State of grace, p.10
State of Grace, page 10
“Breastfeeding?” Rachel asked. “That’s what you came up with?”
“Well, if it’s a man, they get freaked out by stuff like that. It’s a deterrent.” Andie put her ear up to the door. “I think they’re gone.”
“Help me zip up,” Rachel said, turning around.
Andie left a trail of kisses on her shoulder blades as she zipped up the dress. “This is a gorgeous gown.”
Rachel adjusted the top of the dress. “Thanks, so is yours.”
They stood in silence, facing each other.
“You have sex hair,” Andie said, reaching out to smooth Rachel’s hair.
“People will just think it’s from stress. You know, from the ad.”
“I could kill Fisher for running it,” Andie muttered. “I mean, I could kill him even on a good day, but especially now I could definitely kill him.”
“What are you going to do?” Rachel asked.
Andie kissed her again. “Let’s just say this: Fisher hasn’t seen me mad like I am right now. It’ll be a rude awakening for him.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Andie waited until Monday morning to do anything about the ad. She figured it was already out there, so what was the harm? She spent Saturday night with Rachel in her apartment in Austin. They’d walked along the river eating breakfast tacos together on Sunday morning. It had been bliss.
But now it was back to reality.
Andie put on her favorite suit and marched into the office like she owned the place. “Morning, Tonya.”
Tonya had her headphones in. Punk rock was blaring out of them into the otherwise silent office.
Andie laughed and walked past Fisher’s office without saying anything, knocking on Lloyd’s door.
“Come in!” he said.
Andie peeked her head into the room. “I’d like a conference with you and Fisher if you don’t mind. And even if you do mind, I still want to conference.”
Lloyd looked exhausted and coughed into his bent elbow. “Just a moment.” He kept coughing. “Have Tonya make me some hot tea, would you?”
“Of course, Councilman,” she said. She ducked into Fisher’s office. “Conference room. Now.”
“I’m busy—”
“I don’t care,” Andie spat. “Meeting. Now.” She marched back to the front of the office and failed to get Tonya’s attention. She made the tea herself and carried the steaming paper cup to the conference room. She was so nervous, she couldn’t bring herself to sit down.
Fisher ambled in a few minutes later, followed by Lloyd.
“Yes?” Fisher asked. “I have a lot of work to get done so if you could—”
“I’m here about the ad,” she said. “It was dirty and below the belt to criticize a woman for not being ‘motherly’ enough. So what if her husband got custody of the kids? Do you know how many times custody defaults to the woman no matter what the financial scenario is?”
“The ad worked. We’re in a statistical dead heat with Wendy,” Fisher said.
“It was dirty and below the belt. And you went over my head to do it, Fisher, which was a cheap shot at me. I’m trying to imagine you doing the same to a male campaign manager and somehow, I just don’t see that particular scenario playing out.”
Lloyd raised his hand. “Fisher and I have already discussed this, Andie.”
“And?”
“And I reprimanded him appropriately.”
“He lied,” Andie said. “He told me you knew about the ad, that you’d approved it.”
Lloyd pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know it was inappropriate. I hated the damn thing. But there’s nothing to be done now.”
“Except hope and pray that the Thompson campaign doesn’t decide to sling mud back,” Andie said. “Because we fired the first shots without the courtesy of a warning. Everything is fair game.” Andie looked at Lloyd incisively. “If there is anything, and I mean anything, you haven’t told me about your past, present and future, I need to know now so we can prepare for it.”
Fisher was conspicuously silent.
Lloyd held his hands up. “I promise you, I’m clean.”
Andie chewed the inside of her mouth. “With all due respect, Councilman, you better be.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“You’ve been quiet since the gala,” Steph said to Rachel from the sofa. She was eating cheese puffs and binge-watching House Hunters on HGTV.
“Mm,” Rachel said from the dining table. She was feeling under the weather and was in her pajamas working from home. Her fingers flew across her keyboard as she drafted memos for the regional office staff.
“I know I was gone all Saturday through Sunday morning, but I thought maybe you’d want to talk to me about the party. Did Jones make a fool of himself?”
“He spilled champagne over a woman he was flirting with. Then he used the word ‘penultimate’ incorrectly in his speech. But other than that, he was fairly gaffe-free.”
Steph muted the television. “And how was Andie?”
Rachel blushed and bit her lip, lowering her head to hide it behind her laptop screen. It didn’t work, however.
“Oh my God. You kissed her again, didn’t you?”
Rachel put her head down on the table. She was beaming and didn’t want Steph to see.
“Don’t hide from me. You cannot hide from me.” Steph leaped over the back of the sofa and ran over to the dining table. She took her fingers and tickled Rachel until Rachel sat upright and screamed for her to stop. “You dirty slut. You slept with her, too?”
Rachel grinned. “We had a little fun in the coat check room.”
“Public sex?” Steph shrieked and danced around the room. “Andie and Rachel sitting in a tree. F-U-C-K-I-N-G!” she yelled in a singsong voice. “Finally! It happened.”
“It was hardly sex,” Rachel said. “I mean, I was the only one to get an orgasm. I was going to take her, too, but we were interrupted.”
Steph stopped dancing. “By who?”
Rachel shrugged. “Whoever it was, they left when Andie said that I was breastfeeding.”
“Breastfeeding? Seriously?”
“It was the best she could come up with at the time. I can’t blame her for that!”
“So, how was it?” Steph said. “The not-sex?”
Rachel bit her lip and stood up to make more lemon water with honey. “It was mind-blowing. But honestly? The kiss was the best part.” She blew her nose rather unsexily into a tissue.
“Why?”
Rachel set the kettle on the stove. “It was sweet. And electric. It was just. I don’t know.”
Steph sat on the barstool and rested her elbows on the countertop, with her head in her hands. “Rachel’s in love!”
“Stop it,” Rachel replied, turning around so Steph couldn’t see her smile. “I am not.”
“So, what are you going to do about the fact that she’s the opposition’s campaign manager?” Steph asked.
“Nothing. I’m doing nothing but running my campaign.”
“And you’re going to see her, right? You’re texting, I presume?”
“Yes texting. And maybe yes to seeing her. There’s a debate next Saturday in San Antonio.”
“Ooh, sexy times for Rachel! Sexy times for Rachel! Sexy times for—”
“We had sex on your bed,” Rachel said, just to stop Steph from chanting any more. Rachel’s phone rang and she answered it immediately. “Rachel Callum.”
It was Wendy. “You feeling any better?”
The kettle whistled and Rachel pulled it off the stove, pouring the piping hot, steaming liquid into her favorite mug. It had the outline of the Austin skyline printed on it in dark grey, with an imprint of a rash of bluebonnets below. She jammed the phone against her shoulder and spooned honey into the cup along with a good squirt of lemon.
“I’m getting there. What’s up?”
Wendy sighed. “Tom’s trying to help with debate prep, and Gracie keeps plying me with sandwiches. It’s just. I have this feeling.”
Steph rolled her eyes as Rachel waved her away from the kitchen counter. Rachel went into her bedroom with the phone in one hand and the mug of lemon and honey water in the other. She plopped onto her messy bed. “What kind of feeling?”
“You need to do opposition research on Jim Haverford,” she said. “I just want to be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“I think he’s more of a threat than the pollsters realize,” Wendy said. “And I don’t want us caught with our pants down. Especially after the ad that ran this weekend.”
“Your poll numbers barely wavered,” Rachel said optimistically, sipping the homemade tea. “It turns out people aren’t as misogynistic as we think.”
Wendy sighed. “I learned a long time ago to trust my gut, Rachel. I don’t want this going sideways unless we’re prepared to face it, okay?”
Rachel muttered an affirmation.
“Get some sleep and rest. No work after five tonight, you hear me young lady?”
“Yes ma’am,” Rachel replied. She hung up the phone and stared at the real Austin skyline out of her window.
Jim Haverford. She had to be ready.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“Thank you all for coming out tonight. On behalf of the political science department at the University of Texas at San Antonio Downtown Campus, it’s been a pleasure having you all here.” The moderator gave the camera one last smile.
The cameras stopped rolling as everyone in the crowd clapped politely to end the evening.
Andie slipped out the back of the auditorium so Fisher couldn’t follow her. She’d been avoiding him. If he was going to ignore everything she said, she might as well save her breath and not bother talking to him in the first place. That was her thinking, anyway.
Andie was checking her phone in the courtyard when she heard footsteps rush up behind her.
“Hey, you,” Rachel said, giving her a kiss.
Andie looked around. “We can’t be seen kissing! We’re supposed to be competitors.”
Rachel smiled. “How about you and Fisher and Tonya come out with us tonight? We’re staying at the Emily Morgan. Drinks are on us.”
Andie gaped at her. “Why?”
“Because it’s the Texas way to be friendly to the people whose ass you just kicked all over the stage.”
Andie crossed her arms. “This crowd loved Councilman Grant.”
“Maybe. You had the hometown advantage but you still didn’t win. You’ll see. We’ll have polling numbers by midnight and it’ll all be abundantly clear that we wiped the floor with you.”
“This was still a three-man race, last time I checked,” said a man’s voice from the doorway to the courtyard.
Rachel turned around. “A three-person race.”
“Excuse me?” He had a slick smile and equally slicked back hair.
“There’s a woman in the group. It’s not a three-man race, it’s a three-person race,” Rachel explained. “I so enjoy the casual misogyny though.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.
The guy grinned. He was several years older than Rachel, probably in his mid-thirties. “I’m Jim Haverford’s campaign manager. I’m Alex.”
“I know,” Andie and Rachel said simultaneously.
Andie glanced at Rachel and they exchanged a knowing look.
“So, you’re the nephew and you finally deem it appropriate after all this time to finally introduce yourself. Nothing like a little nepotism to get you up in the morning, hm?” Rachel asked.
Andie smothered a laugh with her hand.
“I heard some talk of drinks,” Alex said. “I’m assuming my campaign staff are invited?”
“That’s quite an assumption,” Rachel said. “But considering the fact that your candidate is the reason we lost three points last week, I’m not sure you are invited.”
Andie spoke up. “Come on. Friendly sportsmanlike conduct is required to get us through this last month of campaign bullshit.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Andie.”
“Lloyd’s girl,” Alex said.
Andie recoiled at those words. “I’m Councilman Grant’s campaign manager, yes.”
Alex smirked. “And you are Rachel Callum, Wendy’s right hand man.” He put on a face that feigned shock. “I mean woman, naturally.”
Andie and Rachel glanced at each other. It was hard to tell who hated Alex more.
***
The bar at the Emily Morgan had mostly cleared out but for the three campaign teams. From the Wendy Thompson campaign were Rachel, Tom, and Gracie. Against bitter protest from Andie, Fisher had tagged along, stringing Tonya with him. The latter was taking shots of tequila with lime and salt but didn’t seem to be getting drunk somehow.
Completing the group was Alex, who didn’t see fit to bring anyone from his own campaign along with him.
“That’s because even his own people hate him,” Andie had muttered under her breath to Rachel, who laughed.
The group sat at wooden tables pushed together to make room for all of them. The low, dim lights cast a cozy atmosphere, and the bartender was keeping them plied with a steady flow of drinks.
“So then he says, ‘Only in Idaho is that legal!’” Tom yelled out. Everyone laughed.
Everyone except for Alex, that is.
“What a ridiculous response.”
“To a ridiculous question,” Andie pointed out. “One day you might learn to not take the bait from the press.”
“The press exists solely to lie,” Alex said. “When I do happen to not ignore them, it’s in an effort to ameliorate the effects of their dishonesty.”
“Blah blah blah,” Tonya said from the end of the table, flicking her dark hair back over her shoulder. “You use big words but it doesn’t make you seem smart. It just pisses everybody off.”
Andie laughed and sipped her gin and tonic. “We should play a game.”
“How about never have I ever?” Fisher suggested.
Half the table groaned.
“Seriously. It’ll be fun. I’ll go first. Never have I ever had sex in a coat closet.”
Andie and Rachel glanced at each other, a fleeting look of panic crossing over their faces.
But no. He couldn’t know. How could he know?
Andie and Rachel drank, along with Gracie and, surprisingly, Tonya.
“What? It was at Thanksgiving dinner,” Tonya said, shrugging. “My boyfriend and I were bored.”
Everyone laughed and the moment of tension seemed to pass.
It was Alex’s turn. “Never have I ever lied to get ahead.”
The whole table laughed. “You’ve gotta drink on your own statement,” Rachel said.
Alex grinned. “What? I’ve never lied to get ahead.”
“Right, so that statement about Haverford’s tax returns was what? A fun story meant to amuse and entertain the sheeple?”
Alex plastered on his slimy grin once more. “I didn’t lie. Mr. Haverford is under an audit by the IRS and can’t release his tax returns.”
The whole table groaned. “You asshole. Everyone knows it’s okay to release your returns during an audit.”
Alex kept that same grin. “So, nobody’s drinking this round?”
Everybody took a shot except Alex.
“Liar,” Andie muttered.
“My turn!” Rachel said, rubbing her hands together with glee. “Never have I ever voted Republican in a governor’s race.”
Seventy percent of the table knocked back alcohol. Rachel abstained.
“Wait, you didn’t vote for Jones in the election?” Andie asked, dropping her jaw.
“That’s right,” Rachel replied. “It was easy not to. He’s a fucking clown.”
Gracie spewed some of her beer out of her mouth. “He really is. Even though I voted for him.”
“Gracie!” Rachel said. “I’m so disappointed in you.”
“I’m loyal to my party to a fault, I’ll admit.”
“I’m not,” Tonya said. Maybe the alcohol was finally working; she was much chattier than usual. “I voted for the libertarian for president the last three elections.”
“You’re not a Democrat?” Andie asked.
Tonya shrugged. “I am a woman without a party.”
Alex reached across the table to offer his hand. “May I welcome you to my party?”
Tonya made him wait a good twenty seconds before she answered. “No fucking way. Your uncle is more of a clown than the Governor is.”
Everybody laughed, including Alex.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Alex begged off early, saying he had meetings in the morning. Gracie and Tom went upstairs to their rooms, and Fisher offered to drive Tonya home.
“I’d rather walk, thanks,” she said gruffly. “Night, losers.”
“Night, Tonya,” the remaining trio said.
Fisher tried to stifle a yawn and failed miserably. “I better hit it. You need a ride, Andie?”
Andie ignored him.
“Alright then,” Fisher said heavily. “I guess you’re still not speaking to me.”
“There’s nothing to say,” Andie said, knocking back the rest of her drink. She pulled a full, icy glass of water towards her and sipped it through the blue straw. “Drive safe.”
Fisher pushed his chair in. “Night, Rachel.”
“Good night, Fisher,” she said sleepily. Now it was her turn to stifle a yawn. “I’m so tired I think I might just sleep here.”
Andie laughed. “You have your own room, yeah?”
Rachel nodded. “It’s got a roomy queen bed.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “And by that I mean, perfect for cuddling in because I’m too tired for sex.”
The bartender walked around them, wiping down tables. “You ladies need one last drink?” He picked up beer bottles and empty glasses from their table. The bottles clinked together pleasantly.
“We’re good,” Andie said.
Rachel pulled a credit card out of her purse and passed it to the bartender.
“They leave you with the bill?” he asked, grinning. He pulled an iPhone with a card reader out of his pocket and swiped it, handing it back to Rachel.
