Nothing But The News- Intro

Hope you are just as excited about this new series as I am! Read the intro below (and make sure that you caught up on the parts that came before this) and the first part to the second phase of this series will be posted in the next few days!

“I promise- I can explain everything!”

Trying my hardest to force my brain cells to do anything but yell at the top of their lungs, I searched for some way to explain, but I knew that there wasn’t any. I was trapped. If I ratted out the interns (whatever the fuck their names were), then they would out me for what I did on that shoot. That meant that I had to lie, but it would need to be something out there to explain why I was naked in my boss’s office.

“Let’s cut the bullshit, Steve- I already know what happened. Probably everyone here knows what happened by now, and you yelling and banging on doors didn’t help.”

“Can you blame me?”

“For yelling? Or for letting that artist get you naked in public within five minutes of you meeting him?”

Sinking down into the chair, I ignored Mike’s wince as I covered my crotch with the throw pillow from the other chair.

“So, you really do know everything.”

Closing the tab on the computer behind him, the one with my video, he turned his full attention to the real thing in front of him.

“Steve, you’re an asshole.”

“Rub it in.”

“I mean it. Really, from the bottom of my heart. It luckily works for you, but it takes time to get to know you.”

“And how long will it take for the interns?”

“Well, you’re going to need to put in one iota of effort first. You have been calling half of them the wrong names since they started, and you’ve ignored the other half.”

“Point taken.”

“Luckily, you’re about to have quite a bit more time to work with them in the next few weeks.”

“Please tell me you aren’t demoting me.”

“The opposite- you’re getting a promotion!”

As the next two weeks passed, the incident slowly dropped off everyone’s radar. The video had finally gone a full three days without being posted in one of our company’s Slack channels, and there was less laughter that followed me in the hallway whenever I left my cubicle.

I was finally learning the intern’s names, but there was a good reason for that. I wasn’t just pestering Paulo for scores now to add to my reports- I was working with him.

When Mike had first told me about the promotion offer, I had almost agreed on the spot without hearing any details of the plan. Then, once he started actually talking, I realized that I would have to turn it down. His idea was absolutely insane, and I was waiting for him to burst into laughter and tell me that he was just joking, but that moment never came. Once he pulled up the document that the executive team had drafted an hour before, it finally set in that this was actually a real idea.

“So, here are your options, Steve- we’ve set up two packages for you. The first offer includes the promotion to full-time anchor on the new evening news channel that I just talked about, and the second offer includes a minimal severance package that will include us blackballing you from any other studio in the area. Your choice.”

There was no choice for me to make now. It had already been made for me in that art studio without me even understanding the consequences.

“I’ll go with the promotion.”

“Excellent choice!”

Mike stood up to shake my hand, and I matched him before remembering what state I was in. The small pillow fell to the floor, and I was naked in front of him again. He shook my hand longer than necessary to prolong the moment, but there was no need for that. Not after the agreement that I had just made.

“Let me go tell the guys upstairs what you said, and I’ll be back with some clothes from the gift shop for you once I’m done.”

He left me alone in his office, and I grabbed the folder that he’d prepared for me. There wasn’t much inside, so I was able to read it all before he got back with a t-shirt and a pair of joggers, both emblazoned with the studio’s logo.

Opening my mouth to say something, I found for the first time that I had nothing to say, so I just left him and the folder behind. The folder marked Nothing but the News with the pitch that they had laid out for me. It would basically be a reboot of the old online Naked News Daily Male series, and I would be the star anchor. Once a week, I would do a news round-up online, and the video would be available for everyone to see. I would start wearing a suit and throughout the program, I would strip down until I was naked.

What had I agreed to?