Page 49 of Pursuit of Happiness

Bagels inthe bread box on the counter and veggie cream cheese and fresh OJ in thefridge. The coffee’s ready to go—just hit the button. Wish I were sharingbreakfast with you. Rain check? Soon?—M

Stevie held the note against her chest. Sweet, thoughtful, kind.Meredith was doing all the right things to win her over, and she was lovingevery minute. She took her time eating breakfast, not eager to dive back intothe reality that waited outside the doors of this sanctuary. She’d taken theday off work, but tomorrow she’d be back in court, and Meredith would be backon the road. Today she’d have to make enough memories to hold until they couldsee each other again.

When she finished eating, she took a shower, relaxing in theenormous bathroom. Meredith’s luxurious lifestyle was foreign to her, but thatdidn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy it. After she finished in the shower, shedressed in the clothes she’d worn the day before, but instead of the sweatershe’d worn on the trip from DC, she put on Meredith’s T-shirt, savoring thescent of her against her skin. She rang Erica who told her she would bedownstairs in fifteen minutes. Stevie idly wondered if Erica was always withinspitting distance of Meredith or Meredith’s escorts.

She shook her head, pushing away thoughts of other women. Lastnight she’d been the sole focus of Meredith’s attention, and she was ready togive a relationship with her a real try. She resolved to make sure Meredithdidn’t have any energy left over for other women while she was on the road.

When the elevator doors opened, the lobby was crowded withsecurity. She ducked to the side, wondering what in the hell was going on, butit didn’t take long to register the horde of reporters crowding the sidewalk,pressing their faces against the panes of glass. Several uniformed guards wereblocking the doors. Instead of approaching the crowd, she approached theconcierge desk.

“May I help you, ma’am?” the harried gentleman asked her.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure. We’ve sent someone out to check. Is theresomething I can help you with?”

“I have a car picking me up, but I’m not too keen on plowingthrough that crowd. Is there another exit?”

He glanced around, looking as if he’d like to make a break forit. Before he could answer, Stevie felt a tap on her shoulder and whirledaround to see Erica standing behind her. “Thank God it’s you. I hope you didn’tpark out front.”

Erica shook her head, her usual easygoing manner laced with ananxious edge. “I saw the crowd, and I came around to the service entrance.Follow me.”

Stevie walked behind her, keeping up with her brisk pace. “Do youknow what’s going on?”

Either Erica didn’t hear her or she ignored the question, butwhen they finally burst through the door to the service garage, it didn’tmatter because the noise level drowned out any chance they could have aconversation. Through the constant flashes of light, Stevie was able to makeout another crowd of reporters, almost as big as the one out front. She reachedfor Erica who turned back toward her, arms extended. “What’s going on?”

Erica nudged her back toward the door. “I don’t know, but I don’tlike the look of it. Let’s get back inside.” She motioned for Stevie to walk infront of her this time and shielded her with her jacket, but the shouts of thereporters made it clear why they were here.

“Ms. Palmer, how long have you and Senator Mitchell been dating?”

“Are you going on the road with the campaign?”

“Are you living with the senator now?”

The questions were like gunshots, fired rapidly and deliveringpiercing blows. Stevie paused right before they reached the door, herindignation building. What right did anyone have to know what was going onbetween her and Meredith? Certainly not any of these people who were onlylooking for juicy tidbits to entice their audience to stay tuned until the nextbit of gossip came along. She started to turn, to tell them her personal life,and Meredith’s for that matter, was none of their business, but she felt thefirm press of Erica’s hand on her arm.

“Not a good idea,” Erica said.

Erica was right, of course, which just made her madder. Theypushed through the doors and crossed the lobby, back to the concierge deskwhere Erica took charge.

“Someone needs to clear those reporters out of the garage now,”she told the concierge. “We have a matter of urgent importance, and if I haveto drive my car through a crowd, you’ll be responsible for the fallout, andI’ll make sure Senator Mitchell knows how her guest was treated here today.”

The man nodded effusively. “Yes, ma’am. I have more security onthe way. It’ll just be a moment. I promise.”

Stevie watched the exchange, feeling strangely distant. Was allthis attention really because of her, because she’d spent the night atMeredith’s apartment? Or did Meredith attract this kind of attention on a dailybasis?

No, they’d been calling out her name, and since her presence wassupposed to be a secret, this media blitz was unique. “Who told them?”

“What?” Erica asked.

Stevie thought she’d whispered the words to herself, but now thatshe’d voiced the question, she needed to know the answer. “Someone must’vetipped the press off that I would be here.” She watched Erica’s face morph fromgenuine concern to anxious. “We need to warn her. Maybe we can catch her beforeshe goes into session.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, but her callwent straight to voice mail.

“You’re not going to reach her. She’s already at the Capitol.”

“I’ll text her.”

Erica placed her hand on the phone. “Careful. You don’t want toleave a trail. If someone gets hold of your texts, well…”

Stevie nodded as if she comprehended, but she couldn’t quite wrapher head around the implication that everything in her life, even her privatetext messages might be fodder for gossip columns. “How do you know so muchabout this?”

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