Dreaming of Forever
Read Dreaming of Forever Online
Authors: Jennifer Muller
by Jennifer Muller
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
All characters and events are entirely fictional. Any resemblence to anyone dead or alive is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2014
Ashley's blue eyes darted across the computer screen as she typed her latest piece on the Chicago Bears. They were her favorite football team so the words weren't difficult to find. She loved her job at the newspaper but sometimes it wasn't challenging enough for her. That's why she decided to write a biography about Zach Ellis and the injury that ruined his career with the Bears.
Ashley had Zach's side of the story about his career ending surgery and the events that led up to it but she desperately wanted to hear from his surgeon Sara D'Angelo which was proving to be quite difficult. Ashley kept pushing back the deadline, thankful that her publisher felt the same way about getting some quotes from Ms. D'Angelo.
“Hey, who wants to go to the home opener on Sunday?” Ashley's best friend Jason came into her office from across the hall, without even knocking.
“I would love to go to the Bears game but I can't. I have a lot of work to do this weekend.” She looked up from her computer and gave him a small smile.
“What are you working on now?” he asked her.
Jason had ocean blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that he liked to keep short. She saw that he was due for a haircut any day now since he had gelled his hair and spiked it that morning.
“Working hard on the Zach Ellis story and getting this biography done. I still can't get a hold of the surgeon that worked on him. Other than that everything is going good.”
“So I can't convince you to take a break and come with me to the game?” he asked her, giving her a sad look.
“You know I would if I could Jason but I can't. I need to wrap up this book and I have to find Sara D'Angelo to do that,” she stated, saving the piece she was working on and leaning back in her computer chair.
“Every journalist who has tried to get an interview with her has come up empty. She's refused every single one of them Ashley. What makes you think you're different from them?” he asked, smirking at her.
“I don't know. I will figure it out when I cross that bridge. I have to find her first. I am sorry that I can't go with you on Sunday,” she apologized to him, giving a slight yawn as she stretched.
“I'm sure you will. Getting her to talk is another thing. So I guess I'll have to ask John across the hall if he wants to go with me instead. I can't image going by myself. There's not much fun in that.” Jason gave her a sad smile and turned to walk out of the office.
As he put his hand on the office door he saw the articles that Ashley had taped to her wall from Zach's short career.
“You still have that article of when he first started? I would kill for a quarterback like that now. He should have been the next Brett Favre,” Jason stated, reading a little bit of the first paragraph of the article as he opened the office door.
“I know. I can't wait to get his story out there,” she said, sitting back up and looking at her computer screen.
Once again for what felt like the millionth time she Googled Sara D'Angelo to see what it would bring up. On the 5
th
page of the Google search results, when she was about to give up, there was a number. It wasn't for Sara's home but for the hospital that she had worked at in San Diego before she lost her job.
No one really knew the details of the case because it was a closed court hearing when Zach Ellis sued her and she lost her job. Zach didn't even mention it in any of the interviews that she'd done with him. He said that it wasn't for the public's entertainment what happened behind those courtroom doors. He did want to tell his story but he wouldn't discuss what happened in the courtroom.
When Ashley asked Zach about Sara D'Angelo in general, he called her 'irresponsible and used the words 'lack of judgment' when asked about the surgery on his shoulder, that ended his career. Ashley had tried three times to ask him what exactly went on in the courtroom and all three times he told her he wasn't going to talk about it. It was something that was between him, Sara, the lawyers and the judge.
As she came across the number for St. Andrew's Hospital in San Diego she picked up her office phone and dialed the number quickly.
“St. Andrew's Hospital, how can I help you?” a receptionist asked, picking up on the second ring.
“Yes, I would like to talk to Sara D'Angelo.” Ashley got right to the point. Even though she didn't work there anymore Ashley was hoping that she would get lucky and she would be transferred to someone who had known her.
“I'm sorry she no longer works here. Is there anything else I can help you with?” For just a second the receptionist's voice had a hint of sadness and then she carried on in a normal voice.
“Is there anyone there who might know where she is? I'm a cousin of hers and one of our uncles has become very ill.” She lied to the receptionist knowing that it might be the only way she would be transferred.
“Oh I am sorry. I know one person who might know who she is. Give me just one second.” The receptionist was eager to help now that she knew that importance of the call.
Ashley was on hold for a few minutes. She hadn't been the first journalist to sit there and lie to get what they wanted and Ashley knew that if you didn't push for what you wanted in her business, you wouldn't get it. She had learned that earlier on in her career.
“Hello, Carol speaking,” a younger woman said.
“Hi, my name is Ashley. I work for a small newspaper here in Chicago and I'd like to know if you could tell me where Sara D'Angelo might be now.” Ashley decided to tell her the truth about who she was and what she wanted. When it came to having contact with someone who was close with Sara, at least close enough to work with her, she couldn't lie.
“I'm not sure where she is now but if you are looking to ask any questions about her time at St. Andrew's you won't get very far. The CEO of the hospital warned us time and time again if any news leaked out and he found out it came from one of the doctors or nurses then we were going to lose our jobs. That's something I can't afford to have happen right now,” Carol explained to her.
“I'm not trying to write anything negative about Sara. I'm writing a book about Zach Ellis and I'd like to get her version of events. I understand that there are two sides to every story and I need to get Sara's. I am not looking to trash her name any more than it already has been,” Ashley told her, hoping Carol wouldn't hang up on her.
“Well, that's a new one. All the others who have called in the past, and even now since its coming up on the five year anniversary of Zach's retirement, are just out to get Sara.”
Ashley held her breath. This could be the breakthrough she was looking for.
Carol talked a little lower now. “I'll help you but you didn't hear this from me.”
“Anything would be great really.” Ashley took a pen and a piece of paper out and got ready to write down anything that Carol might have for her.
“Sara and I use to be great friends. We worked together and hung out after work all the time. She was a really good doctor in my eyes. Last I knew she was living out in Colorado and running a horseback riding school. I didn't hear it straight from her but it's something that's been going around the hospital for a few months now. I keep my ears open as much as I can when it comes to new information on Sara. If you get a chance to talk with her or see her can you tell her that Carol misses her? She thinks that I was against her when all of this went down. I didn't get the chance to tell her that I wasn't mad at her and I never turned my back on her. It's just that I couldn't lose my job, just like I can't lose my job now,” she explained to Ashley.
“I will give her the message if I talk to her. Do you know where in Colorado this horseback riding school might be?” Ashley asked.
“Yeah. She's out in Pueblo, Colorado. Please tell her I'm very sorry about what happened to her,” Carol told her quickly. Without saying goodbye, Carol hung up.
Getting up from her desk, Ashley couldn't wait to tell Jason what was going on. She walked out of her office and walked two feet across the hall knocking lightly on his door waiting for him to tell her to come in.
Once she heard him say it was alright she opened the door and saw him at his small desk with a black laptop. His feet were up on the desk and he was leaning back in his leather chair.
“One of these days you are going to fall,” she warned him, waving a small, white piece of paper over her head.
“What do you have there? You look like you just won the lottery.” He couldn't help but laugh at her, taking his feet off of his desk and sitting up straight in his chair.
“I may have the piece of information that no one else could get. Well, it doesn't guarantee she'll talk to me but at least I can find her now.” Ashley told him, her blue eyes gleaming with delight.
“You must be talking about Sara,” he sighed, shaking his head.
“Yes, I am. I found out from a friend of hers that she's living out in Colorado and I'm going to go there this weekend. Please wish me good luck on my travels.” She took out the metal chair in the corner of the room, unfolding it so that she could sit down beside him.
“I do wish you all the luck in the world. I don't doubt that you will get the information. I know how pushy you can be if you want to. The point is it's been five years since this happened. What makes you think that you can convince her to talk?” Jason asked her.
“I won't take no for an answer unless she threatens to call the cops on me. This is a big piece that's missing from my book.”
“So you are going to be heading out tonight after work?” he asked.
“Yes, I am thinking about asking Dave if he’ll give me the rest of the day off so I can find a place to stay that isn't too shabby and get started early tomorrow morning.”
Their boss, Dave, had white hair and thick glasses. He was skinny and always in a suit. He said it made him feel younger.
“You know that he isn't going to have a problem with it. He wants to see you finish this book,” Jason said.
“I need to get something. Anything. So hopefully she won't slam the door in my face.”
“Just keep in the back of your mind that if she does throw you out or doesn't even let you near her that she might be trying to get on with her life. You can't blame her for wanting to start over after everything she’s been through,” Jason advised her.
“I will. Don't worry about that. I'm not going to go after her like she's a piece of meat.”
“I know you aren't like that. I just thought I’d throw it out there that she has had a hard road too. Zach thinks that he's the only one who was out of a career that he was really good at and loved but so was she. She must have loved being a surgeon.”
“I will keep that all in the back of my mind,” Ashley told him seriously, knowing that she had to get going.
“Have a safe flight,” he said to her as she stood up.
Back in her own office, Ashley shut down her computer and went to her office closet where she kept her traveling clothes. She was glad that she kept extra clothes here. It meant that she didn't have to waste time going home to pack her things. Opening the closet door she found a small duffel bag at the bottom and began putting her clothes in.
There was a knock on her office door as she zipped up the bag.
“Come in,” she called out, closing the closet door.
“Going somewhere?” David asked her.
“Actually you will be happy to know that I think I have gotten ahold of Sara D'Angelo and if everything goes right I will have an interview with her before the weekend is over.” She smiled at him when she saw the shocked look on his face.
“That's great news! No wonder you’re in such a hurry. I came in here to see if you wanted to go out to lunch,” he told her, happy that she was getting a little closer to finishing the book that they were all dying to read.
“I think that I may have the time if after lunch I can head out. I need to book a flight to Colorado for tonight. I was going to head out first thing tomorrow but it's going to take a little bit to find a hotel to settle down in for the night and I don't want to spend all day tomorrow looking for one.”