Page 3 of Love Under the Microscope
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Lab Notes insider at Zentello
Thanks for the heads-up about the letter, Zelda. The last thing PharmaNews wants to do is report fake news. My editor forwarded your email to all the staff, even those not on your distribution list.
I do have a question if you wouldn’t mind answering it.
A rumor is circulating that a top scientist at Zentello has quit, and the reasons for his resignation are tabloid-worthy.
Could you please offer any clarification? Off the record is okay if you feel more comfortable. As I mentioned above, I’d rather avoid fake news, and my editor assigned me to write about this for my next Lab Notes column.
Regards,
E. Hemingway
The twenty-second floor is empty at this hour. I should have left with Nate more than an hour ago, but that’s the story of my life. I ignore his text, asking if I’m meeting him for dinner as planned, and reread the email I received two minutes ago. I’m surprised to have received a response at all and even more stunned “Ernie” has the balls to ask me about a tabloid-worthy story. I hate to imagine what those rumors are.
Sam and Hildy deserve better. So does Zentello.
The realization unsettles me. Even a spot near my solar plexus hurts—a real pain, not a figurative one. I’ve had this feeling a couple of times before, and each time was a harbinger of something bad happening.
And that’s not good.
I pull the pencil out of my messy bun and tap it on the desk. The rapid beat helps me to think better, and I need every brain cell working in sync to help me figure out why I feel this way.
It finally hits me.
How did PharmaNews find out that Sam quit?
The ink’s still wet on his exit paperwork. The Orchid team knows, but no one else except Nate and me.
My stomach sinks.
This suggests there is another mole at the company.
Otherwise, how would “Ernie” have found out so quickly? I need to address that somehow. I don’t believe in shooting the messenger. I respect a man who’ll at least be honest and cut straight to the point.
Can’t say the other pricks he works with would do the same since he’s the only one who got back to me. Which is why I’ll reply with a clarification.
I haven’t found Jack Parker yet, but at least I can keep gossip about Zentello from spreading. I drop my pencil and type. I just wonder how long it’ll take Ernie to ask me about Mr. Z. He wouldn’t be much of a journalist if he didn’t make the most of his sources. I also decide to be more friendly with what I write so he doesn’t see me as an adversary.
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: RE: Lab Notes insider at Zentello
Nice to meet you, Ernie. I hope you don’t mind if I address you so casually, but last names get so … cumbersome at times.
The news doesn’t have to be off the record, but please don’t use me as a source. Dr. Sam Grant resigned from his position at Zentello. His resignation is no big secret, and Zentello’s co-CEOs respect Dr. Grant’s decision. He’s moving to New Zealand to live with his fiancée—who is also his ex-wife in case you didn’t know that. Not as scandalous as it might sound. I hope that answers your question and doesn’t turn your assignment into something duller than your editor imagined it might be.
If you need further clarification on anything related to Zentello, please let me know if I can be of assistance. Our co-CEOs would prefer that the truth be published than the rumors and lies that have been printed in the past.
Zelda L.
From: [email protected]
