Adaptation |HS|

Four.

    My overwhelming hangover caused me to play the background in today's staff meeting. Of course, Josephine wanted to know what was going on with the stories and wanted insides on what we all have come up with so far. Me? all I have are words from a man I'm not so sure I can trust at this point. Damien was all too willing to sell Harry Styles out and after spending part of the morning thinking about that, I decided I needed to find out why. "Ms. McIntyre," I was snapped from my daydream, the clicking of my ball point pen being the only thing heard in Josephine's office. shit. "I assure you have come up with something to contribute to our cover story?" She asked with those hopeful, icy blue eyes of hers. The honest truth was that, at this exact moment, I had nothing that would blow everyone away. We were all just tossing around the same ideas and lies that were being given to us by people he had clearly done wrong to. 

    "I'm still in the process of talking to my sources," I spoke groggily, coughing hoarsely into a closed fist and looking elsewhere in the room. It wasn't a lie. I still had a few things to work out with Damien and if that wasn't enough, I was going to meet up with the man himself later on. He held all of the secrets within himself and if that shotty list that Josephine had so willingly passed out did not work out, I was going to have to concoct a plan to get the details from Harry himself. My brain started to pound just thinking about it. 

    As we exited, I could hear the scurrying of feet catching up to me. A soft grip on my arm was felt and I spun around, pressing my palm to my forehead as Parker stood before me. "Sources?" He folded his arms and arched his neatly plucked eyebrows. I had to think my way out of this one, and I had to do it quickly. Parker couldn't know about the list. "I thought you said this was bullshit, Lena," He said, his voice growing louder. I cursed quietly and pulled him to the side, away from the prying eyes of those around us. Yes, at first, I did believe everyone trying to build a cover story off of the little information we had was bullshit. He heard us in that staff meeting. Everyone had the exact same information written down. Except for me. "Explain," He demanded, tearing my hand away from his arm. 

    "It is not what you think, Parker." I lied. "Josephine just wanted me to gather more credible sources to help you guys out. She knows we're all running in circles and if we want to be the first magazine to publish the real story, we need real facts. It's my job to get them," I spoke calmly. The lies flowed off of my tongue so swiftly and I was reluctant to stop. It was as if I had an entire story to tell and none of it contained the truth. And the worst of it all? I did not feel one ounce of regret for lying to Parker. It was my turn to make a mark in this industry of journalism and I was sure that this story would make me a household name. In order to pull this off, I needed to get Parker off of my back. 

    "Why would you want to help the entire office instead of just me?" He asked with sincere confusion. "I know you want to save your job by helping Josephine, but I really want to get this cover, Lena." He stated. I could see the truth in his eyes and I still felt nothing. I wanted and needed this more than Parker. I was the only one in this office who has never gotten a good story published. I met Parker from a cover story he did on the mayor being apart of a human trafficking ring a few years ago. That was Parker's big break, and ever since then, he's been greedy for more covers. If only he understood that I needed this for validation. My job was well on the line and so was my well-being if I blew this. This was my one and only shot to let Josephine know that she did not hire me for seat warming. 

I still couldn't tell him the truth. 

    "When the opportunity presents itself, I will give you some inside scoop that I know the others won't have. You just have to trust me, Parker," I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. He shouldn't trust me, but he was unaware of that. If the opportunity did present itself, Parker would never know. I needed all of this to be under wraps and the less he knew, the better.