Page 116 of Catfish

Heidi doesn’t seem to mind because she beams at him. “Congressman Lockwood, I didn’t know I was lucky enough to have you both as my lunch dates. What an honor.”

“It’s all mine,” Henry alludes then turns his attention to me. “Go on, Son.”

I can't hide my scowl. How in the fuck did he know I was here? I know for a fact that Em would never tell him, and the rest of my staff doesn't have my schedule.

Son of a fucking bitch.

“How did you know I’d be here?” I ask.

“Spoke with your receptionist.”

She’s fired.

“You were talking about small towns,” Heidi spouts. “How we really need to focus on the core so we can branch out.”

I tear my gaze away from Henry and back to her. “Exactly.”

“Well, I think it’s a great idea. Would that be part of your third year as president or—”

“My first. I plan on working with small towns like Daphne and large ones like Detroit to build up and sort through a plan of—”

“Might not have time for all of that,” Henry says, always throwing in his two cents when no fucking one asked for it. “You might have North Korea to deal with.”

“I guess it’s great that I’ll have an administration and hundreds of people underneath me to help,” I concede.

Henry shrugs. “Yes, but you’ll need to be spending money on—”

“How’s Congress, Dad? I thought you’d be way too busy signing your name away to some bill that won’t go into effect for months down the road.”

He chuckles, resting his forearms on the table, and gives his attention to Heidi. “One of the things that you need to have as a politician is patience. Maybe Wade can find a way to make things move quicker.”

The awkward deadening of my important lunch date is broken up when the waiter brings back our drinks and offers to grab Henry something. It takes everything I have within me to not kick him under the table.

Everything.

The asshole orders his drink as my phone buzzes in the pocket of my suit. I'd rather be talking bullshit with Reagan than continue on with my lunch, trying to gain the support of one of the most influential politicians in Connecticut. Not only does she publicly support equality, but she has a zero-tolerance level for overused power. She was drawn to community and state support.

She’s actually someone that should run for president. Which is precisely what I wanted to ask her. Hence the important lunch.

“How are you settling in?” Henry asks her, grabbing a breadstick out of the basket the waiter brought over.

“Very well. I was just telling the governor that he picked one heck of a road.”

"Would you both excuse me?" I ask, pushing back my chair. Henry looks up at me, annoyed, while Heidi is her cheery, chipper self.

Striding out of the dining room, I enter the other side of the restaurant, which is completely empty.

And I fucking can’t even get that when my father can hunt me down at his bending will. Cell in hand, I’m about to call Emmy and tell her to somehow get him the fuck out of here until I hear her.

“Governor.” I quickly swivel around because I was just talking to Reagan through text, and now she stands in front of me with a genuine grin on her face. "What are you doing here?"

I'm about to ask her the same damn thing, but I don't have the time nor the patience.

“I need you to do me a favor,” I answer.

That grin fades as her brow perks. “Okay…”

I point to the room I just walked out of. "I'm in a very important lunch, and my father showed up uninvited."

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