2021-05-25 - de rigueur

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Events in this scene reference a Gazette News article: https://gray-harbor.com/scene/5970
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Sitting at a small table in this fine eating establishment is Cassidy Bennett. Alone. She is enjoying a meal of pad thai. She has a single glass of water. Her phone has been placed on the other side or her plate and is leaning against a sauce container so she can watch videos while she eats. She only has one ear bud in so she is keeping at least one ear open to the outside world.

Jessica is only here to pick up takeaway...which isn't ready yet. She's all set to sit on the waiting chair when she spots a familiar face. One that seems to be plastered everywhere these days - Cassidy seems to have become a publicity hound since they last met.

The reporter wanders over to the table, discretely trying to see what Cassidy is watching before announcing herself. "Assistant District Attorney Bennet, what a pleasant surprise. Oh, Jessica Flores, Grey Harbor Gazette. You probably don't remember me though. Mind if I sit?" She's sitting before there is an answer.

Cassidy is entirely unashamed of her binge watching the Tik Tok 'For You' page. Her eyes lift and point themselves at the intruding brunette and they follow her until she sits down. The ADA wrinkles her nose and takes her ear bud out as she sits a bit straighter.

"I remember you - of course." Cassidy picks up her phone and turns it to face Jessica, "Have you seen this one?" It's a video of a heavily red bearded man named 'gingerbilly1' showing off his new fancy 'swimming pooh' that is really just a hole in the ground with a tarp over it and filled with water.

"I thought Tik Tok was banned" Jessica smirks lightly - typical of Cassidy to be breaking the law. Possibly. A shake of her head as she watches the video for a moment. "I don't really do Tik Tok much. But it's good to see that lateral thinking home improvement is popular there. He's not going to jump in it or anything, is he?"

"Has McNeely confessed yet?" Jessica asks lightly, as if it was a direct continuation of Tik Tok talk.

Cassidy retracts her phone and sets it face down on the table close to her. She smiles a slight faint smile when Jessica asks her oh so casual question and begins to dig at her food, moving some of the meal onto a smaller plate. "Oh I don't know. That's not my case and it's not why I'm here, but he probably will." And that may be true enough. Cassidy had moved out of Gray Harbor last year to take a job in Seattle and only breezed back in town recently, but well before the McNeely tip yielded an arrest.

"Have you tried the pad thai? It's like the best parts of peanuts went crazy on a bunch of noodles." She offers Jessica the small plate and a plastic fork. And by 'offer' we mean she sets the plate in front of Jessica and a moment later sticks the fork in it with its handle pointing at the reporter, and then with the tip of her finger pushes the plate slightly toward the other woman.

"If I know our local police, yes, he probably will confess. Whether he's guilty or not" Jessica replies with a nonchalant shrug. "Yeah, I've tried the pad thai. I've come here a few times over the years." She eyes off the offered plate for a few moments - Cassidy didn't have time to poison it, so it should be okay. "Thank you. Maybe just a nibble since I've got take-out coming." A mouthful of the free meal. "Mmm...not bad. I saw your pic at some ceremony. An award for your work or something? Congratulations. Surprised you've come back here. Not very glamorous in Gray Harbor. So, why are you here?"

A little snort of amusement before Jessica adds, "Not that I mind seeing your lovely smirk again" she teases.

Cassidy counts the bite Jessica takes as a little victory. Then she furrows her brow and looks up as she moves her fork to her mouth. Cassidy chews and searches the ceiling for answers. Chewing... "Oh! The Bar Association?" Cassidy scoffs. "That was just a convention. Yeah, no awards for me." She bobs her head from side to side, "I did get a free drink out of the guy in the picture though."

"Honestly? I'm not entirely sure. I was working my new position in Seattle and one day I got a call from the Deputy Attorney General saying there was a shooting at the police station and then one at the mall? And half the police force got arrested and were on the take or whatever..." Cassidy lifts a hand to shrug and then uses it to brush some hair back and tuck it around behind her ear, "I didn't even hear of it at all until that phone call, and no one knew anything about it in Seattle. But this one guy was was like, 'No - Cassidy - this was " she waves her hand around, "It was like weeks after the fact - just no one even noticed something happened in Gray Harbor but this one guy and he was pretty nuts about it. So he said he couldn't get any State resources down here but he talked to some folks and he could get me." She turns her hands around so their palms face the ceiling and she smiles with a closed lip expression, "So here I am checking things out at the police station. Me and, like, one DA's Investigator."

"Just one drink?" Jessica asks between mouthfuls of food. "But, yeah, Bar Association." She listens to the reason why Cassidy has been brought back, a wry smile appearing. That the police force in Grey Harbor was habitually corrupt was something she had been reporting on for years. "If you ask me...and I know you won't...but I think one half of a corrupt police force made scapegoats of the other half to cover their own crimes. And there were no resources to investigate? Wow, what a surprise." The sarcasm is heavy on that last point.

"Best of luck, Assistant D.A. Bennet. I hope that someone hasn't decided to make a scapegoat of you too." Another mouthful of the pad thai. "Of course, if you ever want to talk about your investigations, you might still have my number. I'm still out on the Honeybun." Her houseboat.

"Out on the what?" Cassidy draws in her brow. "Oh is that a boat? You probably live next to Rahv...Ravehn..." She rolls her eyes, "The fucking Danish dude. He's always like, 'my boat this and my boat that' and 'girls don't go on boats'" Cassidy motions to Jessica, "Clearly - they do. So..." her hand motions brushes invisible dust away from her.

"Honestly - and you're not going to believe me," she gives Jessica a look, there. Then she goes back to just looking normal, "The place looks pretty clean right now." She's quick to waggle her finger at the reporter, "Don't quote me on that. I don't want to find some shit tomorrow at 10 AM and then turn around and read about how I lied when I said everything was totes fine. Just let me finish what I'm doing and then I'll give you a proper press release, or interview, or whatever."

"My houseboat is called 'Honeybun'" Jessica nods in confirmation. "First one along the pier. In case I came home drunk one night, I didn't want to fall in the ocean. Ravn?" A shake of her head. "I don't think I know the guy. He sounds like quite the neanderthal."

"No, I'm not going to believe you" Jessica laughs about the clean department. "I guess we'll see what happens with McNeely. If it's all above board, then I'll report in a fair and balanced way. If they're just better at hiding their dirty tricks, then I'll find them out and let the world know. Okay, that's off the record." A grimace at the thought of a press report. "Please, an interview. I'm not going to regurgitate bland press releases where nothing is said and the truth is hidden behind someone's idea of fancy words. As they say in the classics, 'Homie don't play that'."

"It will depend on how much time I have and how much I feel like I want to sit in front of the," and this bit spoken with pouted lips, "big mean reporter." She laughs. Then she stops her laugh like she just realized something. She looks behind her at the register, and then she turns her head to look at Jessica. Then she waggles her fork a little bit, "You're not actually waiting are food, are you?"

"Hey, I'm only a 'big mean reporter' when dealing with the 'cold calculating Assistant D.A.'" Jessica pouts right back before shrugging. "The amount of time you're willing to spend talking to the press is inversely proportional to how much you're hiding" she adds with a wink before glancing back at the register behind her. "Yeah, I'm waiting for food. I didn't think I'd be waiting months for it though." She looks back to Cassidy. "But I can take a hint. I shall allow you to complete your meal in peace...and watch the rednecks and their swimming pools. Call me, we should do this more often. Good talk."

Cassidy sticks her ear bud back in and reaches for her phone. "Good byeeee...." she intones in an all too typical cutesy blond voice. The next Tik Tok features a cat.