touching in front of her. She stared, unknown thoughts behind her eyes, and Kimberly could feel a trickle of sweat running down her back. Finally, a slow smile curved Sidney’s lips. “Interesting. I thought perhaps you were after nothing but fluff.”
Her tongue darted out to lick her dry lips, and she continued to hold Sydney’s gaze. Tilting her head slightly, she asked, “Fluff?” She winced at the mouse-like squeak when she spoke.
“Yes, fluff. I’m afraid that’s what I imagine of when I think of human-interest stories. ‘How Kilton Pharmaceuticals saves the day with new and innovative drugs.’” Lifting her eyebrow, she said, “So, what are you really after?”
Pressing her lips together for a moment, she held Sydney’s steady gaze and said, “My assignment is to show the good that this pharmaceutical company does. The chance to chat with some employees who are as much of the success story as the people in corner offices.”
Sidney’s smile widened, and she nodded. “Well, well, I’m impressed.” Leaning forward, directing her attention completely on Kimberly, she said “Talk to as many lower-level employees as you can, not just the department supervisors or, God forbid, the VPs. I know you’ve already interviewed my brother, and I’m surprised you didn’t fall asleep while listening to him wax poetic about our company—”
A snort slipped out, and Kimberly pressed her lips together tightly.
“Ah, yes. I see you know what I mean. Dad is gone on a trip and, well, you know the old saying… While the cat’s away, the mice will play. My brother loves to pretend he’s already at the helm of Kilton Pharmaceuticals.”
Kimberly remained quiet, observing a woman struggling in a man’s field. A sister fighting for her place in the family business. Then the hard shield fell back into place and Sidney stood, the interview obviously over. Jumping to her feet also, Kimberly thanked her for her time.
“I hardly gave you anything newsworthy,” Sidney admitted. “But I’m serious about talking to employees. If you want to dig into the stories behind the company, that’s where you’ll get them.”
Walking out of the HR offices, her mind reeled with the variety of responses her initial questions had brought but, with Sidney’s words ringing in her ears, she decided to take her advice and do some digging. But I wonder… what will I find?
She decided to swing by her own office to let John know how her work had progressed. Most of her coworkers had already left for the day, and the lights in John’s office were turned off.
“Hey, stranger.”
She looked up and smiled as Marcus sat at his desk. “Hi, yourself. I was going to check in with John, but I see he’s already left for the weekend.”
“Yeah, he got out a little early. I was just finishing up my work so it wasn’t going to be facing me on Monday morning.” Her shoes clicked on the tile floor as she walked toward the back. Glancing down, he chuckled. “Not used to seeing you in heels.”
“Yeah. I know John doesn’t mind us being casual in our office, but interviewing the VPs and some department supervisors, I wanted to look the part.”
“How’s it going?”
She wrinkled her nose and sighed. “So far, I’m not learning anything that I couldn’t get from a basic, first-hire tour. All of this stuff is what we put in brochures anyway, so it’s just a repetition of what I already know.”
“So, no dirty secrets, right?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I’m not looking for secrets. I just want to see a more personal side of Kilton Pharmaceuticals. Something that makes the company seem less cold and clinical. I plan on interviewing more front-line employees and first up on my list will be some of the ones who work in the warehouse.”
She sat at her desk and pulled up the news reports of Beth Washington and Terry Birk, the warehouse worker. Not seeing anything she hadn’t already read months ago, she began clicking through links on where illegal prescription drugs end up. Article after article talked about the opioid crisis, especially for the low-income. More clicking led her to articles on using prescription opioids as additives to heroin and other illegal drugs.
“What are you looking at now?”
Jumping, she had not heard Marcus stepping behind her, now looking over her shoulder.
“Oh, you scared me.” Turning back to her computer, she said, “I started trying to find out more about the thefts here, but that led me into all these articles about prescription drugs on the black market.