"Hey, boss...can I talk to you?"
The silver haired man put down his glasses and looked up from the morning print draft at her.
"Make it quick, Lucy."
The red-haired girl smiled nervously and stood in front of the door to his office, her hand on the knob.
"Well, today's the 168th Annual International Affairs conference and, well, I see they forgot to give me an entrance pass."
The man gave her a sharp glance then put his glasses back on and continued checking the material in his hands.
"We're the press Lucy. If they don't want us in, we go by force. Who cares about an entrance pass?"
The girl stared at him in disbelief.
"Sir, the staff won't let anyone in without a pass! Besides, even Toby got one"
"Then use Toby's." came the uninterested reply.
"Switch with each other, I don't care. You're just the photographer. Take a few snaps of this and leave. Why do you care about this conference anyway?"
"Well, sir, it's the first time that the conference is being held in my hometown. A lot of important world leaders will be there… it makes me kind of excited to see how the fates of the world are decided for us, you know?" the girl said while looking to the side, avoiding eye contact.
"You're interested in politics?"
"Y-yea…kind of…more like...I'm interested in power"
The man lifted his gaze from the paper to look at her again, but didn't interrupt her.
"More specifically, I like the idea of power. I want to know how powerful people view the world. How they talk, how they act, how they think…how their decisions shape the future of millions…it's like being in the presence of superior beings...it feels overwhelming and enticing!"
"A young person fascinated by politics...heh… and a woman no less. Never thought I'd meet one of you!" he chuckled to himself.
"Very well, if you're that much into it, I'll call the organizers to get you a full pass for the event." he added, waving her off with one hand.
The girls' eyes lit up and a large smile grew from ear to ear.
"Thank you, sir!"
The girl opened the door and turned around to leave.
"Oh and Lucy" the man called after her.
"Yes?" she asked, grabbing the closing door in front of her.
"I want you to give me your review of the event after this. I'm curious to read about it from your perspective. Who knows, maybe Toby could use some of that for his article."
The girl nodded happily and swung the door closed behind her.
Lucy sat down in the press section, her hands gripped tightly on the camera. She was excited to be here, but more than anything, she was excited at her boss' proposal.
'My first published article' she thought. Even though the chance was small, she didn't care. She still wanted to believe her writing will get the recognition it deserved.
Even though she was hired as a photographer, she always knew, the reason she applied was to see her name on a world-changing artilce. Her interest in politics also stemmed from that.
Truth be told, even though she was only Toby's assistant, she was the one who did all the research for his articles. She longed to have her name go down in history for her work, but so far, she was always in his shadow. She liked Toby, but she felt like she deserved better for all the time she put into helping him meet his deadlines.
Maybe it was jealousy that brought her here? Of who, exactly?
She watched the debate, but it all felt like background noise. She detached herself from reality, her mind going off into a dream about her future. One where the people behind the desks were the ones asking HER opinions on the matter and she was looking down on them smugly.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when a loud clapping noise erupted from the audience as the president finished his speech. She didn't catch what he said, but the crowd seemed to agree with him.
"Now, are there any questions?" he asked into his microphone.
Lucy took a couple of snapshots as a bunch of hands raised one after the other and the chatter in the press section started getting louder and louder around her.
The president smiled at the eager bunch and glanced around the hall at the animated participants. Then his smile disappeared and he lightly bit his lower lip.
As if waiting for everyone else to finish,a hand raised ever so slowly in one of the back rows.
The mumbling stopped and the room grew silent almost instantly. Lucy frowned at the uncomfortable mood around her and turned to look at the person who imposed this kind of respect in her peers.
In the far back, a man sat quietly with his legs crossed, his arm still the air. A large confident smile spread across his lips, his long purple fringe covering his eyes.
'Purple hair, huh' she thought. While it wasn't unheard of to have unusual hair colors, the number of people with natural striking hair was much lower than it used to be. According to history books, hair of all colors used to be quite common in the old days, but people with those genes either fizzled out with time, or the gene stopped being passed down through the generations. She considered it lucky to inherit her natural red hair from her grandmother, since it was a color that both stood out, yet looked natural enough for her to not be seen as some kind of rebel.
Still, this guy didn't look like the type to dye his hair. Everything about him seemed to point to a person of high political standings. True that his brightly colored suit wasn't exactly in good taste, but there was something about the way his tie was tucked in and his chin length hair was tied back that gave off an aura of expertise and sophistication.
"Yes, I have a few questions" he finally spoke with a calm tone, the smile never fading from his lips.
The president answered each and every one of his points, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. It took a few moments after he was done for the audience to get back to their whispering and noisy gossip.
Lucy couldn't help but feel as if the man in the audience was the one holding the authority in this conversation and not the president himself. She snapped a few quick pictures of him then turned to look at the podium.
The president sighed lightly into his chair, as if he got over a hurdle, then stood up and retired without saying anything else, much to the public's dismay.
It was over? Just like that? Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, but also intrigued. She turned around to see the man was gone. When did he leave?
This was strange, she thought, but an interesting kind of strange. Like a mystery beckoning her to solve it.
Just who was that man and what was going on?
The conference continued as expected, but the man never returned. 2 hours later, Lucy was walking through the parking lot, a myriad of questions flowing through her mind.
She walked up to a car with her colleague waiting for her behind the driver's seat.
"Hey, Lucy! Did you get any good pictures?"
She nodded absently, her mind still stuck on that Q&A session.
"Well hop in and let's get back to office" Toby smiled, starting the engine.
Lucy got into the back seat of the car, looking at the stills on the digital camera as the car drove away.
She browsed through the photos until she got to the ones with the strange man from earlier. He was on the other side of balcony from where she stood, so the pictures turned out somewhat blurry in a crowd of other blurry faces, but his purple hair made him easy to find.
'Why does it feel like I've seen this man before?' she frowned while staring at the picture.
She couldn't wait to get home that day.
