Investigating Mr Billionaire

LOLA'S POV

The alarm blares. It's 6am in the morning and I'm already out of bed. The sun is out which is not surprising considering Atlanta's weather. I hurriedly freshen up and on my way to work.

Being an investigative journalist, life is always hectic, being on someone's death list and all of that, but yeah i don't scare easily. On my way I grabbed coffee for myself and Celine. It's 7am and I'm finally at work.

'You got here early', Celine says with a tone of surprise. Yes, I'm not the earliest riser but I can make sacrifices...sometimes.

'Of course I had to get here early. Lucas is always looking for any means to scold me' I reply.

Celine laughs.

Honestly, she makes work easier for me, especially since I refused to go out with Lucas.

'Have you seen the news lately?', she asks.

'Yeah I have' I replied. 'Wait which exactly?'

This causes another wave of laughter from Celine. For someone who's in the journalism field I always seem so clueless to things.

'The one of the tech billionaire', she says. 'He's been accused of stealing data using his new AI tech'. Celine doesn't even finish before Lucas calls for me.

A wave of anxiousness washes over me.

Lucas is my boss but he thought it was okay to make moves on me and ever since I turned him down he's been making life at work quite unbearable for me.

I walk into his office and close the door quietly behind me, trying my best not to do anything to upset him.

'Good morning Miss Castle' he starts. 'I see you've included office gossip into work activities.'

'Not at all Lucas.' he clears his throat.

'I'm sorry, Mr Rashford' I rolled my eyes.

'I hope the gossip you're having during office hours entails how you're going to get me new headlines?' he asks.

'I'm still working on it sir'. 'There are a lot of stories happening right now and I'm trying my best to pick whichever one would make the supernova be on top of it all'.

'You know that without any new stories your position as head journalist is on the line?' he continues, while taking a sip of his coffee.

I'm speechless. 'I-i don't understand?', I replied.

He chuckles.

'Let me break it down for you. You need to get me a new story or else your position as head journalist is threatened.', he says calmly, making sure to drag on every word.

This catches me off guard. I've been working so hard to get to this position and just because I turned down his advances, my job is now on the line. I clench my fist but he doesn't see it.

'I actually have a story', I say confidently and it seems to catch him off guard.

'And who might it be about?' he asks

'The tech billionaire who's been accused of stealing user data'. I blurt out.

Lucas visibly chokes on this coffee. 'WHAT! How were you able to get on that story?' he asks, surprised.

'I have my contacts', I reply. From the way Lucas replies this story seems to be very important, I think to myself.

'Okay', he says in an irritated tone. He clearly didn't like that I was on that story. 'Make sure to follow this story to the letter. I want every detail on it. Don't leave any story unturned'

'Yes sir!', I replied. 'I'd commence the investigation immediately'. 'Would that be all Mr Rashford?', I ask in a mocking tone.

'Yes, that may be all. You're dismissed', he says with a wave of his hand and that's my cue to leave his office.

I leave his office and feel his eyes burning into my back.

'What was that about, girl?', Celine asks.

'He wanted me to get a new story,' I replied. ' and I may have blurted out the one of the tech billionaire', I say wincing.

'You what!?' Celine shouts but tones down once our other colleagues start to look our way.

'Girl! You don't even know his name', Celine says matter of factly.

I know she's right but I don't want to let her know that Lucas threatened my position. Celine is a really feisty person and she won't hesitate to call you out on your shit irrespective of who you are.

'That's why I need your help', I say. 'I need to get any and every information on him'

She sighs. 'Okay. but only because you're my favourite person here'.

I smile. 'Thank you so much'

'You owe me big time'

I nod, smiling as I get to work.

In a short time, Celine and I find out his name 'Orion King' and we sweep through numerous articles with him in it.

'He's giving off major Bruce Wayne vibes here girl', she says. 'He's going to be a tough nut to crack for real'

I think about what she says and honestly i couldn't agree more.

'Girl! Look at this picture of him.' she says pointing to her laptop's screen.

I'm completely taken aback by his looks. He looks so good and well put together–muscles pushing against the buttons of his shirt type of put together but I push those thoughts behind my mind. I've never been one to get involved with guys, especially since my job poses a big threat to whoever I'm with.

'I'd definitely jump that', Celine says with bright eyes.

She's always been very straightforward with her sexual urges that it's almost scary.

'Well thank God that I don't care for stuff like that or else I have fallen for every mafioso, crime boss or billionaire I've ever investigated', I say.

Celine laughs rolling her eyes. 'I hear you'

AT HOME

I hurry home to finish my 'snooping' on Orion. I'm settling into my couch when I get a call from Celine.

'Girllll! Turn on your tv now, your man is on!', she says.

I hurriedly turned on the tv to see Orion having a press conference.

'What do you have to say about the allegations made about Starsigns Tech Mr King?', one reporter asks.

'Starsign is looking into the AI model as we speak. We believe this is a case of sabotage and we'd try our best to resolve this'. He replies way too smoothly.

He's hiding something.

He doesn't respond to any more questions and is escorted off by his bodyguards.

'He definitely isn't a man of many words', I say to Celine.

'Girl, you know that don't stop you', she replies.

And she's not wrong. I do not take no for an answer.

I finish over the phone with Celine and get ready to go to call it a day but there's still a couple of questions on my mind, 'who is Orion King and what is he hiding behind that mask?'

I guess we're about to find out.