Amani walked down to the lobby where Becca was still waiting for her and sat down. Becca saw the stunned look on her friend's face and was prepared to kill Percy for always picking on Amani. If Amani loses her job then she's not going to continue staying any longer too. What's the use, the boarding house was falling apart and the pay was crappy anyway.
"It's high time one of us kill the son of a bitch!" Becca said and hastily got up from where she was sitting before Amani stopped her
"Becca wait!" Becca was surprised with her mouth half-opened when Amani stopped her from going further. What is wrong with my friend? she wondered. The Amani she knew would never stop her from burning Percy down, rather, she would supply the fuel and matches to light the bastard up.
"Ama... Bestie are you okay?... It's fine if you don't want us to kill Percy for now. Let's just go, I'll tender my resignation right now, the job is crappy anyways"
"What are you talking about? I didn't get fired!?" Amani looked at Becca like she was speaking rubbish
"You didn't! Then why do you look as if somebody died?" Becca said, her tone of voice showed how relieved she felt.
"Because I think Percy and the boss are trying to prank me... or something. I mean, I've never written any outstanding article nor have I discovered any hot news so why am I worthy of being promoted from a freelancer that writes only about shitty events to Pinnacle's top reporter, with a two-bedroom condo and a car!?"
"Was that what Percy told you or the boss?..." Becca asked before their conversation was interrupted.
"Miss Parker, it's almost lunchtime. I don't know if you're expecting a special invitation before you would come to pick your package?" Amani looked up at the receptionist who looked impatient like she has somewhere she would rather be than at work.
She pushed the manila envelope and a paper form towards Amani to fill and sign. While Amani was filling in her information, the receptionist was tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. She snatched the form away from Amani and left in a huff when Amani extended the already filled form to her.
"What's inside the envelope?" Becca asked after the receptionist left. Instead of answering, Amani just stood up from where she was seating and pulled her friend along with her.
"Amani?" Becca called but Amani only stopped when they got out of Pinnacle News.
"We can't check what's inside this envelope in there because I can't promise I won't act crazy and make a fool of myself if what is inside turns out not to be a prank and if it's a prank, I know I would want to kill Percy alright and I might just end up in prison afterward.
"Becca..." Amani called her friend's name and clutched tightly at her arm. "Let's go somewhere that we can freely scream without getting arrested.
"Uhh... Okay..." The two friends climb on top of Becca's motorcycle and they soon arrived at an old field that kids used for baseball practice. They entered the open field and sat on metal bleachers.
Amani pushed the envelope towards Becca. "You do it... Open it" she said, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. Becca opened the envelope and frowned. Amani opened an eye and her face fell when she happened to see Becca's frowned face. Her countenance however immediately changed when Becca started listing out loud what she found inside the envelope.
"A car key, a key card..." Amani screamed then. Her scream ranted through the open field, sending some pigeon pecking on the dirt flying.
Becca brought the next item out which was Amani's photo ID that has Pinnacle News top reporter on it. She stood up in a flash and the two friends squealed on and on with delight until Amani suddenly remembered that she still need to report to the accountant for her twenty thousand dollars.
It still felt unreal until her checking account balance read twenty thousand, five hundred and fifty dollars.
"So who are you interviewing?" Becca asked on their way out of the accountant's office.
"We have enough time to talk about that when we arrive at our new home..."
"OUR new home?..." Becca emphasized the word our. "Am I allowed to come along with you?"
"Stop asking foolish questions Bec!... I'm sure the reason why I was giving a two-bedroom condo is that they already know I have a Siamese twin sister that I know won't ever stop meddling in my life even though she promised... Now let's go, we still have some shopping to do, and move our stuff into our new apartment. Amani said and turned to leave but Becca hugged her friend tightly from behind.
"Love you Ama!..."
"Awww... Celebrating aren't we?" Percy said and grin like an evil Cheshire cat. "Haven't you wondered why I recommended you for the story even though I don't like you, Amani?..."
"Ama don't pay attention to the fool. Remember we still have to shop and move house?..." Becca said and tried to drag Amani away.
"No Bec, let's hear what the fool has to say"
"Yeah Bec, let her listen to her doom that I predicted..." Percy laughed. "I thought you wouldn't make it past the boss, thought he would fire your ass because he detest irresponsible people, but surprisingly he didn't... You, Amani, are just like a roach that wouldn't stop twitching no matter how hard it was whacked with a slipper aren't you..." Percy looked straight into Amani's eyes.
"I know you're going to fuck this up, Amani. I could feel it... You're going to royally fuck this up and I'll be waiting to make sure this particular roach was whacked and smeared so bad there would be nothing left of it to scrape off my shoe... So enjoy your little victory while it last." Percy said and continued to where he was heading to.
Amani Just wondered with a sickening heart and tried to remember what she might have done to Percy to deserve to be hated that much, but nothing came to mind. Just as he passed in front of her, she stretched her hand and ripped the wig off the short Percy's head.
"I've been wanting to do that for a very long time... Now you have one more reason to hate me psycho!" Amani said, immediately throwing the wig to Becca when Percy lunged for it.
When Percy saw his wig has been passed to Becca, he attempted to go after Becca but realized he couldn't. The news office was always crowded and nobody knows he has a bald head. How did this bitch find out? He wondered. By the time he turned back towards Amani, she was almost at the entrance of the news office herself with parting words "Ciao bitch!"
"What the fuck Percy, what happened to you?" A voice asked in alarm behind Percy. He wouldn't dare turn back because he knew the voice of the guy he was crushing on quite well. What an embarrassing moment for him as he wished the floor would open and swallow him whole.
~••~
After having a good laugh at Percy's expense, the girls first take the motorcycle back to Becca's boyfriend, then take a cab back to Pinnacle news to pick up Amani's brand new black Honda Civic car.
Shopping was fun for Amani who hardly get to buy new things for herself because of how little she earned compared to her friend. She felt happy and alive for the first time since she started working at Pinnacle News.
The Pinnacle's condominium was on the sixth floor of a high-rise building that was about ten minute drive away from the Pinnacle news. The inside was already fully furnished with everything one would need to live a comfortable life.
In the evening, when all the packing and unpacking has been done, Amani and Becca laid side by side on the same bed inside Amani's room
"So tell me about the assignment you got..." Becca asked.
It's been a long day and Amani who was already dozing would rather go to bed than talk. But since she already promised her friend, she had no choice but to tell her what she's been waiting all day to hear.
"It's the DeVille's family..."
"DeVille?... As in the billionaire DeVille" Becca asked with her mouth half opened with surprise. It's no news among reporters that the DeVille's never grants interviews to reporters. They are very private
"Yes!... Leonard DeVille to be precise.
"Wow...
"His father needed a newspaper article writer that would portray a good image of his company and his son's reputation that is about to go down the drain."
"Oh, I thought the family doesn't grant interviews... They don't like interviews before but quickly agreed to it now that they want to repair his damaged reputation. Talk about being selfish!" Becca said with a disapproving frown on her face.
"I know right!... His father wanted Pinnacle news to write good stuff about his family but my assignment is to gather the dirt while inside the family. I'm not going there to help promote his reputation as the father wanted me to, I'm going there to expose this bastard's secrets. Every single skeleton that he has inside his cupboard must be exposed