***New York***
Jennifer Edwards was sitting in a coffee shop, waiting on someone. She was in a part of town that she never ever came to, because she felt like this meeting needed to take place somewhere out of the way.
She took a sip of her coffee, and then a bite of her bagel.
The person she was meeting arrived and made their way to her table.
"Hi".
"Hi, thanks for meeting me".
"Ok, so it took some maneuvering but I got it. But you gotta swear to me you won't tell anyone I'm the one that got it for you".
"I swear".
The person slid a black flash drive with a silver star across the table towards her. Jennifer picked it up and put it in her purse.
"I'm dead serious. My job in politics will effectively end if it ever gets out that I gave you this".
"I promise, you will be listed in my article only as a confidential source".
"Thank you".
"How did you get this?"
"I'd rather not divulge that. Let's just say I put my Computer skills to good use".
"Got it. Well, I really appreciate it".
"I hope you know what you're doing. Exposing this could bring a shitstorm to your door that you would never wish on your worst enemy".
"I'm doing what is right. That will outweigh everything else".
"Well, good luck. I have to catch a train back to Washington, so I better go".
"Thanks again".
The person left, and as their custom, Jennifer waited and finished her meal. She threw a 20 on the table when she was finished and then headed out, with the flash drive tucked safely into her purse.
She headed back to her office at The New York Times, and got to work. Within an hour, she knew she was on the cusp of breaking open a huge story with far-reaching consequences.
***California***
Jonathan Hart was sitting at his desk, trying to end the most mind-numbing meeting he had ever had.
"And that concludes why I think this company should purchase East Coast Press".
"Thank you, Stanley. I appreciate your hard work, your diligence and your determination".
"Thank you, sir".
The bottom line was, Hart Industries needed to purchase the company to not only increase their profits, but to also get tax incentives as well.
"Ok, I'll do it. Stanley, have Owen draft the paperwork, and have Deanne call and set up a meeting with East Coast Press".
"Yes, Mr. Hart".
About an hour later, Deanne came into Jonathan's office.
"Mr. Hart, your meeting is set for next Friday in New York."
"Great. I think I'm going to work in New York for a while, so that I can get a feel of things at East Coast Press, and also so I can start the expansion of the New York office. Can you relocate to New York for about 8 weeks?"
"Yes, I can do that".
"Great. We will leave Wednesday, and start Thursday".
"Sounds good, Mr. Hart".
"Thank you".
He gathered up his things and headed home for the day.
***A few days later***
Jennifer was at her apartment, working on her article. A true journalist at heart, she often found it hard to leave her article at the office. Most of the time, she was unable to leave an article until after she finished it.
There was a knock at the door, so she got up and answered it.
"Hey, I brought pizza and wine".
"Yum! Come on in".
Lindsey Armitage was Jennifer's best friend and had been ever since college. She had a degree in political science and another one in criminal justice. She was extremely intelligent, but more than that, she was knowledgeable about everything she did. She worked as a legal analyst, and she was damn good at her job.
As they ate their pizza, they chatted about the goings on in their lives. Lindsey lived about 10 blocks away and she and Jennifer made a point to have a weekly lunch date so they could bounce ideas off each other.
"What are you working on?"
"I am writing a top-secret article, and I'm telling you, when this gets published, it's going to be big. It will probably be the most read article of my entire career".
"What's it about?"
"Can't tell you".
"Oh come on! That's not fair!"
"I'm sorry, I just don't want to jinx it".
"I can understand that".
They turned on a movie and did their toenails while they watched.
After their movie was over, Lindsey followed Jennifer to her bedroom.
"Ok, now give me your honest opinion on this dress. I picked it up a couple of days ago and can't decide if I should keep it or take it back".
She slipped it on and then slipped into some strappy heels.
The dress was black, strapless, and form fitting.
"Jennifer, you look amazing in that dress! Why would you take it back?"
"Because I feel so plain in it".
"Ok, so dress it up. Wear a red necklace, red heels. Or add a short colored jacket, or wide colored belt".
"Those are good ideas, I suppose".
Lindsey smirked at her.
She took the dress off and hung it back up and then slipped into some pajama shorts.
"Girl, you are smokin! What's your workout routine?"
"I do 100 squats, 100 sit-ups and 100 leg thrusts each leg every morning. At night, I do 100 each of three different kinds of pushups, plus 100 squats".
"Oh. My. Word. That's insane".
"Dedication. That's all it takes".
They crashed on the couch and gossiped for another hour or so, and then Lindsey decided to head home.
"So, since you won't tell me what your big hot story is about, will you at least tell me when to read it?"
"I'm aiming for this weekend. Have to make sure it's perfect, and then my boss has to approve it".
"Well, I'll be reading. I'll call you tomorrow. Night, love you".
"Night, love you too".
She locked the door behind her and then cleaned up and headed to bed.
She watched a little bit of the news before she nodded off.
Washington D.C. is in a state of turmoil as lawmakers scramble to balance the budget by the President's deadline…
Jennifer smiled to herself as she thought about her article.
Washington hasn't seen anything yet.
***Friday***
Jennifer had completed her story, and was headed to take it to her boss, Jeff, for approval.
As she was headed to his office, he was coming out of it with his briefcase and keys in his hand.
"Hey, just the guy I'm looking for".
"Is that your story?"
"Yes. It just needs your approval".
"I'll approve absolutely anything you write. Get the stamp in my top left desk drawer, stamp 'ok' on it, and then take it to editing and put it in the box with tomorrow's date on it".
"Are you sure you don't want to read it first?"
"No, I trust you. Have a great weekend, Jennifer. Thanks for the good work".
"Thanks. Have a great weekend".
She stamped it, took it to editing and then clocked out for the day.
By 6 p.m., she was on a flight to Maryland to see her father.
***Jonathan***
"Sign here, Mr. Hart, and East Coast Press will be all yours".
"When do I take ownership?"
"Immediately. Once you sign on the dotted line, you will be the owner of The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Boston Ledger".
"Wonderful".
Jonathan grabbed a pen and signed his name and dated it.
"Here is your owner's packet, with all the information on all three papers, contact info for the offices, things like that."
"Great, thank you so much. Pleasure doing business with you".
They shook hands, and then Jonathan gathered his things and headed to his hotel.
***Jennifer***
Jennifer pulled her rental car up to her father's house and parked.
Walter, her father's houseman, came out to greet her.
"Miss Jennifer! It's so good to see you!"
"Walter, hi!"
She gave him a big hug, and then he helped her bring her bags inside.
"You're just in time for dinner, Miss Jennifer. Your father is in the study".
"Thank you, Walter".
She headed to the study while Walter took her bags up to her room.
"Jennifer, sweetheart! So good to see you!"
"Hi Pa! I've missed you!"
She gave him a big hug and then they walked to the dining room.
"How was your flight?"
"Wonderful. No turbulence, just like I prefer".
"That's great. Well, I checked the weather and you should be able to have great riding weather tomorrow and Sunday before you fly back".
"Yay! I can't wait! I haven't ridden a horse in forever".
Walter brought their dinner in, and set it on the table.
"Just because Miss Jennifer is visiting, I whipped up some of my famous Sidewalk Chicken, some parmesan couscous, and grilled zucchini and tomatoes".
"Walter, you're the greatest!"
She patted his hand.
"So, sweetheart, how are things at the paper?"
"Great, Pa. I just broke a huge story. It will be published in tomorrow's edition".
"What story did you break?"
"Well, I know you subscribe, so I don't want to spoil it for you. But, I will tell you this much. There is a group of people in the world, and they are a very exclusive group. A club if you will. They want everyone else to think that they have it all, and that they have it all together, that they are successfully juggling and balancing several balls at once with no issues. However, an inside source revealed to me that it's nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And since the public has the right to know…I investigated, I researched, and I made sure to only print the facts. So, once my article comes out tomorrow, one of two things is likely to happen-either most of the balls they are juggling will crash to the ground, or their club will disband all together".
"I cannot wait to read it, sweetheart. It sounds very intriguing".
"If I'm right, I imagine my article will be the talk of the town for at least a couple weeks".
"You might win a prestigious award, sweetheart".
"That would be nice, but that's not why I do what I do."
They chatted about the various goings on with her aunts and other relatives, and then retired to the living room to have coffee and dessert.
Around 10, Stephen called it a night, and Jennifer did too.
She climbed into bed, her mind racing with thoughts of riding one of her father's horses at breakneck speed the next morning.
***Saturday***
Around 7 a.m., 5 men and 4 women, all in their respective homes, all in their pajamas, unlock their front doors and get the morning paper off the porch before retreating back inside. As they settle down with their breakfast and their coffee to read the morning paper, jaws drop. Their stomachs fill with knots, and a very strong sense of foreboding overcomes them, one by one. One of them decides to start the chain, and picks up a phone. A secret meeting is arranged for 2 hours from then, at a very top-secret location. The only thing on the agenda is getting to the bottom of this public relation's nightmare, and then ahead of it.
***Jennifer***
Jennifer woke up, had breakfast with her dad, and then went for an early morning ride. She selected Buttons, a beautiful light brown horse with dark brown hair.
She groomed her, fed her some sugar cubes, and then saddled her up for a long ride. They rode all over the estate, through all the trails, across all the fields. Horseback riding was the best therapy for her. When she was up on a horse, nothing else mattered.
Around 11, she brought the horse back to the barn, brushed her and fed her and then put her in her stable.
She walked up to the house and came inside, intending on going and taking a shower.
"There you are. I just read your article, sweetheart".
"Oh? Did you like it?"
"My opinion doesn't matter, sweetheart. I'm afraid you may have gotten yourself in a pickle this time. I was watching the news earlier and your story was on CNN. The phone rang a little bit ago. Your friend, Lindsey, I think, said half of New York City is looking for you".
"Oh? Well, I'll give her a call."
She sat down and dialed Lindsey's number.
"I knew it would turn heads, but I never thought I'd make it on CNN".
She heard two rings and then Lindsey picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me. My dad said you called".
"Yes, I did. Your boss called me, freaking out, said you weren't answering at home. I told him you went to your dads for the weekend. He wanted the number, but I wasn't sure how Mr. Edwards would feel about that, so I promised I would give you his number."
"Did he say anything else?"
"No. But I read your article. As a friend, let me say, damn good job. As a legal analyst, and someone who holds a political science degree, let me tell you I think you should expect some backlash, especially from the people you mentioned. And on a scale of 1-10, you should expect the backlash to be somewhere between 8 and 9".
"That bad?"
"Yes".
"I'm covered by the first amendment, right?"
"Yes, you are".
"Ok. Good. Well, I better go so I can call Jeff. I apologize for him disturbing you".
"No worries. Tell your dad hello, and I'll see you tomorrow night".
"Got it".
She hung up and then dialed Jeff's number.
"Hello?"
"Jeff? Hi, it's Jennifer".
"Jennifer, what the hell were you thinking? You know I'm supposed to approve what you publish!"
"Remember yesterday, when you were leaving and you told me to stamp ok on it and then turn it into editing?"
"That's when I thought your story was on sex trafficking."
"Jeff, what's wrong with you? My sex trafficking story was published 3 weeks ago. Since then, I wrote a school budget story, a vaccinate your kids story, and this one".
"I'm sorry. I should have looked at your story before I told you to publish it. But as soon as you got the evidence, you should have come to me and showed it to me".
"Ok, you're right. I'm sorry. Is this really as bad as everyone is making it out to be?"
"Not yet. But hang on, this rollercoaster ride is just beginning".
Suddenly, Jennifer's stomach was filled with knots.