A/N: Entry for Fictober 2018, day 20.
Prompt: "I hope you have a speech prepared."
There was a time when the Daily Punctilio was not as untrustworthy as it is now. Eleanora Poe once was a journalist that like many of her peers believed in telling the truth no matter what. That was before she met the strange man who had way too much interest in what go published in her newspaper, before Geraldine Julienne had so much power in there, before Eleanora saw herself pushed and pulled and manipulated by so many that she felt like a powerless puppet.
Though, as she found, she had been pushed and pulled and manipulated from the start, since before the first edition of the Punctilio was published, since when she was just a student with big dreams.
Still, she misses that time, before the man and when Geraldine knew her place. The time when she still had a bit of integrity left. Things were happier. Even in the offices, she felt such a good energy from her team, that she misses even the bickering. As she sits in front of an old typewriter in the empty room, she closes her eyes and she can almost see it.
Geraldine would be sitting right in front of her, sipping a cup of coffee that had too much milk and too much sugar. There would be a half typed piece in her typewriter, with so many errors that it would make the spell-checkers cry. She would turn around and complain to someone about some silly matter. Eleanora preferred that Geraldine than present's Geraldine, that lying bitch.
Still in front of her, beside Geraldine, would be Jacques Snicket. Eleanora missed him. That was a great journalist if she ever saw one. He gave his everything to his work. His pieces were all wonderfully written, coherent, realistic, but still with the choice of words of a poet. They were a delight to read. He would scold Geraldine for her complaining, to which the girl would reply with a childish remark.
Behind Jacques was the Winnipeg heiress. Eleanora had been hesitant to hire her, despite all the good recommendations, afraid that having a member of foreign royalty would taint her newspaper's reputation. She did not regret hiring her. She was intelligent and observant, and surprisingly disciplined. It was a nice bonus that she also paid for drinks for all her coworkers. She usually avoided the bickering, only adding some amazing comebacks when everyone less expected it.
Beside her sat the cause of about half the bickering, Jacques' brother Lemony. He arrived with a good recommendation letter but no experience to show, which got him a position as an assistant obituary spell-checker. There hadn't been any deaths recently, so what he currently had on his desk was not work but one of Geraldine's pieces. He held a handkerchief in one hand, but the tears didn't stop him from scolding the reporter.
Last, near the back wall sat the intern, who never participated in such discussions.
"N-O-W-L-E-G-E. What even were you trying to write?" Lemony said, in the superior tone he used often.
"Excuse me, who are you again?" Geraldine teased, not even turning to him.
"Someone who can actually spell."
"You may be able to spell," Geraldine said, smiling, "but you are not a real journalist. So have fun insulting me, but remember that at the end of the day what you think don't really matter."
"Geraldine, please-" Jacques started, but was interrupted by the reporter.
"Let your little brother fight his own fights, will you?"
"At the end of the day, I am still right, and you are still wrong." Lemony retorted.
Geraldine leaned against her seat.
"The assistant spell-checker is someone now. Someone give him a prize. I hope you have a speech prepared." She said, rolling her eyes.
"Even a speech for the most pointless award would still be better than the trash you write."
"Get a real job and then you can talk to me, Lemon Head."
Lemony was about to stand up but Winnipeg stopped him by placing a hand on his chest.
"It's not worth it." She said.
He replied, but his voice was too low for Eleanora to hear it. The two kept whispering for a while, as Jacques apologized to Geraldine and Geraldine kept drinking her coffee.
"Does anyone want a drink?" The intern suddenly stood up. "Mr. Snicket? Your grace?"
"Thank you, I am good." Jacques replied.
"No, thank you." Winnipeg said. "And please call me R."
The intern nodded and walked to the front of the room.
"I want-" Lemony started as the intern passed by him.
"Get it yourself." The intern replied harshly. "Ms. Julienne? Ms. Poe?"
Geraldine quickly finished her cup and handed it to the intern.
"Another one of these, sweetie. Don't forget the sugar."
Eleanora shook her head and pointed to her thermos. The intern nodded and left the room.
"They're cute." Geraldine commented. It was clear that she didn't mean "cute" as "physically attractive", but as "someone who is trying hard but won't ever get on my level". It was also clear that she didn't remember the intern's name or preferred pronouns.
"She is a hard worker. I am thinking of promoting her." Eleanora said.
Geraldine giggled.
"Promoting her to what? She only gets us coffee."
"She is a journalist, actually. I think she would be a great addition to our team."
The reporter laughed as if she had just heard a joke. Jacques lightly hit her shoulder with rolled paper.
"That's rude."
"Okay, maybe the intern can join your brother in the spell-checking hell." Geraldine said, still laughing.
Eleanora shook her head.
"I am the editor-in-chief here, Gi, not you."
"Sorry, it was only a joke." Geraldine rolled her eyes.
Someone knocked on the door and opened it. It was a reporter from another office.
"Where is the obituary guy?"
Lemony stood up and received some papers from the man.
"But El, if you promote the coffee girl, who will get my coffee?" Geraldine asked.
Eleanora watched as Lemony walked back to his desk, read one line, and looked weirdly at Winnipeg. The heiress was typing and didn't seem to notice it. She started explaining to her reporter that she was not too busy to get her own coffee.
The atmosphere felt good to Eleanora, who didn't know that was the beginning of the end. She discussed coffee and hierarchies with Geraldine, while Jacques and Winnipeg each typed their pieces, while Lemony grabbed a blank paper without anyone noticing and started typing a letter that had nothing to do with his work. The intern wouldn't get to be promoted. The team would soon start going through drastic changes.