Contagious lies

05 | Passenger Princess

Ezhil Sirju

My gaze fixated on my calendar that's placed in front of me. Despite this being my first day, my supervisor already assigned a new case for me to cover, or to put it into her words 'prove myself'. This means I can't fail her and I must do a good job.

Brenda, my colleague, eyed me briefly before scooting her chair closer to me. "That man who was that?" She questioned me.

"Oh I met him during my boyfriend's company dinner." I informed her, not understanding why she was being so secretive.

She gasped loudly. "What company?" She asks me with raised eyebrows.

I place my hand beneath my chin. Something I did when I was deep in thoughts or like right now trying to recall a memory that slipped my mind. The name was on the tip of my tongue yet for some odd reason I simply couldn't remember.

"I can't remember." I tell her honestly. "Either way, Mina's work ethic is insane. She just did an interview with Marco Revello an hour ago and it's already published." I tell her in disbelief, wondering if I could ever reach that level of dedication.

"Yeah, she is insane and side note don't get on her bad side." She tells me before she returns to her desk.

Her comment made me slightly confused. Mina didn't strike me as a strict person. She wasn't even my supervisor. So naturally I grew curious what will actually happen if I do get on her bad side?

I shook those thoughts away as I focused on the story that I was given. The name on the paper made me raise my eyebrows in surprise.

Baron Reed written in bold letters. A 55 year old business man that has been living in Italy for the past few years. Recently returned back to the city he grew up in and so far he has stayed in Manchester. Confused, I glance around the room just to see others busy typing away on their keyboards not paying me any attention.

His story didn't seem suspicious. A business man never stays in one place. They travel around and are hardly home. Unsure I put his name in the search engine, and scroll down endlessly with boredom expressed on my face. There was absolutely nothing sketchy about this man. I sit up straight as I reread the phrase on my laptop screen. An article written in Italian but I could understand a few words.

The word human trafficker was what instantly caught my eyes. Unsure I glanced over at Brenda, this time around I scoot closer to her. She glanced at me with wonder in her eyes.

"Does anyone in this building speak Italian?" I asked her curiously.

"I do." Brenda replies as her gaze was fixated on her own laptop screen.

"Oh." I say in surprise.

"What? You thought just because I'm Chinese I won't speak the language?" She retorts back and I smile at her playful tone. "Being an exchange student sure has its benefits." She mumbles as she finally looks away from her screen.

Her eyes scanned the article briefly and I took notice of the expression on her face. She seemed so disturbed, as if she just saw a ghost. Her eyes eventually met mine.

"Is this what you were assigned to?" She wondered, taken back.

Unsure I nodded my head. "I was given a file with his name on it. So I thought it was my job to do some research on him." I replied.

"This is not something a newbie should be assigned to." Brenda mumbles to herself yet I still heard her. She takes the files and walks over to our supervisor. I watch from a distance as they converse. The frown on my supervisor's face made me wonder what was actually happening. Perhaps they handed me the wrong case.