Chapter 14 Finding the Source

"It's your roommate," Alex said during lunch. "She's probably in love with your goyfriend."

They usually didn't bring up anything remotely serious during lunchtime. There was one time Mark mentioned his sister had been in a car accident, but the conversation quickly veered into another story about how Alex failed his driving test three times and eventually decided he would just live in New York City instead of getting a driver's license.

But Leah couldn't think about anything else at that point. She couldn't read on the Subway. She did the TCR at work that morning like a robot, not really noticing what she was doing. She could do it with her eyes closed by then. When it was time for lunch, she drifted out with Alex and Mark, following them to the deli down the street.

"Where are you?" Alex had asked when she hesitated before ordering. They all knew she'd get a chicken salad sandwich. Even the guy who worked there knew she would order it, how could Leah be the only one to forget?

She shook her head, ordered her sandwich, and waited with the boys for their orders. Once they sat down, she pulled the note out of her purse and showed it to them.

"No, this is a guy's handwriting," Mark refuted Alex's theory. "There's no way a girl wrote this. Unless she's like really butch."

Leah didn't think Marissa was butch. She was pretty, skinny, and when she dressed up, she wore fashionable jeans and pretty makeup. She shrugged.

"Haven't you seen your goyfriend's handwriting?" Alex asked.

"Or your roommate's?" Mark added. Leah shook her head.

"I bet your roommate has a thing for him," Alex theorized. "She probably likes him. Maybe she had a threesome with him and her friend."

"Gabe wouldn't do that."

"Every guy would do that," Mark countered. "Unless your roommate's really butch."

"She's not butch!" Leah shouted out, almost spraying her chicken salad everywhere.

"So you think your goyfriend wrote it?" Alex said. Every time they said goyfriend it felt like they were pelting stones at her.

"Stop saying goyfriend!" She yelled and stood up. "I hate when you say that! He's my boyfriend. Why does everyone care so much that he isn't Jewish?"

"Oh, we really don't care," Alex laughed, amused by her outburst. "I just love the word. You taught us goy. "

"Yeah, well, I didn't think it would become such a big deal! You guys are my friends, you're supposed to support my relationship! Especially if it's a good one!" She grabbed the other half of her sandwich and her purse. "I'm just so sick of everyone making such a thing about this."

"You're the only one making a thing. We're just trying to help," she heard from behind her when she stormed off back to the office. She half expected them to chase her. That's what would happen in a movie or a sitcom about friends in New York. But they didn't. She went back to her desk, smiling at Malcolm on the way in, and finished her sandwich quietly at her desk.

Maybe she was the only one making a thing about it. Maybe it was all in her head and everything was fine. Maybe her family would embrace him at Thanksgiving. Maybe they wouldn't care that he wasn't Jewish. Maybe they wouldn't even ask. She was kidding herself.

What's today's lunch topic? A text from Gabe popped up on her phone. She hadn't told Gabe about the note. She wasn't sure what to say about it. My roommate warned me about you . Or, is there something I should know about my roommate?

We worked through lunch today , she responded and received a sad face in response. She was deep into data entry when the boys returned from lunch. She kept her head down and pretended not to notice until Alex plopped a brown paper bag with the Sprinkles logo on her desk. Without saying anything, he walked around to his cubicle. She peered in the bag to see a red velvet cupcake with vanilla frosting on top. On the frosting, it said Sorry , in pink icing. She smiled and stood up to face Alex and Mark in their cubicles.

"I'm sorry too," she said.

"So you can share the cupcake with us," Mark suggested. "Our salaries here didn't leave us a budget for cupcakes for everyone."

Leah nodded and ran to the kitchenette to grab a knife to split the cupcake. The three of them stood up with their pieces and hit them together in a ‘cheers' before shoving them into their mouths.

"Oh my god," Tony said. He had just come back from his own lunch break and was shaking his head. "You kids these days and your fancy schmancy desserts. When I was your age, a glazed donut was the fanciest thing I could even think of. And it just cost five cents! Do you know how much I saved up for a donut? I had to mow the lawn three times!" He continued into his office and the three of them laughed with the red velvet crumbs spilling onto their desks.

"All right, team! Into my office!" Tony shouted once he sat down. The three of them shoved the rest of their cupcake pieces into their mouth and shuffled into the office. They tried to compose themselves with cheeks full and lips smeared with frosting. Leah was preparing herself for a reprimanding, as was what usually happened when Tony called everyone into the office on a whim.

"Well, here's the story. Club Business is doing well and we're going to be hiring another researcher. Leah, you'll have to train them and show them the ropes. You can hand off the TCR when they get the hang of it. In the meantime, Leah, I want to see if you can write a story. Do you think you have time for that? You can only do it after you finish all your data entry work."

Yes! Leah wanted to scream out. She was dying to write an article instead of doing data entry all day long. That was the reason she got a journalism degree! The reason she wanted to work at Diamond Media in the first place! Instead, she let out a muffled sound between chews.

"I'm sorry, Leah, I did not get that." Tony raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, I can totally handle it." She assured him after swallowing.

"Great. So here's the story. CyBorg Tech is rumored to default on one of their second lien debts. We want to get the scoop. Do you think you can do that? 1,000 words by tomorrow?"

Leah nodded furiously. She had never heard of CyBorg Tech. She vaguely knew what a second lien was since she'd seen those words before during data entry. She had no clue how to find out about their potential to default. In her role, she was given all the information she used. Literally, she was handed papers or emailed all the data she needed to input into the computer. Where this data came from, well, she'd never thought to ask.

"Alex and Malcolm can help you," Tony said. "Let me know if you have any questions." He dismissed them and they scattered back to their cubicles. Malcolm was already at Leah's when she arrived.

"Your first story!" He whispered excitedly.

She blushed with pride. "Can you help me? Where do I start?"

Malcolm sat on the edge of her desk in his perfectly fitted plaid pants. "This is a really big deal," he commented. Leah nodded and hoped he would get to the point. She didn't have that much time! It was already after lunch and Tony wanted the story by tomorrow!

"So what do I do?"

"Well, you know the important thing is all about the numbers. The numbers tell the story. You have to be able to translate that to readers."

"Yup, I know. Can you tell me where to start?"

"Have you ever written a news article before?"

Leah was more than just starting to get frustrated. She noticed Alex smirking from his side of the cubicle. Of course she'd written articles before! What did he think they did in journalism school? She wrote for the school paper. She had internships! She wrote articles for her classes! "Can you just help me with where to get the numbers?" She tried to stay polite so she wouldn't offend him.

He nodded and showed her how to find financial statements filed with the SEC. He reviewed with her what numbers related to their debt and their different liens. He even explained to her what a lien was when she sheepishly admitted she wasn't sure. (It's who has first dibs on getting their money back from the company. First lien debt gets paid back first, second is paid back second, and third, well, if you're dumb enough to participate in a third lien loan, you don't deserve to get paid back.)

"How do I know if they are going to default?"

Malcolm shrugged. "Well, you can call their lawyers and ask."

"They'll tell me?" Malcolm shrugged and Alex shook his head.

"Alex, do you want to lend your expertise?"

"Well, when you've been in the business a while, you start to get sources, who pass along rumors to you and will tell you things that are not for attribution. You need sources."

"How do I get sources? "

"They have to trust you. You can start calling people and see what happens. Call the advisors of the lenders."

She nodded and got to work. An hour later, she'd been hung up on six times. She'd left eight voice messages and spoke with three receptionists who promised to get her message through.

How's your day ? A text from Gabe came in. She excitedly responded that she'd gotten her first assignment, but that she was sure she would fail. She explained the situation to him.

Let me help . He offered. I can see if I know the guys working on the deal. She thanked him and waited impatiently as she tried to start writing something based purely on the numbers from financial statements and previous articles written about CyBorg. It was awful. She'd definitely fail.

Just as it turned 6:00 PM and everyone was ready to go, her phone buzzed. Gabe found someone who would speak with her! Off the record, of course, but he was working on the deal to reorganize the debt before the company defaulted. He sent her a number and said the guy was waiting for her call.

Leah was the only one left in the office when she spoke to the advisor. He gave her all the details, as though they were old friends just chatting about the weather. He was her first source! "Don't quote me, OK?" He confirmed at the end of the conversation. She assured him it was privileged and she started writing.

You're the best , she texted Gabe. I owe you one .

You can buy me a drink when you finish writing . She gave him a thumbs up and typed away at her keyboard. He was the best boyfriend ever. She had nothing to worry about. She buried the note from the morning deep into her head and even deeper into her purse.