Mia obligingly smiled since she saw he expected it. She wrote down, Charter schools—waffles well. So what did he really think?

She asked about unions and their influence in the lives of everyday New Yorkers and was treated to his political “tribe’s” honored position, that is, unions must continue to flourish to protect New York citizens and the rights of the worker. And taxes. “Ah, taxes, the bane of all our existence, from rich man, to poor man, to Indian chief.”

Again, she gave him an expected perfunctory smile.

He leaned forward, his eyes on her face, sincerity ringing in his voice. “Regardless of who we are, how much money we earn, we must all contribute fairly to the city coffers. Our great city must function at a high level, to keep not only our citizens safe, but our thousands of yearly visitors. Of course we must also keep our social programs properly funded, and this means evaluating need and impact.” He continued in this vein and Mia kept looking at the bracelet on his wrist. He used his hands a lot. He was articulate and sometimes amusing, but still, she could have written what he said without speaking to him. She could have also written what the termed-out incumbent would say without speaking to him. Political tribes repeated their stands like mantras.

When Alex glanced down at his watch, gave a rueful shake of the head, Mia rose. “Thank you for the enlightening interview. As I said, in my first article I’m planning a background piece to start off as an introduction to a series on your campaign. What we spoke about today, that will be in my second article. I’ll be heading up to Boston to speak with some of your family there, friends, college connections. Perhaps you could give them a heads-up for me? Tell them I don’t bite?”

Mia wished she didn’t have to ask him to pave the way, it gave those she was going to speak to time to carefully plan what to say. She’d much rather catch them off-guard. But Milo had insisted.

“Certainly. Unfortunately my parents are on a cruise at the moment, but there are people in Boston who can tell you everything you need to know for a background article better than I can.” He gave a rueful smile. “I can only hope they’ll be kind. I’ll have Mrs. Millicent text you a list of people to see.”

Mia said smoothly, “Thank you. Of course I won’t have time to speak to all the names on your list.” She wondered if any of the names on his official list would cross with the people she wanted to speak to.

She was shown out of his office by the big kahuna himself. He smiled at her and touched her elbow at the door.