News With The Neverseen

Episode 25

Gisela's POV

[A/N: Only one day late this time!]

"Gisela!" Fintan waved me down when I was heading for the elevator. Honestly, why does everything happen to me when I'm going to the elevator? "I have a project for you! Wait up!"

"Fine," I said. "I'm not getting homework, am I?"

Fintan considered for a moment. "That depends on you."

"What is it?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"I need your help finding who started all those rumors about Gethen. You're good at that kind of stuff–right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. When should I start?"

Fintan laughed. "Uh, now. Better get scrolling."

I groaned. "How long is this going to take?"

"No idea. Bye." Fintan jogged away before I could ask another question.

Growling, I headed down the elevator to home.

+++

Fintan rushed towards me the next day. "Gisela, are you alright? You look... terrible."

I was too exhausted to feel offended. "I sleep didn't. Wait, no. Didn't I sleep. No, that's not right–"

"I get the point!" Fintan positioned his hands like stop signs. "You stayed up the whole night searching? Did you figure out who it was?"

"No. But I think I'm close to finding out. The number of Gethen-slamming threads is enormous."

Fintan laughed good-naturedly. "You're telling me. Why do you think I dumped this project all on you?"

"You mean–"

"Oops, is that Gethen? Gotta go!" Fintan ran off to who-knows-where.

In case you're wondering, Gethen was nowhere in sight.

"Fintan!" I called after him, but he ignored me. Wimp.

Sighing, I headed to my cubicle. Maybe I would be able to take a well-needed nap.

When I arrived, however, the cubicle was not empty. A figure was sitting in my chair, typing on my keyboard.

"Umber," I addressed her. "What are you doing?"

Umber swiveled the chair to face me. "Gisela! What brings you here?"

"Uh, that's my cubicle." I pointed out.

"Is it, now? I didn't notice."

I rolled my eyes. "Quit playing around, Umber."

Umber frowned attractively. "Fine. I was just making sure you didn't have any files that were... Uh, suspicious on your computer."

I narrowed my eyes. "You were snooping around on my computer?"

Umber laughed airily. "Oh, don't be dramatic. It was a completely warranted search."

"Get out of my chair." I ordered.

"If you wish." Umber stood and nodded. "See you later, Gisela."

Grumbling, I took my rightful spot at my cubicle and glared at Umber as she receded. I glanced at my computer, which was still on, and fear made my stomach churn. What had Umber seen on my computer? She better not have deleted my online art–that stuff took hours!

After quickly checking through my computer files–which seemed untouched–I let out a yawn. Against my will, I immediately fell asleep.

+++

I jolted awake to someone tapping on my shoulder.

"Where have you been, Gisela? Didn't you see Fintan's email about a spontaneous meeting at 12:00?" Gethen asked. He sounded out of breath.

"Huh?" I managed.

"You're late for the meeting. I was sent to look for you."

"Oh. Oops."

"Are you okay?" Gethen squined at me.

I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah. Just tired."

Gethen still looked suspicious. "If you say so. Get up and let's go."

I nodded, still trying to compute his words. "Okay. Where are we going?"

Gethen let out a frustrated sigh. "The meeting room, Gisela. You know this."

"Oh, okay." I allowed myself to be led up the elevator. "Why are we going to a meeting today?"

"Fintan decided that a discussion about the rumors would be of value. He included all that in his email this morning. Didn't you see it?"

"I guess not."

Gethen propped open the meeting room door with his foot, and I entered. The whole room turned to look at me. I gulped. I hoped I didn't have messy hair from my nap.

"I'm glad you could join us, Gisela." Fintan said as I took my seat.

I blushed. "Sorry for being late."

Fintan nodded, but didn't say anything. His expression was serious.

Gethen took his seat at the other end of the table, and Fintan began.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you for joining me here on such short notice." Fintan nodded his thanks at everyone before continuing. "As I'm sure you all know, our beloved anchor, Gethen Ondsinn, has had rumors spreading about him on social media. Gethen and I would like your help to ensure that the public knows that the rumors are that: just rumors."

Alvar nodded. "I will do anything to help."

Fintan's face brightened. "Great! Does anyone else want to volunteer to help search for the culprit and help Gethen film a video to discourage the rumors?"

The entire table raised their hands.

"Perfect!" Fintan beamed. "Now, onto other matters. We've got lower viewers than ever before, and that's saying a lot. And I think I know what we need to do. A commercial!"