RP: A new year, and good news
Date: 31 December 1999
Characters: Rita Skeeter
Location: Rita's place
Status: Private
Summary: On New Year's Eve, Rita receives some good news.
Completion: Complete
Rita was having trouble trying to decide what to do for New Year's Eve. On the one hand, there were a group of her Prophet colleagues going to a bar in Muggle London for drinks and to watch the fireworks, and on the other, there were two bottles of wine on her mantle and a few old noir films she'd managed to transfigure to work on the projector (the only Muggle film device that would work this close to Diagon Alley). The first option sounded rather middle-aged and 'I have nothing better to do than spend time with people I see every day at work', but the second, while enjoyable, sounded antisocial and a little bit sad.
Climbing the stairs and kicking off the shoes she'd been wearing all day, Rita dropped her bag onto the settee and crossed the room to pick up one of the bottles of wine. Whether she went out or stayed in, a glass now wouldn't go astray.
She padded into the kitchen on stockinged feet, pulling a glass from the cupboard and glancing at the mail that had been delivered to her kitchen table while she was at work. A few junk owls, apparently, but a few that looked good. Rita uncorked the wine bottle with a flick of her wand and took both glass and bottle to the table.
Junk mail advertising floo-cleaning services, a mail order catalogue for quills and ink (she set that one aside, possibly because looking at stationery was just as satisfying to her as looking at shoes, and possibly because this company had the most wonderful green ink she'd ever used), a water bill and a letter from her agent. Another with the same news an usual, more than likely. She opened it with a fingernail.
Dearest Rita,
I was contacted yesterday by a wealthy author and wizarding history enthusiast by the name of Gerard Mockridge. He heard about your book through a friend and is interested in patronising it. I have sent him a copy, and have also sent letters to various publishers (some new and some of the ones who had already said no) with his name mentioned, and with the possibility of financial backing, have had several responses of interest. Funny how that happens, isn't it?
I have enclosed Mockridge's home address at his request. He is very interested in your ideas and would like to hear about them. I think he means to ask you to dinner. He's about sixty, but very spry and dapper for his age, so don't let that put you off. I shan't say anything more about that, though, because I am a literary agent, not a dating service.
I'll keep you posted about what's happening, but things are definitely looking up.
Happy New Year,
Caroline
Rita set the letter down, poured her glass of wine and smiled. A patron. A dapper older man interested in having dinner with her. She swirled the wine in her glass and tapped her toes against the tiles. At last, things were going her way.
Perhaps she would go out tonight. I felt like a night for celebrating. New year, new possibilities, new image. New Rita.
Characters: Rita Skeeter
Location: Rita's place
Status: Private
Summary: On New Year's Eve, Rita receives some good news.
Completion: Complete
Rita was having trouble trying to decide what to do for New Year's Eve. On the one hand, there were a group of her Prophet colleagues going to a bar in Muggle London for drinks and to watch the fireworks, and on the other, there were two bottles of wine on her mantle and a few old noir films she'd managed to transfigure to work on the projector (the only Muggle film device that would work this close to Diagon Alley). The first option sounded rather middle-aged and 'I have nothing better to do than spend time with people I see every day at work', but the second, while enjoyable, sounded antisocial and a little bit sad.
Climbing the stairs and kicking off the shoes she'd been wearing all day, Rita dropped her bag onto the settee and crossed the room to pick up one of the bottles of wine. Whether she went out or stayed in, a glass now wouldn't go astray.
She padded into the kitchen on stockinged feet, pulling a glass from the cupboard and glancing at the mail that had been delivered to her kitchen table while she was at work. A few junk owls, apparently, but a few that looked good. Rita uncorked the wine bottle with a flick of her wand and took both glass and bottle to the table.
Junk mail advertising floo-cleaning services, a mail order catalogue for quills and ink (she set that one aside, possibly because looking at stationery was just as satisfying to her as looking at shoes, and possibly because this company had the most wonderful green ink she'd ever used), a water bill and a letter from her agent. Another with the same news an usual, more than likely. She opened it with a fingernail.
Dearest Rita,
I was contacted yesterday by a wealthy author and wizarding history enthusiast by the name of Gerard Mockridge. He heard about your book through a friend and is interested in patronising it. I have sent him a copy, and have also sent letters to various publishers (some new and some of the ones who had already said no) with his name mentioned, and with the possibility of financial backing, have had several responses of interest. Funny how that happens, isn't it?
I have enclosed Mockridge's home address at his request. He is very interested in your ideas and would like to hear about them. I think he means to ask you to dinner. He's about sixty, but very spry and dapper for his age, so don't let that put you off. I shan't say anything more about that, though, because I am a literary agent, not a dating service.
I'll keep you posted about what's happening, but things are definitely looking up.
Happy New Year,
Caroline
Rita set the letter down, poured her glass of wine and smiled. A patron. A dapper older man interested in having dinner with her. She swirled the wine in her glass and tapped her toes against the tiles. At last, things were going her way.
Perhaps she would go out tonight. I felt like a night for celebrating. New year, new possibilities, new image. New Rita.