The Community, Issue 6: Part 3.3

Page 148 Panel 1: She enters the restaurant moments later, looking around at the fancy classical music playing off-panel right. You can see a touch of a sneer on her face being held back at that moment.

JESMINDER

(thought bubble, beginning to take off her sweater)

Reminds me of my first day in the Sabha; the privilege, the douchiness, the fact one of these idiots is checking my ass out...

(thought bubble 2) Focus on the job, and not the instinct to puke!

Panel 2: At a table near the back of the restaurant, MP AARON TAYLOR is already there and waving toward the young/old woman upon seeing her coming by. He's dressed in a respectable gray suit that befits the overall blandness of his face and personality.

Panel 3: We move to a shot of the two of them exchanging a pleasant head nod as Jesminder takes a seat on a chair alongside the freshman politico. In the bottom of the panel view, you can see a couple of settings already placed down.

MP TAYLOR

(to Jesminder, half grin) Ms. Gupta...good to put a face to the legend.

JESMINDER

(upturned, to MP Taylor) Legend?

MP TAYLOR

(Bubble 2) The way you dispatched Lord Carrington on Medium- nothing short of a bloody masterclass!

Panel 4: Slight close-up on the politician just as she sits down; a respectful smile now fully visible on his face as he recalls the rest of the story.

MP TAYLOR

(Cont.) I couldn't believe it came from a grad student and not someone with twenty years on the front benches. If only you weren't a Socialist...!

Panel 5: Jesminder chuckles slightly, pushing the chair closer to the table as she speaks. You can hear the thump of her purse on the ground next to her feet.

JESMINDER

Better a Socialist than a Fascist, as my mum used to say.

Panel 6: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A few moments later, she looks back down at her purse to pull something out to show him.

JESMINDER

(Cont.) Now. To the task at hand...

Page 149

Panel 1: We pull up to a crane shot of the table minutes later. Jesminder is in a professorial manner, providing context to a series of charts and studies strewn out over the center of the table; the MP listening politely throughout.

JESMINDER

(to MP Taylor) As you know, after the pandemic, the EU passed the Whitaker-Tennant Bill banning the import of goods from wet markets as well as those made from "environmentally destructive" tactics- the same things that were proven to be the source of the virus itself.

Panel 2: Slight close-up on ground level of the young/old woman a beat later, shifting along on the same type of mindset toward the next stage of the presentation.

JESMINDER

(Cont.) The legislative language, in one form or another, was codified in over a hundred different countries, including this one- albeit in an extremely tight vote.

MP TAYLOR

(interjecting, Off-Panel) I know all this already, Ms. Gupta!

JESMINDER

(Bubble 2) Of course. The fact that a rewrite would be coming this quickly from your colleagues in the majority worries me, especially when it'll cause a great deal of harm for every single person in Great Britain.

Panel 3: Cut to a shot of Mr. Taylor on the other side of the table, unconvinced by what he's heard thus far. You can also see a sense of worry that comes up in his response.

MP TAYLOR

(Cont.) That's all fine and good. But I'm far more worried about the 700 people in my constituency employed by logging companies and other "environmentally destructive" industries. Many of which helped get me to Parliament in the first place. This bill protects those jobs until renewables start to get a proper foothold.

Panel 4: Back to a shot of Jesminder; the setting and layout similar to Panel 2. She is not as worried as her cohort, though has an outwardly sympathetic look in order to not come off as condescending in his eyes.

JESMINDER

(explanatory) Understood. But renewables have been steadily on the increase in your constituency for five years running. It would make more sense to come up with ideas on how to bring them into the industry, and start to widen the manufacturing base that'll sustain the country in the future.

Panel 5: As she starts to get into a groove, the waiter comes into view with a tablet ready to take both of their orders.

WAITER

(to Jesminder and MP Taylor) Good afternoon- what can I get you two?

Panel 6: The MP focuses his attention toward the waiter, glancing over at the menu hanging halfway off the edge of the table.

MP TAYLOR

(to the Waiter) I'll have a cup of Earl Grey, 2 sugars and a splash of cream.

Panel 7: We shift over to Ms. Gupta, doing the same thing as the politico did in Panel 6. Though without a menu nearby, you can see her try to glance over at the MP's menu.

JESMINDER

(racking her brain, to the Waiter) Hmmm...do you serve Gur Gur Chai?