A pair of bright blue eyes abruptly shoot open. Simultaneously a full statement escaped the sophomore’s dry lips as her head rose up from her desk. “…oh my head…” Although her head was throbbing in agony she shook it in an attempt to wake herself up as she found her fellow colleagues staring with eyes wide. She noted one of the freshman’s hand out stretched towards her shoulder. [I]This must be the idiot who decided to interrupt my beauty sleep...idiot.[/I] “Get your goddamn hand away from me…” Nicole slapped the young boy’s arm away as she stood up from her seat. It wasn’t until she had straightened herself out did she realize that she was still wearing the short blue dress she had slipped into for last night’s party. [I]Must've snapped up something juicy.[/I] Her eyes trailed down towards the memory card that was sticking out the side of her laptop. [I]Who's waking up with regrets this morning?[/I] Her head instantly began to throb as she tried to recall the events of last night. [I]Definitely me...what happened to the two drink maximum, Nicole.[/I] As usual if she wasn't arguing with someone she was arguing with herself. However, her train of thought was cut short when she noticed that her colleagues were still staring at her. Nicole arched her eyebrow, [I]What the hell are they staring at? It's not like I've never worn the same thing twice...did I do something last night?[/I] As she tried to get her gaze level with their eye line she realized that most of them appear to be looking at her forehead. "Is there something on my face?" 

The freshman who's hand she had slapped away minutes early slowly raised his hand back up to her head. His hand shook nervously whilst he extended his index finger towards her forehead. "Umm...you got...a...you got a..." Nicole rolled her eyes. [I]Weak.[/I] She didn't have time nor the patience to wait around for mister stutter to finish his sentences and so she reached up herself to find out what had them all looking like stunned mullets. Her face kind of scrunched together as her fingers brushed along something sticky and hard. [I]What the...[/I] She grabbed hold of the strange object that appeared to be almost glued to her before pulling at it. After a few tugs she finally got it unstuck. As she brought the object down to her gaze she couldn't help but smirk as she stared at the strawberry lollipop lying in her palm. She must've got the munchies last night when she stumbled in here and hit up her secret stash of candy, which would explain the dark brown fingerprints all over her notepad. [I]Chocolate...[/I] Feeling her stomach grumble for a split second Nicole consider about sticking the lollipop back in her mouth and finishing it off but she quickly brushed the idea off realizing how disgusting it actually was. She tossed the candy in the bin before returning her attention back to her coworkers.

"Don't you guys have some reporting to do and stories to write?" Although she was asking a question it sounded more like an order.     
 
"Actually yes we do there was an explosion in the car park."  One of the writers commented.
 
"WHAT?"     
 
"There was..."    

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ALL JUST STANDING AROUND? GRAB YOUR FUCKING CAMERAS, RECORDERS AND NOTEPADS AND GET YOUR ASS TO THE PARKING LOT NOW!" Whilst Nicole roared in outrage and barked orders at her colleagues the lights began to flicker. However, once she stopped talking and sorted of calmed down they stopped. Her colleagues were far too busy running around to notice anything. Although Nicole saw the lights play up she just brushed it off thinking it was just some fluctuation with the power. "Bloody hell I'm surrounded by morons." She rolled her eyes before proceeding towards the mini fridge that was situated in the corner of the room. She opened the door and grabbed out a can of Redbull. [I]Nothing like a little caffeine to kick start your day...well maybe some...[/I] The corners of her lips arched up into a mischief smile as she pulled out a packet of mints from her handbag. She flicked the lid open and emptied the content into her palms. "Three.." She muttered staring at three orange capsule-shape pills which definitely weren't mints. Nicole popped one in her mouth washing it down with the Redbull before putting the remaining two back in the tin. [I]Better hit up that Floyd kid, that way I can check how my fake ID is coming along.[/I] She smirked as she slumped herself back down in her chair. 

And then her phone rang. Mike was calling her about the latest scoops for the radio show. He had called two editors before her when he had been back in his room, but they didn’t pick up their phones. Mike was just hoping this third editor known as Nicole Bishop would be able to help him. This was basically his last hope. He didn’t mind going into the station dry, but he would hate if something went on and he didn’t cover it. He just paced outside the radio station doors. He’d be on in about fifteen minutes. [i]Pick up.[/i]
 
Nicole scrambled through all the books, photographs and papers scattered across her desk in search of her phone. She could hear it but there seemed to be too much crap on her desk to see it. [I]So much for being organised...[/I] Just as her voicemail was about come on she managed to find it and hastily answered. "Hello?"

A sigh of relief escaped Mike as he heard Nicole’s voice on the line. It was time to get to business. A smile spread across his lips before he spoke. “Hey this is Mike Hayes, the radio host guy that called on Monday and Wednesday. I don’t think I spoke to you before, but I wanted to know a little bit of the latest scoops in the past two days for my show. Is that okay?” He asked.

[I]This guy.[/I] Nicole remembered hearing her fellow editors mention something about someone repeatedly calling for insight and gossip. "Am I hearing you correctly you are calling to get the LATEST scoop from ME for YOUR show? Hmm...do you hear anything wrong with that sentence because I sure do." She took a sip from her Redbull. "Excuse the language by why the fuck would I hand over OUR hard earned material...which we have spent hours...DAYS gathering...and you want me just to hand it to you on a silver platter. Get the fuck out!...This ain't no hobby mate...if we don't print enough papers I ain't getting any brownie points....brownie points are vital to me...Unlike you if I don't have enough credits at the end of the term I'm getting shipped back home. Are you gonna give me extra credit? NO because you’re not authorized. So unless you got something beneficially and really worthwhile for me, it’s see you later Mr. Hayes." [I]Who the hell does he think I am? I didn't get charged for trespassing just so some amateur can steal my thunder.[/I] 

Mike winced at Nicole’s answer, but he was prepared for something like this. He always thought of himself as a people person. He took a breath before speaking. “Just hold up a sec Ms. Bishop. I know that’s how you’re seeing it right now, but look at this whole thing in my perspective. I’m thinking about both of us. You see I give credit to everyone I get my information from on the show, which includes your paper. Think of it as a second channel to get your stories out, but more of like a movie trailer to the actual story that will be in the paper.” Mike paused for dramatic effect. “It’s a cycle. You share info with me that I use in my show. More people listen to my show because I speak a little about the recent drama. I tell them where they can find the FULL story in juicy detail, which is your paper. You get people picking up your paper to get the whole story, and I get more people listening to my station in order to find out what’s up in the first place. We both walk away feeling pretty nice… but if you don’t like the whole idea, I guess I could do some snooping of my own and just air everything out before the paper gets released, right?” Mike said with a smirk. He wouldn’t really play dirty like that. He was one guy versus an office of others. He’d never have the time, but she didn’t know that. Besides, why turn down the agreement?

Nicole couldn't help but notice that every time she cursed and raised her voice the lights flickered. She frowned as she stared at the ceiling lights that where now flickering rather rapidly. With one ear still on her phone listening to Michael proposition she began to snap her fingers at her colleague Tom who was vigorously typing away on his computer. Realising she wasn't gonna get his attention she gentle placed her hand over the speaker on her phone so that Michael couldn't hear. "OI!" She yelled. His head instantly lifted up. "Yeah..." Nicole spoke into the phone to show Michael she was still listening even though most of her focus was now on the lights. 'What's wrong with the lights?' Nicole mouthed to Tim who looked up to the ceiling. "I don't know." Nicole rolled her eyes before mocking repeating his response "I don't know...fix it!" She shook her head and then returned her full attention back to Michael as he finished off. "Hmm...I guess you make a good point." She lied. He did have a few good points but at the end of the day he would still be the one airing the news first not her which she didn't like. She wanted to be the first, top dog. Gossip Queen. "Let me just grab my notes...um" Nicole shuffled some papers around as she pretended to look for these so called notes. "So...number one there was an explosion in the car park." She decided to start off with that one because unless you knocked yourself out last night like she did you would've heard about this one. "A freshman was arrested for streaking on the baseball field and a teacher was arrested for possession of a large amount of cocaine." She made up the last story to test him and see whether he would actually hold up his end of the bargain. "That's it for today... Do you need anything else from me?”

Mike grimaced and shook his head as he took in the info. She basically gave him shit. No names? Nothing more than just “an explosion in the car park”? [i]No wonder no one reads newspapers anymore… well besides old people and crossword puzzle addicts.[/i] Mike would be civil to this woman however. He didn’t need the newspaper, but they could potentially give him some good stuff. Maybe next time someone else would pick up from his phone call first. Or maybe he could get someone from the inside… “Nah, that’s good enough to add a little more spice to my show. Oh and by the way, feel free to tune in. You might learn a thing or two… literally, for your paper.” He chuckled. “Anyway, bye.” He hung up and took a deep breath. “Man… I already need a break.” He said before entering the studio.

"Yeah yeah," she muttered to the comment about her tuning into his show. There was no way in hell she was going to sit around and listen to amateur hour. She had more important things to do like clean herself up, and of course following up on some new leads. Nicole smirked. "See you later." She immediately rose to her feet when she hung up her phone. "TOM! Leave the lights for now because I have a far more important job for you...sit." She signalled him to take a seat back in his own chair before placing a pen, some paper and a small radio in front of him. "Tom, your job for the next um...half and hour or so is to write down everything our friend Michael Hayes says about us...actually scratch that, just write down everything and anything he says, okay?" Nicole turned the radio on and switched it to channel 1.02. Tom nodded his head in agreement. "Good...I should be back by the time the show is over but if not, just leave your notes on my desks." And with that Nicole grabbed her belongings and exited the office.