[Leslie Cole is an editor. An introvert editor who doesn’t know anything about big business or journalism. So why is she here to interview some ancient CEO? Because she is the bestest friend ever!] -01:21 Aug 06
Leslie: Why do I always fall for the pouting? There she was, too nervous to sit in the waiting room and pacing uncomfortably in front of a secretary who looked ready to tie her to a seat. Her friend Jade was supposed to be here. But Jade had to go and get laryngitis and was bed ridden until graduation. So of course Leslie, like a dummy, happily volunteered to help… and was now regretting it as she stopped by a window to peer down several stories. Long way down. -01:25 Aug 06
[Damion is the owner of SEPcon, one of the biggest and newest firls in the business world. Magazines have wanted him on thier covers for months but he is proving to be surprisingly reclusive and hard to get hold of. But here he is coling down the evevator from the conference room ready to take an interview from a student newspaper of all things. But it was part of the deal he signed with the univercity…] -01:29 Aug 06
Damion: With a ding the doors opened and the man himself, dressed in his talored suit, the tie held losely in his hand and top tunnon undone stepped up to the secretary desk. "Any calls?" he asked as the woman looked up tat him then quickly down again, "N-No Sir…" he turned towards his office. "You do have someone waiting for you though.." A slender finger was pointed at the waiting room. "Send her in in five minutes, then fetch two glasses of cold water." he gave the girl a long look through the glass wall of the waiting room before pushing his way into his office. Right he’d get this interview over then… business awaited. -01:39 Aug 06
Leslie: Leslie was fretting with her hair, twisting the ends of it around a finger while she very impatiently waited. Maybe she shouldn’t have rushed to be on time after all. First time punctual and the guy was late. After a few moments the secretary finally poked her head in, clearing her throat and beckoned Leslie to enter. Finally…! Leslie took a deep breath. Picking up her oversized purse and headed to the office. She knocked once and walked in, with perfect confidence! ….but after a few steps that quickly faded to confusion. "….You’re not old at all!" she exclaimed, far too late to stop the impulse. At least she had the sense to look apologetic about it. "Sorry, I’m Leslie Cole here for Jade Sparrow. It’s um… Wow, I really was expecting someone a lot older." -01:48 Aug 06
Damion: He regards her inpasively aster her outburst leanign abck on his chair behind his best, then he stands and leans over the desk. "Sorry ro make you wait Ms. Cole. Damion Rubrum, but then you already knew that. May I ask why Ms. Sparrow didn’t come herself?" -01:53 Aug 06
Leslie: He was tall. Her friend would be all over this guy in a second! Realizing she was probably staring, Leslie quickly shook her head and shifted to sit down in the chair in front of the desk. She set her purse on the floor and started digging through it. "A really bad case of laryngitis, she sounds a bit like a frog right now. BUT! I have all of her interview questions in here some… where." Ha! There. Leslie pulled out the folder. What she -wasn’t- finding was the recorder she was supposed to use to keep a record of everything. Not good! Leslie pulled out a yellow notepad. "If you’d like to get started, you could take a seat. That’ll be more comfortable." -01:59 Aug 06
Damion: He looked at her. "I was going to shake your hand but if you’re going to skip the formalities then I guess thats less time waisted for both of us." he sat and pushed the discarded tie out of the way as the door opened and to glasses of cold water were brought in. "Thanks Lyn." -02:03 Aug 06
Leslie: "Oh. Well.. it is less wasted time." Leslie flashed him a grin. On the inside she was kicking herself. She was so damned nervous, she was forgetting manners. And she couldn’t find her pen! Leslie reached out to take one out of the cup on his desk, nearly knocked it over and had to make a fumbling catch to right it once again. She let out a quick breath. Jade was going to find this hilarious. "…I forgot my recorder so I’m going to be taking notes, okay?" In fact, now that she had a pen, she was already scribbling things down, occasionally glancing up. Squinting at him, then writing again. "Are you ready?" -02:08 Aug 06
Damion: He was leaning back and watching her hands move. "Take a break the a sip of water." he said. "They we’ll both be ready." he wondered if she would retirn he pen she had just taken. "I think the one with the blue ball on the end writes better." he added "I’ve never liked that one." -02:13 Aug 06
Leslie: "This one works just fine, thanks." It did give a moment to finish up the first part of her notes. Mr. Damion is not an old man! Very tall, definitely has the air of a boss. Not a big fan of his tie. He has gorgeous eyes, but he keeps staring and it’s kinda freaking me out! The pen nearly slipped out of her hand, but she leaned forward to take one of the glasses and took a sip. "The first question." she announced quickly. "How long have you been in business now?" -02:20 Aug 06
Damion: He steepled his fingers, now they were getting to the meat of the interview, the bisuness of it. "In business? Seven years, four months… twelve days." heis eyes were on the callender on his desk, then moved to her, if she had read up on him she would know that date as the day he left colledge early to take over the company, and how he did it. The singular del that sent him from almost nothing to on top of the world. -02:25 Aug 06
Leslie: She wrote down the answer. Man, he was specific. "What made you decided to drop out of college to pursue your-" she squinted at the question. Jade had terrible handwriting. "to pursue your idea? ….and if you don’t mind me asking, what do you do here exactly?" If she was going to ask these questions, it’d help her to know. …she probably should have done some research before showing up. Leslie put the glass back on his desk. -02:30 Aug 06
Damion: He tilted his head. "Interesting choice of word there… idea… It was an opotunity I saw that a could not miss. Once in a lifetime, Bill Gates did the same… and I own the place, I make all of the big decisions I cannot leave to anyone else. I meet with clients and partners and assess thier needs personally. Nothing goes on in thie building without me knowig about it and approving it. And I mean nothing." he placed his forearm in the desk and leaned forwards. "I like to do thing myself. Lets me make sure they’re done right." -02:37 Aug 06
Leslie: "Hold on a second, you’re going to have to talk a little bit slower." Leslie was literally writing down every single word he said. And once she got them down, she added in little notations about his expression in the form of a very scowly stick figure. "That really doesn’t answer my question though. Do you make things here? Sell something? Or is it like a jack of all trades service industry? You work for people?" Leslie wasn’t asking from the question sheet anymore, she was curious for her own sake. -02:44 Aug 06
Damion: "I OWN things." he said. "SEPcon does very little by itself but we do own a lot of other companies, you name an industry and we own one of the leading companies in it, we run them, we synergize them, make them run smoothly together. SEPcon west also does a lot in the way of unvesting in small buninesses, donating to charities and univercity projects, providing aid.. that kind of thing." -02:49 Aug 06
Leslie: Writing notes by hand was a pain! Leslie was silent for several moments as she wrote down his response, occasionally glancing up at him. I think he really likes his job. He doesn’t look quite as scowly when he talks about it. He has passion for it? A question mark. Passion was still debatable. "Um, so you are unmarried and don’t seem to have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Do you date at all?" Leslie frowned down at the question. She suspected that was a personal question for Jade’s benefit and not something for the article. -02:54 Aug 06
Damion: He raised an eyerow but did not comment, though he did lift his glass to his lips and swirl a sip of water around in his mouth before swallowing. "No, I don’t suppose I do." he said. "Huh." he didn’t comment further, not did he give anything away from his expression and he leaned back. "Not for a while anyway." -03:01 Aug 06
Leslie: Single, Jade. But he might still be gay! Leslie grinned rather mysterious at her own notes. "So the last few questions are mostly about the university. You never grant interviews but the University is getting your special attention. A little weird for someone who never graduated college. Any special reasons?" -03:04 Aug 06
Damion: "It was in the contract I signed with the bean, a student gets to interview me and I.. well I’m sure you’ve heard and I don’t want to answer you other questions before you ask the, except that I am definately not gay Ms. Cole." -03:07 Aug 06
Leslie: Leslie froze, the pen slipping out of her hand and falling to the floor with a clink. Regaining her senses, she scrambled to snatch it and when she was seated upright again, her face was red. "I um… never implied that you were?" Slowly she tilted her notepad up and wrapped her arms around it. Was he spying at her notes from over there? Good eyesight! -03:11 Aug 06
Damion: Her sudden unsease mad the corners of his eyes crinckle even if the shape of his mouth didn’t change. He took another sip of water slowly and swallowed before placing the half empty glass on his desk. "You next question? Or is it my turn? You’re graduating with Ms. Sparrow arn’t you?" -03:14 Aug 06
Leslie: Leslie was definitely done with writing notes. "I am, yes. And I am done with the questions. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer them." Leslie was already moving to stand, picking up her giant purse with one hand and holding her notepad tight. She half wondered if he could see right through it. There were still plenty of Jade’s questions to ask, but Leslie doubted she could get through her mortification to ask them! -03:19 Aug 06
Damion: "We’re not done." he said gesturing at the seat again. "I have questions." he eyes her unblinkingly. "Ms. Sparrow said she didn’t mind if I returned the questioning and you are following the spirit of her agreement, correct?" -03:25 Aug 06
Leslie: "I am not exactly a journalist, and I honestly have no idea how to conduct follow up questions." she responded, hesitating a bit about leaving, but not making any move to sit back down. "Ask your question quickly?" -03:28 Aug 06
Damion: He stood and unbuttoned the jacket of his suit and pulled it off draping it over the back of his chair leaving only his shirt. "Theres more than one, but if you are in a hurry we could schedule another meeting. I know how univercity can be, and I have no interest in keeping you here if you don’t want to be here." -03:34 Aug 06
Leslie: Leslie wanted to add more to her notes. She thought maybe the suit made him look all intimidating CEO guy, but even without his tie and jacket he still was. Especially while he was standing. "I don’t really make a habit of doing interviews and meetings. Any follow ups you have can be done with Jade when she’s feeling better." …Jade needed to save her voice though, and Leslie hated to waste everyone’s time just because she was having some stupid panic attack. She slowly sat back down in her chair, but kept holding her notepad like a shield. "What are your questions?" -03:38 Aug 06
Damion: He took his seat and agains steepled his fingers. "Do you feel that your chosen major is still the one you want?" he asked resting his chin on his thumbs and his elbows on his besk. "And that your studies have brought you what you hoped for." -03:41 Aug 06
Leslie: She gave him a dubious expression. A suspicious tilt of her head as she shifted in her seat. "I’m not exactly sure what that has to do with your interview? I don’t have any reason to doubt my major at the moment and I have already put in some applications to places I would like to work. I’ll see what happens." -03:44 Aug 06
Damion: "Its an unrelated matter." he said. "And you didn’t answer my second question." he looked at her intently as if studying her. "If I’m investing so much in theunivercity I have to make sure they’re doing thier job, you study there so who better to get answers from." -03:47 Aug 06
Leslie: That sounded reasonable, if a little bit on the busy-body side. Leslie wasn’t to keen on the way he was staring, though and she was shifting uncomfortably in her seat. That pen was still in her hand and she was clicking it to an eratic rhythm. "Same answer applies, really. I’m not really going to know whether or not it was worth it until I’m working and see if I like it. I’ll figure it out when I get there." -03:50 Aug 06
Damion: "Seems… lax." he commented idly "Did they provide counseling and let you know what fields involved?" his hands came down to rest on the desk, "Seems what you want to do isn’t something to be chosen blindly." -03:53 Aug 06
Leslie: There was a hint of a smile, and some amusement to her tone. "I studied English and Literature with the intentions of going in to editing or publishing. Unless publishers now require you to tame lions or sky dive from planes, I’m pretty sure where ever I end up will be okay." Her amusement with the comment seemed to quell some of her jitters. Leslie shifted to stuff her folder and notepad back in to her purse. "I should get going. If you have any more questions, I know Jade will be happy to answer them." -03:57 Aug 06
Damion: He stood again and rounded the desk to the doorto open it. "No more questions.. if I have anymore I will call, and if you have anymore.." he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a bussiness card to hold out to her. "I prefer the original interviewer do any followups, saves having to learn two people." -04:04 Aug 06
Leslie: Out of her seat and to the door, she took the card, eying it carefully before dropping it in to the black hole that was her purse. "Thank you for your time, but I don’t think I’ll be doing any more interviews any time soon!" she grinned sheepishly before stepping through the door. She almost visibly let out a breath and relaxed. Leslie didn’t realize how tense she had been in there! That was awkward… Jade owed her dinner. -04:08 Aug 06