Page 15 of Bi-Partisan

“Ew, you and your non-dairy creamer. I’ll just drink it black.” She hip-checks the fridge shut and turns to my Keurig to grab my City of Pawnee travel mug off the platform. “Do you want me to make you a cup?”

“Too much dairy gives me reflux. And no, I don’t want coffee.” I’m already feeling a little off between the alcohol from last night, I don’t necessarily want to add coffee to that mix. “Now, can you stop criticizing my fridge and tell me what the hell is going on? I’m kind of in the middle of processing a sexuality crisis here.”

“I know, but unfortunately your sexuality crisis is why I’m here,” she says.

“Mina—”

“Look, I’m just gonna cut straight to it because it’s not great. Actually, that’s an understatement. This is probably going to be an epic clusterfuck.” She takes a deep breath, then releases it sharply. “There are pictures of you and that guy from last night.”

“What?” My voice comes out barely above a whisper.

“A friend of Chloe’s works at District Buzz and called about an hour ago to tip me off that a coworker of hers had photos of you inside and outside of the club and would be publishing them soon. Ben was my first call, and he’s rallying the troops at his place for damage control. The article went live while I was in the Uber over here, but I haven’t read it yet. I was too busy calling you to make sure I could get to you before you found it yourself.” She glances at her phone, which is lighting up like crazy. “Fuck, that’s Ben wondering where we are. Okay we really need to go.”

She brushes past me, I guess assuming I’m right behind her, but I can’t move. I’m rooted to the spot. No. It’s not possible. This isn’t happening. I have to be dreaming, or having a nightmare, more likely. Any moment, I’ll be waking up, still in Adrian’s bed with two cats sitting at the foot of the bed staring at me.

“Jamie?” her hand settles on my shoulder.

“But I was careful.” My chest constricts and bile rises up my throat, making my voice crack. “Lavender has a no photography policy. I wore a hat to hide my face on the way in.”

She gently turns me to face her, then grabs my other shoulder and squeezes. “I know you’re probably reeling, and I really wish I could be your friend right now. But I need to put on my press secretary hat instead if we’re going to try to salvage this. So whatever processing you need to do, it needs to be done in the car because we need to get to Ben’s. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’ll get it together.” I take a deep, calming breath, and let it out shakily as I comb my fingers through my wet hair.

“Do you want to change?”

I shove my hands in my sweatshirt pocket and shake my head. I’m not usually a person who leaves the house in sweats unless I’m on my way to the gym. Being as young as I am and in politics, I’ve always wanted to seem at least a little put together so I’m taken more seriously. But I’m also not usually a person that has a sex scandal so fuck it. Why shouldn’t I wear sweats?

She frowns but nods. “Okay, then get your shoes. I’ll drive.”

Riley’s daughter Julie is the one to answer the front door when we get to Ben’s townhouse. I should have known she’d be here when Mina said Ben called Riley in for reinforcements. As a single mother, it’s not unusual for Riley to bring Julie along when we’re working late hours and her usual babysitter isn’t available. But there’s a difference between Julie doing her homework in the corner of the conference room after school and being at Ben’s house while we do damage control for my outing. I’m barely ready to face Ben, Riley, and Daniel after this. How am I supposed to keep it together in front of a twelve-year-old? Oh, God, does she know anything? Has her mother told her what’s going on?

Another wave of bile rises up my esophagus, but I swallow it down and try to take a steadying breath. I need everyone to think I’m keeping it together.

“Hi, Mr. Montgomery, Ms. Mina. Everyone is in the dining room,” Julie says, stepping aside to let us in. “It’s chaos.”

“Of course it is,” Mina grumbles before heading inside and immediately heading for the dining room, throwing a quick thanks at Julie over her shoulder.

I follow on her heels, but Julie stands in the foyer, looking at me like she wants to say something. I brace myself for whatever question she has, but I’m surprised when she steps forward and throws her arms around my middle, squeezing tight.

When I first met Julie, she was a lot more affectionate, but in the past year as she’s fully gotten into pre-teen territory, she’s gotten predictably moodier. So I can’t help letting out a small laugh as I wrap my arms around her shoulders. “What’s this for?”

“Mom said you’d probably be having a bad day today,” she says, her voice muffled a little by my coat.

“Thanks, Jules,” I say, feeling a little lighter.

Then she’s stepping back as suddenly as she hugged me. “You should probably get in there, though. Mr. Ben looks even grouchier than normal, so they probably need you.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

I slip off my shoes and hang my coat on the hooks by the door, then take a deep breath and drag my feet through toward the dining room. Like Julie said, the room is chaos. The table is covered in the usual campaign supplies since Ben’s place acts as our unofficial DC campaign headquarters, but strewn across the top are what I can only assume are printed pictures and news articles. Mina’s hunched over it, back to the door, as she scans the pages. Both Ben and Daniel are on the phone. Ben is pacing the width of the room, looking like he’s about ready to pop his top as he listens to whoever is on the other end. Even Daniel, who I don’t think I’ve ever seen without a smile on his face, is scowling as he tells who I assume to be a reporter that, for the last time, I’m not available for comment.

They hang up at the same time, and Ben immediately turns to Daniel. “Who was it this time?”

“The Raleigh Tribune,” he says as his fingers fly over the open laptop in front of him.

Fuck, it’s already back home? God, that means my parents have probably seen it by now. My stomach churns, and I must make some sort of noise because all the eyes in the room dart to me.

“Hey, boss,” Daniel says with a smile that feels just on the edge of pity.

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