FicWad

I walked into the office the next day with my bag containing my notebook flung over my left shoulder, a lit cigarette between my lips, and a foam cup containing some cheap gas station coffee. I was so busy this morning writing my article this morning that I didn't even have time to make myself some coffee.

My stomach gave a little grumble as I stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to indicate what floor I was off to. I hadn't had time to eat anything either. In fact, all I did have time for is showering, and putting on some makeup to cover up the bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep.

I stepped out from the elevator and walked to where my small cubicle was. It stood out from the other cubicles. Everyone else who worked for our newspaper had pictures of family, friends, old Christmas cards, and other decorations posted up on their walls. Mine, on the other hand, was as empty as could be. There was nothing that was important enough to me to post up there. I always considered things like that a distraction from your job anyways.

I settled myself into my chair before getting all my materials out of my bag. I barely had my notebook started up when Kara came strolling over to me with a fake cheerful smile. I didn't even bother to force myself to smile politely back. I was just too tired to put on my 'fake happy face.'

"Good morning, Nicole!" she said in that annoyingly perky voice of hers. "Did you finish that article of yours?

I opened my mouth to speak, but she disrupted me before any sound even came out.

"That's wonderful! I ran into Jake picking up his dinner yesterday and he seemed quite surprised when I mention the article. I guess you two just aren't as close as I thought you were. I mean, this article is supposed to be pretty big for you, huh?"

Once again, I was about to reply when she cut me short.

"I'll take the article up to the editor for you."

I stayed silent, waiting for one of her exceptions, but none came. "Uhh...sure. Here you go," I said, handing her the printed copy of my article from my bag.

"Thank you. I'm sure it will be an excellent piece! I guess I'll see you tonight then!"

"Wait, what?" I asked in a dumbfounded tone, knowing that I had no meetings scheduled with her for the coming night.

"You mean Jake didn't tell you? He's taking me out tonight!" she said as if she'd been bursting to tell me that news all day.

I was going to say something, but I wasn't quite sure what to say. Maybe a comment about why Jake hadn't told me. Maybe a remark about how she finally got what she wanted. Or maybe even insult her on how her shoes weren't the same shade or cherry red as the shirt she was wearing. But none of those comments seemed to please me very well. So I said what any mature adult would have said. "Congrats! I hope you two have a great time tonight." I forced a smile upon my face as I watched her return the gesture and walk back. I rolled my eyes as soon as she was out of eyesight. The only reason I had made the assertion was to get her away from me as soon as possible so I could get started on my actual job.

I found my next assignment in an email that came a few minutes later. My new topic was one that really caught my attention. As interested as I was in writing about this topic, I didn't think it would be morally right to talk about.

The topic was faith in some divine form. I was to study the habits of the people who were religiously active and write my opinion as to why they would believe in such thing. I liked the topic and general idea of it, I just didn't like how I would have to find my information. I couldn't just hunt down a religious person and ask why they believe in what they believe in. And I couldn't just follow the person around everyday and observe what he or she does either. These people were not zoo animals. I couldn't just scrutinize them as I wished.

But then again, the topic itself gave a jolt in my stomach. I knew that this article could make my career. If I somehow did an amazing job on this article, I knew that I would get my freedom in this newspaper. I would be in charge of the whole Opinion section, plus I could pick my own topics.

As I sat there daydreaming about what the promoted life would be like, my stomach groaned a bit to let me know how my lack of breakfast was now catching up to me. I looked at the time and realized that it was still way too early for my lunch break. I frowned as I tried to think up something quickly. And then an idea hit me.

I got up and looked over to the cubicle next to me where a brunette, chubby girl in glasses was sitting, typing madly away at the keyboard in front of her.

"Sorry to bother you, Beth, but do you, by any chance, have any of those disgusting granola bars with you? I kind of forgot about breakfast this morning," I said in a polite tone.

The girl swung her chair around to look at me with a grin on her face. "First of all, they are not disgusting. They're healthy," she said as she started rummaging through her purse.

"Uh-huh," I said unbelievingly.

"Secondly, it's my last one. You got lucky," she said as she handed me an apple-flavored one. "I stopped buying these since my daughter's graduating from college this year and now there's nobody in my house who'll eat them."

I nodded at her, not really caring about what she was saying, as I stuffed half of the bar in my mouth.

"When are you going to get a family of your own, Nikki?" she asked, obviously disgusted at the way I was eating. What could I say? I was hungry.

I would have told her that it wasn't going to happen, but I didn't want to disgust her more by talking with my mouth full. So I just gave her a look that clearly read 'never.'

All she did was chuckle and turn back to her computer.

"Thanks, Beth," I called out to her before going back to my notebook to get started on my own research. I wasn't quite sure what to research about though. My topic was so broad, there was no specific field to search. Every religion was different in its own way. Was I to write on all of them? Or merely pick one?

Being too lazy to research all of them, I picked the one religion that first came to mind: Catholicism. Maybe I could even take a field trip or two to nearby churches. I wasn't too fond of the idea of stepping into a church, but whatever gave me a better angle to write my story in worked for me.

For once, I actually felt interested in my topic. Researching beliefs of the Catholic faith had gotten me so curious, I actually wanted to go visit the churches. I wanted to talk to the priests, the choir, and even some of the congregation itself. I knew that they wouldn't want to be burdened with such questions and comments for a news story, so I would somehow have to find a way to get past that.

I thought for a few seconds and a new idea had hit me. As morally wrong as it was, I needed to get this information. I needed to blow people away with this article. I wanted to open peoples' eyes and minds to the possibility that maybe the faithful were better than the unfaithful, that happiness didn't revolve around money, that morals weren't just in fairy tale books.