Oh my God. My bill. Mybaby. The Green Machine was still alive. Somehow, we’d saved it. My heart soared.
“What about McBuck?” I asked, seizing on the last missing ingredient.
Anita kicked her legs up on the desk. “He might be your last holdout. You’ll probably have to find a way to work him before the vote tomorrow.”
“Thank yousomuch.” I leaped out of my chair. I had to call Dakota and Wendy immediately, figure out how to push the bill over the finish line. They were going tofaintwhen they heard.
“Hold your horses.” Anita stubbed out her cigarette. “Don’t you want to hear the other results?”
“What other results?”
“Ben had me run your numbers, too. Honestly, woman, you are a mystery wrapped in a puzzle.”
I gripped the back of the chair. “Why would he ask you to do that?”
“I am not inside that man’s brain.” She grinned. “Though I would like to be inside his—”
I waved her on. “Just—what did you find?”
Anita shuffled to a second sheet of paper. “Congratulations, darling. You’re as popular as the bill, maybe even more so. Analysis shows you tugged on the public’s heartstrings when you ran that marathon so poorly, you came across as winningly relatable when you tumbled in that fountain, and you captured hearts and stoked indignation when you stood up for your boss to the people in power at your presser.”
She skimmed her finger down the page. “These results are from across the state and across demographics, but needless to say, you are particularly beloved among the freaks and weirdos here in Austin. People under thirty-five,especiallywomen under thirty-five, adore you. And I can’t tell you how many sex positivity accounts have rallied for you on Twitter, because the number was too high for my brain to fully process.”
“I haven’t checked Twitter in forever,” I breathed. My knees were Jell-O. Thank God I was holding on to this chair.
Anita gave me a stern look. “In my experience, these are the numbers of a successful candidate. I want you to take that and chew on it.”
“I will...chew on it.” I stared blankly at her desk. Peoplelikedme? They thought of me as a leader?
“Well?” Anita made a shooing gesture. “Go on. Scat. And take care of your McBuck problem before you keel over. I can see the keeling coming in your eyes.”
In a daze, I thanked her, stumbled out the door and managed to high-five several staffers on my way out of the governor’s office.
The Green Machine was popular, and so was I. No wonder everyone I’d passed in the capitol had stared and whispered. They weren’t pitying me; they were jealous. Winning public approval was the Holy Grail. Now, what would I do with this information?
As soon as the fog of surprise cleared my head, I realized I already knew the answer. I knew what to do to bring the Green Machine home.
I clattered down the steps of the capitol, wincing only a little at my still-sore muscles, and dialed a number.
“Hello, Senator Roy McBuck’s office,” a woman chirped. “This is Kathy speaking.”
“Hello, Kathy, this is Lee Stone from Lise Motors.”
There was a clanging sound, like Kathy had dropped the phone, then some scrambling. Her voice returned, taking on an awed tint. “The Sex Club Spokeswoman?”
“Yes, that Lee Stone. Could you please put me through to the senator? I have a proposition I think he’ll want to hear.”
“A...proposition? I, uh, read about theEyes Wide Shutthing and I don’t feel comfortable—”
I blew out a breath. “Notthatkind of proposition, Kathy. You know what, just connect me.”
30
With Humility and Diffidence
Texas Monthlyonce called Texas Legislature Online “good for transparency, sure, but also the most boring channel on the internet, a perfect cure for your insomnia.” You’d never know it, though, judging by the way the entire Lise Motors office—all one hundred–plus people—were glued to the giant projector streaming the eighty-seventh Texas legislative session against the wall of our building.
It was D-Day. In moments, the Green Machine bill would pass into the annals of history, or it would die on the Senate floor. The House had already passed the bill, which we’d counted on. The Green Machine’s newfound popularity, especially among Democratic-leaning voters, meant that even the representatives Samuel Slittery claimed had been waffling snapped right back in line with their voters’ opinions.
