Scandal // h.s au

three: "You'll tag along with Harry."

She found them all walking into the chief editor's office, including Harry, who gave her no instructions to follow or not to. So, curiously, she lifted herself off her desk, moving with the crowd of lead journalists and photographers, closing the door behind her.

" Did you invite her to come?" The chief editor, who was a graceful looking woman in her mid-fifties spoke, directing her question to Harry regarding Aimee. Harry merely shrugged, uninterested in anything related to her.

" Do you need her here?" The chief editor; Katherine Frost, presumed.

" I don't give a fuck. It's your call." Harry responded, eyes focused upon the folder that Frost was about to introduce. Katherine rolled her eyes, hissing out a bloody hell, before nodding at Aimee to stay.

" Alright, what we'll discuss here is extremely confidential. Don't talk about it, don't think about it out loud, and never, ever drunkenly blabber about it to a perfect stranger, am I making myself clear everybody? Harry?"

" That was five years ago, Frost, get over it." For the first time, Aimee saw a genuine smile taking over Harry's features. It was unfamiliar, but it looked good on him. If she could carry a civilized conversation with him, she probably would have told him to do it more often.

" Okay, so, exactly an hour from now, they're going to announce the murder of Viola Banks; wife of Ian Banks -"

" Ian Banks? The multimillionaire who's running against Liam Payne for a seat in the parliament?" Aimee eagerly spoke, earning quizzical stares from all those surrounding her, except for Harry, who simply shook his head to himself, eyes pinned on Katherine.

" Yes. That Ian Banks." Katherine responded, looking towards Aimee only momentarily, before refocusing her attention upon the circle of journalists.

" Anyway, as you all know, there had been rumors about cheating and fighting and a possible divorce between the two, which of course, pointed a lot of fingers at Ian, therefore he's the main suspect. What we need to do is; Harry, you know how to go about this of course," He curtly nodded, toothpick moving with the chewing manner his lips moved in, " the rest of you need to find me pictures, of Ian getting arrested, or the crime scene, or anything related. Go around and look for any clues, talk to policemen, ask neighbors, anything. All other departments are to keep quiet. I'm telling you this before you see it on the news and decide to do something about it, understood?"

Everyone offered nods, before they scurried out of the office, while Katherine and Harry spoke discretely. Not knowing what to do with herself, task-less, Aimee remained standing in the corner, watching their exchange with great anticipation. Finally, Katherine laughed, and so did Harry, before their eyes fell upon Aimee. His laughter ceased, all seriousness returning to his glare, and she wanted to disappear somehow.

" Oh Aimee, I forgot all about you. You'll tag along with Harry, won't you?" Katherine's eyes moved from Aimee to Harry, who shook his head firmly, once.

" Come on, Harry, you're supposed to be mentoring her."

" She's useless to me, Frost. She's inexperienced, slow in each and every way. I can't work, with her consistently holding me back."

" I won't, I promise!" She interjected, but then remembered that she was in no position to interfere between her direct supervisor and the chief editor.

" See? You can't expect me to work with that." Harry's voice rose in volume and desperation, as he threw his hands in the air, toothpick between his fingers now, instead of his teeth. Katherine rolled her eyes, walking towards her desk. Aimee had her eyebrows furrowed, wondering what she could have possibly done to give him that horrible impression.

" She's your responsibility, Harry. Plus, this isn't a one-man job, so you could use her help. Now, shoo, I'm busy." Katherine put a nonchalant hand in the air, focusing on her computer, instead of Harry's annoyed gaze. Eventually, he rolled his eyes, putting on his glasses, with the toothpick back between his teeth, as he turned to walk away.

" We'll go to the morgue to wait for the body and get the initial report. Don't speak unless I ask you to, which I probably won't. Don't touch anything. Don't do anything that I don't directly and explicitly ask you to. Take notes, if you need to, but that's it." Harry spoke, taking wide, fast, steps away from Katherine's office, with Aimee trailing behind him, struggling to keep up.

Once he reached his desk, he abruptly stopped, causing her to collide into his back. The speed with which they had collided, almost caused her to fall right on her ass, but she managed to catch herself, holding onto his shirt for support. He didn't fight against the action, nor did he aid it. He simply stood there, collecting the last of his things, along with his coat, before presuming his march out of the building, never once turning to see if she followed, because he knew that she would.

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a/n: alright, the story is beginning to happen now, so let me know what you think please :)

ily x