Freelance Love Read Free Page B

writing to other writers. You know that’s in
direct violation of your contract with us. I don’t want to accuse you out of
hand. I’m going to go through your past work and see if I can see any evidence
of outsourcing. Meantime, I’m putting you on the reserve list of freelance
writers. Once I’ve completed my investigation, I’ll call and let you know what
I’m going to do. Complete your current assignments – and, Morgan, for the sake
of your affiliation with Las
Cruces Lifestyles , I hope I find nothing to these charges. The magazine
will pay you for the work you turned in a few weeks ago and for the work you’re
doing now.”
    Morgan was stunned. She stood outside for several minutes, just
staring at her cell phone. She jumped convulsively when she felt Ian put his
hand on her shoulder.
    “Hey, what’s wrong? Did someone just die?” asked Ian.
    Morgan walked to their table, surprised that her legs were
working.
    Ian looked at her. He was worried because her face was washed of
all color. She looked as if she had entered a shock state. Putting his hand
carefully over hers, he jiggled her arm.
    “Hey, Morgan, what’s wrong? I’m serious. Did you just get some
bad news?”
    Morgan looked at Ian, returning to the busy restaurant. “ . . .
That was Lily from Las
Cruces Lifestyles . She said someone phoned in and accused me of . . .
outsourcing! Me! Outsourcing!” Her laugh was brittle and angry. Her hands,
which she had raised, dropped heavily to the table top, causing her cell phone
to make sharp contact with the surface. “I don’t believe this.” As she spoke,
Morgan’s voice grew thick with tears.
    “Fuck! You’re kidding me! You’re the most conscientious writer I
know! How about your other clients?”
    “So far, I’m okay with them, but I’m going to be scrambling to
find another client to replace what I’ll be losing from Lifestyles . I’m sure they’ll find I
haven’t outsourced. The only thing I don’t do is the research, but that’s in my
contracts with all three of my clients. They all know about Mia and the work she
does for me.”
    “Okay, then. I don’t want to sound like a heartless bastard.
Let’s finish these articles so you can look for replacement work. Do you have
any idea who made these allegations?”
    Morgan thrust her fingers through her long, dark hair. “No. But
I’m damn well going to find out. No way does someone threaten . . . threaten .
. .” her eyes went vague and misty as she realized something. “My God, Ian! I
think it was John!”
    “You mean the doofus who calls you all the time to go back to
working brick and mortar at his store?”
    “Yes! Thank you. I’m calling Lily for an appointment. Then I need
to look for more work to do.”
    After Ian went through Morgan’s articles, she quickly jammed
everything back into her bag, bid Ian goodbye and drove home.
    Once home, she ran to her bedroom and indulged in a cleansing
cry. After her tears stopped flowing, she washed her face and poured a glass of
tea, sitting down to think. I’ll
deal with that bastard after I’ve called Grace to see if she can shift some
work my way. Once I’ve landed something, John, you had better start looking
behind you, because I will be following every scummy step you take. If it was
you, and I’m pretty sure it was, you’re gonna pay through the nose. After
several minutes, she called Grace.
    “Hey, Grace, do you have some time? Something happened, and I’m
in need of some fill-in work.” As Morgan spoke, she forced additional tears
back.
    Grace, sensitive to the nuances of her best friend’s voice, grew
concerned.
    “Morgan? What is wrong? You’re trying not to cry – don’t deny it
because I can hear it in your voice.”
    Morgan squeezed her throat painfully against a sob. Swallowing,
she released a slow breath and tried to speak calmly.
    “Hon, I just got some really, really bad news from Las Cruces Lifestyles .
Apparently, someone called them and made some