Page 4 of Diluted Truths
Finally putting on my converse, I ran out of my apartment door and down the stairs to the nearly empty street. I lived on the very outskirts of Eugene, Oregon, not liking the city scene, which often meant my street was more quiet than one would expect.
“Sup, Buttercup,” Fai joked as I slid into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt.
I stared at him for a moment, frozen. “What you did just there, was that supposed to be a joke?” I asked as I wiggled my finger at Fai.
Fai shrugged as he responded, “thought I would try something new. Didn’t work, did it?”
I laughed at his attempt at being funny. “Not even a little bit, you’re way too serious for sayings like that,” I quipped as Fai pulled away from my apartment and began the five minute drive to the Fibonacci Files office.
Fai felt similarly about the city scene as I did. But with Sarah’s therapy practice being based in Eugene, he bought the office building on the outskirts of the city.
“What do you mean serious?” Fai asked. “I’m like the biggest jokester out there.”
I laughed. At his joke. He could not be serious. I turned to him to see his look of betrayal on his face.
Oh my god,he was being serious.
“No,” I laughed.
“What do you mean no?”
“You are like fun kryptonite!”
“I am not!”
“You were born a grumpy old man.”
He huffed. “I feel attacked,” Fai mumbled to himself.
I laughed hearing his disgruntled tone and held my hands up in surrender. “I love you, Fai. You are one of my favorite people. I’m only speaking the truth here.”
“I love you too, Jackie,” Fai responded with a smile on his face. “You look nice, by the way. Why?”
“Thanks, Fai.” Due to growing up in the literal middle of nowhere, I had never been one to follow the fashion trends of the time but managed to scrounge out some form of clothes every day. Today was a simple pair of jeans, t-shirt, and well-loved jeans jacket. “I have a meeting this afternoon about a new case Goldie found. I wanted to keep it casual, but a little nicer than my usual band tee.”
“What’s the case? Is it for your article on Dungeons and Dragons and its ties, or I guess lack thereof, to satanism?” Fai asked.
“No, that article is done. Goldie just needs to check my resources one more time and she will have it on your desk for next month's issue. This is something new,” I responded as I peered out the window at the towering trees on our right. “I honestly don’t know too much, but Goldie said Oliver and I needed to take a look at what she found. She thinks there is some connection between a couple of recent cases.”
“Is that why you needed to come in early today?” Fai asked as he parked along the street outside the Fibonacci Files office. “To go over the case with Goldie?”
“Yeah, some people involved in one of the cases are in Portland. Oliver and I are going to drive out and do an initial interview to see if there is a story there,” I responded as myself and Fai walked into our office building.
Looking around the office, my eyes immediately fell to Stan and gave him a quick wave, not wanting to break his concentration from his daily crossword puzzle he was intently working on.
Stan was an older man who had moved from Vancouver, Canada with his wife about seven years ago so she could get her degree at the University of Oregon. That’s where Fai met the older couple and became fast friends with them. Fai almost immediately offered Stan the job as the security officer for the building.
The sixty-five year old man would not be able to fend off any form of security risk, but he made everyone smile and brought in the best bubble tea, so no one complained.
“So why do you want to chase the story?” Fai asked. “You know we only try to fix the distorted sensations that come through the othermedia outlets.”
Fai despised any stories that were not solely based in facts. While we often worked on popular cases and stories, every bit we wrote was backed up by science, mathematics, eye witnesses, etc. He had managed to build a successful and well-respected business. Our articles were often utilized in classroom settings, court cases, and in the news. However, we hadn’t hit mainstream just yet. It was my goal to diversify our audience and have our journal become a household name. However, the facts we focused on and the sensationalized stories Hollywood pushed had very little overlap.
“I know, Fai,” I sighed, “but I don’t even know what the case is. Ask Goldie, she’ll have that answer.”
“That I will.”
We both turned to the voice we knew belonged to Goldie. Goldie was brilliant and potentially the best researcher, editor, and tech god we could ask for. She could have found a job anywhere if she had a degree of any kind. Growing up on a reservation meant that her education wasn’t always recognized and she couldn’t be accepted into most universities. Goldie found Fai three years ago hoping he would give her a chance, and with it being Fai, she was a shoo-in.
