“For the Environment and Public Works committee, correct? You all are voting on the leasing prospectuses for veteran outpatient clinics throughout Virginia.”
The certainty with which he speaks gives me pause. I glance at the papers on my desk, wondering if he managed to read them while they were scattered on the floor or if he gleaned that information from where he’s sitting.
“I already know I am correct, Senator. And I will spare you the stress of wondering if I had that information before I walked into your office.” He pauses for dramatic effect then says, “I did.”
“That isn’t surprising. It’s public information.”
Most people don’t go through the trouble of getting it though. But then again, Phineas Gambit isn’t like most people. He’s sitting in my sweltering office on a hot June day in a bespoke suit with three custom pieces to it, and he hasn’t even broken a sweat. He glances at his watch, tsking when he sees the time.
“You will be late for your meeting if we do not speed this up. Quickly, Senator, ask me why I’m here.”
“Why are you here, Mr. Gambit?”
His smile is a slow, sinister stretching of skin. “Because I need a favor from an old friend, andyouneed a man likemeindebted to you.”
January 11,2018
“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t show up,” Selene says for the millionth fucking time tonight. She’s been home from her party for an hour, still in the floor length black gown she wore out because she’s so busy nagging me about missing her special night to undress.
I turn my back to her, pulling covers up over my head. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“You’re behaving like a child, Aubrey. Don’t you think I deserve to know why my husband wasn’t there beside me,celebrating my accomplishments the way I always celebrate his? I mean, I could understand if you were working….”
She keeps droning on, but I tune her out, pulling my phone off the nightstand and smiling at a message from Susie or Sarah or Sasha. I can’t remember her name, but I won’t be forgetting the sight of her tits bouncing in my face anytime soon. The meet up wasn’t supposed to last as long as it did, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut it short. It felt good to be with a woman who appreciated me as a man. Who saw my power and revered it instead of resenting it.
That’s all I get at home.
Complaints. Critiques. And the constant fucking nagging.
I just wasn’t in the mood for it tonight. Couldn’t stomach the thought of standing next to her while she smiled smugly and told anyone who would listen that winning a Global Tech Award wasn’t supposed to happen for another ten years.
Throwing the covers off me, I sit up, glaring at her. “Why did you accept it?”
She’s stripped down, the dress in a pool around her ankles. “What?”
“The award. Why did you accept it? According to your career plan, you’re not supposed to receive one until 2028.”
“I guess timelines change,” she says as she scoops up her dress and disappears into the closet while I stare after her.
“Timelines change,” I whisper, savoring the flavor of shifting expectations and free will on my way out of the bedroom. By the time I make it to my office, it’s the only thing on my tongue, and I’m so distracted by it that I don’t even notice when Phineas answers the phone.
“Senator Taylor.”
Between the years we’ve known each other and the favors I’ve done for him, you would think he’d be inclined to use my first name, but he never does. I bypass greeting him altogether,skipping straight to the point the way he always does while I pour myself three fingers of whiskey.
“I want the Oval.” The words burn on their way out. I knock them back in, washing them down with the amber liquid. Phineas is quiet, so I swallow and then repeat myself. “I want the Oval.”
“What do you expect me to do with this information?”
Another heavy pour. This one four fingers or maybe even five. I’m too wired to care.
“The same thing I do with the tid-bits of information and instructions you give me: make it happen.”
“You are not ready,” he replies.
“Bullshit.”
Years of doing his bidding and taking his advice has led to a major rise in my political profile. I’ve moved out of Cannon House and into an office with a view of the Potomac. I’m leading committees instead of just begging to sit on them. I am well known and respected among my colleagues, and most of all, I’m ready to make a play for the fucking Oval.
