Deadly Obsession

The sound of the intercom beeping woke me up from my nap, I groaned, knowing that it was my boss who was responsible for my interrupted nap. I didn't bother to answer it since he was just going to scold me for not answering on time, instead, I decided to go to his office to see what was so important that he didn't let me nap in peace.

I got up from my desk and adjusted my hair which had ruffled during my sleep, I tried my best not to look like I had just woken up but I knew that it was impossible. My boss had very sharp eyes and would easily spot that I had just awoken from a slumber.

I dragged my lazy feet to the door and clicked it open only to see Sadie, my best and honestly, only friend. She had her hands over her hips and looked like she must have been knocking on my door. "Took you long enough!" She snapped and pushed me out of the way, making her way into my office. She settled on the sofa in the center of the room and shot me a "Why are you standing there?" look. I was about to explain that I needed to go see the boss when the intercom began beeping again.

"I'll wait," she said understandably, I shot out of the office and made my way to the elevator. I could already imagine how angry Mr. Jones, my boss would be at me. I walked past the trophy shelves on my way to the elevator and stopped to admire them, there were a lot of trophies there which were dedicated to me, Amanda Williams the best reporter in Las Vegas, at least I used to be. I was still regarded as the best reporter in the country but deep down I knew that it was only a matter of time before that title was snatched away from me.

I got into the elevator and punched in the floor number that I was headed. The elevator ride didn't take long to end as Mr Jones's office was just two floors above me and I could have just easily taken the stairs. The elevator door slid open and I stepped out, I saw Mr. Jones coming out of his office,  he seemed mad and was probably heading to my office. Our gaze locked and he signaled me to meet him in his office then went back in. I stood by the elevator for a while, hesitant to meet Mr. Jones, I already knew why he wanted to see me.

I took a deep breath and gave myself some pep talk before finally going in to see Mr Jones. Mr Jones sat behind his desk with his hands on his table. He tapped his fingers on his table repeatedly as he kept his gaze on me. "Mr Jones, you want for me?" I started like always, wanting to get the conversation over with. "Ten months, three weeks, and 4 days," he said not breaking eye contact with me. I almost scoffed at his words, 'This again?' I thought.

"Do you know what those dates are for?" He asked but I gave no reply, No matter what I said, he would take it to the offense so it was better to stay mute. " It means that it has almost been a month since you gave me a good story to publish, since you gave the public something new and fresh" he continued admitting my silence. I still refused to speak, I wasn't going to say anything this time, I had already learned from my past experiences with Mr. Jones that nothing you say to him will make things better. I just stood there with my hands behind my back hoping that he would just let me go already.

"When am I going to get another story as good as the Dr*g Smuggling Politician?" He asked reminding me of the story that gave my career the boost it desperately needed. I had covered the story of a politician who was popular for being a philanthropist.  At first, it was just supposed to be a harmless cover story about how he helped the needy until I came across a dark secret of his, he was a dr*g smuggler who covered up his evil acts with philanthropy. I dug a little deeper into his life and after gathering enough evidence I published the story. 

After that success, I covered more stories like that and eventually gained the status of the best reporter in the country. Everything was going fine but my career seemed to come to a halt about ten months ago when there seemed to be no more story to cover and my boss, Mr. Jones had not failed to remind me of that every day of my life. 

"Are you even listening to me?" Mr Jones snapping causing me to snap out of my thoughts, he had a big frown on his face and I could see some veins popping out on his forehead. "I'm sorry, I promise to get you a big story soon" I promised, It was an empty promise and even I knew.  I had already exposed almost all the crooks in the country and the rest of them avoided me like a plague.

"You had better, I give you till the end of the year. Once we celebrate the new year,  you're as good as jobless" he said and with that, he dismissed me from his office, I heard him murmur some incoherent words as I walked out and it made me wonder if he was serious about firing me if I failed to produce a story for him.

A lot of thoughts filled my head as I got into the elevator, I needed a new story and I needed it within the next two months or else I was going to get fired. Usually, I didn't mind getting fired and staying at home but I did not know that Theresa had taken a job as a reporter too. She called me the previous night to tell me how she secured a job at an opposition news agency and asked me to give her some "tips". I knew that she just wanted to rub it in my face but I wasn't going to let her win, it's time to get serious Amanda.