Demi Rafferty (enavant) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-11-14 13:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [11] november, demi rafferty, zach montgomery |
you’ve mentioned cookies so now I’m staying
Who: Demi Rafferty and Zach Montgomery
Where: Reception area in the mayor’s office
What: Demi stops by to see Nina but ends up chatting with Zach instead.
When: November 5th, 2019 - Early afternoon.
Managing a business meant that Demi had less time to just flit about and drop in on people whenever. But she had been in the building bringing something to Isaac -- as well as trying and failing to convince him that sex in his office was really still okay, even if he was the commissioner now -- and so it had only seemed to make sense that she would swing by Nina’s office and see how their fine mayor and one of her dearest friends was doing. She hadn’t made an appointment, so she knew there was a fifty-fifty chance that Nina might be busy, but not to stop would have been a complete crime. As she stepped into the reception area of the mayor’s office Demi offered Nina’s secretary Zach a bright smile. She had shared many a phone call with the young man, checking in on Nina and making sure that her friend was badgered into going home and sleeping at some point, as well as enjoying herself. “How likely am I to get a few minutes of Nina’s time right now?” Demi questioned the younger man as she stepped up to his desk. Her tone was hopeful, even if she knew it might be entirely possible her time spent in Nina’s office would begin and end right beside the secretary’s desk. “And trust me, it’s okay if you tell me it’s unlikely.” She tacked on, wanting to make sure that Zach knew she wouldn’t huff and puff and throw a fit if that was the outcome. Zach liked when people came into the office with a smile. So many were too serious for his liking, and he knew he worked in a serious place but that didn't mean they shouldn't smile! He set down his pen as she approached, folding his arms against the desk and leaning against them. Her question was less fun than the fact that she smiled, because he knew what Nina’s schedule was like. He looked at the schedule anyway, as though that would somehow make it open up. “Well, I would like to say it's likely, but that would be a lie,” he said, giving her an apologetic look. “It might have a bit better outlook if you don't mind waiting. I have cookies, if it helps.” The apologetic look was appreciated, but in Demi’s mind unneeded. She knew the gambit she was running with showing up to Nina’s office without an appointment. Knew that she had less than a fifty-fifty chance of getting a face to face with her friend in the middle of the day. So instead of acting as if Zach was at fault in any way, she offered an understanding smile. “I appreciate your honesty,” Demi began with a soft laugh. “And I don’t mind waiting, as long as you don’t mind having company out here.” Instead of moving over to one of the chairs in the waiting area, she moved to the corner of the younger man’s desk and perched herself there instead. “And even if you do mind company, you’ve mentioned cookies so now I’m staying at least until I get one,” Demi added with a wide smile. “And yes, they do help.” she tacked on, legs swinging as she sat on her makeshift seat. “Are you at liberty to tell me just how many meetings Nina has locked herself away in today?” She might as well make sure her friend wasn’t driving herself into the ground while she was here, and she had a feeling if anyone knew what Nina’s workaholic ways were looking like lately it would be her secretary. “I like having company,” Zach informed her with a smile. So many times the people who stopped in the office went to sit in the chairs and didn't talk to him, so he appreciated she didn't follow that same route. He pulled open one of the drawers of his desk, where the container of cookies was tucked away from sight. “They're peanut butter,” he said as he took off the lid and held it out to her. “And you can have more than one! Just not all of them.” Demi smiled brightly. “In that case you’re in luck,” it was clear already that she wasn’t planning on leaving, at least not for a little bit. Sure, she could have gone and sat in the chairs like a normal person would have, but it was hard to hold a conversation from halfway across a room. “And now you’re speaking my language with peanut butter cookies,” Demi took one. “I’ll show restraint and only take this one, though.” He set the container onto the desk once she'd gotten one, leaning back in his chair. “She has… more than a few, less than a lot. If it were me it would be a lot but for Nina it's not.” Zach got a cookie for himself and took a bite. “Which is why I think you've got a good shot.” “Did you just turn into Dr. Seuss with that answer?” Demi asked with a laugh, picking up on the way Zach’s words had rhymed, though probably unintentionally. “ I like those odds, but if it turns out I can’t steal a portion of her time that’s alright as well,” she paused to take a bite of cookie and once she had swallowed she added. “I have her number and can catch up with her that way as well.” Zach paused, thinking back over what he’d said before grinning slowly and giving a shake of his head. “Maybe I’ve been reading too much Dr. Seuss, because it seems like I have,” he replied, taking another bite of his cookie. “And hey, if you get lucky - yay! If not, you still got a cookie. That’s why I like keeping things like that out here, so no one goes away completely disappointed no matter what. Have to keep people happy!” “Maybe if this gig doesn’t work out you could become the new Dr. Seuss,” Demi teased, offering him a smile before she took a bite of her cookie. “Leaving with a cookie isn’t a bad consolation prize,” she added, laughing softly. “Though I would have left perfectly happy without it.” Demi knew after all that it was always a bit of a roll of the dice whether she would see Nina or not when she dropped in like this. “The real question though is do you make the cookies yourself?” She asked while waving her cookie around slightly for emphasis. “I should work on that in my spare time,” Zach agreed. “I’d be a good Dr. Seuss, I think.” He did like to write, and had a lot of experience with children's books thanks to his kids - reading, not writing, but still. His expression brightened even more when she asked about the cookies, and a grin spread across his features. “I do! I leave some at home and bring the rest here. I find,” he continued conspiratorially, lowering his voice so no one else would be able to hear. “That it really improves things if I give Nina a cookie at some point in the day. But you can't tell her that's why.” While Demi couldn’t say whether she thought Zach would or would not be a good Dr. Seuss, she could say she thought he was a damn good assistant -- if the cookie thing was any indication. “oh darling, that secret is safe with me,” she replied with a sincere smile as she leaned in towards Zach. “If the sugar rush during the day keeps Nina going, I am all for it.” Demi added, unashamed to admit she worried about her friend’s well being, especially now that she had so much responsibility on her shoulders. “Did you learn that trick with your kids and just adapt it to the workplace?” She questioned while sitting up straight again. “And do you end up giving Ms. van Eeden one also?” “No, they're pretty good without cookies,” Zach said with a grin. “I think it just started one day… she seemed stressed so it seemed like the logical thing to do. Who's going to stay stressed when they have a cookie?” He finished his cookie and leaned back in his chair. “I do give Ms. van Eeden them too, but not every day. More of an as needed basis. That's for everyone else around her too. Lots of chances for stressful situations means cookies should be on hand always!” Demi laughed. “So what I’m gathering is that your remedy for almost anything is cookies?” Said with a note of curiosity in her tone. She wondered, if only briefly, if cookies would have helped calm things down in Austin ages ago. Of course logically she knew the issues went deeper than just needing a cookie, but it was an amusing thought anyway. “Tell me, what do you use when you don’t have cookies?” she paused a beat. “Do you just smile at them and hope that dimpled boyish smile might calm them down?” “Are you trying to say there are things that can’t be solved with cookies?” Zach asked innocently. Of course he knew there were, but when it came to that office he liked to think he could solve all problems with a good chocolate chip cookie or, in a particularly bad situation, snickerdoodle. He grinned at her question, almost proving her point. “It does sometimes, actually. I mean, I usually have cookies but if not I do use my not-so-secret superpower of smiling.” Demi held up her hands. “No, no, I’m not trying to say any such thing,” said with laugh as she was more than a little aware that Zach was joking, or at least she hoped the younger man was. In her opinion she thought Nina had chosen well in terms of a secretary, if only because it seemed as if Zach’s main goal in life was to be happy and make sure those around him were happy, something she thought someone with the weight of the whole of Austin on their shoulders needed -- so pretty much exactly what Nina needed. “Does your not so secret power of smiling work?” Demi questioned before she finished that last of her cookie. “It does!” Zach said brightly, because for the most part that was true. Either that or his standing there and smiling made the other person worn down enough to tell him to go away, but even then it had usually been enough of a distraction that they were calmed down. “The cookies are more foolproof and subliminal so I prefer them, but I also smile at people even when they don't need to calm down too. Any way to keep things from being too serious!” “More people should smile at each other for no reason at all,” Demi declared with a bright smile of her own. “So I fully and completely encourage you to continue smiling at people,” she paused. “Especially Nina, a smile might ease some of the stress of her day.” There wasn’t anyone Demi thought could do the job of major better than Nina, but she was also more than just a little aware of just how taxing it could be on a person. “Don't worry, I will,” Zach assured her. “Good,” Demi gave a quick glance at the clock and then looked back at Zach. “So tell me, was this always what you wanted to do?” Curiosity and a need to kill time made her figure it couldn’t hurt to ask Nina’s assistant some more personal questions. “What, give people cookies and smiles?” Zach asked, before giving a shake of his head. “Yes to that, but no to the secretary part. I didn't exactly get a chance to go to college like I’d planned, so I make do. Not that I don't want this job,” he added quickly. “I like this job.” Demi laughed and shook her head. “You can do the whole college thing now, though,” she pointed out gently and with a smile. “Although, I mean, everyone needs smiles and cookies, so you might be onto something there also,” a pause. “And I didn’t think you didn’t want this job, so don’t worry.” Demi hadn’t for even one point thought that Zach was ungrateful for the job that he did have -- and near as she could tell he was pretty damn good at it. “If you had had a chance to go to college what would you have wanted to study?” Time was quickly slipping away, but Demi had a few minutes left before she needed to head back to The Bar. “That's true,” Zach said quietly, almost more to himself than her before he offered Demi a smile. “I could do the college thing now, I guess it just felt like it had passed. I was supposed to go to Yale.” That in itself had been a complicated circumstance, but he'd never made it there thanks to the uprising. “English. Well, writing. Creative writing. That's what I wanted to do.” Shrugging a shoulder, his expression didn't falter despite discussing plans that had never been able to happen. “I can still do it even without going to college, though, nothing stopping me.” Demi gave Zach an impressed look at the mention of Yale. She could understand how maybe taking college courses at the LBJ Education Center might not seem the same if he was Ivy league bound. “You know, not everyone needs a college degree to do what they want to do, though,” Demi agreed. “You said it already, but I think you can do creative writing without a college degree.” Admittedly she didn’t know much about that particular area, but she assumed Zach was right since it was his area of focus, not hers. Truth be told she had been toying with the idea of getting a dance studio going again, though she still wasn’t sure what kind of demand there might be for that. Switching back to focusing on Zach, Demi asked. “Creative writing, what exactly does that cover? Fiction writing or a whole magnitude of things?” She gave another glance towards the clock before she added. “Also, if I’m keeping you from your work just tell me. I’m mostly just killing time here now before I need to get back to the bar.” Demi had already accepted it was unlikely she would see Nina today, which was okay, she just made a mental note to text her friend later. “As you can see, I’m swamped.” Zach grinned as he gestured to his desk that was not particularly full of work to be done. There was some, but not enough that he was worried. Plus he thought he did better under pressure so he could most likely blow through it quickly after Demi was gone. “For me, fiction writing. I like writing stories, making worlds and people to go in them. You can write anything and make it real on the page, and I really like that.” Demi glanced down at the desk and laughed. “Things are just piling up,” she joked, though she did note that while his desk wasn’t empty, there was stuff on it that looked like it was most likely work related. “I think if I were much of a writer I’d want to write fiction as well,” Demi remarked. “You can escape away to a different world and different experiences, though this world isn’t as awful as it used to be.” It wasn’t like what Austin had been like before the outbreak, but it was getting better daily. “Would you write young adult novels, mysteries or maybe children’s books?” She asked out of curiosity. “I don't think I’d be good at mysteries,” Zach replied honestly, chewing on the inside of his lip in thought. What she'd said was true, and a good part of why he likes fiction. It was an escape. He used to be able to escape for real, to fly away to wherever he wanted without a second thought. It was a lot more difficult without that kind of possibility. “I used to think young adult, but now with the kids… I think I would want to do children’s books, especially now. They deserve good stories.” Demi smiled gently. “I don’t think the world is grappling for mysteries anyway, I think our daily lives have enough of that,” Or suspense at least, though that was lessening with each passing day and the city become more of a civilized place again. “I think doing children’s books would be fun, you could even find a local artist or two to illustrate them for you,” Demi paused. “Unless you’re also an artist.” Again her attention was drawn towards the clock and she frowned slightly. “I should be leaving in a few minutes, which definitely means I won’t be seeing Nina today.” Zach grinned softly, shuffling around some of the papers on his desk to get to the ones underneath that had doodles on them from when he’d gotten bored but wasn’t focused enough to write. “I could do it myself, but maybe working with someone else would be nice sometimes.” He looked to the clock when she mentioned needing to leave, and he gave a bit of a frown since she hadn’t been able to do what she’d come in for. “I’m sorry. Sometimes she’s just… so busy. Do you want a cookie for the road?” Demi smiled gently at Zach, “Don’t be sorry, sweetheart, it’s not your fault and I knew I had a slim chance of seeing her today.” As she spoke she jumped down from the desk she had been using as a seat. “I will take a cookie for the road though,” Demi added as she spun around to face Zach, smile still in place. “Anyway, I don’t consider this a waste at all, I got to know you a bit better and that counts for something.” They had spoken on the phone numerous times whenever Demi called into the office, they had also bumped into each other at various parties, but this truly was the first time Demi had really been given a chance to get to know the young man. “Actually, you know I’m going to be greedy and ask for two cookies for the road, if you don’t mind.” “Two cookies,” Zach agreed with a smile, pulling the container out from the drawer and offering them to her. “It's not greedy, it's making sure you don't get hungry on the way back!” Besides, only one cookies seemed like not enough, and he had more than enough to go around. “Have a safe trip back, and I’ll make sure Nina knows you stopped by!” |