Page 17 of Pursuit of Happiness

My goalentirely. I hope you’ve had a good week so far.

Pleased that Meredith was keeping the conversation going, Steviethumbed a quick response.Beenaway at a conference and glad to be home. Ignoring the mountain of work on mydesk in favor of a night out.She hit send and immediatelyquestioned why she had shared that little tidbit.

On a schoolnight? Sounds intriguing.

There it was. A perfect opening. Stevie stared at the phone inher hand wavering between the safe zone of a night with her coworkers andflirting with the danger that was Meredith Mitchell. Her thumbs hovered overthe phone, waiting for her to choose, but she knew before she started typingthat the choice had been made the moment she’d read Meredith’s apology. She wasirresistibly drawn to Meredith, and the reasons why outweighed any warnings ofcaution her mind could conjure. Before her brain could overrule the rest of herbody, she typed,Join me?Quarry House at seven.

Seconds passed. Long, slow, excruciating seconds, shredding theeasy confidence that had driven her to issue the invitation. She consideredturning off her phone to avoid further embarrassment and even moved to do so,but before she could slip the offending instrument away, it buzzed again.

Make itseven thirty and I’ll be there.

This time Stevie was the one to wait, not out of payback but outof sheer wonder at what she’d just done. She’d invited Meredith to join her ona lark, but now that she’d accepted Stevie had to face the reality of Meredithshowing up at a bar with a bunch of public defenders, most of whom would beteasing Stevie unmercifully the next day about her surprise guest. She didn’tcare as long as she got to see Meredith again.

Soundsperfect.

* * *

Meredith changed into jeans, loafers, and a sweater. She took outher contacts and put on her glasses, relieved to relax her eyes and change herappearance ever so slightly. She shoved a credit card and some cash into herwallet and grabbed her phone and headed for the door, instinctively looking forher car before she remembered she’d told Erica she was in for the night. It wasfor the best. The Quarry House wasn’t the type of place you showed up with atown car and a driver.

When she stepped outside, she hugged her arms around her chestand walked briskly to generate heat. The Metro stop was only a block away. Shehad to buy a card from the machine, and it took a second to dig up the musclememory to accomplish the task, but within a few moments, she pushed through theturnstile and boarded the train bound for Silver Spring, Maryland.

Dressed as she was, she blended in with the rest of the people onthe train, which was a rarity. After giving the opening speech at the lastDemocratic National Convention, her face had been plastered on the nationalnews, and she’d been tagged to serve as spokesperson for numerous othercandidates in her party. Things had died down a bit since then, but she rarelymade it across town without being recognized and spoken to by either acolleague or a curious onlooker.

When she reached the bar, she paused at the top of the steepstairs that led to the basement destination and took a moment to experienceeach of the emotions churning through her. Excitement about seeing Stevieagain. Apprehension about how she would be received after having abandoned herat the wedding. And nostalgia. She’d come here many times when she was justanother face in the crowd, eager to escape the trappings that came with theexpectations of her family dynasty.

She’d barely stepped off the last stair when she heard Steviecall her name. She turned slightly and was relieved to see Stevie wearing abroad smile, warm and welcoming. Meredith wanted to slip into the warmth of itand stay there for the rest of the evening, far away from the growing buzz ofwhether or not she would enter the presidential race.

“Glad you could make it,” Stevie said. She stepped back and swepther gaze over Meredith. “This is a nice look.”

“Thanks. I call it Metro chic.”

“You took the rail? What, no Erica?”

Pleasantly surprised that Stevie remembered her driver’s name,Meredith grinned. “Everyone needs a night off once in a while, don’t youthink?”

“I do.”

Stevie reached to grab her hand and Meredith followed her acrossthe room, noting that it felt nice to be led around instead of leading. As theyapproached a table of rowdy patrons, Stevie let her grasp slip. The absence ofher touch was distinct, and Meredith went on alert. Did Stevie know thesepeople?

She didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Stevie turned backwith an apologetic look and whispered. “I’m feeling a little guilty now that Ididn’t mention this was a group activity. You ready to meet my coworkers?”

Meredith wasn’t, but from an early age she’d been trained to dothings she didn’t want to do. She plastered a smile on her face and preparedfor the worst, thinking this was likely payback for the wedding stunt.

“Hey, gang,” Stevie said. “I’d like you to meet a new friend ofmine. Senator Meredith Mitchell, this is the gang.”

While Stevie introduced her to each of her coworkers, Meredithmade mental notes. The stylish office manager. The scruffy-looking but affableboss. The just-graduated from law school intern with her harried, but stillenthusiastic glow. She shook all their hands and filed their names away forfuture use.

“Senator Mitchell, nice to meet you in person,” Boss guy, Joe,said. “Although I have to say this isn’t the type of place I’d expect to runinto you.”

“It’s a basement bar with a great spread of beer. Where elsewould I be?” Before he could answer, she pressed on. “Believe it or not, I usedto come here when I was in law school. Best post study group sessions ever. Wesolved all the problems of the world. I’m glad to see the restoration kept somuch of the original charm.”

Meredith caught Stevie’s grin and Joe nodded his approval.

“Stevie tells me you are reconsidering some of the mandatoryminimums in the sentencing guidelines,” said Joe.

“She made some good arguments during the committee hearing. Theleast I could do was look into it a little further. And it’s Meredith, please.”

“Meredith it is, although I hear there might be a new title inyour future.”

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