Greg Wilson had been a reporter at the Chicago Tribune for the past three years, but he was pretty sure that his latest assignment was a new low. He had gotten used to covering stories of national and international importance like the school shooting in Newtown and the Russian annexation of Crimea, but declining subscription sales and a new editor-in-chief meant that he'd been assigned local human-interest stories that had grown progressively more tedious. Honestly, he'd hoped to escape these stories when he moved to the Tribune from the rinky-dink Bloomington Herald-Times, where almost every story printed was about some local "celebrity" like the homeless guy who bought a winning $10,000 lottery ticket from the neighborhood 7-Eleven or the bespectacled 12-year-old girl who won the Indiana State Spelling Bee.
He'd almost told his editor to go fuck himself when he was assigned to cover this latest story about a 23-year-old woman from Naperville who had just won the first "Sexiest Librarian in America" award. He knew his talents were being wasted on these trivial stories, especially when what he really wanted to be doing was writing about the Syrian refugee crisis or the MacDonald shooting. But he also knew that he needed the money right now and couldn't afford to lose his job by reaming out his boss, especially since he was still paying off the loan on the expensive new Corvette he'd purchased for himself as a congratulatory gift when he got this job three years ago — the one his girlfriend had driven off with when she broke up with him last month.
Not to mention, Greg's editor had made it crystal clear that, in today's media market, featuring a stunningly hot librarian is probably just what the Tribune needed to boost its sagging sales figures.
"Sex sells," his editor tells him on an otherwise ordinary Monday morning in the newsroom. "But we need more than just a few pictures. We need the full story, and preferably some insights into what makes this woman tick. Find out everything you can about her. I'm sure there's more than just a pretty face. Take all the time you need, but by next week, I expect a Pulitzer-quality piece on my desk. Oh, and by the way, we're short-staffed on the photo desk. I need you to handle the photos yourself. Hope you can multitask. Get to work"
Greg sits down at his desk and sighs, catching a glimpse of a photo of his beloved Corvette on his desk. He has yet to take it down, even though his girlfriend has been out of the picture for more than a month. Greg starts doing some preliminary research on the "Sexiest Librarian in America" contest. "Hmmmm," he say as he looks over the contest rules. "A celebration of beauty, sex appeal, intelligence, and mastery of the Dewey Decimal System," he says, reciting the contest description from its website. "Let's see what we have here."
On the contest's website, Greg finds photos of the 23-year-old winner, Olivia Burkhart. "Holy shit," Greg mutters to himself, under his breath, not letting his colleagues hear, lest they try to steal his assignment. Greg's mouth is slightly open, eyebrows raised, eyes fixed to the screen, to the picture of Olivia. He's always had a thing for beautiful, sexy women in glasses — especially when they have a body like Olivia's. Greg fidgets in his chair, a bit embarrassed that he's getting hard in the middle of the newsroom.
"Perk up," the editor barks at Greg. "Change of plans. I don't have time to explain, but we need the story for tomorrow's edition. What are the chances of you interviewing this woman tonight? Do whatever you need to do. We'll push deadline — you have until midnight. You have her number, right? She's in the book, I think. If not, you're a reporter. You'll do fine. See what you can do."
Stunned, and suddenly stressed, Greg finds Olivia's number. He prepares to call her and let her know that, if at all possible, they need to meet for the interview tonight.
He has always considered himself to be one of the most self-assured, smooth talkers in the city, but somehow, with the prospect of speaking to and possibly meeting one of the most beautiful women he's ever laid eyes on, Greg feels himself turning into an awkward, tongue-tied, 13-year-old.
He dials her number and waits. The phone rings, and rings, and rings. Finally, on the fourth ring, a woman answers.
"Hello?" Purrs the raspy voice on the other side of the phone.
"Yes, hello," stammers Greg, wondering to himself why he didn't write down what he wanted to say, "I'm trying to reach Ms. Olivia Burkhart."
"This is Olivia Burkhart," says the voice. Greg listens to her honeyed voice as he imagines how she must look at this moment, her dark brunette hair flowing down her back, probably wearing a matching leopard-print bra and panty set while lying seductively in her bed. His cock gets rock hard again. He starts imagining his face between her slender legs. Then he remembers that it's his turn to speak.
"Uh, Ms. Burkhart, my name is Greg Wilson, I'm with the Chicago Tribune, I'd like to do an article about you for our..."
"Oh, another reporter," she responds curtly, her voice suddenly changing from sultry sex kitten to strict school teacher, "you're the sixth one to contact me today. I'm not interested in talking to you or anybody else. Goodnight." She hangs up the phone as Greg awakes from his reverie, realizing this assignment is going to be much harder than he'd originally imagined...in many ways.
Greg unbuttons the top button of his shirt and loosens his tie, suddenly feeling a little bit overheated. He now has a sexy voice to put along with the picture of Olivia, and his mind starts to drift again. He's interrupted by a colleague, who asks about the phone call with Olivia.