Scandalous Desires

Chapter 5

Kathleen Hearte, picked up a pile of papers and shoved them into a folder. She stood up and leaned against the front of her desk eyeing Micah.

Standing in front of her, Hearte was almost as tall as her brother. She was an attractive woman with light brown, shoulder length hair with golden highlights, that reminded her of Jennifer Anniston's. The suit she wore hugged her frame snuggly, emphasizing just enough of her curves while still looking professional. She had french manicured nails that she liked tapping against the file she held in her hands as she spoke. And her shoes? Micah was right, brown pumps to match the rest of the outfit.

"So…" she took another swig of her coffee, "Only a few people know how I like my coffee and none were around at your interview," she took another swallow, "You're attentive, you pay attention to detail. You know how to find the not so obvious sources, I like that. It'll work for you as a reporter."

Micah smiled, a bit pleased with herself. This was a huge compliment coming from her.

"...But," she continued, "I don't like kiss asses - you want to impress me? Bring me a good story, I can get my coffee my damn self."

Micah nodded with disappointment. Alex will rub this in her face if she tells her she was right.

"Also, you can't get easily distracted or let anyone deter you from getting the job done. My brother means well but he's no excuse for lateness."

"Yes, ma'am," said Micah solemnly.

"And don't let anyone try and cover your ass for you. Cover your own ass. Sylvia called me once you left her desk. No way you'd have gotten up here in 3 minutes with those slow elevators."

Micah hadn't thought about that. "Yes, ma'am".

"You are in shark territory, Micah. If you've noticed this is a testosterone pool and those are white boy sharks who will rip you to shreds and eat you alive, you're going to have to fight for your spot. Trust me, they won't make it easy for you. Stay ready."

"I understand," Micah said.

"Speaking of staying ready, where's your pad and pen? Stay ready means be ready to take notes, a good reporter has that on hand at all times. Journalism 101, dear."

"I know, Ms Hearte. I have you on 'voice to text' on my phone," Micah showed her the phone with her voice to text app that records what is being said and immediately converts it to written text. Everything Hearte said was already typed out for her to read.

"Ok. Like I said, the not so obvious! I like that, you're a step ahead, good job."

"Also, as long as I have internet access, these files get backed up every 2 minutes on a cloud drive that allows me to access it anywhere on any device, so it never gets lost. Even if my phone breaks," Micah explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

"That's also smart," she said, handing her the file that she had in her hand the whole time. "That's why I hired you." She smiled at Micah. Micah kept a straight face but she was swooning on the inside. She got passed the lateness issue and her idol thinks she's smart! "But, I still recommend you keep a good old fashion notebook and pen handy just in case."

"Yes, Ma'am." said Micah. She then glanced down at the file in her hand. "What's this?" asked Micah, thumbing through the pages. A lot of it was background info and news articles on a South City official named Michael L. Russell.

"This guy is the South City Head of Water and Waste Management, who is allegedly responsible for a huge water contamination scandal. There's a billion dollar lawsuit from South City residents, claiming that switching the city's water source led to them being exposed to carcinogenic toxins. Page 25 has the lawsuit with all the health conditions, we're talking cancer, birth defects, you name it!"

"Right, I've been following the lawsuit on the news," Micah said, as she thumbed through the pages.

Hearte looked at the time. She made her way back to her seat, and picked up the phone. "Hi Simone, please get ahold of Dickson and send him to my office now… . Thanks." She swiftly hung up the phone.

Dickson? Micah thought. She was hoping there was possibly a third Dickson in the building, because if she was calling for either Jack Dickson or his son, she knew she'd be on edge.

"See Page 6 of that file," she continued, snapping Micah out of her thoughts.

"Russell authorized the contaminated water, saying it was safe. His secretary has come forward confessing that she knows for a fact that he knew it wasn't safe to begin with, and that he should also be personally sued. Her proof; cell phone recordings she obtained from his home computer…."

His home computer? Thought Micah. Hearte smiled as she watched Micah's investigative wheels turning.

"But what would his secretary be doing accessing his home computer?" she asked skimming through page 6.

"Exactly. Here's the twist; she's saying she's been having an affair with Russell, and obtained the files while cheating with him when his wife was out of town," Hearte shakes her head at how crazy the story sounds.

"Do you think she's lying?"

"It's possible, she has an ulterior motive. What better way to get at your cheating boss but to expose him, especially if the relationship went sour."

"But then she gets exposed too, appearing as a homewrecker to the public. Why would she do that to herself, to her reputation if it's a lie?"

"I don't know," Hearte shrugged her shoulders, " It could be both: expose him for the cheating bastard that he is and locking him up for environmental crimes against humanity. Or, She could be getting paid a huge sum to lie.

"I need you to do the investigative work and figure out the missing pieces," she said as she started rearranging the papers on her desk.

There was a light tapping at her office door. "Come in!"

Micah took a deep breath and slowly turned around.