Chasing the Story

Is This Even Legal?

A/N: Sorry, not very much Simon in this :( I promise he'll be in the next one! And I know the mystery might not be super exciting yet, but it's all building up for something big. Woo hoo! Thanks for reading! Please vote/leave a comment! It means a lot.

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I stared bankly at my computer screen in front of me. I was sitting at a little cubicle adjacent to Simon’s office trying to focus on the task he had assigned me yesterday. The buzz of people around me, chatting and answering phones, was distracting enough. The fact that I only had about two square feet of space was also becoming a problem.

What was I supposed to be doing again? Beats me.

Today had not gotten off to a promising start. My alarm had forgotten to go off and then Auntie Kay’s coffee machine had been PMSing. Seriously. That cup of brown water had not been satisfying at all for a caffeine-lover like me. To top that off, all my nice clothes were in the laundry so I was currently wearing a holey old pair of jeans and a hobo sweater. Real professional.

And even though I was grateful that Simon hadn’t fired me I was little peeved that he had just decided not to show up to work today. I mean, a little guidance would be nice. Maybe an explanation more than “Hey you, find something—anything — that connects these four random addreses—go!” Yeah, that would’ve been helpful.

I opened Internet Explorer. Then closed it. And opened it again.

Woo hoo! This was fun.

“Knock, knock!” I heard someone say behind me.

I jumped, before turning around to face my visitor.

“You scared me,” I gasped, clutching my chest with my hand.

Once I got my breathing to a normal rate, I took a longer look at the person who stood before me. He looked a little older than I was, probably Simon’s age. With his curly brown hair, lanky figure, and Harry Potter-esque glasses, he embodied the word “nerd.” But I could tell that under his sweater vest and khaki pants, he was cute. Then again, looking down at my ripped jeans and five-sizes-too-large sweater, it dawned on me that I was in no position to judge.

I glanced back at him and blushed, realizing that a New York Times employee had just caught me goofing off.

He didn't seem to mind though, smiling warmly at me and reaching out his hand.

I shook it and gave him a shy smile back.

“I’m Henry,” he said. “You must be Miss Mirdeen. Simon’s already told me all about you.”

I gulped.

I could only imagine what kind of impression Simon had given him of me.

“Don’t worry,” Henry interjected quickly. “All good stuff, I can assure you.”

Ha! I seriously doubted that but I smiled nonetheless.

“Please call me Liv. It’s a pleasure to meet you Henry.”

“Same to you Liv. Anyway,” he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, leaning into me. “I’m kind of Simon’s secret weapon. He’s an old-fashioned guy. A genius when it comes to tracking people down and talking to them in person, but a bit helpless when it comes to this baby.”

He patted my computer lovingly.

“That’s where I come in. Officially, I’m his tech assistant. But really I’m much more than that. Simon told me he’s already given you a research assignment, so I’m here to help you get started. I can get you access to some data that won’t come up in a normal Google search. And chances are, if this is a story Simon’s working on, a Google search isn’t going to turn up anything very useful anyway. That man can never take the easy route.”