(Untitled)

[headofaccounts]

Sterling's Gold.

Pete almost doesn't believe it when he sees the book on the Rec Room shelf. Still, when he sees the title followed by the words 'by Roger Sterling' on the spine, he pulls it out, staring, slightly dumbfounded, at the dust jacket (the ink sketch of the author on the back isn't bad) until he reaches a chair, then proceeding to sit

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[broken_brushes]

"I'm guessing that one's not going on Pete Campbell's list of favorite reads," I surmised as I paused a few feet away, a cup of peppermint tea in hand and my eyebrows arched in curiosity. He looked kind of like he'd eaten something bitter, or maybe just needed to something to punch.

"Do you know him, Roger-?" I began, then hesitated, remembering the first time we'd met. "Wait, didn't you work for someone named Sterling?"

[headofaccounts]

"I did," Pete replied, eyes lingering on the book a moment longer before he looked up at Shari. (He doesn't manage to change the look on his face quickly enough.) "The, um. The book's from a few years ahead of where I was."

[broken_brushes]

"I take it there's something in there you'd rather not know," I guessed as I perched on the edge of the coffee table, cup clasped in both hands. I afforded the front of the book a critical once over. What a pretentious title.

[headofaccounts]

"Some things were - are - a little unexpected," he admitted, offering her the book in case she cared to look at it, although he doubted that any of Roger's non-immediate history would be that fascinating for him. (He'd looked up to Don, not Sterling.) "But I guess I should have seen that coming."

[little_moons]

"Hey," I say, plopping my ass down on the arm of his chair and peering down at the book in his hand.

Roger Sterling Jr. Could just be a coincidence, some random book the shelf decided to throw at him, but an adman from New York? There's a chance this is more than just some book.

I arch a brow. "Friend of yours?"

[headofaccounts]

"Former boss," Pete replies, managing a quick smile as he glances up. "Apparently he took it upon himself to share his exploits with the whole world, not just his employees. Uh - a few years after from where I got pulled from, so to speak."

[little_moons]

"Was he as big a dick as I think he might, or is that cover just deceiving?" I ask, lips pressed together against a smirk of amusement. I really wouldn't know, and it's not like I've got much experience with wealthy, New York admen, but that book jacket alone kind of screams self-important dickhead.

Then, a little more seriously, I ask, "This the first thing you ever found from your future?"

[headofaccounts]

For a moment, Pete goes completely silent, taken a little aback at Neil's first question before he breaks out into laughter. "The cover - isn't deceiving at the least," he tells him (feeling as though he's got his hand in the cookie jar just saying so), amusement dying down as he begins to answer the second query.

"It's the first thing. I guess I just don't know what to really make of it."

[abbysciuto]

The snow was gone and the warm weather was back. Not as warm as it'd be in a few months, but still, to go from needing scarves and mittens to 75 degrees and sunny was really nice. Abby was enjoying the chance to dress accordingly, so she'd chosen a short schoolgirl skirt and a black ruffly tank top and paired it with stompy boots, wristbands, and even a collar. She was way more gothed out than she even normally was, but that was fun and fine, even for a day when she was just going to the compound to check on some things in the lab.

She needed to grab a reference text from the bookshelf before she really got started if it'd give her one, and she bounced into the rec room, passing the slightly irritated-looking guy (Peter Something, maybe?) and greeting him with her usual cheerful "Hi."

[headofaccounts]

Her get-up, as it were, was enough to shake Pete from his reverie completely. He'd seen a lot on the island that would have been absolutely unacceptable back home, but this had to be his first encounter with goth. And, honestly, he didn't know what to think of it. That being said, he at least wasn't thinking about the book anymore.

"- Hi." Based on inflection, it was almost a question.

[abbysciuto]

"Bookshelf give you something you weren't expecting?" she asked breezily, glancing at him over her shoulder and scanning the shelf for the book she was looking for, or at least something similar.

He had that confused face, and the book on his lap might be the culprit. Or he might just be confused in general. He definitely wasn't new-arrival confused, though. That was a different confused face.

[headofaccounts]

"Yeah," he replied, voice suggesting that both the bookshelf and the doorway had yielded surprises today. (They had, to his displeasure on at least one point.) Shifting, he closed the book, placing it on his knee. "Something like that."

[defected]

"Looks like a real page turner," remarked Bryce, having studied Pete's expression carefully enough before approaching. More habit than intention, he knew there was little need to watch the other man; after months of rehearsal, it was clear enough that no threat was posed, spy-related or otherwise. On the latter front, he did his best to tame any jealousy over Lucy's friends, firm in the belief that it was unfounded. It was made difficult by the knowledge that Sarah had moved on from him to his best friend, but Lucy was incomparable for a number of reasons, the least of which being that she had never known Chuck.

[headofaccounts]

"What, did the cupid on the cover give it away?" For what it was worth, Pete recognized the other man from the play, in addition to having figured out his connection to Lucy. If he was on her good side, well. He couldn't be too bad. As such, Pete did his best to put on a friendly face. No use in making a bad impression the first time they held a real conversation. "I mean, mark of any good book, right?"

[defected]

"If not that, definitely the wit that went into that title," laughed Bryce, taking note of the author's name and rolling his eyes. "Nothing says wisdom like a clever pun," he joked, helpless but to wonder what attracted Pete to the book in the first place. True, boredom could compel a person to great lengths, but there were, at the very least, other books to choose from.

[headofaccounts]

"Apparently." Sterling's name was still (apparently) on the building, after all. That had to count for something, not that he really thought that the pun had anything to do with it. Pete let another moment go by before he set the book aside. "You're Bruce, right?"

[chasinghumanity]

"That good, huh?" Mitchell asked with an easy chuckle as he watched the bloke's expression shift. He held his mug of coffee high, near his lips so he could blow it cool. That was all he was doing now, just leaning against the bookshelf, waiting for his coffee to cool a bit so he could sip and skim over some cheap, glossy magazine in peace. It felt like a day that should be free from thought, the sun hot and high in the sky again without a touch of snow anywhere. It was the kind of sun that made it hard to think and gave Mitchell a headache in two minutes flat.

"You want one of these?" he offered, waving a handful of back issues of Daily Star, OK! and Top Gear: Turbo Challenge.

[headofaccounts]

Although he didn't recognize any of the magazines, he appreciated the gesture, the petulance on his features softening into something a little less irritated. People on the island were generally kind, and it was still something that surprised him, not that he objected to it in the least. It made a nice change from the way things had been at home. "Top Gear?" he asked, squinting at one of the magazines. "I've never heard of it, but I'll take it over this."

[chasinghumanity]

Mitchell winced somewhat as he separated an issue of the designated magazine from the fold. "It's based on a TV show," he explained as he moved closer, helping himself to a seat at the table. It was only half a sitting job though, more of a perch as if he were ready to vacate should the environment turn hostile.

"They do races and challenges and just do ridiculously awesome things with cars. It's brilliant. The magazine though, it's more for kids," he admitted, sliding a copy over. It still looked cool, with two sharp looking speedsters on the cover and bold print heralding some massive upgrades. "Trading cards and everything. But still cool if you like cars and aren't too picky."

[headofaccounts]

"Anything other than this," he said, taking the magazine and discarding Roger's book (for the moment, at least). "Car show, huh? This is the first time I've heard of a magazine based on a show, not like - a catalog, or something like that. How did it do this well?" It was ironic, not that he registered it, that he was onto an advertising bent despite wanting to avoid it.