>>5795155>>5795175>>5795215>>5795659>>5795661>>5796079>[TAG: Observant] "with time, my words will reach everyone's hearts. Believe me... Or help me to make others believe, if you can..." [ROLL: Social + Talents + 3 bonus die. Difficulty 6]>best roll: 5, 8, 6, 4, 7, 9, 4, 7 (5 successes)>acquired [PERSONALITY ASSESMENT: Purity •]"I believe you, Ryan...", you could see James caught by surprise for these words.
"Look... I would love work on a better job, but this is what I get now. I wanna say 'things are bad now, but it will get better'. But it's hard sometimes to believe...", you take a breath to keep going, "And then I see opportunies like that in my work. You're right when you say I have some passion. Am I putting this passion in a bad job? Sure. But I know this will turn out to be good... I don't know how much time I have to wait, but I..."
You give up on explaining. You take another breath.
"No, it's fine", he looks down on himself. "None of us are in a good position, right, mate?"
"Yeah and it sucks. A lot. Keep going foward is everything we have now. It's cliché as fuck, but true."
"Okay, okay!", he turn his head up again and tries to put a smile on his face. "Enough! This is getting to gloomy for me, mate"
"As you wish."
"But... I'm serious, Ryan: I believe in you. I can't give you a job at my work, but I can look around for something better than what you work. Even if just freelancing here and there. Maybe I can talk to some people?"
"Don't push yourself too hard."
"It's not hard if it's for you. Well... Maybe a bit hard", he winks, stealing another laugh from you.
You two continue eating breakfast, trying to dismiss this cloud above your heads. You couldn't end all rain and clouds in Chicago, but between you both it could be possible to ignore it, even if for a few hours together.
Sooner or later, however, James would have to go. A sad departure (more on his side because goddamn it what a clingy motherfucker), but necessary.
"By the way, me and some friends at work are going out, have some dinner and party in honor of our old boss. They said we can invite other people. Wanna go?"
"Absolutely fucking yes, please. I need a break after last article"
"Meet me at Wise Fools Pub, around 8?"
"Count me in, bro"
He smiles and gives you a big bear hug. There it goes your back, from old and rusty to new and flexible again. You even feel and hear some loud cracks.
You are alone. You look around. "Time to clean this nest...", and you put dirt where it should and this time you won't hide it under the carpet or sofa. I may be exagerating, but in your eyes you should at least try to make this place tight. You do it with enough care you spend few time you still have before your morning meeting in this cleaning routine.
One last question remain, though: How would you behave in today's meeting?
>urgency on Carie's and Robert's reports>find new angles on exploiting COVID matters>push more articles on common man's stories 