Editor-In-Chief's Office

[Alan]

It was time that all good boys and girls were in bed, tucked up tight and sleeping.

Alan was certainly not a girl. Or a good boy. He was the editor-in-chief though and that made things like sleep obsolete. Or certainly obscene and to be avoided at all costs because there simply wasn’t time for something like sleep. Coffee though, there was always time for coffee. With coffee, who needed sleep?

He peered blearily down at his coffee mug, noticing that for some reason it was empty. ”Well, at least I didn’t leave it to go cold again” he mused, stiffly climbing to his feet, his knee twanging slightly in the process. “Oh, I’m getting too old for this…”

Not that getting old would change anything. Alan intended to leave the Sun for the last time feet first. And he better damn well get a good obit. But that was hopefully many, many years in the future and nothing he had to worry about right now. All he had to worry about was if there was coffee left in the machine or if he had to make some more. Making more meant much more effort than he wanted, but new coffee always tasted better than old, even if his taste buds had died some hours ago.

Yawning, he reached the pot, glad to find there was just enough for one more cup. Then it was back to his desk, because there was always some more work to do. Such as going over the new recruit’s portfolio one last time, just to reassure himself that he hadn’t made a hideous mistake.

[Alan]

The stiffness in his neck was probably a sign that Alan had been bent over his desk too long, head at an awkward angle while he read through the files on the desk, his computer giving a soothing hum in the background. For all that Alan had embraced the new technology, using it willingly in his work and accepting that the new age was able to speed up the work and enable less mistakes, when he was alone in his office on nights like this he still preferred the feel of paper under his fingers, the solid reassurance that only a red marker could bring.

Sighing, he finally moved, wincing at the ache in his neck, the crick. “Differently a sign I’ve been in the same position too long,” he muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck. As much as Alan had tried to put it off, he knew he should really go back home. First to arrive and last to leave was Alan’s motto and his daughter – when she used to talk to him – would always say he took that too seriously. Thinking of Kelly however always threw him into a bad mood and the last thing he wanted was that. Even the computer’s hum was being to annoy him now and he flicked it off, grumbling at the pain still present in his neck.

Alan moved to the door of his office, grabbing his coat as he went. Going home wasn’t all bad – he was planning to Watch Superman 2 which promised to be enjoyable, as always. Humming, he finally turned the lights off, heading home for the night.

Continued in; Rayne’s Territory; Apartment Complex: Building A: Alan’s Apartment

[Alan]

Continued from: Rayne’s Territory; Restaurants etc: Zocalo Coffeehouse

As always, Alan seemed to be the first one in on the ‘day’ shift as it were. He nodded in greeting to the security guard as he passed him, mind already jumping ahead to the full work day that was promised. He lived for his work and it was not something he was ashamed of. Alan wanted the Sun to be the best paper and while it sometimes consumed his thoughts, his dedication to the work did make it a much better paper.

He tossed the now empty coffee cup into his bin by the desk, moving around and sitting down in his seat with a contended sigh. The others would be in soon enough and the day’s work could begin. Alan flipped his computer on, intending to check his e-mail and the police files before they arrived in case anything interesting had happened during the night.

[Alan]

One of his e-mail’s had been from a source in the police and the further down it he read, the deeper the frown grew on his face. It had been a curtsey notice and he appreciated the heads up. It was slightly wounding to his pride to know that he hadn’t been informed by Iris Marcus herself, but he tried to reason with himself that she had been distracted by the tragic events and then being interviewed.

Either way, the Sun was on the case now, if one got involved, they all got involved. Before he could actually act on that determination however there was a knock at his door, the new hire entering.

Boyd was charming, Alan would give him that. He knew he was too, something Alan wasn’t sure was completely wise in someone. It could lead to over arrogance and mistakes. But so long as it didn’t effect his staff, he was willing to let character flaws be character flaws. Alan smiled back at his newest reporter as they talked, recognising the flirting for what it was and amused by it, unthreatened by it. Neither were interested in the other in that way and he suspected Boyd knew that too.

The conversation was just winding down, Alan giving him the last few pointers about life with the Sun when his phone rang, the caller ID identifying it as Sherwood. Nodding to Boyd he stretched out, hand grasping the receiver.

“Davenport.”

[Alan]

“Hey, boss. It’s Nick. Something has come up and I was hoping I could take an emergency personal day. It’s not something that I could’ve scheduled.”

Alan listened to the words on the other end and frowned, biting his lip slightly. He was all for people taking personal days if they had to – he was no ogre boss – but this was not the normal run of the mill day. “How much of an emergency is it Sherwood? We’ve got a situation here and I really could do with all my reporters in base.”

“A… really good friend needs help moving. What sort of situation?”

“Iris Marcus seems to have been involved in an incident last night. Details are sketchy but it at the very least we have a murder to report. We’re going to put all of our effort into this story and we’re not much good without our Kent are we?” A friend moving did not – in Alan’s opinion – warrant a day off in this type of situation. “She isn’t a suspect as far as we know, but that’s the problem. We don’t really know anything.”

“Okay, boss… I’ll be there… I just need to make a quick stop and do something first, but I shouldn’t be too late.”

Alan didn’t need to hear a change in Nick’s voice to know he wasn’t happy about coming in, but years as the boss had done much to harden his attitude. He was already fighting guilt for sending Iris out in the first place. This was an attack on the Sun itself and he was going to use ever resource he had. “Good. I’m sure you can help your friend later. Thanks.”

“No problem, boss. Do you think there might be any chance of me getting out a little early if we manage to get everything dealt with?”

“Of course Nick. If this didn’t involve one of our own…” Alan’s voice dropped in intensity for a moment, eyes flicking to Boyd who was standing tactfully as far away as he could, looking intensely interested in the wall.

“I know, boss, and thanks. I appreciate it. I’ll be in as soon as I take care of a promise I made.”

“Sure. See you soon.” Alan didn’t doubt that Sherwood would show up soon as promised and despite not really wanting to be in, he would do his job as best he could. He placed the receiver back into its holder and beckoned Boyd back to the desk.

Written with Nick

[Iris]

Continued from: Main Streets

When Iris finally got to the office, she found herself rather surprised that she was still on her feet. She was absolutely exhausted, so the fact that she hadn’t fallen asleep behind the wheel and caused some sort of major traffic catastrophe was a miracle of some sort. She was certain of it. All she could really do now was hope that no one noticed how tired she was and that she could make it through the day without falling asleep somewhere. Never in her life had she ever thought that she would spend the night at a police station giving a statement but now that she had, she was more than willing to just stay well out of the way and let everyone else deal with stuff like that. She needed her sleep, darn it.

Shifting her camera bag, Iris reached out and rapped on the door to alert Alan of her presence. Make it through the work day… If I do, I can go home and collapse when I get off.

[Alan]

It had perhaps been somewhat underhand of Alan, but he had phoned down to security to instruct them to contact him the moment Iris had passed through. Not to detain or annoy her in any way – he stressed that this was not that kind of security but rather observation. The whole thing simply served to add to his reputation as being 'all seeing and all knowing'. They had dully called once she had entered the building to report the fact. When questioned the man admitted that she seemed almost dead on her feet and Alan didn't blame her.

“Come on in Iris,” he called before she had time to even finish knocking. Alan took a certain type of pride in knowing everything that went on in his newspaper that he could. The editor stood up from his seat and motioned her forward towards the one in front of his desk.

[Iris]

Iris moved into the office, adjusting the strap of the camera that she had slung over her shoulder like a purse. Moving to the chair, she offered a greeting of “Good morning, sir” before sitting. She had come to the office because she had, after all, had an assignment the previous night and was assuming that the editor-in-chief would want to have a look at the photos she had taken. Plus, he always seemed to know what was going on and she very honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he had gotten news about what had happened the previous night. Showing up in the office was a good way of showing him that she was still all in one piece and still ready to be put to work on another assignment. So long as she was there, she wanted to have something to do.

[Alan]

Alan eyed the young woman as she entered the room and then sat down in the offered chair. The security guard – Alan thought it was Tim, he took pride in knowing everyone's name and face but on the intercom voices became distorted – was right, Iris did look tired, almost dead on her feet. There and then, he decided that for the next few hours at least, everyone in the office was banned from questioning her, even whoever he assigned the story too.

It was hardly good reporting, Alan knew, to block a source off – which was one of the reasons he was only extending it for a few hours – but Iris would be good to nobody if she was this tired. “How are you?” Alan asked her bluntly, fixing her with one of his pricing stares. It was clear from his tone of voice that he wasn't talking about in general, of her job last night.

[Iris]

“I’m okay,” she said, and she was for the most part, but she decided that being completely honest would be best. “Worried about how my sister is handling this, exhausted and I never want to see the inside of the police station ever again, but okay. Last night was… insane is probably the best word to describe it. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to look at a church the same way after this.” She really didn’t know what else to say about it. So much had happened that she felt as if her mind was still trying to take it all in and was having trouble doing so.

Iris knew that she could be expected to have someone coming around eventually to ask her questions about what had happened the previous night- it was likely to be a pretty big story- but she was grateful for whatever time she could get without having to answer yet more questions.

Suddenly, she remembered the photo she had taken of Denny and paled slightly. She wasn’t entirely sure that she’d be able to look at the church shots without needing a strong cup of coffee. Or an outright drink.

[Alan]

He leaned forward as Iris spoke, elbows resting on the desk, hands folding together to create something for him to rest his chin on. Alan stared at her intently, judging the words and recognising that she was being honest with him – something he appreciated. It was always easier when they realised lying was pointless and so cut through all the BS. Saved time, that was for sure.

“You'll be fine soon enough. I want you to try and get some rest for a couple of hours okay? Get your strength up, just tell me which room you're going to be in and I'll mark it off-limits to everyone else. We'll going to solve this Iris. The whole paper is going to be focused on this and we will find something out I assure you.”

[Iris]

Iris wasn’t much for lying- she would if she really felt that it was necessary, but she hated it. She most certainly wasn’t about to lie to her boss though, even if it was just to say ‘I’m okay’. If lying would help anything, she thought that she might look at it differently, but really, what was the point? Lying rarely changed anything and it usually just led to situations that were better avoided altogether.

At the mention of rest, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to nod gratefully or beg for him to just let her work. Iris knew that she needed the rest, but if she wasn’t working she knew that her mind would just start wandering and that it would go back to all that had happened the previous night. At least if she was working, she would have something to concentrate on, which, at the moment, seemed like an extremely good thing to her. Even so, she really did know that she needed the rest. She wouldn’t be any good to anyone if she was asleep on her feet. Still…

“I appreciate that, sir, but I really think I can manage.” It was time to admit her thinking. “If I’m working, I won’t have the chance to think about last night and, for the time being, I’d rather keep that as far from my mind as I can.”

[Alan]

He considered her words carefully for a few, long, moments, his face blank and expressionless. Alan knew he was well within his rights as her boss to send her home – she couldn't work if she was too tired and if she fell over and cracked her head open there could be a law suit on his hands. Those bloody health and safety rules meant that he was almost obligated to send her home where should couldn't damage herself in front of witness.

“Okay.” Alan agreed simply, leaning back in his seat, still watching her intently, as if he could see inside at her very soul. Sending her home wouldn't help, he knew only too well how brooding at home only made things worse and if Iris said she was able to work, then he would put her to good use. At least this way he could keep a discreet eye on her.

[Iris]

“Thank you,” Iris said gratefully. She knew that some would have preferred to go home after what she had been through last night, but that was the last thing she wanted. She would much, much rather keep her mind occupied with work then allow herself to be idle enough to allow her mind to wander back to the events of the previous night. Iris was absolutely certain that she was perfectly okay to work.

“So long as I’m here, I’ll give you the memory card with the pictures you asked for.” She dug into her bad and pulled out the camera’s memory card. Everything was digital these days and she knew that her boss’s computer had a memory card reader. Pulling the little card out of the camera, she put it on his desk and hoped that she wouldn’t have to look through the photos. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet or if she ever would be.

[Alan]

He nodded again, simply watching her carefully. Alan was less than certain as to her ability to work and work well right now – he had seen people in similar situations claim similar things, just trying to block the memories from their minds and he was convinced she was the same. Alan would let her work however, let her do what she wished and honour that. He would just have someone he could trust keep an ever so subtle eye on her.

Alan reached out, touching the memory card lightly with a finger, thoughtfully considering it. He was sure Iris would have thought of this already but even so, it had to be asked. “Is there anything on this that would help the police? Or anything that would help us?” The two questions were not the same thing and he knew she would know that. The gentle approach was probably the best way to handle her for the moment.