New York City is competitive from the top down. It’s not bad enough that artists have to fight for recognition, but now so do journalists who write about the struggles of those creative geniuses and the world they live in while dealing with their own battles. Zoe Marshall is unfortunately one of those poor souls who’s stuck between demanding bosses and less-than-welcoming artists who can either be tight-lipped or just plain rude. No one likes anyone to pry into their life, but that’s exactly what Zoe’s job entails, and she’s dogmatic enough to do it well.
For many, she can come across as trying too hard. She’ll try to cozy up to artists, gallery owners, and more by sending them gifts, pretending to know their struggles, but in actuality, Zoe is just trying to make ends meet and posing in this luxurious world she simply has no business being in, according to her bank account. She’ll paint on a huge smile, do her homework, and pray that someone will take the bait, but most of those that do are quite callous and egotistical, ready to talk about themselves without taking a breath. Ironically, in those cases, she feels like she’s about to scream, having flashbacks to the time she was in high school with a side job in retail. She wants to slap a bitch, but all she can do is smile back.
In general, though, she loves her job and she loves the art business as a whole. Her main ambition lies in breaking her first major scoop that causes headlines around the country. She just needs that one break, and she’s taking no chances in the big bad world of NYC, making friends with anyone even if it means biting her tongue to their face while cursing them out when she’s alone.
When she was a child, her mother would groom her older sister Olivia as a pageant queen. Zoe admired her dearly, and every time she was dragged to one of the pageants to support her, Zoe would take the opportunity to pretend to be the commentator, interviewing all the other candidates behind the scenes. Olivia, though, was always the favorite child of the two, but things shifted as years went by.
While Zoe was in middle school, Olivia began to uncharacteristically act out. At first, their parents believed it was part of the rebellious phase every child goes through, but that was before she almost set fire to their home. Eventually, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and over the years, she fell off her medication, broke with the family, and began living on her own with her whereabouts unknown. Her behavior and diagnosis fractured the family, causing separation to their parents with their father leaving to fend for themselves. It makes her feel slightly guilty when people ask if she’s related to gallery owner Claudia Marshall and doesn’t correct them when they assume they’re sisters, betraying the one that is her own flesh and blood.
Nowadays, the young journalist just craves a better life. She wants her mother to be proud of her and she wants to make good money, which can only be achieved by catching the eye of a reclusive artist to make a name for herself. She doesn’t mind having to dig for a good story, but she needs a starting point.
