The interview

Chapter 8

A/N: Lucy and Riley's place up above!

Friday...

Lucy sung softly to herself as she filed the typed up articles for next week's gossip section into a paper folder and walked out of the printer room, towards Hodge's office. As she walked, she brushed off some fluff on her vibrant red dress, her blood red heels clicked on the hardwood floor. She smiled slightly as she went, just a few more hours until her date with Daniel. This thought added a slight spring to her step as she came to her boss's door and knocked softly, "Mr Hodge?"
"Yeah." He voice called back. Lucy opened the door and stepped in, smiling politely at the smartly dressed middle aged man behind his desk, his dark greying hair slicked back, thick stubble growing on his face and cold, steely blue eyes calculating her. She handed him the folder, "The gossip section you wanted."
"Great, thank you Miss Queen." He took them from her and stored them into a larger folder next to his laptop. Lucy nodded and turned to leave before he called her back, "You've been making quiet the impression here Miss Queen."
Lucy turned to him in confusion, "Sir?"
"It's not a bad thing." He thought for a moment before sitting back in his seat, "I'm gonna give you a chance." He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to her, "A robbery took place down at Atlantic Bank, Midtown. Write me a good story and we'll see. On my desk by Monday, got it?"
Lucy nodded excitedly, "Yes sir. Thank you." She grinned before turning and walking briskly out of the room, closing the door softly behind her before she began jogging towards her shared office with Melissa to collect her things, 'I'm so glad I borrowed Riley's car today.' She grinned as she burst into the office, grabbed her coat, keys, bag and a notebook. Melissa looked up and narrowed her eyes at her, "Where do you think you're going? I've given you another pile of work to do."
"Sorry, you'll have to do you own paper work. Hodge's sending me to Midtown, I'll be a while." Before Melissa could retaliate, Lucy was already at the door, "Bye!" She sang. Melissa stared at the door in shock for a moment before growling and standing up stiffly, storming out of her office and towards Hodge's.
Hodge jumped as his door was slung open and a fuming Melissa walked in, "Why the fuck did my apprentice just walk out when I didn't approve of it?" She hissed.
Hodge rose an eyebrow at her, "Because I asked her to. And she's not your apprentice, she's your partner. But from word going around the office, you haven't been treating her as such."
"You told me I was supposed to teach her how to be a journalist. That makes her my apprentice." She argued, slamming the door shut to close off any curious gazes.
"I asked you to show her the ropes and get settled in, not stick her behind a desk doing your paperwork and interviews while you wonder off else where." Hodge's eyes were now narrowed.
Melissa paled slightly, "How did you find out?" She muttered.
"I had a call this morning from an anonymous person, complaining about the interview you were supposed to do on Daniel Walsh, they told me that a blonde woman performed the interview instead and mentioned they saw you sneaking away with Walsh's manager. You may have written it but I saw a few extra answers in your article that you didn't write questions for. I may be getting old Melissa, but I'm not an idiot."
Melissa lowered her eyes slightly, her blood boiling. Hodge sighed and sat back, "I'm letting this go with a warning. But you pull something like that again, and I will take action. Do you understand me?"
Melissa nodded and Hodge gestured to the door, "Alright. Now get back to work."
Melissa turned sharply and left the room, still fuming as she made her way back to her office, 'Who the hell made that call.' (XD guess whooooooo lol)

Lucy killed the Audi's engine and hopped out of the car, wrapping her matching red coat around her, tying the belt as she walked towards the scene. The doors were smashed open, glass was scattered over the sidewalk and road, a shot gun and ski mask were laying on the curb, small yellow markers with the numbers 6 and 7 next to them. And if she wasn't mistaken, there were patches of blood on the tarmac as well. She swallowed heavily and looked away from the crime scene to root through her bag for the voice recorder and her notebook. She rooted through the pages to the list of questions she had scribbled down every time she caught a red light.
"Excuse me Miss, we're trying to keep the area clear."
Lucy jumped and turned around to see an officer walking towards her. She rooted through her bag again, "I'm Lucy Queen from NY Times."
The cop inspected her ID badge before nodding, "Oh right, you're boss called, a Ross Hodge?"
"That's him. Mind if I interview you for a moment?"
The cop nodded, "Sure, there's two witnesses over there too if you want anymore insight."
Lucy smiled sweetly, "Thank you." She switched the voice recorder on and readied her questions, "Do you have specific time to when the robbery took place?"
"9:37 this morning." The cop answered patiently. Lucy continued asking her questions, her heart was pounding and her knees were close to shaking. Not only was this her first real interview she'll be writing up, but the cop she was questioning was extremely intimidating, especially with his gun holster on his hip.