Caspian Ashwood (President of Panem)
"Congratulations, sir," beams Tranquila. Her voice light and bubbly as she glides across the room to retrieve the bottle of champagne I set aside this morning for the two of us to celebrate with. "I had my doubts, especially when it came to the quality of the new escorts, but things went about as well as could have been expected, all things considered."
"Things definitely could have gone worse," I admit, returning from my study with a pair of elegant crystal champagne flutes and a surprisingly difficult-to-find champagne opener. "There are a few things that will have to be tightened up moving forward. But on the whole, I agree. Things went pretty well. Minus that near disaster in Five, that is."
"I was worried you were going to say that," she moans, gliding back into the sitting room with the bottle held loosely in her hand and a concerned look on her face. "Please tell me you're not thinking about doing something about that."
"There's no thinking involved," I admit, my tone flat and matter-of-fact. "I've already decided how I'm going to handle it."
Her look of concern deepens as she sets the bottle of champagne down on the table next to the flutes before scooping up the opener and sliding it over the top of the bottle. "And would you care to run that decision by your chief of staff?"
"You know, I thought about it," I joke, a playful smile on my face that her glare says she is in no mood to deal with. "But I decided not to.
"You see, she and I have big plans for this afternoon. And the last thing I want to do is kill the mood by talking business. Especially since she lacks the stomach for things of this nature."
"I do not lack the stomach for things of this nature," she retorts, her voice hard and angry. "I simply don't understand why you feel the need to resort to extreme measures right away. There are other, gentler ways of handling issues like this, Caspian. You used to know that."
"And I still do. But as President, I don't always have the luxury of taking the high road on these things. Sometimes I have to make difficult and uncomfortable decisions because that's what's best for Panem.
"We've had this discussion before, Tranquila. On more than one occasion."
"I know that," she says, carefully removing the cork from the bottle and tossing both it and the opener aside before sliding the bottle over to me so I can fill the glasses. "That doesn't mean I have to agree with your decisions or reasons."
"No, it doesn't," I say, handing her a half-full flute of perfectly chilled champagne before taking a small sip from my flute as it becomes painfully clear that discussing this, however briefly, did, in fact, kill the mood.
But both of us are far too stubborn to admit that's the case. So, we spend the next few minutes trying to recapture the magic we just lost. But all the idle small talk and exquisite champagne in the world can't fix this. And once we both finally accept that for what it is, it only takes a couple of seconds for me to switch back into work mode.
"Well, now that I've successfully ruined our celebration, there are a few things I'd like to show you in my office, Tranquila. If you're in the mood to look them over, that is."
"Am I going to like anything I see?" she asks, draining the last few swallows of champagne from her flute before gently setting it down next to the now-forgotten bottle and falling in step beside me.
"Probably not," I admit, handing my now empty flute to a passing avox as I make my way through the cavernous halls of the Presidential Mansion. "But you are my chief of staff. And it occurs to me that I may not be keeping you as in the loop as I should on certain matters."
I can tell that she doesn't like where this is going, even if she isn't willing to say so. Her eyes, which have always been a window into her soul, tell me everything I need to know. She's afraid of what I'm about to show her, but she also desperately wants me to show it to her anyway. Because, in her heart of hearts, she wants me to be able to trust her with this dirty work. She wants to get her hands dirty, but she doesn't know how.
And that's perfectly fine, because I'm more than willing to teach her.
I have big plans for Tranquila's future. Plans that hinge on her willingness to — for lack of a better term — grow up and accept that the real world is a lot darker and messier than she likes to think it is — Which is why I've decided to bring her in on this.
She's not going to like it — and there's a good chance she won't be speaking to me in a non-official capacity once all of this is over — but it will go a long way towards showing me if she's anywhere near ready for the job I have in mind for her.
"Please, come in," I say, bowing slightly and shooting her a warm, reassuring smile as I hold the door to my office open for her.
She offers me a timid nod in response before cautiously making her way into the chilly, dimly lit confines of my office and making a beeline for the chair in front of my desk. Her shoulders hard and tense, her soft gray eyes burning with fear as I casually follow suit, sliding into my seat across from her and shuffling through the stack of folders on my desk in search of the ones I want her to look at.
"It's cold in here," she finally says, her voice soft and low with just the faintest hint of a quiver. "How do you get any work done when it's this cold?"
"I like the cold," I admit, smiling softly to myself as I finally locate the folders I want. "It helps keep me focused on my work," I say, casually sliding the trio of folders over to her and leaning back in my chair. "But I can turn the heat up if you'd like."
"Please," she says, picking up the top folder and staring down nervously at the words TOP SECRET stamped in the middle before hesitantly opening it up and glancing at the report nestled safely within.
"This isn't about the boy from Five!?"
"No, it's not."
"Why isn't it about the boy from Five?"
"Because I've already decided how to handle him. And when the time comes, I'll relay my decision and expectations to Tiberius and his staff. I don't need your help with that.
"I need your help in deciding how to deal with the ..."
"Victors," she whispers.
"Exactly."
"Why would you want my help with this?" she asks, her lip quivering as the blood drains from her face. "You know how I feel about this decision."
"I do," I admit, leaning forward in my chair and resting my chin on my hands. "But I'm considering naming you as Tiberius's successor as Head Gamemaker, and I need to know that you're capable of handling difficult and potentially unsavory decisions before I do."
"And this is how you've decided to test me?"
"It is. If you're capable of making an informed and calculated decision about something as emotionally charged for you as deciding whether a former victor will live or die. Then you're more than capable of making any difficult decisions you might face as Head Gamemaker.
"Shall we begin?" I ask, raising my brow expectantly, a soft, coy little smile on my lips.
I can tell that a part of her, a very large, very loud part, desperately wants to say no. But she can't bring herself to do it. Not if it means shutting the door on the chance at getting a taste of the real power and responsibility she's always craved.
Again, her eyes, those beautiful little gray windows into her soul, tell me everything I need to know. She's going to say yes. She may not want to, but that's not going to stop her. It's just a matter of how hard she's willing to fight herself on it.
"Ok, where do we start?"
"With our oldest living victor. …"
A/N: Hello all, I don't have a lot to say about this chapter, everything is pretty much out there in the open and what's not is secret for a reason ;) lol
So, I'll simply ask what you think it is the President has in store for poor Shirley? As well as what you think of his plans for the victors?
A/N #2: Now we get to the part of the note you've all been waiting for, the sponsorship announcements! So, I wasn't originally planning on doing anything big with this, I haven't in the past, but it's one of the things that's been requested. So, I've come up with a basic plan to cover this story which may evolve into something more robust in future ones.
The basic plan will be that, at certain points in the story, sponsor gifts will go out and I'll be coming to all of you via poll to find out who should get the gift and what it should be. These won't be anything major, I'll be keeping those decisions to myself for this story, but they will be small and impactful gifts that could swing the tide in some situations. It all depends on what you want to give and who you want to give it to.
I think this will add a fun twist to things and give you all a reason to read the in arena updates and vote in the polls if you're interested, and I'm hoping that will be the case. If it doesn't work, no harm done. But if it does, it'll make things more fun for all of us.
So that's the plan. If you have any suggestions on how to do it or how to do it better, please let me know. Again, this is a new thing for me, and I want to make it work. So don't be afraid to send me a PM with any comments or suggestions you have on the idea.
Other than that, please review and let me know what you think of the chapter, and I'll be looking for all of your happy faces at the first Train Ride chapter soon :D