Work Text:
Jonathan Sims had always been good with words. As a child, his insatiable hunger for knowledge led him to devour books at an alarming rate, and from each new book he extracted a piece of knowledge about what made for good – or bad – writing. His favorite books had always been nonfiction, as they gave his mind new shards of truth to try to understand the world with. Thus, when it came time for him to decide how he wanted to make a living, a job as a reporter sounded perfect.
Although he worried about finding work, pouring over and revising his resume time and time again to make sure it seemed impressive enough but not overexaggerated, Jon never had to attend a single interview. Georgie Barker, his flatmate, invited him onto the staff of a fledgling news station she had started with her girlfriend Melanie. “We need reporters, Jon,” she explained. “Your lack of experience doesn’t really matter, and your tendency to ask inappropriate questions will probably actually be an asset.”
Jon grumbled and gave Georgie a halfhearted glare. She promptly burst into giggles, and he couldn’t help but crack a small smile himself.
***
A few weeks after Jon started working for Georgie and Melanie’s news station, which they named “Independent Eyewitnesses,” he walked into work one morning to find Georgie, Melanie, and Sasha – another reporter – engaged in an intense conversation about something.
That something turned out to be the breaking news that a fire had destroyed half of the Library of Congress.
“How should we put this on air? What do we even say?” Georgie was sitting in her usual chair on-set, elbows on the desk in front of her and fingers pressed to her temples.
“We need a headline, and we need one fast,” Melanie replied, mouth set in a hard line as she paced up and down the room. “Everyone’s going to be jumping at the chance to get their take on this…disaster on-air. We don’t want our message to get lost.”
“My mind is blank, Melanie,” Georgie groaned, her voice slightly higher pitched and more on-edge than usual. “I’m still trying to process all of this!”
“A headline…” Sasha appeared deep in thought, staring straight ahead without really seeming to see the set in front of her. “Maybe…maybe something like what they called the Nixon scandal? Like ‘Watergate,’ but…with books?”
Georgie seemed to have a renewed hope upon hearing this suggestion, raising her eyes to smile at Sasha. “Yes! Good direction…now what exactly do we call it?”
“Papergate,” Jon blurted out, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “We call it Papergate.”
So they did. And Georgie and Melanie’s Papergate broadcast inspired the entire nation to adopt Jon’s brainchild.
***
By the time Jon first arrived at Elias Bouchard’s campaign headquarters to gather information, his reputation as the person behind the “Papergate” nickname preceded him.
So when he sat down to interview Elias, an older man with a knowing smirk etched permanently into his well-structured face, Elias’ first words after properly introducing himself were, “May I ask you a query of my own before we begin?” His tone was polite enough, but the ice in his piercing blue eyes told Jon that saying “no” wouldn’t be a good idea. So Jon found himself nodding his head, and was given an almost-warm smile in response.
“Wonderful. What would you say a good…campaign slogan would be for my platform? I assume you’re somewhat familiar with it, as I hear you were assigned the task of covering my campaign a few weeks ago.”
“Yes, I’m familiar with it,” Jon replied, trying to keep his voice even. Georgie had warned him that Elias Bouchard was known for knowing everything about everyone, that somehow he seemed to have at least one person on the inside of every major news station who could report information back to him. That didn’t make Elias’ nonchalant treatment regarding a detail he shouldn’t necessarily know about any less disconcerting. “Your platform is based on crafting a better future. On opening up more opportunities for people by paring down business regulations, among other things.”
“I suppose that about summarizes it.” Jon couldn’t really tell if Elias approved or disapproved of his answer; the man’s face was frustratingly impassive. Of course, Jon had never been the best at reading people. Maybe there was just something he was missing.
In any case, Jon figured he might as well continue. It probably wouldn’t make a good impression if he sat there lost in thought for an hour, and there would be time for picking apart his interactions with Elias later. And the idea of the slogan itself came to him more readily than interpretations of social cues. “Something about ‘opening the door to a better future’ could work, perhaps,” he said, prompting another almost-warm smile from his inscrutable interviewee.
“Yes, I think that will do perfectly,” Elias purred. “Now then, should we proceed with the interview?”