Sold on a Monday

Lily is at her desk, wondering why she did not accept Ellis’s invitation since her evening will consist of the usual meal at the boardinghouse followed by sitting in her sparse room reading a book. But she can only think about a date night with Samuel, not Ellis or any other man, which makes her miss Samuel even more. She decides to call Samuel, but before the call connects, she notices Clayton rummaging through the desk of another reporter, Mr. Schiller. She ends her call to find out what is going on. Schiller is an old hand who has worked at the Examiner since it opened 20-plus years ago. Clayton tells Lily that Schiller is likely retiring. Lily acts cool on the outside but the news is exciting. She wants to be a reporter, just like another reporter, Nellie Bly. Lily applied for and was turned down for many reporting jobs, but once she came to the Examiner, “she wasn’t ignorant enough to turn down a secretarial position” (41). She needed the work. But maybe she, like Ellis, could advance her career and keep her promise to herself to become a reporter.