Page 9 of Exposé

Her chair stopped in the direction of Whitney's office, and I groaned.

A wide smile breached her lips. "I'm just glad it's you today and not me."

I tilted my head back, squinting my eyes against the fluorescents up above.

Stories had to be true to the spirit of our loyal community, and time wouldn't be wasted on anything else. Ambitious stories were welcomed but vetted down to the minute details before approval. The reputation of the newspaper was at the forefront of everyone's mind when they wrote, and Whitney wouldn't allow lazy or irrelevant stories to skid past her.

She wanted cold, hard facts andpassion.

"Better go; she has meetings all day after ten-thirty."

I sucked in a full breath, my belly churning. "Okay. I'm going, I'm going."

Aria shoved her chair back with her feet, pushing herself into her own cubicle. "Godspeed."

I took a quick sip of my cooling coffee, a hint of amusement curling at the edges of my lips, before grabbing my notepad and heading to Whitney's office at the back of the floor.

A rap of my knuckles against the door brought an abrupt halt to the rhythmicclackingof the keyboard within.

"Come in."

I pushed the door open and stepped into her office as she removed her thin-framed, circular glasses and placed them on her desk.

Her black and gray locs swayed around her shoulders as she leaned forward and braced her elbows on the desk, her gold bracelets dangling around her wrists. "I hope you have something good for me today."

Me too.

I walked toward her desk, the natural light from the tall windows blinding my approach.

Incense sticks burned on the corner of her desk, sending a dancing smoke streaming into the air and filling the space with a calming scent.

And then there was the green stress ball tucked beneath the computer monitor that she would grab when someone frustrated her.

I smiled as I stopped at her desk."I do."

Whitney lifted her eyebrows. "Go on."

My heart and lungs squeezed tight as though a rubber band wrapped around it, her eyes piercing me.

I took a deep breath. "There's a new street drug called NeuraZene spreading throughout the town. Hospitalizations and arrests have spiked lately."

Whitney eyed me, her brow rising higher.

"Um… I wanted to do a piece on its hallucinogenic effects and the rapid rise in its popularity. I think it's concerning, given all the hospitalizations while using it."

Whitney hummed. "There's some sort of drug crisis every time I turn around." She shrugged. "What makes this one so interesting?"

"Theeuh… the anonymous tips to the police, for one."

Whitney sighed and leaned back in her chair. "You should have led with that, Ava. Give me more."

A smile quirked the corner of my lips as I glanced at my notepad with doodles, notes, and underlines. "I wanted to follow up with the police and see if they have an idea of who could be tipping them off." I hung the notepad by my side. "There's something weird going on here. I can feel it.”

"Okay."

I frowned. "That's it?"

"Well, you haven't let me down yet." She nodded and stuck her round glasses back on her face, perching them on her nose. "I'll give you a week to prove it's worth pursuing."

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