mxtiasfranco:
Matias walked in, took a seat and crossed his legs, pulling out his notepad. “Uh…” he flipped back, searching for the right name in his notes, but struggled to find it. “I just need a quote for the President’s Daily Briefing.” He didn’t look up at Henry, but his eyes scanned the handwritten pages, still searching for the information that he wanted.
Then, it popped up: Hartley worked closely with Senator Sanford on building the Impeachment Process.
He looked up at Henry, pen in hand. “I understand that you worked closely with…” he looked down at his notes again, just for a double check. And then he realized the senator dropped before his name and realized that someone on the staff meeting had majorly fucked up and now he was stuck in a meeting with an useless Representative. “…Representative Hartley on the Impeachment process?” he continued, almost desperately. He looked down, had an ounce of self-respect — and respect towards the representative — and corrected himself. “…wait, no.” Rookie mistake, Matias, rookie. Don’t fuck up, don’t fuck up.
He pretended to read deeper into his notes. “Sorry… that was Senator Sanford, right?” He asked, already knowing what the answer would be. Maybe he was being too judgy, but Representative Sanford seemed like an extension of Senator Sanford and that was the worst fate he could picture.
Because regardless of the “Representative Sanford” on the bottom of the voting, anyone with two brain cells could put two and two together and see that this tall mass of a man was just a puppet to his father’s wishes. But that was just Matias being a hypocrite again. At least he refused to be his mother’s puppet. Maybe Henry was just a coward.
Instead, he begins again, deciding to give him a chance to prove himself. Make his name noteworthy in the White House, build a career of his own. “Well, now that the process moved from the House of Representatives…” he struggles for the word, because he doesn’t know what to ask. The process has been too transparent, and there aren’t many questions left to ask. He can’t get a quote on an opinion either. Fuck. He improvises. “..could you talk a little about that? A roundup of the final hearings in the House and what was decided, who did what.”
“I’ll try my best to help you out.” Even if he had the jitters, it didn’t mean that he was as wholly unprepared as one might expect him. He had, after all, been under the tutelage of his father in the ways of the world and politics since he was born. So when the man said that he needed a personal quote for him for the President’s Daily Briefing, he can’t help but be put on a slight edge. The briefing was not a newspaper. What was he needed for, exactly? Then, when the particular topic came up, he can’t help but feel like he’s being led into a trap. Or at least, his father had told him to expect anything and everything to potentially be one. Always think first before you speak. And don’t say anything you wouldn’t want recounted in a congressional hearing. His father was a wise man and he would heed his advice to the letter. And indeed, when his father was mentioned, he cannot help but feel like someone was trying to get to him through him. No doubt anyone might assume that his father would have told him everything that he might have done. The easy smile remained on his lips, of a gentler nature than his father’s. “You would have to ask the senator that. I couldn’t possibly comment,” he said apologetically, as if he was truly sorry. “Um, well, there are some recorded notes on the hearings, which would do a much better job at summarizing what occurred than I could. Truth be told, it’s still taking some time to remember who everyone is.” He played off at being new and naive rather well (because it was mostly true). “I could get a copy of those official notes for you, if you need?” He asked helpfully, though imagined that the other man, or the department he worked, should have been able to get access to him .Which made his presence here quite strange. “DNI,” he hummed, as if zoning out for a moment. “Does that make you a spy like, James Bond?” He mused. “Shame we don’t have a cool spy of our own, don’t you think? No offense to Tom Cruise or Matt Damon, but they’re not really the same level, do you know what I mean?”