Blueprint

Part 17 - Consequences

A foreign feeling insinuates that I've never had the luxury of experiencing it or its occurrence in my life so seldom it feels odd to see it. My recent boldness, my newfound confidence...that is a luxury of the most foreign. As the portions of my face consisting of my glossed lips and the stuffy nose that was the product of allergy season were hidden in the comforting large pages of my physics textbook, and only the tired, big look of my brown eyes stood out, I sat at a desk by a large window in the sea of messy, unkempt ones belonging to many investigative journalists. I didn't think I'd find myself doing this, but again I didn't think I'd intern at a law firm, either. And so the list on my resume grows.

I take a few sips out of a coffee mug my mom gave to me as a gift for my new job. Her excitement was strange and out of her usual coldness and resentment for the choices I make under the very limited amount of freedom she used to give me. Keywords: used to. She keeps a comfortable distance from me which is also something that I needed time to get used to and test. I grew content living with her as long as she kept her questions to a minimum, until she asked me about Harry.

He wasn't in the picture anymore is what I told her. But the truth was I missed him, which was no surprise. He was the one I craved at night and also thought about on most occasions during the day. And yet, I forced myself to remain at a distance from him with no contact. He hasn't tried to contact me, so the lack of effort on his part was also indicative of how much he cared to hear about me. And so I was incredibly hurt by this until I saw Axel outside of my house.

I was in my bedroom, picking up a few things and organizing old books, supplies, and other things I might want to decorate my desk at Akira's company with when I sighted the model and license plate of a car that belonged to none other than Axel from my window. The car was parked just across the street, and Axel wasn't bothering to leave the car. He just sat there and scrolled through his phone, as I could tell by the small light that originated from the driver's window. There was no reason for him to be around me except for Harry's apparent paranoia, which manifests itself into needing constant security.

Harry was keeping tabs on me whether he called me or not.

There was no reason for me to get furious about it or expend any kind of energy because of it. Maybe having Axel's eyes around was reassuring for me as my suppressed anxiety caused by Ernest's threat was still lingering at the back of my head. And while I take a leap into the danger, while I'm full of thrill and adrenaline, the feeling of going in so blindly makes someone like me, so reserved and non confrontational, very nervous.

"Athena, boss needs you in her office."

One of the journalists I've become acquainted with waves his hand in a beckoning manner, pointing his thumb in the direction of Akira's office. I look up, my once hunched over body sitting up straight. Logan Frazer's dark eyes stare at me momentarily, waiting for at least an acknowledgement. Sighing, I nod my head at Logan and force a smile at him, which he returns readily, the curve of his dark pink lips causing a few dimples to appear around his cheeks, dotted with multiple unshaven facial hairs. He turns away and walks towards his desk among the rest when. I stare at the spot he used to stand in moments ago for a few seconds, wondering what Akira wanted with me.

I take another deep breath before setting my textbook down. Reluctantly, I got up from my seat and grabbed one of the hair elastics that hung from a pen that was inside a pencil holder. Wrapping my hand around a handful of my frizzy hair, I wrap the black elastic around the curls, tying into a low ponytail. My lips forming an 'o' as I take another slightly nervous breath of air, I make my way down the hall past the sea of desks once more.

The idea of facing Akira after the information I gave her made me nervous only because of one reason: I didn't tell her about Harry's involvement in this case. I simply gave her the details about a possible scenario involving a few patients being affected by this new drug Friedman Pharmaceuticals is trying to approve with the FDA. She theorized that it was already approved by the FDA for human experimenting, but who knew what it was doing to these test subjects, and why they were now in some trouble with the government. I was still unsure whether the plaintiff was the government or some other entity, or party, or even a single individual. These were all things that I brought to Akira, but I did not tell her about Harry being one of the lawyers. And I was petrified that at some point I'd have to. I didn't want to protect Harry from Akira, but my instincts told me that wasn't necessary for me to disclose. I had no clue who Akira was, and while I didn't know who Harry was either, I felt that I'd have to wait.