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Post by Teja on Nov 4, 2019 13:40:00 GMT -5
An idea formed in Teja's mind - a terrible idea, an ambitious and arrogant idea - that she couldn't seem to suppress.
Lukas Ashton was young and foolish and had no idea what he was doing, and his motives in saving the world were largely a desire for positive attention. That was the opinion she had formed of him, and she didn't expect his speech to change it; Teja was, she was fairly certain, an accurate if cynical judge of character.
But. At the same time. Ashton was motivated by a desire for positive attention, not just any attention at all. He wanted to be mayor - to save the city - in enough of a general sense to throw himself into the race, with all of the apparent wealth he had to back himself, even with limited connections - but he wanted to win for a very specific reason. He just didn't know how to accomplish that goal. He didn't have the know-how to save the world.
It just so happened someone at this table seemed to.... Even if it wasn't Teja.
She thought of the earlier conversation about housing.
"I mean, the housing situation's a bit of a mess. Mr. Veidt's had some opinions on that."
If anyone could pick up on this - if it were anything worth picking up on - she had learned enough about this man from Megan to suppose Veidt could.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Nov 4, 2019 14:13:22 GMT -5
"The city agencies have proven notoriously poor at handling it," Veidt cut in. "With all due respect, it's a matter I would prefer to handle myself- no offense, of course."
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Post by Teja on Nov 4, 2019 14:15:25 GMT -5
"What exactly would you expect a mayor to do, then?" she asked, both a little testy and with an ulterior motive in mind.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Nov 4, 2019 16:12:50 GMT -5
Veidt watched her for a moment longer, his eyes narrowing in consideration.
"I think we've come to an independent agreement on what a mayor ought to be doing."
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Post by Teja on Nov 4, 2019 16:22:16 GMT -5
"But it seems that Mr. Ashton could use the advice from a more seasoned political actor," she said with a sliver of a smile.
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Nov 4, 2019 16:41:52 GMT -5
Ashton laughed weakly and looked at Megan, with a little pointing gesture between Teja and Veidt.
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Post by Megan on Nov 4, 2019 16:43:39 GMT -5
Megan shrugged and sipped her water.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Nov 4, 2019 16:48:08 GMT -5
"Oh, of course," said Veidt, meeting the girl's smile with one of his own. It made his eyes crinkle pleasantly- almost warmly.
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Nov 4, 2019 17:45:15 GMT -5
“I’m sorry, didn’t you just say you didn’t want to be involved in politics-“
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Nov 4, 2019 17:46:06 GMT -5
“Didn’t you imply that I’m the only one here you want to impress?” Veidt retorted. "Impress me, and we'll talk."
He waved his hand around the room.
"In the open. No backroom deals."
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Post by Megan on Nov 4, 2019 19:01:19 GMT -5
"I feel like I should be placing bets," Megan murmured at Teja, with an intrigued sort of grin.
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Post by Teja on Nov 4, 2019 19:48:15 GMT -5
Teja crossed her fingers underneath the table.
Half an hour later she was listening to Megan chat in the unflattering neon bathroom lights again, and other women besides- the bathroom was slightly abuzz with chatter. Young Lukas Ashton was the kind of political candidate that was popular for some of the wrong reasons... as well as all of the right ones.
It was funny; in retrospect she couldn't remember a lot of what he'd actually said. The painstakingly-chosen and not infrequently vague things he'd said to Adrian she remembered better, but the speech had been almost hypnotically hard to recall. What stuck out to her most was the fervor with which he'd said them. How bright and sincere his eyes were as he spoke on the hypocrisy and decay of upper classes, the promises reneged... She was certain he'd said "promises reneged", at some point. His bold statements about a world where children don't look up into the stars in fright. That had garnered applause.
She had thought Adrian Veidt had startled at that, but she hadn't been paying him much attention at that point. She was swayed and surprised that she was, since he had not put on a great show before then. So he was sincere... And he was a good speech-maker. Evita arms, Megan would say. Or perhaps Megan had already said. Teja had to tune herself back in to hear her friend, pausing in the retouching of her makeup.
Sometimes it was hard to discern one specific person's voice out of a sea, and here were a lot of women with the same idea in mind - the need to recoup, retouch, and apparently daydream about a Lukas Ashton. But Teja thought, here Megan and I actually got to dance with him, so there.
"Did you think he sounded like he was from South Dakota?" she asked point blank.
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Post by Megan on Nov 4, 2019 20:05:01 GMT -5
"Not at all," Megan said blithely. "He might have been adopted older, though- or his parents moved there."
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Post by Teja on Nov 4, 2019 20:12:00 GMT -5
"Hmm."
It would have been an odd thing to lie about, but he hadn't really seemed like he was from a small town in South Dakota. There was something pretentious and haughty he was struggling to cover up that didn't gel with Teja's experience of small town Americana. But why would anyone lie about that?
"You're probably going to see him again," said Teja with a fleeting smile. "If Adrian takes to him."
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Post by Megan on Nov 4, 2019 20:20:33 GMT -5
"Only fleetingly, probably," Megan admitted. "The truth is, I don't think Adrian really needs me as much as he allows people to think he needs an assistant. I'm sort of part of his image, you know? A normal CEO needs a secretary there to take notes. I don't think he does. I think if he wants to manage Ashton, he'll probably do that on his own."
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