Blueprint

Part 17 - Consequences

For what exactly?

I knock on Akira's door, breath held in my chest even as she calls me in. I hoped she didn't realize I was keeping one part of the information I gave her to myself. Petrified of that idea, I send her a faint smile once she calls for me to come inside, and we make initial eye contact. She's seated at her desk, her perfectly manicured nails tapping away against the keyboard of her laptop. Even when she glanced away, her fingers still moved across the keys, and I noted her lack of interest in seeing my face as she had expected me anyway. It was important not to take her mannerisms and her lack of responsiveness personally. I've started to learn that just by the interactions I've had with her. Not everything involves a personal attack, and it used to be an irrational habit of mine to overthink everyone's actions as if they all were especially relevant to me.

"Hi, Akira. What can I do for you?"

Not ceasing her typing, she stares at the screen and with focus she refuses to divide and expend on me, she flatly states, "I sold the information to a journalist at the Post. Word got out about this case, so it's incredibly important that you keep finding out more information. I don't know how you'll do that, but that's part of the job here." Her dark eyes wandered from her laptop to me, and I stood a foot away from the glass surface of her desk biting the inside of my cheek. The secretive anxiety in my eyes appeared from the exterior to be my usual, big-eyed look that got me points on the innocence and clueless scoreboard. And as she gazes at me, her left hand pulls a drawer from the black steel of her desk, blindly.

My eyebrows lower when she sets down what appears to be a neatly packaged silver box the length of a pencil, though it was a perfect rectangular shape across the width of its surface. Curiously, I stare at it momentarily, glancing back at her after she continues speaking. "Now, I know you were an unpaid intern before, but I do things differently here. You get me the information, I get you the deal with the big papers. So, for your work, you get a share. Spend it wisely, Athena. It's five grand."

Unable to control my reaction, I gaped at her and widened my eyes in shock, turning my head sideways in disbelief. That was only a share of the price she sold the information for. I truly wondered how much these papers were paying for a story of this caliber, for a case this interesting involving the FDA and a huge pharmaceutical company. No doubt it was a story that many would tune into. It was an interesting one and that is what made it so dangerous. The best stories are the ones that make those involved bleed. Whether they bleed money, pain, or shame.

"Um...five grand?" Is all I can manage to ask.

"Yes. Usually, the information I can get from these papers goes for not even nearly as much as your share for this day, but...it's...a pretty big case. A friend of mine at the Post was taken completely by surprise that it was going on. Apparently, only very few people knew about it. We still don't know a few details. Such as those involved besides David Friedman and what exactly is happening. Like you and I said, it's possible that the FDA regrets approving their new product, which we also know nothing about, for human experimenting. It's important to find this out as soon as possible. For all we know, maybe there are deaths involved, fatal injuries, you know...things of that nature, things that would really get people's attention."

Raising an eyebrow, I move forward and extend my arm, reaching for the box and taking it in my head. It felt somewhat lighter than I thought, as it appeared to be such a solid box. But, I hold it so gingerly it makes Akira smirk. It was the kind of money that I didn't see very often, or at all. "Thank you..." I almost whisper, my voice drying as I swallow down my nervousness. Akira simply nods and looks away. I'm going to turn away, but then I turn back and quickly question, "What if... this case involves people dying? It must be bad if they're going through this much to keep it a secret. And if the FDA is also keeping it under wraps...it has to be bad."