Postby cloudy14 » Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:11 am
Part 2
“Wow, guess the campaign management team spared no expense for this bash.” To her disappointment, Heather approached the doors of a generic, and quite frankly, drab building. In a surprisingly odd manner, team Vote for Renski abruptly changed the location of the fundraiser from the Castle Peak Resort & Luxury Hotel in the heart of downtown to the campaign headquarters which, as one could imagine, was nothing more than a quickly leased structure smack-dab in a suburban office park. Heather’s gears started spinning: maybe this assignment wouldn’t be so awful. Being at campaign HQ could lead to some interesting information about the Mayor’s strategy, and ultimately, provide her with more content for an actual story to couple nicely with her quota of tweets and photos she was being paid to post online.
As she strutted into the first floor and grabbed a name-tag, her hopes evaporated for a second time as her expression turned mortified. The event looked like a nursing home at a children’s birthday party. A DJ was playing cliche pop-songs while a hundred or so grumpy men and women chatted and drank amongst themselves at foldout tables. Wilted vegetables and sandwiches were laid out buffet-style at the far end of the room, and save for a few balloons and decorations, this gathering couldn't be considered much of a party. Heather gritted her teeth and stood as rigid as a plank. “If I snap pics of what’s going on tonight, Julian will laugh in my face, think I had taken a wrong turn and crashed a funeral!” Weren’t the Renski’s loaded? She hadn’t been in this town for long, but knew well enough from the local news and commercials that Dennis Renski had built a modest fortune in only a few short years, becoming a success in their part of the state.
She put the thought aside once she realized nearly a dozen attendees were staring at her. Standing barefoot at 5’9, Heather McDouglas had a stunning combination of feminine grace and athletic build. Her hazel eyes complimented her lengthy cherry brown hair, tonight set straight with chic bangs. Being of Irish and Nordic ancestry left her with a lighter complexion than most, but not so much as to be considered shockingly pale. Her bust was moderate and the dress she was so reluctant to wear actually brought out the best in her, accentuating the lines of a toned tummy. Again, never one to loaf, Heather had made it a point to continue to train like she had all throughout her life. Her hard work paid off tremendously, giving her legs that a dog could bark up and a body that a woman of any age secretly envied. Add to the fact that tonight she stood about 6-feet even and, well, do the math.
Blushing, it dawned on her how there seemed to be nearly no one her age AND no one dressed this...enthusiastically. “Pantsuit. Should’ve worn the pantsuit,” she thought. When the event changed, a good portion of the younger crowd must have split. Oh, how she wish she could join them. Making a b-line for the drink table, Heather noticed a guy around her age hungrily eating a finger-sandwich.
Chuckling to himself as he saw Heather, the kid shook his head and set down a plate of food.
“You realize this isn’t Castle Peak? I’ll tell you something, the fuzzy carpeting and hair-band ballads might actually be the best part of tonight!”
Heather played along, “Definitely, and to think I was expecting shots and a 2am closing time!” They laughed a little. This might not be a total waste of a Thursday Night, she thought.
“Hey I’m Joseph, uh, call me Joe though!” he's charming, and not bad to look at either...
“So, Joe, why are you hanging around the crypt tonight? I’m stuck here and on the verge of dipping out as soon as possible after I post some content.”
“Looks like we’re stuck for the evening together then. Believe it or not but this is actually my uncle’s deal, and I’m just one of the few interns here. It sucks, but hey, it counts as a class. I just can’t believe his secretary messed up the dates so hard that we had to all wind-up here.”
Heather felt a jolt of excitement. This was the kind of development she had hoped for...Renski’s nephew! He’s gotta have some stories.
“I bet you’ve got some great anecdotes about him at HQ, motivational speeches and possible reelection plans.”
“You’d think that given his cringey ads, but mostly he’s either screaming or in constant meetings with a few of his assistants. The rest of the staff kind of keeps this ship afloat.”
“What do you mean?”
“Meh, he’s always acting furious or paranoid. I don’t know, probably because of nerves for a second term. He’s got it on lockdown though it seems. But MAN, I’ll tell you, I’ll overhear his nonsense sometimes like when he has to "put out fires" or "cook the books"...whatever the hell that means."
Joe, Joe, Joe. Thank. You.
Heather couldn’t believe it. Joe may have just made this assignment worthwhile...HER CAREER worthwhile...she thought of something quick: “Well hey, I just started for him yesterday, so don’t scare me off with all of this news at once.”
“Oh really?! awesome and yeah,” Joe turned a shade red, gulped, and quickly said, “It’ll be great to have another grunt with me and the rest of the temps. I’m only exaggerating about the conditions...somewhat.”
Heather knew the business portion of the campaign had to be located on another level. She took a big leap.
“After I post some pictures, I... kinda need to use a work laptop or something(?) Would anyone mind if I popped into the office for a second to grab one?”
She felt a little sorry manipulating him like this, but she probably wouldn’t find anything anyway and was also doing all of this just to actually feel like a journalist. It might give her a rush being where she shouldn’t, and honing her skills of persuasion empowered her.
“Oh sure thing, just use that crappy desktop in the 4th floor IT room. You get a pass yet?
“Uh, no, no-no. Not yet! said they’d have it by next week? no way he's buying this one...
Joe fished in his jacket pocket and handed her an RFID card.
“Just take this for now. I swear, Brian is horrible with managing these...listen, I’ve got to be “mingling” and making appearances at this bingo hall of a fundraiser unless I want to sort files again. But anyway, great to meet you Heather and I’ll talk with you later! Peace!”
Heather’s heart was racing. It was almost like something out of a movie, the way it all fell into her lap. She wanted to find a little more mud on Renski, needed it, even if she couldn’t get access to the campaign’s database.
As she casually walked into the main lobby and after scanning around for anyone, quietly took the elevator.