Chapter 6- The Tabloid

    Nora parked at her usual spot at work; her friend's car was nowhere in sight. She began gathering her things; she loved doing everything herself. Though she had the money to get dozens of people to do the things she needed, she never got any help. Doing everything herself helped maintain her privacy. It saved her from mess and gossip. She was however puzzled as to how the press was able to get that information, despite all the measures she put in place. She stepped out of her car, locked it and walked to the elevator. Nora got to work, as soon as she got to her office, the weight of the news article still on her mind.

 

    An hour later, her friend arrived. The moment she stepped into the office, Nora said, "There's something you need to see," slamming a copy of a tabloid on the desk.

 

She paused, and sarcastically replied, "Good morning to you too, Nora." She got nothing but a worried look from Nora, she calmly picked up the tabloid. It had a picture of Nora walking towards her car, phone in hand, and in bold black print it read, "Is Elnora Smith truly the CEO of FS Phoenix or is she just a face fronting for a criminal organization ?"

 

She looked up at Nora, concern written all over her face, "go to page 4".

 

She quickly flipped the pages to one which had the same picture as the one on the cover. It read, "We all know Elnora Smith as the very secretive CEO of FS Phoenix, the company that sprang up overnight. But why is she so secretive?" What exactly is she hiding? We know so little about Miss Smith and her company. Even her workers and associates do not know much about her. Our sources in the company claims she is indeed too secretive for someone who is believed to be involved in legitimate business. She is rarely seen and doesn't interact with anyone except her business associate... "

She stopped reading, trying to stay calm for both of them, although she was worried. "This is too direct, but I also think they know very little, this is only mere  speculation. Whoever is behind this is only trying to raise dust on a rainy day. It's a dead end, they won't find anything. Nora, please calm down. " She pleaded with a now pacing Nora, who said nothing. 

 

"Someone is trying to get a reaction from you and you must not fall into this trap..." 

 

"It's more than that!  I don't understand how you can be so calm. It's not me they're after, it's you. Someone is beginning to dig and if we don't act fast, they might get what they're looking for. Of all accusations why crime ?" Nora said, worriedly, and continued pacing. 

 

"I understand Nora, but I have to be calm for both of us. We can't both be panicking about this. One of us has to stay calm so we can come up with a logical plan and course of action. She replied, and with that, Nora stopped pacing and took a seat on one of the cushions. Sitting beside Nora, tabloid in hand, she said, "we need to get to the root of this fast." She spread the tabloid on the table and continued, "while reading, I noticed something. This reporter is working with someone on the inside. There is an insider in our company and we need to find out who it is." 

 

"But how? We have a large network of companies; it could be anybody. " 

 

" No Nora, they wouldn't have such information if they were far away. Only someone close would do something like this, you're right it could be anyone but it's anyone at the parent company. Luckily for us, I have every inch of this building wired with cameras, it shouldn't be difficult to find out who it is. The insider will lead us to whoever is doing this. From what I can see here, the writer didn't leave a name. But I want you to pay close attention to the press. If this continues, you need to find out any other information they might have."

 

   Nora listened attentively. This was one of the things she loved about her best friend. It was like she knew how to solve problems easily. She always came up with a solution to every problem they were faced with. It reminded her of the old days, and she relaxed a little, knowing everything would be fine. Her friend got up and went to the desk with the tabloid in hand, while Nora went to get herself a drink from the fridge, which was next to the shelf.

"Come see this, Nora." 

 

   Nora walked to the desk, glass in hand, and looked over her friend's shoulder. The same news article was on a blog. "This is probably where it came from, finding this writer is easier than I thought," Nora said as she stared at the screen. 

 

"I'll look into it and I'll handle everything, but we will have to maintain a very low profile for now, until this blows over. We cannot be seen together." 

 

Nora frowned, setting her glass down on the desk. She asked, "Do we need to go that far?"

 

Turning to face Nora, her friend replied, "It's safer. We can't be too careful, Nora. Now that the press is involved, they'll be hungry for juicy details, and they'll be hot on our trail trying to pick up anything they can... " 

 

 

Nora nodded but said nothing. Reading her mind, her friend continued, "I know it'll be hard, but we've only got each other. We'll have to make this small sacrifice. You know, we can't afford to let anyone find out, especially the press. We'll lose everything if that happens, and most importantly, we'll lose each other. You don't want that to happen. " 

 

" I understand. I also do not want them to find out. We've come this far, and I won't let anyone take that away from us." Nora replied. "Don't worry, Nora, everything will be fine. I promise we'll get through this like everything else besides this office is safe, so we can still hangout here. "

 

"Okay" was all Nora said as she stared into space, still worried and scared of what was to come.