Page 32 of Pursuit of Happiness

“I’m sorry about what happened back there.”

“You mean the part where your mother cast me in the role ofcampaign escort?”

Meredith laughed. “Is there such a thing? I had no idea.”

“Seriously, Meredith. You know exactly what she was implying.”

“True. I’m sorry she made you feel uncomfortable.”

Stevie waited for her to say more, but Meredith seemed content tolet it drop. She spent the silence examining her own feelings about what AnnaMitchell had said. It wasn’t so much her words as the expectation that if shewas going to date Meredith she’d be expected to accompany her on the campaigntrail, presumably to stand in the background and give the appearance ofcoupledom, stability. In the field of people jockeying for their party’snomination, Meredith was the only single candidate. In Stevie’s view,Meredith’s bachelor status made her more qualified to take on the all-consumingjob of president, but she knew the general population didn’t see it that way.Was Meredith looking for someone to fill the role of First Lady-in-Waiting orat a minimum give good optics?

Meredith turned the car into a garage and parked. “Looks like Iremembered how to drive after all,” she said as she stepped out of the car andled the way to the bank of elevators.

“How long has Erica worked for you?”

Meredith tilted her head back like she was counting numbers inthe air. “I’m going to go with forever, but it was probably really just since Iwas elected councilwoman in New York.” The elevator dinged, and they exited andwalked down a long hallway before stopping in front of a nondescript door.Meredith opened the door to her apartment and waved Stevie in. “Ready for thetour?”

Stevie stepped inside and gasped. “It’s so tiny.” She clapped ahand to her mouth. She wasn’t sure exactly what she’d been expecting, but thesmall studio apartment with everything centered two steps from the living roomwasn’t it. “My turn to be sorry. That was pretty rude.”

“Not at all. It is small, but it’s private and close to work,which were the primary selling points.” Meredith stepped into the miniaturekitchen and pulled a bottle of champagne out of the fridge. “And here’s anotherone. You’re only ever two steps from your next drink. After today, I could useone. How about you?”

“Yes, please.” Stevie watched Meredith ease off the cork on thebottle of Dom, and deftly pour them each a glass. The juxtaposition of theexpensive champagne with the scaled down digs made her smile. Meredith was fullof surprises.

“What are you smiling about?” Meredith asked as she handed her aglass.

“This.” Stevie nodded at the glass. “And this,” she said,gesturing at the apartment. “I love it, but after the estate we just left, Iexpected something different.”

“Yes, well, this is one case where the apple fell far from thetree. I love my parents’ house, but I’m more of an economy of space kind ofgal. My apartment in New York is much bigger than this, but you could still fitit several times over into my parents’ house.” She looked around the room as ifshe were seeing it for the first time. “This place does look a little like astopover and not a home.”

Stevie had been thinking the same thing. It made sense, really,that Meredith wouldn’t have nested here since she divided her time between DCand New York, but she’d held out some hope that seeing the place where Meredithlived would give her some more insight into what made her tick. Instead, shesaw only a studio that could’ve been featured on the cover of a magazine, butthat displayed no personality. “Well, it’s not like you’ll be spending muchtime here anyway.”

And then it hit her. As soon as the holidays were over, likelybefore, Meredith would hit the campaign trail, returning to DC for crucialSenate votes and nothing more. She might not want to be Meredith’s election armcandy, but she wasn’t quite ready to break the connection they’d started tobuild. She set her champagne glass down and stepped closer to Meredith, tuckingher arm around her waist. “I think I might miss you when you’re gone.”

A slow smile spread across Meredith’s face. “Is that so?” Sheturned in Stevie’s arms. “I think I might miss you too.”

They were close. Very close. Stevie inhaled and let the softlavender scent of Meredith’s perfume flood her senses. She leaned in and kissedMeredith’s lips, softly at first, playful nips that quickly grew more intensewith each pass. Meredith opened her mouth, and Stevie eased her tongue insidewith slow, gentle strokes, taking her time, enjoying the slow build of arousalbetween them.

The kiss lasted a long time, long enough to signal she wasundeniably attracted to Meredith, and incredibly lucky to see the not entirelyput together, somewhat vulnerable side of her the rest of the world didn’t getto see. The question was whether she could hang on to these moments when thepolitical machine took over, turning this soft, tender woman into the perfectlypackaged candidate who would belong to the country and not her.

Chapter Ten

New Hampshire Primary

Meredith paced the hotel room, trying desperately to ignore theconversations happening all around her. Last week’s caucuses in Iowa had her ina dead heat with the governor of Alabama, Jed Lankin, who’d fully expected toslide into first place once Connie Armstrong dropped out of the race. Tonight’sresults from New Hampshire could tip the scales. The polls had closed an hourago, and everyone in the room and on TV was busy with predictions, none ofwhich meant anything until the votes were counted.

“Exit polls are showing a higher than usual turnout today for theDemocratic primary,” the anchor said. “What do you make of that, Linda?”

The brunette by the white board wrote the word WOMEN in big boldblack letters. She tapped on the board with a pointer for emphasis. “Women areturning out in droves to be a part of history. Senator Mitchell is the firstviable candidate we’ve seen in years, and everyone wants to tell their childrenthey cast a vote for the first female president.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” said Jen, pumping a fist in theair.

“No celebrating until the returns are in,” Gordon replied with astern look.

Meredith paused in her loop around the room to watch the two ofthem stare each other down, but she didn’t jump in the middle. The last sevenweeks had been a challenge, not just the outward facing part of the campaign,but the internal drain of watching two people she respected stand off when theyshould be working together. The conflict was taking its toll on the entireteam. If the tension escalated, she was going to have to take action, but rightnow all she really wanted was to slip into her pj’s, order a cheeseburger andfries from room service, and curl up in bed to watch the rest of the returns.Only one more thing would make her night complete—if Stevie was here to shareit with her.

“I sent her the ticket like you asked.”

Meredith looked up to see Jen standing next to her. “It’s notthat easy for her to get away. It’s a Tuesday, and she has a job.” When Jenshook her head, Meredith pushed on. “An important job. She can’t just up andtell a federal judge that she can’t make it to court because her…” She chokedon the word girlfriend. “Because I’m going crazy waiting for election results.”

---