Do not say her Name

Paperwork, cases here, investigations there, coffee for breakfast, what is lunch? My life in summary. I’ve applied and passed my resume to several media companies and worked in some, but I didn’t last that long. Eye opener Bulletin is the first company where I persevered. I have been an investigative journalist for about five years, twenty-seven years of age. I may be young, but I’ve been recognized as one of the best journalists here in my country where I basically grew up. Iceland, my hometown. “Red, boss needs you” Aiden, called me across the table. This nerdy guy appears to be a wimp, but he’s mainly a moron, a bully. While I’m walking to Jeff’s office, a lot of suspicions stream inside my mind. I’ve been dwelling on my depleting thoughts for a while now. With all these occurrences that have been happening for nearly a month already… it’s just so odd. Iceland is considered to be the second safest country in the world next to Denmark, yet how come anomalous episodes incessantly take place? Everyone in this room is also speculating on the current happenings. I knocked first before entering the room. Jeff does really treat me and Aiden differently. Though Aiden is two years older than me, his mentality is nothing far like a retarded thirteen-year-old. Jeff doesn’t let other people who work for him enter the room while he doesn’t utter the two words “come in”.  Is that how he treats his new employees? Oh, whatever. I set a foot in his room. Jeff was facing the pinboard and was clearly figuring something out. “Take the articles on my table, then go to the storage room” He slowly turned on me, meeting our eyes, his frustrated eyes. Something is completely off, I can sense it with my spider-tingling, jokes aside. I’ve been invested with Spider-man comics currently. He first had a deep sigh before uttering the next words which left me a bit strained; wondering and worrying what had happened, “Take Aiden with you. You two work well together…” He paused and finally continued “This may somehow connect with you, Page. Your mother.” Hearing about my mother made me aghast. My mom was a great woman though she wasn’t mentally normal, but she did her very best to keep me alive, to feed me, to take care of me and love me. I stayed in a mental hospital for about three years because that was where my mom lived. When I turned four years old, they decided to transfer me into an orphanage. Mom was fine with it because she knew I didn’t belong in that place. I was an orphan for about seven years when a barren married couple decided to adopt me. That was the last time I'd seen my mom. Our separation was traumatizing. The first and last time I saw her sob so hard, bawling her eyes out, yelling as if she was tormented and that left a big scar. The only memoir that I have of her is the key she gave me before she passed away three years ago. I didn’t realize that my mind was out in the room already, “Scarlett” Jeff raised his voice a little bit. I guess he noticed how I got distracted by the news he set forth. “Scarlett, I know this is hard for you, but you’re the only person I can trust about this one. Besides, it’s your mom. You care for the truth, right? This is an opportunity for you to find the truth and your mother’s history.” I forced a smile to reassure him that I would take it—that I got this. I didn’t say any word and stepped outside the office immediately. I’m trying to gather and process what I have just heard. Truth? How did Jeff find these articles? I’m downright troubled about being puzzled and curious. While chewing over the message I'd received, a soft tap on my shoulder suddenly appeared. As I looked up, it was Aiden. He gave me a little smile, “You good? I brought some coffee and a sandwich. I hope it’ll ease you a bit” He handed me a cup of coffee and the sandwich was inside a transparent sealed plastic zip bag. As I have said earlier, he’s a moron, though it is true, but Aiden is the only friend that I can trust since I started working here. He’s a good man. OK, that disgusts me. It won’t change the fact that he’s an i***t anyway. While walking myself through the storage room to gather some information that might connect with this story, my phone rang. I’m the type of person to not accept phone calls when I amn’t informed ahead of time. I have my own phone schedule and this is unreasonably strange. Plus, it’s not registered on my contact account, just a number. I answered it anyway, it might be something important. “Ms. Page?” A deep and husky voice popped up on the line. I didn’t answer, waited for him to say his next words, “Ms. Page? Are you there?” As I was about to answer, the voice suddenly changed and it was really familiar. “Alright, I shouldn’t have done that. This is Aiden, Red. That’s what you get from not saving my number.” I anticipated that it was Aiden, but I didn’t expect that voice. “Red, are you there? Are you too stunned by my manly voice?” He said annoyingly. “Why’d you even call me? And no, you sound like a cheap photocopy of Bruce Wayne”, I said, making it obvious that I was pissed. “You are really turning into a nerd, don’t you?” He chuckled. “I know you’re on your way to the storage room. I did the job already. I have some newspapers here with me which will likely be a lead. Do you know any relatives of yours?” “No, grandma’s dead already. The only relative I know I have is my Aunt, Aunt Esther, but she disappeared before mom left this country. I have no idea of her whereabouts, if she’s alive or not. That’s all”, I heard a sigh on the phone. Seriously, I can do this alone. This is my problem, therefore, I should deal with this all by myself. Yet, for all one knows, I easily get distracted ‘til I get lost in connecting the dots. Aiden is the one who keeps us on track, who keeps me on track. “It’s almost five p.m, let’s wrap up for today and we’ll travel tomorrow on Vik. Pack your things up, Red. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” I’m still having a hard time processing all of these. It was so sudden. “ OK, thanks” and I hung up.