"And would you say the recent rainfall has hand an impact of show attendance?" Isabella spoke, the handheld audio recorder a short distance from her mouth, before extending the device toward the man the question had been addressed to. Something of an eccentric, she'd pinned him for, at least by the choice of clothing. He wore a business suit, nice shirt, tie and all, but the suit itself was a dark purple, the shirt underneath a lighter lilac, and the tie a nice lemon-y yellow. He certainly stood out. The office they were in was a bit dingy. The furniture was nice and all, but there was something about the lightning that just felt... almost oppressive. Made the whole place feel off.
"In the short term, yes. We have been seeing less people during the rain, although there are still some hardcore fans who won't let rain spoil their fun. But it seems to even out as the rains subside, with people flocking back." The male spoke in response.
"I see." The blonde nodded, before pulling the recorder back to herself.
"Have you been facing any other issues due to the rain, security, technical, or the like?" Again, she offered the device his way.
"There were some technical difficulties to begin with, since the water left afterwards doesn't always have time to dry, so we did have a few short circuits caused by water pooling. But those were nothing that weren't swiftly dealt with." The man seemed to have all the answers ready, all the better for her. The sooner she was done with this, the sooner she could be back home writing this article. Maybe if she was lucky, she could get back before the rain picked up again.
"Is that so? I'm sure our readers will be pleased to hear that." She then withdrew the recorder, and brought it to herself again.
"Are there any upcoming shows you'd maybe like to give SMILE some first peeks at?" The recorder shifted to him.
"Sorry ma'am, I can't say anything there, above my position, unfortunately." Ma'am? Did he seriously just call her ma'am? She wasn't that old. Isabella withdrew the recorder away.
"I see, that's alright." Her tone was a bit dry. She became acutely aware of the faint whirring starting up in her left ear.
No, no Isabella, calm down. He was just giving a canned answer, certainly meant no offense.
"Well, since the holidays are coming around soon enough, it's probably safe to assume to assume the program will shift to fit the mood. Can we expect to see any special shows?" The blonde then asked after a moment of pause, again offering the recorder. The answer she got was a concise but extremely unsatisfying
"Yes." To which she gave a stiff nod. The whirring in her ear seemed to intensify just slightly as her frustration from before was given more to feed upon.
"Very well. That's everything I wanted to ask for our interview. Before I go, was there anything you would perhaps like to say to our readers, or anything else you would like to add?" Isabella asked as she stood up from the chair, again extending the audio recorder his way. The man smiled, the effect was frankly creepy.
"I just wanted to thank our audiences for their continued support, and that we hope to keep providing more entertainment for the good citizens of Endymion." Wow, that was cheesy, but what else was there to expect from a PR rep? They just spouted what sounded good on paper. Writing was such a limited medium, it couldn't really quite convey how...Sleazy this guy felt even as he went on with his noble-sounding spiel.
But that was her own personal bias talking. This was a good opportunity, got to stay professional. Even as the whir in her ear would not seize.
"Alright, Thank you very much for your time Mr. Jackson, I'm sure I'll be able to write a great article with all this." Isabella then spoke, keeping a straight face as she would click the audio recorder off and offered her right hand for a handshake. Even his hand felt cold as it gripped hers, and the shake felt lifeless.
"And a thank you to you for the opportunity to give this interview. I certainly hope they do get the studios back up and running. It is prime advertising season soon enough , after all." If the handshake didn't send a shiver through her spine, those words did.
She withdrew her hand, and nodded, before turning around and heading out through the door.
Her initial instinct was to just leave, but the whirring in her ears wouldn't seize. So as she headed down the hallway, she waited until she saw a sign pointing to the restrooms. Taking a turn, she swiftly marched to the women's room, the door openned without problem, and she locked it behind her as she stepped in.
Her trenchcoat made a "plaf" sound as it fell onto the ground in a heap. Isabella then pulled up her shirt a bit, until she felt the sensation of something smooth grazing against her behind. She could hear a secondary whirring start up in her left ear as the sheets of fabric hanging out from her lower back straightened out, stiffened as coolant began pumping through it. She then reached for the faucet, turning it on. Cold water streamed onto her hands as she cupped them beneath it. Leaning forward, she the splashed the water on her face.
The whirring in her ear began to subside as her temper died down, the sound from the secondary pumps taking over. Isabella then fished her phone from her pocket. The screen lit up, and a few taps opened the email app. She began typing.
Recipient:
Ed.Marshall@SMILE.endSubject: Finished the interview
"Just finished interviewing Mr. Jackson for that story.
Will send the audio recording to you later in the evening. Expect the finished piece by Friday."
-IsabellaAnd send. She'd draw a sigh of relief as the messages whizzed off her screen. She just hoped it hadn't started raining again.
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