Chapter Twenty-Six
Making it through the primaries and the convention is the easy part, in some ways, because I know we’ll only have two massive hurdles left before November—Shae’s three debates with Fullmer…
And letting Shae sit down for a one-on-one with Lauren.
Which is complicated for a variety of reasons besides the obvious. Ever since Iowa, Lauren has been coming afterShae and picking apart every statement she makes like an obsessive English teacher diagraming a sentence. And with my careful guidance, Shae’s been indirectly trading insults with several other FNB anchors who’ve blatantly misstated or outright lied about things Shae has said or done.
Despite that, I don’t want Shae talking to anyone else at that fucking network besides Lauren. Lauren might notlike Shae, and she might hammer her, but I know damn well in an interview she’ll at least be fair…if not unpleasantly firm.
There’s been a distance between me and Lauren lately that I wish I had the privacy to approach her and attempt to bridge, but I don’t want anyone trying to disparage Lauren, or accusing her of favoritism because of who I am.
Thus most of my communications with her are viatexts on my personal cell.
Our grueling campaign travel schedule doesn’t help me, either.
Except when we’re scheduling sit-downs in late September, I decide to call Lauren and talk. I wait until a Monday afternoon when I can be alone at the townhouse, and I’m certain Lauren’s most likely home but before she’ll have turned in for the night. I lock myself in the spare bedroom that’s now my defacto office in case Shae and Chris come home while I’m doing this, and I pray my girl still loves me as much as I love her.
I call her personal cell with mine. I’m not sure she’ll answer, because it rings once, twice, a third time. I’m expecting voice mail to pick up but then I realize it’s her.
“Hey.”
I take a deep breath. “Hey, sweetie. Can we talk?”
“I don’t know, can we? Or is your candidategoing to be unhappy about that?”
Shit. I’m sure there are probably a variety of ways Lauren’s not happy with me right now, but I toughen up and plunge ahead and hope our years of friendship will help us out.
“I love you.”
That’s playing dirty, and I know it.
It takes a moment for her soft reply to make it to me. “I love you, too.”
“Can we have work Kev and Laur and regular Kev and Laur betwo different sets of people? Because I gotta say, I can’t stand having you upset with me and me not be able to fix this.”
“You justhadto go to work for her and get her through the damn primaries and convention, huh? Stupid overachiever.”
But I smile, because snark has returned to her tone, and that’smygirl I finally hear. “She’s going to do this, Laur. You know she is.”
“I don’t know jackshit, Kev. I’m going to do my damnedest to find every weak spot and exploit it, though.”
What Laur doesn’t know—will never know—is that IamShae’s weak spot.
I’m her only weak spot. “Then how would you like a sit-down to do it, sweetie? That’s what I’m calling for. To get it scheduled.”
The pause is long enough I have to make sure the call didn’t drop. “Really?” she asks.
“Really. The onlyone from FNB I want talking to her right now is you.”
“See, why do I think you have an agenda, here?”
I do, and I can admit it to her. “You’re the best. If she’s going to face a buzz saw, I’d rather it be you than anyone. You won’t try to distort things.”
Lauren grumbles, but I know I’ve scored a point or two with her. She takes pride in her job and in presenting the truth, even if she doesn’tlike whatever the truth is. “I won’t do this live,” she finally says. “I want someone in the control booth able to fact-check her in real time and tell me if she’s wrong. And Iwillcall her the fuck out if she is.”
“That’s fair.” Any other network—yes, even the “liberal” ones—I’d hesitate to agree to that at this point out of fear of them using creative editing tactics to make it look like Shaesaid something she didn’t. I make them tape her live with a condition that they have to release the full and unedited version online immediately after airing so that the public can see the full interview if they missed it the first time around.
Except Lauren never has allowed that kind of BS from her producers, and never will. Just like I never did.
