“Sorry, but after President Taylor insisted you come to this summit—or whatever it is—and now Prime Minister Banks is basically stalking your socials like a drunk ex… everyone is shipping you and the Prime Minister. You’re also showing up on a lot of book-related forums and posts. The hashtag ‘barris’ is trending. We can put out a statement, but it may fuel the fire. We have a specialist here in office to assist. To be fair, what’s hotter than a political romance?”
“I’ll be there within the hour,” I grit out.
“No, not until we figure out a plan. Ned is recommending you stay there, so Aubrey, Ned, and I will come to you.”
“Who the hell is Ned?”
“Ned Collins,” he greets, though he sounds more distant than Tracy does. “My apologies we haven’t been introduced, Ms. Harris. Kristin Proctor, the President’s Chief of Staff, connected me with yours. I assist with damage control.”
“Hi, Ned. Thank you for your help. Everything sort of spread like wildfire.”
“Indeed it did. There’s a very good chance the media is camped outside your home right now, so as Ms. Jacobson mentioned, we’ll come to you.”
I’m still processing everything; all I can do is nod in agreement.
“Ms. Harris?”
“Yes, sorry, I’m here. I’ll see all of you shortly.”
We hang up, and I groan into my pillow. “Can’t I have one moment of peace?”
Unsure when they’ll be here, I launch out of bed, getting ready faster than I did the morning Isaac picked me up for coffee.
I pause, mid-brush of my hair.
“Fuck. I have to find a way out of this,” I mutter to my reflection.
Once I’m dressed, I rush to the kitchen and fill my water kettle. I also prepare my pod coffee maker—I have a feeling we’re all going to need an abundance of caffeine for the rest of the day. A few minutes later, Aubrey lets herself in with Tracy and a man, who I assume is Ned, in tow. They meet me in the kitchen, and Aubrey makes herself at home, setting up laptops and materials at my kitchen table.
“Ms. Harris,” the man greets, offering his hand. “Ned Collins. Pleasure to finally meet you.”
“I wish I could say the same,” I chuckle. “Rumor has it you’re only called upon when things are an absolute mess.”
With a wide grin, he adjusts his plastic-frame glasses. “Yes. I have a bit of a reputation. Rest assured, I’ve yet to be handed a crisis that couldn’t be managed.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Can I get anyone coffee or tea?”
“Do you have anything stronger?” Aubrey teases, sauntering over to my coffee pod collection. She settles on a blonde roast and makes herself a cup.
Tracy insists she’ll get her own, but I prep a dark roast anyway, adding the caramel creamer I keep on hand for her. Ned politely asks for a cup of Earl Grey with a splash of milk.
While Ned and Tracy get set up at my dining table, Aubrey quietly asks me, “How are you holding up?”
I shrug and keep my voice low as I reply, “I’ve been better.”
“We can back out of the summit completely.” She wraps an arm around my shoulder. “I’ll tell them there’s a scheduling conflict.”
“Maybe.” Once everyone has beverages in hand, I hedge, “So, how bad is it?”
“I’ll need a full breakdown of your relationship with the Prime Minister,” Ned replies before anyone else.
I glare at Aubrey, and she shakes her head once. It’s too early to unpack my emotional baggage, so I settle on, “I don’t have a relationship with him.” Not technically a lie.
He cocks an eyebrow. “Are we really going to get into semantics here? In the past twelve hours, I’ve been able to secure information that says otherwise. It’s only a matter of time before the whole world knows you dated him in college.”
Tracy squeaks. “You dated the Prime Minister?”
“That was fifteen years ago,” Aubrey chimes in. “How is it even newsworthy? No one is going to care that they were together for what, four months? It was a semester in college. A blip.”
