Chap­ter 1: When Frankie called out to Monique, ask­ing her to step into her office, the young jour­nal­ist was ini­tial­ly tak­en off guard. She glanced around at her col­leagues, uncer­tain of whom Frankie was address­ing. When it became clear that Frankie meant her, Monique felt a mix of con­fu­sion and excite­ment. She hadn’t expect­ed to be called into her boss’s office, espe­cial­ly after hav­ing spent less than a year at Vivant, most­ly work­ing on lighter pieces. Frankie, known for her no-non­sense atti­tude and mag­net­ic pres­ence, had earned Monique’s respect from day one.

Walk­ing into the office, Monique couldn’t help but be cap­ti­vat­ed by Frankie’s com­mand­ing ener­gy. Despite not fit­ting the mold of con­ven­tion­al beauty—her fea­tures were sharp and strik­ing, with wide­ly set eyes and a tall, slen­der frame—there was an unde­ni­able mag­net­ism about her. Frankie’s bold fash­ion choic­es, her love for vibrant col­ors, and the over­sized jew­el­ry she wore only added to her pres­ence. For Monique, Frankie rep­re­sent­ed some­thing more than just a suc­cess­ful journalist—she embod­ied a role mod­el for women of col­or in a field where such fig­ures were often under­rep­re­sent­ed.

Sit­ting down across from Frankie, Monique pre­pared her­self for what­ev­er news was com­ing. But noth­ing could have pre­pared her for what Frankie was about to say. Eve­lyn Hugo, one of the most icon­ic movie stars of all time, had specif­i­cal­ly request­ed Monique for an exclu­sive inter­view. It was a shock­ing turn of events, espe­cial­ly giv­en Monique’s rel­a­tive­ly junior posi­tion at Vivant. She had spent most of her time at the mag­a­zine writ­ing light, trendy pieces, far removed from the kind of seri­ous jour­nal­ism that this oppor­tu­ni­ty promised.

Frankie con­tin­ued to explain that Evelyn’s peo­ple were ask­ing for an inter­view relat­ed to a char­i­ty event she was host­ing, but there was a sense that some­thing more was going on beneath the sur­face. Frankie sus­pect­ed that Eve­lyn, known for her many mar­riages and tur­bu­lent Hol­ly­wood career, want­ed to craft a spe­cif­ic nar­ra­tive, one that could only be con­trolled by some­one less sea­soned, like Monique. It was a challenge—one that test­ed both her pro­fes­sion­al skills and her per­son­al con­fi­dence. Frankie, how­ev­er, didn’t seem to doubt Monique’s abil­i­ties for a sec­ond. She was con­fi­dent that this young writer, despite her lack of expe­ri­ence, had the poten­tial to not just inter­view a leg­end but to take charge of the nar­ra­tive.

As Frankie showed Monique the email con­firm­ing the request from Evelyn’s team, Monique’s emo­tions swirled. There was a mix of excite­ment, dis­be­lief, and fear. The pres­sure was immense—Evelyn Hugo’s fame alone could turn this fea­ture into a mas­sive suc­cess, but Monique real­ized it wasn’t just about land­ing the inter­view. She was being asked to step into the spot­light, to stand her ground, and per­haps even clash with one of Hollywood’s most revered fig­ures. In that moment, Monique real­ized that the sto­ry wasn’t just about Eve­lyn Hugo—it was about her as well. This was her oppor­tu­ni­ty to prove her­self, to tran­si­tion from being the writer work­ing in the shad­ows of more expe­ri­enced col­leagues to being some­one whose work would be front and cen­ter.

Monique had always aspired to make an impact in jour­nal­ism. She dreamed of writ­ing sto­ries that mat­tered, sto­ries that changed the way peo­ple viewed the world. But after months of writ­ing filler pieces and observ­ing her col­leagues get­ting the big assign­ments, Monique’s con­fi­dence had tak­en a hit. Now, with the oppor­tu­ni­ty to inter­view a liv­ing leg­end, it felt like every­thing she had worked for was about to come to fruition. Frankie’s words, though tough, were meant to moti­vate her. Monique wasn’t just being asked to write a piece—she was being asked to rise to the occa­sion, to break free from the con­straints of her cur­rent posi­tion and make her mark.

Frankie’s belief in her, com­bined with the pres­sure of the assign­ment, ignit­ed some­thing in Monique. She knew this was her moment. She wasn’t just being asked to inter­view Eve­lyn Hugo; she was being invit­ed into a world where her voice mat­tered. It was time to step up, to stop doubt­ing her­self, and to show that she could han­dle the big leagues. Monique’s response was sim­ple, yet resolute—she was ready. But deep down, she knew this was just the begin­ning of a much larg­er jour­ney, one that would require every­thing she had, both pro­fes­sion­al­ly and per­son­al­ly.

The next few days were a whirl­wind. Monique found her­self research­ing Eve­lyn Hugo’s career with an inten­si­ty she hadn’t known she was capa­ble of. Every movie, every mar­riage, every moment of scandal—she devoured it all, know­ing that the sto­ry she was about to tell would define her career. There was no room for sec­ond-guess­ing or hes­i­ta­tions. As she pre­pared to meet Eve­lyn Hugo, Monique under­stood that the stakes had nev­er been high­er, not just for the mag­a­zine, but for her own future in the world of jour­nal­ism.