Stef and Lena sat across the table from one another, each focusing on their own task. Lena was looking over some budget numbers for Anchor Beach, while Stef was double-checking their latest bill payment before sending it off the next morning. While they were working, John entered the kitchen.
"Oh, sorry…" he said. "I didn't realize you guys were busy."
"No, it's OK, Love, come on in," Stef said.
John nodded and sat down next to Lena.
"What's up, Love?"
"Well, I know that you two know that I had a meeting with a producer from ACN right before I was released from jail," said John.
Stef and Lena nodded.
"You haven't told us why they wanted to meet with you," said Lena.
"That's why I'm here," John said. "Maggie Jordan, she's a producer there, she asked if I could come to New York to do a live interview with Will McAvoy on News Night about my experiences. She said we wouldn't have to worry about travel arrangements and that the network would cover them. I was wondering if you would mind if I went?"
Stef and Lena looked at each other, uncertain of their answer.
"If you don't want me to, it's OK, I just don't want them to have to wait for me for an answer, so I thought I'd ask."
"Well, if you feel up to it, I think you should do it," Lena said.
"It's up to you, Love," Stef added.
John grinned. "Thanks, Moms. I do want to do this. I want to tell my story, especially if it can help anyone else."
"Well, let us know when they want you to do it, and we'll help you out any way we can," Stef said.
John nodded, stood up and left the kitchen, pulling out his phone as he walked away. Stef and Lena turned to one another once he was out of earshot.
"Are we sure about this?" Stef asked.
"I don't know," Lena said. "He has told his story many times, including with the book and when he was on Ellen. One more time can't hurt, can it?"
"I just hope he knows that this time it will be a live interview rather than taped."
Jude walked into John's room, waiting for John to get off the phone. He stood in the doorway before John looked up and gestured for him to come in.
"Great, thank you, Maggie," John said. "I'll let my Moms know to check their email and we'll go from there. Thanks again."
John hung up his phone and looked up at Jude again.
"Hey, what's up?" he said.
"Nothing, just wanted to see who you were talking to," said Jude. "I could hear you from my room and it sounded kinda important."
"That was a producer for Atlantis Cable News."
"ACN? What did they want?"
"I'm going to head to New York late tomorrow morning to do an interview on News Night about my story," John said.
"You're leaving again?" Jude asked, sounding worried.
John chuckled and motioned for Jude to sit down next to him. Jude sat on John's bed, clearly looking worried.
"I'm just gonna be gone for a few hours tomorrow," John said. "ACN is going to fly me out of here tomorrow morning, I'll do the interview during their show and I'll stay for the rest, and then they'll bring me back to the airport and I'll be back here late tomorrow night."
Jude sighed. "I don't like it when you leave," he said sadly.
John put an arm around Jude, attempting to comfort him. "It's only for a few hours, I promise," he said. "I'll be back before you know it, OK?" Jude nodded and smiled at him. "I don't like leaving either, but sometimes, I gotta do what I gotta do, you know?"
"Can I come with you tomorrow to the airport?" asked Jude.
John chuckled and gave Jude a one-armed hug. "Of course you can."
"OK, Mr. Adams Foster, your boarding passes for both your departing flight and your return flight tonight should be in there," said the woman working the ticket counter at the airport. "You'll have First Class seats, and any food you eat will be paid for by ACN. Can I get you anything else?" she added as she handed John his boarding passes.
"I should be good, thank you so much," John said. The clerk smiled and nodded at him before he turned and walked over to Stef, Lena and Jude.
"Everything good to go?" asked Lena.
"Yep, I even got First Class tickets for both flights!" said John.
"Ooooh, you're high class now, Love," Stef said. "Don't get used to it."
John laughed as he hugged Stef and Lena.
"What time are you back tonight?" asked Stef.
"Flight is supposed to get in at 11:30, so you'll be able to watch me on the show when it airs in the west coast," John said.
"We can't wait to see it!" said Lena.
John turned to Jude and pulled him into a hug.
"You gonna survive for a few hours without me?" John asked.
Jude laughed. "I think I'll manage," he said. "Besides, Connor and his dad come back from their trip today, so I'll go hang out with him."
John broke apart the hug. "I'll see you tonight," he said.
A woman with a bob-cut knocked on the door of the conference room where John had been waiting. She walked inside as John stood up.
"John, my name is Mackenzie McHale McAvoy," she said with a British accent as she shook John's hand.. "I'm the president of the news division here. How are you?"
"I'm good, thank you," John said. "I've heard a lot about you, Mrs. McAvoy."
"Oh please, call me Mac."
John grinned. "OK, Mac. So, am I good to go with the interview?"
"Yes," said Mac. "You'll be on in about 15 minutes or so. I can take you to the control room so you can watch some of the show before you go on." She paused at John's look of curiosity. "Maggie told me about your interest in working in news."
"I appreciate that," John said, chuckling. "I have always thought about it."
"It's not a glamorous job by any means, but you get to do a damn lot of good, if you know what you're doing," Mac said. "I'll take you to the control room now, John."
John followed her to the control room. He sat and watched as the producers, directors put together the show live. Once the show was in the break before John's hit, John was quickly mic'd up before Maggie led him into the studio.
"Thanks again for doing this, John," Maggie said before she opened the door to the studio.
"It's my pleasure," said John.
"Will, this is John Adams Foster," Maggie said to the man sitting at the desk. Will McAvoy turned and looked at John. He gave him a quick smile before returning to his queue card.
"Welcome to the show, John," he said. "Have a seat here," he said, gesturing to the seat on his right.
John sat down in the chair as Maggie left the studio to return to the control room. Once John was situated, Will turned to him.
"How are you?" Will asked.
"A little nervous," said John.
Will nodded. "Never done live TV before?" he asked. John nodded. "Just treat it like you did when you were on Ellen. I'll do an introduction to you when we get back, and then we'll talk. Just treat it like a normal conversation."
"I can do that."
"Good man," Will said before putting his finger up to his IFB. "We're 30 seconds out," he added to John.
John straightened up in his chair and pulled out his phone one last time to make sure that it was turned off. He put it back into his pocket and looked into the camera Will was staring into.
"Welcome back to News Night," Will said. "We're joined here now by John Adams Foster, a teenager from San Diego, California, who recently wrote and published a book called Survivor about his experiences of surviving one of the worst crimes imaginable, sexual assault." Will turned in his chair to face John. "Welcome to the show, John."
"Thanks for having me."
"So, let's get right into it," Will said. "You wrote the book how long ago?"
"I started writing it about six months ago, after I attended a conference in Florida for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault."
"You were assaulted, is that right?"
"Yes," John said, seeming more at ease as he continued talking. "A man viciously attacked me nearly two years ago now and tried to sexually assault me. He eventually went on trial, but not before escaping and trying to get at me a few more times. Eventually, my mother, who is a police officer, shot and killed the man who tried to attack me."
"What made you decide to write the book, John?"
"Well, at the conference I mentioned, I found that writing down my thoughts before I talked about them were truly therapeutic. It was a way of jotting down all of my thoughts and making sense of them. After I gave the speech that night, I started writing the book."
"How long did it take to write?"
"About six weeks."
"That's incredible," Will said. "And you sent it off to HarperCollins shortly after you finished it?"
"That's right. They called me the next day and said they were ready to publish it."
"Good for you, John. Not many people your age have done as much as you. I think I speak for everyone when I say you should be proud of the work you've done. I just have one final question for you: why do you want to tell your story?"
"I tell my story in the hopes that it will help someone, anyone who is going through something similar to what I've lived through. It's not easy to go through the trauma of an assault, especially by yourself. I wrote the book to let others know that it's OK to talk to someone and that in the end, if you survive the trauma, you'll survive the recovery."
Will turned back toward the camera. "Author John Adams Foster, everyone. Thank you for joining us, John."
"Thank you for having me, Will."
"We'll be right back," he said. A few seconds later, he turned to John.
"We're clear, you can go back to the control room," he said. "Thank again for coming in and doing this interview."
"Thank you for making it so easy," John said as he stood up and walked toward the door he had entered.
John followed Maggie to the front entrance of the building, where a car would be waiting to take John back to the airport to fly home. Once they were outside, Maggie pointed out the car to John and walked with him toward it.
"Thanks again for coming tonight, John, I really appreciate it," she said as she opened the door to the car for him.
"Thank you for inviting me," John said. "And thanks for the internship application for your LA bureau. I'll definitely look into it."
"Have a safe flight," Maggie said as John entered the car. She shut the door once he was situated and the driver started up the engine to head to the airport.
John pulled out his phone and turned it back on. He wanted to text Stef and Lena to let them know he was on his way to the airport. Once his phone was loaded, he noticed an unread message from Stef that had been sent when he was on air. He opened the message and read it.
Bates is convening a grand jury against Mike. I'll explain when you get home. See you in a few hours, Love.