The floor of the studio was completely silent, people crowded in to watch but not one person made a sound.
This interview was rare, one that not many people ever thought they'd see but here they were. Eyes cast on it like their lives depended on it.
Heather French had just started at CNN, sought after from ABC, CNN had been begging her to join for years and finally, she gave in.
Their chance on her was not a loss when she came in, telling them for her first interview on air on CNN, Donald Trump himself had agreed to come on.
She was new, hadn't built up her reputation in the network yet. But her work was just getting started. At ABC, she had been told what to ask, the writers at CNN, wanted to know what she wanted to ask. They weren't disappointed.
"Thank you for that, now I'm just going to move on," Heather spoke, shocked that she was getting some sort of answer from the president of the United States.
Shaking her head, she looked up at him again, a wicked smile on her face ready for the next question.
"There's been a few things thrown out there lately and I want to give you a chance to clear them up. Stormy Daniels," the last two words effected him. She could see it, even if he tried to play it off.
Trump shook his head. Refusing to answer. She clicked her tongue, staring him down before pulling up an email on her laptop.
"President trump, when you agreed to come on, you said you would answer any questions surrounding policies and the latest controversy," Heather pushed, if she wasn't going to get an answer, she was sure as hell going to do something.
She kept staring at him, stomach turning at the fact she had to be near him never mind look at him.
"No I didn't," Trump shook his head again. She knew he wasn't about to give up anytime soon. Her fist clenched on her lap looking at him.
"Yes you did. It's all here on the emails between my team and yours. President Trump promises fucking disclosure on any topics asked by Ms. French on air," Heather said, turning the laptop so she could see him.
"Another lie,"
"Stormy Daniels has told sources at CNN that your lawyer Michael Cohen paid upwards of $130,000, during the election in 2016," Heather continued, the presidents protests almost covering her voice if she didn't raise it louder.
"No, nobody gave her any hush money," Trump said as she finished talking. She could tell he was getting agitated but she had just found her way.
"You sure? Cause nobody referred to it as hush money until you did just there," She smirked, watching him. He was trying not to panic but the way he was opening and closing his mouth countless times told her differently.
"Thank you Mr. Trump. That's it from me today, I'm going to hand it over to Erin Burnett, thanks for watching," She said, watching the cameras cut. She wouldn't get anymore out of Trump.
She watched Trump, he was seething. She stood, her team and those who came to watch were clapping for her but she paid them no mind.
"That was a dangerous game you played," trump snarled, watching as she cleaned up her desk.
"Really? I think it was pretty fun," Heather winked, collecting her things before she strutted away towards her crew.
She ignored his calls behind her, calling her names and whatever came to his mind.
Leaving the studio, she smiled at a few people, not noticing the man following her to her office.
Once she made it there, she set her things down, cringing to herself knowing he was right behind her.
"Is there a reason you're following me?" Heather asked, turning to one of the camera crew. She forgot his name but that didn't matter.
"That was... impressive," the dark haired man fussed. She wasn't sure how he managed to get so close to her and she had never felt afraid of him but suddenly, she did.
"Thank you," she said, her smile nervous as she watched him try to back her against her desk but she was quicker than that.
Turning so she was near the door again, she took a breath wondering what excuse she could make to get out of this.
"Dinner? At mine tonight?" That one struck a nerve. She was definitely not going for dinner, never mind say going to his own house.
Looking over his shoulder and out the door, she let out a brief sigh of relief seeing someone she could count on outside the door.
"Can't, I gotta- I need to do something," She said, shaking her head before looking up again, willing the other man to turn around.
When he didn't, she moved quickly, wanting him to help her out of this.
"Jake hey! Got a second?"
***
Only five minutes later, they were in Jake's office. She felt safer with the journalist by her side, even if the feminist in her didn't want to admit it.
"Sorry, he just-" she started, not exactly knowing how to finish the sentence. She didn't know what she wanted to say.
"He makes you feel uncomfortable, I understand," Jake Tapper said, a warm smile on his face as he closed the door behind them.
He understood why she felt uncomfortable around the other man. Jake had seen him over step around Heather before.
"An understatement. So, king of truth, what did you think?" Heather asked, sitting on his couch and smiling at him as he sat in front of her.
Jake rolled his eyes at the nickname. They weren't strangers to one another. Far from it actually.
"That was more than impressive. He basically admitted it was hush money. You're about to sky rocket," Jake chuckled, sitting back in his seat.
Heather smiled softly. Getting praise from someone like him? That was worth something. It shouldn't have been so shocking, they'd shared a lot more than their compliments to one another.
"How's Jules doing?" Jake asked, a smile immediately making its way to Heather's face.
Juliet Tapper, their six year old daughter, the actual carbon copy of Jake. She was the light of both their lives.
"Good! She misses you, I think she's counting down the hours until she's back with you for the week," Heather said, laughing softly. The splitting of their custody wasn't hard, they we're both fair to each other and didn't need to go to court.
Jake rolled his eyes. Heather was their little girls idol. She always told Jake how she wanted to be just like her mother.
"Don't say that, she loves spending time with you," Jake chuckled, running a tired hand through his hair.
Heather watched him. Thank god for whoever taught Jake about volume.
"Ah, not as much as her daddy. You're her best friend, just so you know," Heather shrugged, standing up and thanking him again before making his way out of his office.
