Two Worlds

CHAPTER 6

Alsephina

After lunch, I go to Killian's office, with the questions that I prepared for tomorrow's press conference. I divided them into sections, each having the heading of the name of people the questions are meant for. I knock on the door and Killian replies with a short "come in". He looks up and says, "Alsephina, Are you done?"
with the look of surprise on his face.

I smile and say, "Yes, please go through with them once and tell me if I need to add or remove anything from the questions."

I hand over the paper to him and he reads it carefully. As he reaches the end portion, his eyebrows shoot up and he looks at me with wide eyes.

"Alsephina, I don't care if you ask other people their questions or not, but I want you to ask Gabriel Garcia about the third question that you have mentioned in this list. It will create a whole lot of buzz and we need it."

Killian points towards the question that I had written about his accident when he was seven years old. I nod and take the paper back from him. I did write that question, but internally I feel like I shouldn't be asking him something that will bring back bad memories. Looking at Killian, I say,

"Killian, listen, is it okay for us to ask these kinds of questions, I mean it must have been very traumatic for him. If I ask him this, wouldn't it be unfair for him to face his past in front of so many people?"

Killian looks at me incredulously, "What? Alsephina, it will definitely get a rise out of him and we want that."

"But why?" I ask.

"I am not meant to tell you this, but the day after tomorrow, Gabriel Garcia is scheduled to have an interview in this building with the NBC Universal and if you manage to get a rise out of him in that press conference, he will have to give some sort of clarification or explain himself during our interview which will be very beneficial for our channel and company."

I sit back in my chair and take time to digest this information, but it still doesn't sit well with me. I try to tell Killian, but at that moment his phone starts ringing. He holds up a finger towards me and answers the call.

Telling them to hold for a bit, he turns towards me and says, "Will you please leave the copy of the page on my desk? And that is all for now. You can go."

I nod and leave his office to go to the printing room and take out a copy of the page in which I had written my questions. I go to my desk for a while and think about what I will do tomorrow. I contemplate a lot but in the end I will have to follow the orders of my superior. I go towards Killian's office again to give him a copy of the questions. I knock on his door and he allows me to enter.

"This is the copy of the questions that you asked for.", I place it on his desk while telling him.

"Thank you, Alsephina. I have sent your and Mike's name for the invite list. You will get approved by security right away when they will check your names. Please take your ID too so that they will be able to verify your identity associated with our company." Killian explains to me.

He buzzes his intercom and asks his personal assistant to call for Mike in his office. A few moments later, Mike enters and looks at both me and Killian.

"You called for me?", he says to Killian and turns toward me, "Hi, Alsephina how are you?"

"Hello Mike. I am good. How are you?", I reply smiling.

"I am good too. Done with all the preparations?"he asks.

I nod. He turns towards Killian who gestures to him to take a seat beside me.

"Mike, I have called you here because as you already know that you are going to be the cameraman for tomorrow's press conference and I need you to cover everything perfectly. There should be no room for mistakes and I want a full detailed coverage of what happens in that press conference tomorrow. I hope you understand." says Killian solely focused on Mike.

"I promise to do it with utmost dedication, Killian. I promise to not disappoint you and our company.", Mike says with determination in his eyes.

"Both of you are supposed to reach the hall at 10 o'clock. Ensure that you reach there before time. So that, Mike can get a good place for proper coverage.", Killian says.

Mike and I both nod in unison because it is our first press conference to cover since we have started this job and we do not want to disappoint anyone and prove our worth by doing this properly.

"That is all I wanted to say to both of you. Now you can get back to work.", Killian says.

We both nod and stand from our chairs to leave the office. We both walk side by side and Mike asks, "So are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes, I am." I answer.

"That's good. To be honest, I am a little bit nervous myself. I have been doing this since college but, being part of such a big company and covering for them feels like a dream. I cannot mess this up tomorrow.", he says looking at me.

"Don't worry, you will do great. I am also a little bit nervous, but I know that I love my job and these people here. So I will do everything in my power to make sure that tomorrow we prove our worth and start our journey in this office.", I look at him smiling.
We both part ways and head towards our desks.

Now that I have a little bit of free time, I decide to search about that accident to see if there are any more articles that could give me a little more detail about what actually happened. I find one and start reading,

"Today on 8 July, 2007 a burglar broke into the house of a famous actor, Antonio Garcia. Mr and Mrs Garcia were out attending an event and their son who is just seven years old was sleeping in the house. The Nanny had left after he was asleep. The burglar broke in late at night about 2:00 am. Something crashed on his way out which woke up the kid and he went downstairs to see. It seemed that the burglar thought that the house was empty and when he saw the kid, he panicked. He tried to run and the kid went after him towards the pool area where the back gate was located. In an attempt to dodge the kid, the burglar pushed him into the pool and tried to drown him. Just in time, Mr and Mrs Garcia came home and saved their kid. Reportedly Mrs Garcia was in shock and paralyzed from fear when the police tried to talk to them. Antonio Garcia gave his statement and then they took their kid to the doctor as he needed medical attention. Nothing was stolen from the house, except some cash and jewellery."

The article ended and I feel devastated for a kid who wanted to come out of the water in that pool and was not able to. This must have been so traumatizing and tomorrow I have to ask him about it. My determination wavers thinking that I should not be asking someone about such a thing that could bring their worst memories, I have been in that place myself and it feels so wrong to do it to someone else.

But if I don't do it, Killian will be very disappointed in me and my job could be at stake here. Strengthening my resolve, I make a promise to myself that no matter what happens tomorrow, I will go through with this press conference.

Looking at the time, I realise that I should leave for home. As I go down through the lift and exit the office doors I see Mike standing there.

He looks at me and says, "Hey Alsephina, I was waiting for you. You remember we decided to go together to the press conference? I didn't get to ask you at what time we should meet here so that we can both go together?"

"Oh... I forgot about it myself. Let's meet here at 8:30 am tomorrow. Then we can go together to the venue. Does that sound good?", I ask him.

"Definitely fine by me. See you tomorrow.", he says and I nod. He walks away to the other side and I decide to walk to my apartment. Throughout the way I think about tomorrow and feel nervous, guilty and excited at the same time. I wish Cece was here right now. She would know what to do in a situation like this.

Reaching my apartment, I take a shower and try to get sleep as tomorrow is an important day for me.