The Broken Promise

A woman named Amanda Larner was standing outside the office of an executive of a TV station. She had been promised a meeting with him for almost a year, but he had been making excuses as to why they couldn’t meet. Worried that she was wrong to trust him, Amanada paced around the room, wondering if she had made the wrong decision.

Amanda had earlier that year went to the police to report inappropriate behavior from her boss who also worked at another TV station. The incident had occurred a few years before, and Amanda remembered everything that had happened to her during that time and every day after was a struggle for her mentally and emotionally. There were days where she had to use every ounce of her strength to fight off tears, and she wondered if she told the truth, would anyone believe her,

As she continued to walk around the room, she began to think about her decision to go to another TV station to report what had happened to her, wondering if she would be believed or not. “They probably wouldn’t run my story,” thought Amanada, “this wouldn’t be the first news outlets that I have been to tell my story, and the other ones either ignored me or called me a liar.”

Amanada was looking at the exit when the assistant of the executive called her name. “Hello, my name is Ellen,” said the assistant, “my boss is interested in hearing your story and wants to meet you in person.” Amanda was relieved when she heard that as she had begun to give up hope on finding anyone who would both believe and support her.

“You don’t know how much of a relief it is to hear that,” said Amanda, “I have been searching for a place that would run my story for years and I have finally found the place.” Amanda then picked up her purse and followed the assistant as she led him to meet her boss.

The executive of the television station went by the name Chris Firet, and he was famous in the media world for running stories that other news outlets won’t touch. It was because of this that Amanda had hoped that he would listen to her and run her story. “He has run controversial news stories before,” thought Amanda, “this wouldn’t even be close to the most difficult or troubling story that he has released, so this has to be my chance to finally tell my story to the world.” Walking through the station hallway, Amanda could feel plenty of hope around her, believing that she could finally be vindicated within a few weeks.

When they finally reached the office, Emily slowly opened the door and introduced Amanda to Chris, who had a very friendly smile and shook her hand. “I have heard a lot about you, young lady,” said Chris, “I am saddened to hear what Greg has done to you, and it is sickening for me to hear about it. I am also aware that he is still working at Station 3 and I think that is a disgrace as this wouldn’t be the first time that he has been accused of terrible misconduct.”

Amanda felt vindicated and relieved hearing that, and couldn’t contain her excitement to talk about her story. “I think that this story would be important not just for me, but for many other people who have been victimized by him,” said Amanda, “I also have recordings of conversations between us that we can use as evidence that what he did to me happened.” Amanda quickly took out the recordings from her purse and showed them to Chris.

After listening to the recordings for a few minutes, Chirs and Emily confirmed that it was not only Greg talking to Emily, but he was also clearly threatening her if she tried to report on what had happened to her. “This is difficult to hear,” said Chris, “I am truly sorry that this has happened to you. Amanda then asked if they could air the recordings on the news even if they also contained a lot mature and uncomfortable language.

“Yes, we can do that,” said Chris, “we just need to warn our audience that they will be experiencing distressing content and that is all we need to do to avoid any trouble.” Amanda smiled after hearing that and relaxed in her chair. “By the way, you will also need to sign this document.”

Amanda then took a quick look at the paper, and a feeling of suspicion quickly took over where there was once relief and hope. “What kind of paper is this,” said Amanada, “this paper confirms that only you can run the story and the recordings that I have given you.” Chris explained that it was just a formality and that they were required to have those documents for legal purposes in case the station where Greg worked tried to sue them. Not knowing anything about the legal elements that was being told to her, Amanda reluctantly agreed to sign the paper.

Chris then told Amanda that they would air her story during the evening news the following Thursday and with no obvious reason to feel uncomfortable, Amadna left the office and shook hands with Chris again before leaving. “I think this could work,” thought Amanda, “after all, I don’t think he has a reason to lie to me about anything we just talked about.”

Returning to her apartment, Amanda rested for a while and continued writing about her story once she felt better. She was excited about the upcoming Thursday as that was the date that Chris promised he would air her story. “Once this happens,” thought Amanda, “there will finally be justice for what happens to me.”

Turning on the news to watch the story, Amanda was at first confused as to why it didn’t air, and a sudden feeling of dread arose when she released that she had been lied to. Grabbing a nearby telephone, she called the station that Chris worked at multiple times, but the office refused to pick up. “I never should’ve trusted him,” thought Amanda, “I knew it had to be too good to be true.” Amanda then took out her purse, knowing that she didn’t give everything to Chris.

“There are not only more recordings between me and Greg here,” thought Amanda, “but I also recorded the conversation I had with Chris, meaning that I can probably go to a different news outlet and run the story without having to worry about Chris and his legal team suing me.”

Taking out the remaining recordings, Amanda then went to another news outlet with her story. While it wasn’t easy, with numerous people including Chris, trying to sue her, she was able to release the story covering everything that had happened to her including the cover-up. “It took me so long,” thought Alexa, “but I have finally brought justice to what has happened to me and so many other people.”