Take a guess on who our new character is. And I wrote this even before the episode aired :)
Chapter 7
"I don't really see how this is necessary."
"Complain all you want Adam but I am not going to be leaving the parking lot of the Vault without you," grumbled Ethan Dove as the two of them drove to the interview of Zozo Greene. Ethan was due back the following week. But when Killian, Emma and David had informed the taller man what was going to transpire at lunch today, Ethan Dove waited by his editor's car and held out his hand for the keys.
Gold could only glare as he handed the man his car keys and got in the passenger seat. "Ethan, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"I trust you," said Ethan, focusing on the road. "It's Greene I have my doubts."
"It's not like he can do a bloody thing while we're in a public place," grumbled Gold as he leaned back in the passenger seat.
"The Vault is his second liar, Adam," replied Dove. "No way is that considered a public place."
"Well there'll still be other people there besides Greene and myself," argued Gold. "But you want to waste your time waiting in my car, then so be it."
"I won't be wasting my time," mumbled Dove. "Don't you know how many people want updates on your little interview today. Milah has asked me to check-in every five minutes, Regina every ten. Not to mention our entire section wanting any updates as soon as they come."
"What is this? A live broadcast or something?" complained Gold, glaring at his writer. "Nothing is going to happen in this interview."
"And everyone is praying for that," said Dove as he made the final turn towards The Vault. Dove parked the car and Gold immediately got out and slammed his door closed.
"And what are you supposed to eat then?" asked Gold as Dove got out of the car as well and Gold glared at him over the car's roof. "It's not like I can invite you in."
"I came prepared," replied Dove, showing his editor the backpack he had with him. "Food, binoculars, basically a stakeout kit. I even have a first-aid kit just in case."
Gold rolled his eyes in annoyance as he sighed and leaned his hands on the roof of the car. Dove knew this look. Gold was nervous and he had every reason to be. "Boss, I'll be here. In case anything goes south, I'm here and I'll alert Graham and the rest as soon as possible."
"It's not that," said Gold, keeping his gaze on the ground. "Just…stay here." Gold walked up to the restaurant without another word and Dove got back inside the car.
It wasn't that Gold didn't appreciate the concern from all his colleagues and friends. But that concern was putting them at risk. Gold could stomach being in danger, for himself. As Milah had once told him, he has no concern for himself whatsoever. But for other people? Gold would willingly use his own body as a shield for anyone he cares about. If he was going to go after Greene, then let the man come after him and nobody else.
Dove got hurt because of him. This time, Greene was going to hurt anyone else. Gold would handle this by himself to make sure nobody he cares about gets hurt again.
True to his word, Greene had reserved a booth near the back of the restaurant and from experience Gold knew that those parts of the Vault were usually reserved for high paying customers.
"Ah Adam!" said Greene as he caught site of the editor. To Gold's surprise, the table had two other occupants. "Just in time."
"Mr. Greene," greeted Gold politely, taking the offered hand. "I wasn't expecting other interviewees."
"Oh we're going to be heading out already," came the flirtatious reply from Zelena Greene, Zozo's only daughter from his first marriage. Gold had to bite down a groan.
"You remember my daughter Zelena, don't you," asked Zozo as Zelena stood and took Gold's hand without the man offering it.
"How can I forget?" mumbled Gold but gave the redhead a smile as she shook his hand. "Ms. Greene."
"Oh Mr. Gold please," replied Zelena, not letting go of his hand. 'Call me Zelena."
Gold couldn't help but shudder at the thought. Zelena Greene had been to many events with her father and Gold had many the unfortunate circumstances of crossing paths with her and her very curious and wandering hands. He still couldn't believe what Emma and Mary Margaret had told him before, back when they had attended a benefit. Both women of his staff had pointed out that Zelena was attracted to him. Him of all people?
Zelena was young, beautiful yes but certainly not his time and with the age difference shouldn't be her type as well. But the girl still followed him like a predator to its prey every time they are in the same vicinity.
"We'd best leave these two to their interview, my dear," came the voice of another woman and Gold turned to her and he was met with the same brown eyes. "Go easy on my husband, Mr. Gold."
"My duty is to help people decide on a candidate Mrs. Greene," replied Gold, not breaking the eye contact with the older woman. Gold felt uneasy around her, more so than with Zozo Greene and that was already unsettling. He needed to watch out for this woman as well. "I can always promise to be unbiased for this interview."
"That's all we can ask," replied Mrs. Greene with a ghost of a smile. "Come Zelena."
Looked like he had to watch out for all the members of the Greene family. He just didn't know which one was the most dangerous.
"It was nice seeing you again, Mr. Gold," said Zelena as she placed a hand on Gold's arm, the motion caressing and her eyes told a whole different story.
Most dangerous...yup Zelena.
Gold cleared his throat as the two women left and he and Zozo remained standing. Zozo motioned with his hand for Gold to sit and they did so at the same time.
"I don't know about you but I am famished," said Zozo as he ordered and the waiter for Gold to decide. The interview would be after they had eaten and basically this was the prelude to Gold's...well he himself didn't know but whatever was going to happen, it was going to decide the stalemate that he and Greene had been in since Dove was put in the hospital.
Winning wasn't a concrete thing in this war between the Times and Greene...well it was more of Gold and Greene these days with Gold wanting nothing more than to best Greene in anything really. May it be at words games, this interview or actually managing to pin something on the man that could land him in jail or a big controversy that will make sure he won't get elected. Either way, it was time for Gold to up his ante.
"So who gets to be published this Sunday?" asked Zozo as they ate. The interview was after they had cleaned their plates but of course silence wasn't something Zozo liked especially with company like Adam Rumford Gold.
"We did a piece of the same nature with Minister Peter Malcolm," said Gold, trying to keep his voice neutral as possible. "He's said before that after this term, he was going to retire. We try and do a feature on retiring public figures as much as we can."
"It is a sad time for the Education sector to see Peter retire," began Greene. "But I guess he would prefer to spend the remainder of his life in quiet retirement with Felix."
"Yes," began Gold. "We managed to talk to him this week as well. That'll start of our election special."
And that was it, the talks have moved to the election and Gold had readied his recorder and notebook to jot down some notes. Greene was true to his word. He was well-versed with the current issues that current politicians were facing and he had a plan for many of them.
But as Gold soon found out, his primary focus was on the budget and finance sectors. No surprise there. Greene would of course go to where the money was. He continued to talk about utilizing the private sector to help with some infrastructure developments and that there was no harm in the cooperation of government offices and businesses. Gold had to bite back his retort or any comment for that matter.
The interview continued and Gold knew Greene was in it to impress. The man had studied up and did his homework...politically. But Gold still had something up his sleeve.
"I guess that's the technical side of it," said Gold as he studied his notes.
"Well that was rather enjoyable," replied Greene. "Is there anything else, Adam?"
"Yes, that was just the first part, Mr. Greene," replied Gold as he unfolded a paper from his jacket. "This being a feature piece, we try to make our introduction and writing not as straightforward as possible. The objective of the piece is to help voters get to know their candidates, public and private life." Gold had emphasized the second to the last word and Greene wasn't taken aback by it, although Gold did notice him stiffen. He wasn't prepared for questions of this nature and Gold refrained from smiling.
"Painting a picture that candidates are ordinary people as well," said Greene. "Yes of course. What do you need to know?"
"Oh the usual things," said Gold. "Date of birth, school graduated, married life-"
"I don't think married life is an important aspect of-"
"We use it most of the time, Mr. Greene," said Gold which was true since they would either squeeze in facts and tidbits about the candidates within the articles. "It pretty much humanizes the candidates, that whatever us ordinary citizens are going through, candidates do them as well. It is known that voters tend to go with candidates that are similar to their own lives."
Gold knew Greene was running over what he could say inside that manipulative brain of his and Gold did not wait to give him a fighting chance. "You were first married to Glinda White weren't you?"
"Yes, I was," said Greene, the usual spring in his voice gone. "Married for about 10 years before her risk-taking tendencies with businesses and stocks got her. I filed for divorce just as she was about to turn us bankrupt. I had Zelena to look after of course."
"And you met the current Mrs. Greene when exactly?" asked Gold.
"Five years after my divorce," replied Greene. "I was in the United Kingdom for a conference and she lived there of course but I guess you could say love makes us do crazy things. I flew in and out of the UK for a year or two until we finally decided to marry. And married we have ever since."
"I understand Mrs. Greene was also previously married?" began Gold, checking his own data in his head to be sure.
"Yes, but unfortunately my wife's previous husband died during a car accident, along with their daughter." explained Greene. "She never really thought about having another child herself but she welcomed Zelena with open arms."
"You've been quoted saying that Mrs. Greene was your lucky charm," continued Gold. "Care to elaborate?"
"Well business turned in my favor ever since I married her," said Greene, slowly as though thinking his words over his head. "When I was doing business with Glinda, it was always about taking risks...but afterwards I had to think about the long term effects and all that."
"Of course," said Gold, noting that down. "Did you ever wonder whatever happened with your previous wife? As I understand, she was reported missing a year after you had your falling out."
"It wasn't a falling out per se," began Greene, his voice suddenly sharp. "We grew apart yes but we decided to remain friends."
"I think that was a one sided decision, Mr. Greene," began Gold. "She was quoted to say that the years she spent with you were the worst of her life and that if she could stop herself from doing so, she would."
"She could have been drunk when she said that, no surprises there," replied Greene all too quickly. "We fell out of love but we remained friends and I was saddened to hear of her disappearance. I did warn her that her reckless business deals would eventually get her back. She was close to hitting the big zero with her investments at that time and I was told that she was dealing with some frowned upon people."
"The case was considered cold with no leads after some time," began Gold. "Do you ever wish you found out what had happened to her?"
"There's only one option for that Mr. Gold," replied Greene and Gold noted the change from Adam to the more formal title. "But one can hope. I do think it's the more grave option though...why would she have abandoned her own daughter if she was out there somewhere."
"So you're saying that she left on her own accord and not killed as the authorities believe," asked Gold.
"Whatever happened to her," began Greene, taking a sip from his glass. "She's no longer part of my life and I try not to dwell on the past so much. Just like you I imagine." He eyed the editor and Gold remained stoic. "The famous Adam Rumford Gold, orphaned at birth only to be found by three ladies in the marketplace in Scotland with nothing but a blanket and a small straw doll."
It was meant to be a jest but Gold knew it was an attempt to regain control of the conversation but one thing struck Gold and he filed it away to deal with later. "The cases are different, Mr. Greene. I'm sorry if I had insulted you in any manner."
"You didn't," replied Greene. "But please do explain how are the circumstances different?"
"Well how can I care about two people who gave birth to me if I had never met them in the first place," replied Gold. "You on the other hand spent 10 years with Glinda White. You had a daughter with her. You both managed her family's initial investments and businesses and when things went dire, according to yourself, you fell out of love and separated. You say that you remained friends but your ex-wife says otherwise. And then of course she disappears, never to be heard from again."
"Is there any point to this?" asked Greene, his voice dangerously low but Gold found the entire situation amusing...he had won the battle of wits and Greene could do nothing about it.
"Of course Mr. Greene," said Gold as he pocketed his notebook and recorder. "I need to get the facts straight. I wouldn't want to paint the wrong picture about a candidate such as yourself."
"Of course," said Greene through gritted teeth. He knew Gold was fishing but he dare not give the man any opening. "For my side, I've always considered Glinda my friend after our marriage ended. She's Zelena's mother and the poor girl was devastated when her mother disappeared."
Gold thought it was time to reel it in, make Greene think that conversation is a positive one. "And can you say it was also a tough time for you as well? That it served as a stepping stone to help others? You started your foundation afterwards, if I am not mistaken?"
Gold could see how Greene was taken aback. The previous line of questioning had a negative appeal but Gold had turned it 360 degrees.
"Well yes," began Greene, his voice lightening up. "We started helping children without parents get into schools...only one did manage to finish."
"Yes, Walter Oz, part of the Storybrooke Force," added Gold, feigning interest.
"The foundation then grew in supporting other causes," continued Greene and then chuckled. "If I had known this is where your line of questioning was heading, I wouldn't have snapped at you Adam. My ex-wife leaving my daughter is just a testy subject for me and I apologize."
"Leaving you, you mean," thought Gold to himself but smiled and said to Zozo, "No need for apologies Mr. Greene."
They ended the interview and Gold declined the offer of another drink.
"I can't wait to read the article," began Greene as they both stood and Gold was about to take his leave. "Thank you for today, Adam."
Gold faked a smile and retreated before he could say anything else, or ask how Zozo Greene knew that he was found in the market with a straw doll because not even Milah and Bae knew about Peter Pan.
Before he could reach the exit though, a taller man walked straight at him.
"Excuse me," said the man not bothering to turn and see who he had bumped into. "Wasn't looking, bit of a hurry."
Gold made to reply but the man soon was out of earshot, his stride not breaking and soon disappeared further into the restaurant. Gold made to brush the incident aside but that was thrown out the window when he felt a piece of paper in his pocket that wasn't there before.
We need to talk. Rather urgent. Meet you at the Crossroads at 9. - H
Gold groaned. Given the place, 'H' could only mean one person and he was not in the mood to talk to this man. He wasn't nicknamed 'Lord of the Underworld' for nothing.
Mrs. Greene was relieved to see her husband smiling as he had returned home. "I'm guessing it went well?"
"More than well," replied Zozo as he poured himself a drink. "Adam Gold may be a nuisance sometimes but he has his moments."
"Why so?"
"Using Glinda as the reason why I turned warrior for the masses," explained Zozo. "I don't doubt he might go back on what he said but this sprouted a very grand idea on my part. Maybe I don't have to stop them from digging about Glinda, I just need them to find the right bit of information."
"And withhold the rest?" asked Mrs. Greene but she had a smile on her face. In all honesty, she did not agree with Zozo's rash action of attacking the Times, it will for sure go back and hit him hard. At least with this, he could still get away with things.
"Right in one," said Zozo raising his glass to his wife. "Where's Zelena?"
"With Mr. Oz," replied Mrs. Greene, rising from her seat and walking towards her husband's desk.
"Well…" began Zozo. "At least we know what Walsh's intentions are."
"And his priorities are in check," added Mrs. Greene. "But in any event, at least we know our dear Mr. Walter Oz will never go against our wishes."
"He'll never hurt Zelena as he'll never betray us my dear," said Zozo with a sly smile. "You should really learn to trust people more."
"The word is cautious my dear Zozo," replied Mrs. Greene with a smile. "In any event, Zelena has Mr. Oz at the palm of her hand. I do feel bad that the feeling isn't mutual."
"Yeah well talk to her about it," grunted Zozo. "Why she has this infatuation with Adam Ruford Gold is beyond me."
He drained his glass before addressing his wife again. "By the way, I noticed a certain Mr. Donn at the Vault today. Pity, you missed him." The change in his tone made Mrs. Greene sigh.
"Zozo how many times do I have to tell you, Harry Donn is just a friend." said Mrs. Greene. "He's a bit eccentric yes and a huge flirt but you are my husband, are you not?"
"And wouldn't you humor your husband by no longer supplying whatever it is that Donn wants from you?" argued Zozo. "I know you've have deals in the past but can't you end it already? Donn is asking for a punch in the face and one of these days I might just give it to him."
"Did he talk to you?"
"No," came the short reply and Zozo turned back to his now empty glass.
"Did he insult you?"
"No."
"Zozo, I'm not going to even voice out what you're acting like right now," replied Mrs. Greene as she made her way out of her husband's study. "Come see me when you've grown up."
"Darling, I'm sorry," began Zozo as Mrs. Greene was halfway out the door. "It's just….that Donn really gets on my nerves even when I just see him. Thinks he's far above all of us."
"Well he is technically," said Mrs. Greene, not losing her harsh tone. "He's brothers, including him, are top players in their respective fields. Why you need to feel jealous when you yourself are respected and have a loyal wife is beyond me?"
"I know and I do apologize," said Zozo as he stood and made his way to his wife. "It's just I envy the history you share with one another and how you can clearly rely on him."
"I don't rely on him, Zozo," said Mrs. Greene. "He relies on me and I tend to maximize that."
Zozo swallowed. He hated disappointing his wife and this showcase of jealousy was one of the things she hated. She had never felt that way whenever Zozo had deals with other women but here he was at the thought of just one man being friendly with his current wife, going all green with envy.
"I'm sorry N-"
"Apology accepted and let's move on, Zozo," came the harsh reply and Mrs. Greene left the study.
Zozo sighed and rubbed the top of his head. Oh he needed to either buy an expensive set of earrings or flowers just to appease his seething wife. It was either that or invite Harry Donn to dinner and he was not going to subject himself to that torture.
Gold was surprised that it had gone past seven already. He had thought he had time to get home and changed before heading to the wine house for his meeting with Harry. Knowing the man, Gold would find him already nursing his fifth glass of wine by the time 9 o'clock arrived.
He was already turning his computer off when he noticed Ashley gathering some papers but not her own coat.
"Ashley, why are you still here?" asked Gold as he put on his own coat and turned off the lights to his office.
"Sorry," came the reply from the other side of the floor and Gold turned to see Mary Margaret sitting behind David's desk, typing furiously. "I borrowed some news archive from Ashley right when she was about to return them back there. I asked for a couple of minutes with them."
"I needed to organize them today because Killian and David said they were going to pull another set of files for their own research," explained Ashley as she gathered everything she could in her arms. "It'll eat there time if the other archives were actually here and not there."
Gold nodded as Mary Margaret finished with her typing and closed David's computer. "There, sent to my inbox. I'll help you bring those back down."
"It's after seven," began Gold. "You'll need to use the door on the side of the building to access the staircase leading down there." He studied his watch. He had time. "Why don't I help so we can get things moving faster and have you two back home to your respective boys."
The two women laughed as Gold took some files from Ashley and they headed to the Archives of Storybrooke Times. It could be accessed via the service elevator on the ground floor that only had the ground floor and the basement archives as its two serviced levels. The building usually turned the elevator off after seven and brings it back during working hours to save on energy since it's rarely used, most often only by news writers.
"What were you looking for?" asked Gold to his once writer. Gold loved Mary Margaret's style. She was gentle in interviews but her articles were very direct and had very powerful statements.
"Cultural Heritage," explained Mary Margaret. "We've had news on different landmarks and festivals around and within Storybrooke. Since I'm already Arts and Books subsec head, I wanted to balance it with culture as well."
"That's a great idea," replied Gold.
"It was actually Belle's idea," said Mary Margaret as they exited the building and headed for the side door leading to the staircase to the basement. "She's wanted to do it for ages but ever since they were swarmed with manuscripts for the publishing side of the company, she hasn't had the time to do some digging."
"I'm sure she's thrilled with her idea being set in motion," said Gold with a smile. "Nice of you to do so."
"Oh, I'm always up for ideas," replied Mary Margaret as they reached the basement. "Where to Ashley?"
"Well these are at the farthest wall," replied Ashley as she made to turn on the light but nothing happened. "That's odd. Emma and David were down here earlier today and they didn't say the light was busted." She scanned the archives and there were a few light streams from the small panel near the ceiling. "There's a bit of light, think you guys can manage?"
"Just lead the way," replied Gold as he and Mary Margaret followed Ashley to the farthest wall of the room where a set of tables and chairs were situated for those who preferred to work in the basement instead of bringing the files back to their floor.
Mary Margaret moved to another row of shelves and began putting back the files she had while Ashley and Gold dumped theirs on the table.
"That's weird," said Ashley as she lifted a folder laying on the table. "This doesn't seem to be one of our files."
"What's in it?" asked Gold, as he began sorting to the files they had brought down.
"I don't really know," began Ashely as she tried to read in the dimly lit room. "Looks like interview notes and transcripts but-"
She was cut off by Mary Margaret's scream and Gold and Ashley scrambled to find her only for Ashley to be grabbed by a man in dark clothing and wearing a ski mask. Gold immediately grabbed the man's arm and wrestled him away from Ashley. But another man grabbed Gold by his shoulders and pushed him to one side. Gold collided with the table but regained his footing instantly and turned and landed a good punch at his attacker. From his peripheral vision, he saw both Ashley and Mary Margaret struggling with a man each, all wearing dark clothes and ski masks.
That proved to be a distraction the man he was fighting was looking for because he landed a good punch to Gold's stomach which sent the editor to the floor. The man then kicked at the right part and Gold struggled for air but as the man readied for another kick, Gold caught his foot and brought him to the floor.
He then wasted no time in taking down the man holding Mary Margaret, by grabbing one of the chairs and swinging it at the man's back.
The man holding Ashley seemed to be the leader because he threw Ashley to the ground and shouted for his conspirators to run. The two fallen men wasted no time in getting to their feet and bolting out the door.
Gold turned to his colleagues. "Are you alr-"
"We're fine," managed Mary Margaret, out of breathe.
"Go, you might see something to help us catch them," said Ashley hurriedly and God ran after the three men.
He could get a glimpse of a car if ever the men had an escape plan or even just a general direction of where they went if they do not split up. He could hear Ashley and Mary Margaret following from the top of the staircase but as soon as he opened the side door and stepped out, a loud bang wracked his ears and his head pulsed in agony. He could vaguely hear someone calling his name as everything went black.
Donn is Irish for something. In case you guys have not figured it out :)
