London Leaks

The red haired girl scampered around her small, messy flat, searching for the folder filled with the pictures of hers she'd printed out last night – pictures she’d already lost. She had to leave in less than ten minutes to get to the London Leaks building and she wasn’t even entirely sure she knew how to get there.

Her phone rang from somewhere in the living room and she ran from her bedroom, fishing her phone out of the couch cushions only seconds before she missed the call. “Hello?” she greeted, slightly out of breath.

“Colleen, dear, are you okay?” Colleen’s mother, Jana’s voice rang through phone, full of concern.

“I’m fine, mum,” Colleen insisted, heading into the kitchen to see if she left it on her kitchen table. “I just can’t find my portfolio for this thi- there it is!” Colleen grabbed the folder, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she grabbed her bag and shoved it inside.

Jana sighed. “I know you’ve finally got this magazine job – and I’m proud of you, love, I really am – do you at least have a backup job besides at that crummy market? A photo job for an already dying magazine isn’t too reliable, Colleen,” she explained.

Colleen sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She’d had this conversation at least a million times with her mother once she’d expressed her want to be a photographer. It wasn’t as if her mum didn’t believe in her or think it was a silly dream – she fully thought Colleen could make something out of herself if she succeeded – but she didn’t think a job as a photographer was a sure enough thing. She wanted Colleen to go to uni and study something else just in case but Colleen knew photography was the only thing she wanted to do. “Well if we revive the magazine, it’ll look even better for future jobs,” she replied, carefully putting her camera in her book bag. She never went anywhere without it.

“Yes, but what if the whole thing turns out to fail?” her mum asked. “You don’t know how well these new girls are at their job. For all you know, they know nothing about journalism. They could just want celebrity access.”

“They know what they’re doing,” Colleen defended, thinking back to the lunch she had with them yesterday. They all seemed serious about getting the story and turning London Leaks around. “Look, I’ve gotta go, mum. I’m gonna be late. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, let me know how it goes,” she responded, knowing she’d upset her daughter.

Colleen hung up and shoved her phone in her pocket, hitching her bag over her shoulder and grabbing a jacket as she rushed out of the door.


Colleen couldn’t deny that she was nervous. She knew she had what it took to be a photographer and she knew that, if this all worked out, this was a huge step in the right direction. She was more worried about the sneaking around part. She’d never been one who liked stirring up trouble – and she didn’t get too excited over taking pictures of events people probably won’t want publicized – yet she had a feeling this job would involve a lot of that. But this was the only chance she had at becoming something. And besides, it wasn’t like she’d be the one directly doing it, right? She wasn’t putting the story out there, only supplying the pictures.

Before she knew it, Colleen was at the big building. She parked and turned off the car, staring at the building. “This is it,” she mumbled to herself, staring at the building. She pretty much had the job but it wasn’t 100% what she was doing until she showed her pictures.

Pushing her nerves aside, she grabbed her bag and, as confidently as she could, walking into the building and made her way inside the elevator, waiting until it reached the familiar floor. When she reached the conference room she was instructed to, she immediately opened it before she freaked herself out.

All eyes turned to her – Dezzarae, Lydia, Anna, Lily and Tanner. There were a chorus of hello’s and Colleen shyly returned it, setting her bag on the table and taking an empty seat. “So, have you got example pictures for us?” Tanner asked, leaning back in his chair.

Colleen nodded, pulling her folder out of her bag as she ignored the eyes on him. “I did,” she answered. She pulled out a few photos and laid them out of the table. “It’s not a lot but these are the only candid pictures I found. There’s not many because I don’t usually ta-“

“These are yours?” Tanner interrupted, picking up one of the pictures and looking closely. Colleen nodded, chewing on the inside of her lip. She wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad question.

“These are really good,” Anna complimented, leaning over to get a good look as well.

Colleen smiled confidently. Taking pictures was the one thing she knew that she was good at. “Thank you,” she responded.

“Well, ladies,” Tanner began, a smile growing on his face. “I think we’ve completed our team with a photographer.”


“So, any ideas on what to do for the first article?” Anna asked, setting a plate of cookies on the coffee table before taking her place beside Lydia.

All five of the girls were in Lydia and Anna's flat, brainstorming on how to make their first step toward saving this magazine. Colleen felt slightly out of place – they all seemed confident and ready to begin their job. Lily didn't seem as outgoing as the others but she was still contributing more than Colleen could.

"I spoke with Tanner about an idea for the first article and he liked it," Dezzarae answered, helping herself to a cookie. "It's going to be about Liam."

"How are you sure you'll be able to get it?" Colleen blurted out.

"We're friends," she responded. "So I've got an in for Liam. The problem is you guys getting in to get stories on the rest of them. That's what we need to figure out."

"Can you help with that?" Lydia pondered. "Knowing Liam and all, you should be able to help out in that department, right?"

"I obviously can't hand over a girl to them and expect them to not question it," Dezzarae began. "But I think I might be able to help set up things subtly."

"But how subtly can you approach a member from the biggest boy band in the world right now?" Lily questioned.

"Exactly," Dezzarae answered.

Colleen sighed as silence fell upon the girls briefly. She knew that it wouldn't be a walk in the park but she definitely wasn't expecting it to seem this hard. She also had a feeling she'd have to be doing a lot more snooping than planned and that made worry fill her stomach. What if I'm the one that blows the entire thing? was all Colleen could seem to think about.