Dreams of Purple

CHAPTER 5: THE INTERVIEW

The elevator door opened and revealed that the entire top floor was set aside for Mr. Hernandez.

It appeared that we had at least one thing in common: we both worked and lived in the same place.

I was certain that this wasn't the senator's only place of business, nor residence, but there was no way for me to know that for sure. I truthfully knew very little about the new politics of the reformed Republic of North America, and didn't care to learn.

I wasn't sure if the senators still met in Washington D.C. like they did before the reform, or if they just met via the government domain through sync. Again, these things didn't concern me.

The main chamber of the room, what I had to guess was the office, was exceptionally empty. It was a large room, just as white as the lobby, with a single desk in the middle, also white.

The wall behind me was white and plain, no decorations or paintings, and the elevator was the only thing that gave it any character.

The rest of the walls, or the ones that I could see from where I was at, were floor to ceiling windows.

I'd never been that high before, and the view of the city was beautiful.

From this view, I'd bet that it was easy to forget how horrible things could be down there. Even though I could see where the slums were, they looked just as majestic from this vantage point as the upper district.

The night sky gave the perfect backdrop to tall and small buildings, lit up like stars that sparkled on the earth instead of the heavens.

I noticed that it was borderline cold in the office, and that made me want to draw this interview out as long as possible. I hadn't felt a room that cold since I'd been a child; not since the great drought.

With his back turned towards the cityscape, Senator Hernandez sat. He was behind the desk with an empty chair opposite him.

He showed no emotion at the sight of me, but held an empty hand out to the chair in a gesture for me to sit.

I followed his silent order.

I closed the distance between me and the desk, left eye of Hernandez, and right eye still fixed on the twinkling building stars.

The Senator had white hair and dark skin, but not the kind of dark that you'd get from attempting to go outside during the day. It was the shade of dark skin that you are born with.

His face had only a few wrinkles. There were a few on his forehead and very slight crow's feet around his eyes.

I'd imagined that the wrinkles around his eyes had come from having so many windows. Even with the cold air from his air conditioning blowing, the sun was still so damned bright. Being forced to look at everything in that kind of light would make anyone squint a little.