Chapter 3. The Message

A wave of cold air hit my face as I walked out of my condo with a trash bag on my right and my phone on my left. My hair was a complete mess and I could tell that I probably looked horrible. I dumped the trash bag into the trashcan outside and returned inside to the warmth of my heater. I slammed the door behind me and dragged my feet to the couch. My condo was a simple and decent one which consisted of only essential interiors,  I wasn't a fancy lady and neither was my condo. Sadie hated visiting as she claimed that my condo was too simple for her.

I went online searching for big personalities with shady backstroke but all I could find was articles on Alessio or random people making up theories about him. He seemed to be all the people cared about and I even saw some posts of my fans asking me to write about him next and expose who he was, if only they knew that that one brave reporter was gone. I also came across a lot of posts of people calling me out for not covering any story for a long time.

I felt annoyed by the continuous post of people coming up with theories as to why I hadn't published anything for almost a year now so I put my phone down on the armrest.

 "Maybe I really should change my concept, I could be a local reporter instead and my name will fade from the public eye," I thought but quickly dismissed the idea of going from a well-known investigative reporter to an ordinary local reporter. I massaged my temples to stop myself from developing a headache from all the stress and pressure I was going through.

"Maybe I should just quit being a reporter for good and start up a small coffee shop downtown," I thought, The sound of a nice, quiet life wasn't bad just that I wasn't ready for retirement. I had spent all the money I earned on securing a nice mansion for my father after he retired. That was one of the many reasons that Theresa hated me, she had given my dad just a bouquet while I appeared with the keys to a beautiful mansion.

It was no secret that I was dad's favorite child even though my mother was just a mistress, honestly, I understood Theresa's hatred towards me but I also wished that she would understand that I didn't ask to be born as her father's bastard. 

I was brought back to reality back the sound of my phone ringing, I stared at the screen to see that it was Theresa who was calling me. I was hesitant to pick up the call at first but decided to listen to whatever she had to say, "What now Theresa?" I asked with an eye roll, "Nothing much, I hope you're watching the news" she replied, I could tell from her tone that she probably was calling me to rub one of her achievements in my face.

 "What about the news?" I asked with another eye roll,  "I would tell you but I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise" She clicked her tongue and before I could say anything else, she hung up.

I hesitantly picked up the TV remote and turned on the television, the first thing that popped up on the screen was a picture of Theresa with the headline "Local reporter exposes dr*g smuggling politician". My eyes almost popped out of their sockets while reading the headline, Theresa exposed a dr*g smuggler? But she wasn't even an investigative reporter she was just an ordinary local reporter. 

"Could this be the next Amanda Willaims?" One of the newscasters asked making me frown, "Funny you asked that, I heard that they are sisters" The other said

 "It must run in the family then", The frown on my face broadened as they continued to compare me and Theresa. I switched off the television after getting tired of listening to them talk about Theresa.

My phone began buzzing like crazy, it seemed like a million notifications were coming in at the same time. I grabbed my phone and saw a lot of people online tagging me on posts about Theresa with the hashtag #no1reporter. Number one reporter? Theresa wasn't the number one reporter, I was. She was just a local reporter and nothing else. 

I looked up the man whom Theresa had exposed as a dr*g smuggler. Diego Padres was a half Mexican half American. He started his political career five years ago and was known to be a very religious person so it came as a big shock to everyone when Theresa exposed him to be a dr*g smuggler. I came across a video of him being arrested, he was cursing and yelling at smiling Theresa.

I paused the video and zoomed in on Theresa who stood by the corner with her arms crossed across her chest and a grin on her face. I resumed playing the video and there was a jump cut to Theresa being interviewed by the paparazzi. 

"How did you find out that this man was a crook?"

"It was quite simple, he was just a politician yet he spent a lot, and I found out that he had a lot of mansions and properties that he hid from the public" I scoffed at her reply, that didn't prove anything after all, he was also a businessman so he could have gotten the money from the business, and also he probably kept his property a secret from the public to avoid being accused of being a dr*g smuggler.

I stopped the video and tossed my phone aside to get away from its consistent buzzing, I got up on the couch and made my way to my bedroom leaving my phone in the living room where it buzzed all night.

***

Still sad about the previous day's event, I decided that it was best to stay at home that day and my boss wasn't happy about it. He called me over and over again and sent me several texts but I ignored them all. I got another text in the evening and I would have ignored it if I hadn't noticed that it was from an unknown number. 

"Come to the abandoned warehouse by the east side if you want to get some info about a story that would help beat your sister."