"What the fuck!" Cal gave up. He threw his arms in the air and gave the old printing press a good swift kick. It paid him back by dribbling a little ink on his shoe then a stray piece of newsprint wafted its way down to stick to that. He jiggled his foot but it wouldn’t come off. He tried to rub it off on the metal support at the bottom of the press but it just made it stick worse. Turning around he kicked at the air again, this time losing his balance. If it were not for the press behind him he’d have landed directly on his arse. Too bad his hand grasped right where the ink was rolled in. Now they were covered in a most unique way. He wiped them on the back of his trousers and it looked as if he were wearing something designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Colleen watched him from the doorway. She tried hard not to laugh but how could she resist. The sound of her little chuckle made its way right to his ear.

"What’s so funny?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. It just added more ink to his already soiled self.

"You are." she teased. "I know the press is old, Cal. You have to treat it with respect and it will work for you. I promise." She moved to the big machine to look it over. Colleen picked up an oil can and gave it a little drink here and there.

"Working parts need lube, Cal. This old gal has been neglected for some time." She set the can down and wiped her hands off. "Maybe we’ll be able to get a new one once the circulation goes up but for now, this baby is our bread and butter."

"Grease, butter, not much difference." he mumbled.

She gave him a withering look then she turned to start the press. It groaned, creaked and moaned before it fired up like a champ. Within moments it was spitting out full sheets of the new newspaper.

"There you go." Colleen pulled one of the sheets off to examine it. It was their first front page to be distributed as the evening edition. "Looks real good, don’t you think?

He took the sheet from her hand to look it over. "It’s damn clean considering that press is pissing ink." His smile gave it away though. He surely was happy with the results of things.

Colleen felt his satisfaction. She moved away for a bit but returned with two cups of coffee. Handing one to Cal, she had to ask "You mind being a small town reporter? I mean it’s a far cry from being a big town investigative reporter. I’m sure you’ll have a hard time finding an adrenaline rush around here."

He sipped his coffee and let out a big "Ahhh." before answering. "Col, honey, this place is growing so fast I’m afraid it’s going to bust out of its skin. You never know what’s going to happen at the Glen but we’ll be here to get the story and report it to the masses. I’m going to do fine here. How bout you?"

"I’m already in love with the place. It just doesn’t know it yet." Maybe she was trying to tell HIM something. Subtle.

TBC