A familiar melody pulled Cindy Margrave out of her slumbers. However, it took her a moment to realize that she was hearing the ringtone on her phone.
Dashing the sleep from her eyes with one hand, she retrieved her phone and squinted at the lock screen. In a horrific flash of understanding she comprehended two things at once: the time and the identity of the caller.
Oh my god, I completely forgot to set my alarm last night. Cindy’s mind raced even as she fumbled to accept the call, to gabble out some kind of a greeting all mixed with an utterly useless apology.
Aunt Betty would be so disappointed in her. Already Cindy could hear her aunt saying I raised you better than this and what would your parents think if they knew?
Except Autumn Belfontaine wasn’t annoyed at her. Far from it, she was actually rather sympathetic. “Just get down here as quickly as you can, and be ready to give me a full report when you do.”
From some people, a full report would mean giving an account of herself, and it better be properly contrite and free of anything that could be considered “blame-shifting” or she’d catch it double. But when the Shepardsport Pirate Radio news director wanted a full report, that meant she considered the matter newsworthy, or at least a lead on a newsworthy story.
Which meant she’d better use the time it’d take to get from the residential sector to the station offices to organize her thoughts and prepare to deliver an organized account of last night’s nightmarish SMS exchange and everything that had come of it. At least with Autumn she could talk about Kitty’s and Brenda’s roles without worrying about dragging them into her own trouble.
But first she’d better see if she could still get an order in to have her breakfast sent to the station. There was no way she could get to the dining commons, and she didn’t exactly like the idea of having to go all the way until lunch without eating.