"Is that what I think it is?! Alice, hold my take-out for me!"

The redhead was walking on the sidewalk when her Australian friend shoved a bulky plastic bag in her arms. "Julie, what are you—"

"Guess whose car this is?"

Alice read the license plate. "That's Dylan's car. So what?"

The silver-haired employee took out her housekeys. "He's in so much trouble for what he did to you last—"

"Julie, stop! Not in broad daylight!" The radio co-host ran forward and pulled her friend away. "I know you're mad at Dylan for using me, but you can't just deface his car. We should hurry back upstairs. Our lunch will get cold if we don't eat now, and there will be a long line at the microwave at this hour."

"Alice, I won't be so nice next time." Once she arrived at her workplace, Julie immediately greeted her bluenette coworker. "Runo, we got you food from—"

"Read this."

The Runo handed a sheet of paper to Julie, who skimmed it from beginning to end. "This is the topic for the next discussion session?!"

"What's up?" Alice finally arrived and glanced over Julie's shoulder. "I've never talked about female equality before. I can see why equal pay versus ladies' night prices contradict each other. Runo, who came up with—"

"Alice, welcome back to the studio!" greeted Dylan sarcastically. "We go on air in two minutes, so get ready. Hope you like the topic that I picked."

The redhead gasped and watched the lead host enter the recording room. "Dylan wants to see how professionally I can handle a sensitive topic and if I can still keep my followers after this discussion."

"He probably also wants to see how long you can last without eating lunch," Runo added.

Julie let out a disappointed sigh. "Keep a neutral standpoint. He won't get it or last a second."

The co-host nodded and set the food on Julie's work desk. "I hope you're right. I'll eat lunch after broadcast."

After Alice entered the recording room, Dylan cued the technicians to start and proceeded with the opening music and introductions. "Welcome back, everyone! For today's afternoon plans, Alice and I will start a discussion on a widely-debated topic—female equality! This question has been running through my head lately—is it fair to ask for equal pay at work, yet keep ladies' night discounts while dining out at the same time? I'll hand this off to my lovely co-host right here."

The redhead glared at the lead host before answering. "Who else better than me would you ask that question to? But do you know why women ask for equal pay or ladies' night discounts?"

"Both are advantageous, but contradict each other."

"Firstly, statistics have shown that women earn less than men despite performing identical tasks at work, hence we ask for equal pay. If women continue to earn less, then many of them almost exclusively eat or hang out when there are ladies' night discounts because of less disposable income than men."

"However, if you really want equality, then you can only ask for one and not both. Either you pay and get paid equally or proportionately as men."

"But why can't we have both? Don't you know that female physiology costs more to maintain than male physiology. I'm sure my female listeners understand, especially when it comes to that time every month."

Julie nearly choked on her pasta. "She did not just say that. What happened to staying neutral?!"

"Dylan was kind of provoking Alice, but her point is also valid," Runo noted.

Dylan pulled up some other papers on his desk. "What about the studies that say that women on average live longer than men? Wouldn't women end up earning and saving more in the long run?"

"Since the topic is female 'equality', we should discuss more than just the monetary aspects. What about equal opportunity to learn, work, and actively participate in government?" Alice glanced at the clock before concluding. "Let's give our listeners—female and male—some time to think before we open the studio's phone and text numbers to accept questions and concerns. We'll see you in a couple minutes!"

Jack hung up his desk phone just before Alice finished talking. "When was the last time we accepted calls and messages from the audience during a live broadcast?"

Rafe shook his head. "We have those options, but Dylan hates using them. I guess Alice want to make things different."

After Alice cued the technicians to play breaktime music, Dylan approached his co-host and asked, "What was that?"

"What do you mean? We're discussing things relevant to the topic that you picked."

"You didn't need to open the lines for listeners to share their opinions."

"But it's a great way to get the audience involved. New listeners will start following, and current listeners will stay with us. What's wrong with that?"

Suddenly, the lead host stood up and shook his head. "You want another raise, don't you?"

"Excuse me?!"

"You think you're better than me now and want to go solo! Did you ask for my permission to open the lines for phone and text? I don't think so."

"I thought we were co-hosts. I have a voice in what we do on air as well."

"No, we're not. This show's called 'Down with DJ Dylan', so I'm the lead while you're on the side."

Alice gasped and saw Julie and Runo pacing anxiously outside. If not for myself, then at least for them. "You're right. I should've gone solo a long time ago so that you couldn't use me to get yourself a raise."

"So you do admit that you were looking for a better radio station to work for?"

"I was never looking for a new job after coming here. You wanted a raise, but knew that low audience activity meant no chances. Thus, you lied to Anubias about me wanting to leave so he could keep us here with a raise. I never wanted this. Do you know how many people called me 'unprofessional' for seemingly looking for a new job despite barely just starting here?"

"Then you shouldn't have applied to here in the first place because only my name is—"

Suddenly, the doors opened as Anubias barged into the recording room and screamed under his breath. "Read your work screen!"The radio hosts looked down and saw words ON-AIR flashing on the touchscreen. "Both of you in my office—now."

After the three of them entered Anubias's office, Alice spoke first. "This is exactly what I wanted to explain the last time we were all here. Anubias, you wouldn't listen to me, and only believed that Dylan said."

The building director rubbed his forehead in distress and asked, "Dylan, is this true? Alice never wanted to leave?"

"Of course she wanted to leave! Just ask—"

"Dylan wanted a raise for himself, so he lied and dragged me into this so it wouldn't look suspicious," the redhead interjected. "I was never looking for another job."

Anubias took out his phone and scrolled down the radio's webpage. "And this argument just happens to go live shortly after taking a break from talking about 'female equality'?"

"Anubias, don't believe her!" the lead host insisted. "She's only doing this for publicity."

"You're right about that. In fact, this publicity act is so successful that people are already asking when Iplan on firing you for mistreating and using your co-host for personal gain. Dylan, you're on indefinite unpaid leave now. Alice, you're hosting solo until further notice. Meeting dismissed."

The redhead left quickly, but Dylan still caught up and grabbed her wrist. "Congratulations, your dream came true. Let's see if you can handle this."

Alice pulled Dylan's fingers off her wrist. "You shouldn't have lied your way to a raise to begin with. About the microphones—you forgot to turn them off, not me. You're the lead host, after all.

"But you purposely said it all, knowing that we were still on air. Well played, Miss Gehabich. Too bad that the audience can't see your true self."

Dylan entered the elevator as Alice approached the studio's front doors. Everything was going fine. Dylan's only on unpaid leave and might come back. He could've done more if he wanted me out of this station. Suddenly, she began trembling and gripped her bracelet. This is between me and him. I can't let Dylan's slander affect everyone else at the station.

-x-x-x-x-x-

After a couple days of hosting by herself, Alice felt more confident on air, but the fear of what Dylan might do next kept her from resting well. Julie knocked on the redhead's desk and broke the redhead out of her trance. "I'm leaving early to drop Runo off somewhere. See you tomorrow!"

"Thanks... Drive safely."

Seconds later, Alice received a message from her aunt. Aunt Clara is stuck in traffic again... She left the studio early and waited at the sidewalk on ground floor. Klaus should be out of the hospital now, but he hasn't bothered me since the brick incident. Maybe he learned his lesson?

"Alice, what's up?"

The redhead looked up and saw Komba stop his bicycle in front of her. "Oh, hi. Seems there's been so many deliveries lately."

"Most of the deliveries go to college students. I hope they're not studying too hard. By the way...everyone at the diner heard what happened on-air today. I feel bad that you went through all that."

Alice waved her hand. "I'm fine—really. You should go back to delivering. People say that college students are always starving, you know."

"Oh, good point! Later!"

After Komba biked off, Alice scrolled through her phone until another voice called her. "What are you doing here?"

"Shun?" She closed her phone as the raven-haired student walked closer. "I got off work early, but Aunt Clara is stuck in traffic. Is something wrong?"

"No, but..." He took a deep breath and explained slowly. "I want to speak with Lync."

"What?!" The redhead stepped back in shock and dropped her phone. "You can see you all you want, but don't make me—"

"—go? I'm not asking you to. Joe's mom used to handle part of his case back then, so I need her permission to speak with Lync. I'm letting you know so that you stay updated."

Alice picked up her phone and shook her head. "Everyone that talked to him back then got nothing useful out of it, so why does it matter now? What's done is—"

"There you are!" The pair faced the direction of the voice and saw Dylan rushing over. "Alice Gehabich, we have a lot unfinished business to take care of. I should've taken advantage of your traumatic past as a surviving victim to hype up the show while—"

"Do you mind?" Shun stepped in front of Alice and stopped the unwanted visitor from coming any closer. "You're suspended from work. We can sue you for harassment. I don't see anything worth 'hyping' about that."

"Wait...aren't you Shun? You and Dan were here last time!" Dylan laughed hysterically as he recalled the special episode from a while ago. "Didn't you purposely expose Alice's past on-air back then as well? Look at what you're doing now!"

Alice glanced between her friend and the suspended radio host. "Shun, forget about it. I don't—"

Without looking back, the raven-haired student grabbed the redhead's bracelet hand tightly and continued talking. "I exposed her past so she can overcome her fears and face reality. You exposed her past to get publicity for a show that will never get anywhere far under your lead. Let's go."

"Alice Gehabich, we're not done yet!" screamed Dylan before leaving.

Alice glanced at her former co-host before she stopped walking. "Shun, where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home before Dylan bothers you a second time."

"Well...you don't have to personally take me home. We can wait until Aunt Clara—"

"Out of the way!" screamed a female voice. Chan, Dan, and Billy suddenly ran around the corner swiftly past the pair, who also followed by foot. At a certain building, the police madam gave her orders. "Billy, you and I are going up this building to find the suspect. Dan, stay on ground level to protect bystanders."

"Got it!" replied her trainees before performing their respective tasks.

With Dan on ground level, Shun approached his friend and asked, "What just happened?!"

"No time to explain! Someone called and said they saw a person dressed suspiciously and carrying a stuffy plastic bag. I could use your help in preventing—oh no! It's happening already!"

The brunette lunged forward at someone as they both fell to the ground. As a plastic bag hit the ground and splashed odorous liquid everywhere, bystanders stepped back and covered their noses. Shun waved his hand in the air. "This smells like...cooking oil? And it's still warm."

"I know this scent..." Alice thought for a moment and snapped her fingers. "The back alley of the Misakis' diner smells like this!"

Dan stood up and stretched his arms before looking at the person he saved. "Oh hey, Dylan! Long time no see!"

The redhead gasped and hid behind Shun, who whispered, "It's okay. He's not here to bother you."

"But he went from harassing me to almost being the victim of hot cooking oil..."

The brunette spoke into his earpiece. "No one's hurt, Chan! The 'weapon' was a bag of warm oil or grease that exploded everywhere. How are you—"

Chan didn't pay attention but finally subdued the suspect. "Hey! Aren't you Komba from the Misakis' diner?!"

"Did you just say 'Komba'?!" asked Dan in shock.

"Komba...?" The diner employee's name echoed in Alice's mind as Chan and Billy later came downstairs with the suspect handcuffed. The two exchanged glances before a police car came to pick everyone up. But how...and why?

-x-x-x-x-x-

In the interrogation room, Chan sat across Komba and explained. "As you may know, the common factors between the first three cases involved the victims being at the diner and acting rudely to at least someone else during the visit. What do you have to say about that?"

Komba shrugged and replied, "They were all rude customers. I just wanted to teach them a lesson."

"Dylan went to the diner as well?"

"After the radio disaster between him and Alice, he later stopped by the diner for food. Dylan was mean to Mrs. Misaki and other customers in line. Maybe he was still upset about the suspension, but that's no excuse. He brought this onto himself. Please tell me you've heard what he and Alice said on-air too!"

Dan took a seat next to Chan and asked, "Speaking of Alice, does this have anything to do with her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Julio and Sellon outright screamed at her at the diner once. Klaus bothers Alice at work in general. Now Dylan holds a grudge against her because of that incident."

Komba shook his head. "None of it had to do with Alice, but I feel bad about how they all treated her. I'm sure they all have insulted and offended way more mutual people than just Alice. I did all this for for myself...for Mr. and Mrs. Misaki...for Alice...for everyone."

The police madam and trainee exchanged glances before deciding how to continue the rest of the interrogation.

In the police station lobby, Alice paced around as Shun sat down and wrote in his notebook. Chan later came outside with Komba and was about to escort him to another room before Alice ran up. "Komba...are you okay? I still can't—"

"I'm fine, Alice. I wasn't thinking straight and decided to exact revenge onto rude people in the most stupid way. How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Surprised to find out what I was behind all this?"

"I—um—uh—" Alice sighed and nodded. "You seemed like you're doing fine every time I see you at the diner or during your deliveries. Maybe you're just stressed... What will happen now?"

Chan answered that question. "Unfortunately, we do have to press charges because Klaus was severely hurt. But given Komba's remorse for his actions, I think the judge might understand. I have Dan and Billy filing reports. Got to go."

Alice nodded and watched the two people enter another room before returning to Shun. "All done. Let's go."

The raven-haired student checked his watch and asked, "Is your aunt still picking you up?"

"No, I told her to go home after this incident happened." She opened the door and let Shun exit first. "You don't mind driving me home, do you?"

"Of course not. I don't know Komba well, but I didn't expect him to be the one throwing dangerous objects. At least it's over—" Suddenly, Alice wrapped her arms around Shun's right arm and began trembling. "Alice, what's wrong?"

"Sorry...there was a similar object-throwing situation back in college. We all nearly got hit at least once."

Unsure what to make of Alice's sudden recollection, Shun asked, "Do you think it has to do with Lync?"

"I don't know, but many students also nearly or actually got hit. It could've been someone else. But today...I never thought Komba would do this."

"Alice, it's okay. Some things are unpredictable. I still think speaking with Lync will provide answers."

The redhead immediately pulled away and touched her face with the back of her hand. "Whatever works for you, then. Which way is your car?"

Shun sighed and led the way. Although Alice walked behind him the whole time, he didn't dare look back at her. I really need to ask Joe and his mom for permission to see Lync, but is there something that Alice doesn't want me to find out?