Julie wasted no time running upstairs to shower.  Her entire shower, all she could think of was what to wear.  She’d only brought business apparel, or so she thought.  Did she have something nice and casual to wear for dinner?  She hoped so. 

Should she shave her legs?  She guessed that she probably should.  But was she the type of girl who slept with a man she’d known such a short period of time?  Well, she hadn’t been since college, but she wouldn’t mind trying again. 

She found a blue and white flowered sundress that she had forgotten she had packed.  She put that on before drying her hair.  Then she did up her makeup.  She knew that she was trying to impress him.  That was fine with her.  She hoped that he was impressed.  But he’d asked her to the beach and to dinner, so that spoke for something, right? 

At 6:00, she stepped out of the elevators and walked into the lobby.  Jason was waiting.  He’d cleaned up as well, in kakis and a polo shirt.  He smiled at her.  Julie couldn’t help but thinking that they made a beautiful couple.  It was too soon to be thinking like that, but she didn’t care. 

“You look great.”  Jason looked her over. 

“Thanks.”  Julie had been on her share of lousy dates in the last few years.  Finally, she’d just given up.  It had been at least a year since she’d been on a date, and she hoped that that was what this happened to be. 

Jason drove.  She did not mind that. Houston had its share of traffic, but it was nothing like L.A.  They didn’t go far, which was also nice.  Julie wanted to spend time with Jason, but she’d had her fill of being in the car that morning and afternoon. 

“So what do you think is going on with Billy?”  Julie asked the question once they’d been seated at a steak restaurant.  Jason had decided on steak because he could expense it.  They might as well enjoy it. 

“I don’t doubt it’s child abuse.”  He shrugged.  “But I think something happened.  Maybe the kid’s death was just an accident and Billy told someone to dump the body.  Now he’s publically blaming a non-group member for it.”

“Do you think anyone will really believe him?”  Julie sipped the tea that she’d ordered. 

“Probably not.”  Jason shook his head.  “Once a few stories like ours get reported out there, the public will go nuts. 

“He supposedly steals the women from the men, doesn’t he?”  Julie tried to come up with what she had heard in other news stories. 

“Supposedly.”  Jason paused the conversation as their waiter appeared.  The two ordered.  It was basically the same order for both: some form of steak and potatoes and green beans.  Jason waited until the waiter had departed.  “He’s also supposedly killed men to get the women in the group.”  Julie winced. 

“It’s just awful.” 

“It is.  You’d think after Heaven’s Gate and the People’s Temple we’d not see things like that.  I can’t believe it in this day and age.” 

Julie couldn’t either.  But she guessed if people saw themselves as unsuccessful and seeking something, it could happen easier than she wanted to realize. 

“Hopefully he’s wrong about people seeing the video and wanting to join.” 

“Agreed.”  Jason switched the topic then.  They chatted about their families and their hobbies.  Julie found she was quite stricken by him.  He was a sweet guy, and so smart.  She wanted to know him more.  It was a shame that he lived so far away. 

Maybe she would get lucky and she’d get a huge break from this story which would lead her to relocating to California.  She pictured it now-she and Jason riding off into the sunset together.  But with her luck that would never happen.  Her editor would find a way to block her, no matter what she brought in.  It was just her life. 

So when they got back to the hotel, and Jason offered to walk her back to her room, she accepted.  When he kissed her, she didn’t stop it. 

She thought of her hesitations earlier and decided that she didn’t care.  Inside of her bedroom, she stripped off her sundress for him.  Jason’s hands found their way onto her body with no hesitation.  This might be their last night together-would be their one and only night together.  Julie didn’t want it to stop. 

He pushed her down onto the bed.  Her breasts were small, but he didn’t seem to care.  His mouth switched rapidly between each nipple.  It was glorious.  She hadn’t had sex in so long.  Her body was more than ready for him. 

She turned to him, unbuttoning his shirt.  Once it was off, she worked his pants loose.  When they were off of his body she tugged his length free of his boxer briefs.  Her mouth closed over him.  He moaned as her tongue worked him over.  Julie was more turned on now.  It had been so long since she’d last done this it made her feel erotic and sexy.  All of the road bumps she’d been through lately had brought her here to this moment.  She could not regret it even if she tried. 

Jason was pulling down her underwear.  Before she knew it, she was situating herself over him.  Her hand straightened his length before guiding him into her.  They both gasped at the moment.  Julie had never seen herself coming to California to do this, but she wanted it more than anything right now. 

Her hips moved down to his.  Jason’s hands swept over her breasts.  It was so good.  She let her fingers move down to rub herself.  It only made her want to ride him harder. 

Her cries were mixing with his moans.  She felt his hands pulling her hips closer. 

“Jason…I….”  She came with a gasp on top of him.  Jason’s hips thrust up and into her one last time before she felt him spill into her.  He reached up to her and drew her down to him. 

Julie settled herself on his chest for a long moment.  She wanted to just lay there and enjoy him.  It was nice. 

Jason finally moved to tuck her into bed beside him.  She turned off the lights before curling into his side.  They both dozed off, content in each other’s arms. 

Julie awoke to the sound of a cell phone ringing.  Jason was turning on the lights.  She saw him stumbling out of bed, grabbing his pants from the floor. 

“Hello?”  He mumbled sleepily.  He had been in the process of crawling back into bed with her.  No sooner had he settled down that he shot back up.  “WHAT?!” 

“What is it?”  By the sound of his tone, it was huge.  Julie sat up, pulling the covers around her.  Jason lowered the phone away from his mouth. 

“Christ’s Community killed themselves. Mass suicide.” 

*****

To further enhance the shock of modern day cults, Christ’s Community had joined the ranks of mass suicide.  They’d killed themselves with sleeping pills mixed into alcohol.  Police were at the community now.  They also wanted to talk to Julie, Jason and Tim. 

Their footage was immediately confiscated.  Tim’s attack on Billy Johns was considered provoking.  The local police wanted to see if their visit might have pushed Billy. 

Julie personally felt sick.  She’d read all of the articles about Jonestown.  She knew there was no problem killing children.  But as she’d sat across from the police officer, she’d asked anyway. He’d given her a sad look.  That was when Julie had started crying. 

She’d gone back to her hotel feeling completely dejected.  This was the part of journalism that they didn’t tell you.  She couldn’t do this job.  She couldn’t report on people who killed children simply because they were afraid of not getting what they wanted.  This was awful.  She was going back to Houston and turning in her resignation, immediately. 

She’d been sitting on her bed mentally prepping herself for the conversation with Monica.  She was going to end this-today.  As soon as she got on her flight. 

There was a knock on her door.  Julie didn’t want to talk to anyone.  Sighing, she dragged herself off the bed and got up, pulling it open. 

Jason stood on the other side looking disheveled.  Julie gave him the faintest of smiles. 

“How are you?”  He asked.  Julie shrugged. 

“How can I be?  A hundred men, women and children died because we showed up at their compound.” 

“Come on, Julie, no they didn’t.  They killed themselves because Billy Johns had an agenda.  He’s probably been preparing for this for weeks now-months.”

“Then why did the police want to talk to us?” 

“Because we’re one of the only groups of media that Johns allowed in.  They had to talk to us.”  He looked at her for a long moment.  “I’m sorry.  I know this is hitting you hard.”  Julie lowered her head.  She didn’t want to talk about this anymore.  She couldn’t believe that she was involved in anything like this.  Slowly, she felt tears beginning to slip down her face. 

“Hey, come here.”  Jason’s arms were around her.  He rocked her to him, holding her into his chest.  “It’s ok.  I promise.” 

Julie lifted her head to tell him that it wouldn’t be ok, that she would never be ok again.  Instead, she found her lips meeting his. 

She seemed to lose all account of reality then.  Jason was pushing her against the wall, kissing her hard.  She was letting him.  Why not?  This would at least make her feel better. 

Julie didn’t fight.  She simply tugged the t-shirt that she had put on over her head.  Jason’s hands worked her bra free, and then it was falling aside.  Jason’s mouth left hers to drag down her throat.  His mouth wrapped around one nipple as his hand slipped to unfasten her jeans. 

Julie pulled his shirt up.  They both fumbled with it for a moment before it too ended up on the floor.  Jason lifted her in his arms, only to take a few steps and drop her onto the bed.  She watched as he moved back to rid himself of his shoes, socks, boxers and pants.  Julie sat up to work her own jeans and underwear off. 

Nearly as soon as she did, Jason was back on top of her.  Suddenly he was filling her again.  Julie moaned.  She pressed kisses to his shoulder as he began to move inside of her.  It felt so good.  It was so good to be this close to someone after what she knew had happened last night.  This, for the moment, made her forget about why she was in California. 

Jason’s body thrust into her.  Julie cried out as she grew closer.  Her hip rose to meet his until the sensation washed over her in glorious waves.  She was vaguely aware of Jason crying out her name before he buried his face into her throat. 

              He lay over her, panting, for a few moments.  Julie took a deep breath.  She didn’t know why she had just done that.  Now was probably not the time for such things.  But it had felt good.  It had made her feel better.  She supposed at the end of the day that was what mattered.

Jason pulled out of her to settle himself beside her. 

“Should we have done that?”  Julie wrapped herself around him.  One arm rested over his stomach while she pressed a kiss into his chest. 

“I don’t mind that we did.  Do you?” 

“No.”  Jason looked down at her.  “Julie, please don’t think I do this all the time.  I want to tell myself that it’s just this story, just an escape from it.  But….” 

“But?”  Julie looked up at him hesitantly. 

“But there’s….something….between us.”  Good.  He felt it too.  Julie smiled.  She lifted her head only to press a satisfied kiss onto his lips. 

“I know that.”  Jason smiled at her before kissing her back.  His kiss was slow, sweet, before he pulled back.

  “Why don’t we get some food?” 

              She agreed, getting up to dress.  The more clothes she put on, the more the memories of the night before came back to her.  She didn’t want to think about it.  She wanted to stay locked in Jason’s embrace and their moment. 

  They headed downstairs, but the hotel restaurant was too full.  Jason didn’t want anyone to hear their conversation.  So they headed to a large restaurant down the street where they could get a table in the back. 

“Don’t let this upset you too much.”  Jason reached across the table to take her hand.  “I know it’s rough, but it’ll be ok.  We didn’t do anything that pushed Johns over his limit.” 

“I know he would have done it regardless,” Julie stirred her coffee.  “But this just sucks.  I think I don’t have the stomach for this line of work.” 

Jason smiled softly at her.  He rubbed his fingers over hers. 

“I get that.  I know there are days we all want to throw in the towel.  But with any job you’re going to have good days and bad days.  Some journalism stories are just going to stick with you more.”