Page 60 of Pursuit of Happiness

“Thank you. And thanks for being here tonight.”

“Just supporting the future of our party.”

“It’s more than that, and you know it.”

“True. Addison made me promise you wouldn’t be without a friendwhen the results came in, good or bad, and she figured since I’ve been throughthis with other future presidents, I was the next best thing to her being hereinstead.”

Meredith didn’t have words to express her gratitude, so shesqueezed Julia’s hand. There was a sea of people around tonight, but like everyrace over the past six months, they would all be celebrating the victory forher party, and not her personal accomplishment. She hadn’t wanted to be alonetonight. She’d dreaded it so bad, she’d almost texted Stevie several times,hoping against hope that enough time had passed for Stevie to forgive her andjoin her for this special night. But she’d stopped before sending any message.There was more to it now. She’d not only hurt Stevie, but there was the legalcase too, and she knew Stevie well enough to know she wouldn’t compromise herclient with a conflict.

Like she could read her mind, Julia said, “You know, it wasStevie Palmer’s client who unearthed the truth. Guy could’ve kept his mouthshut and let them indict you, but he dug a little deeper. I’ve got to think shemay have been partly responsible for that.”

Julia’s words rang true, but Meredith wasn’t sure of theimplication. Stevie wouldn’t have acted on her behalf if it meant a risk to herclient, but perhaps the digging deeper was partly about her?

It didn’t matter. It was nice to think Stevie cared enough to tryto help her, but she would be foolish to make anything more out of Stevie’sactions than that. She’d blown her chance, and all she could do was try to makesomething good come out of the mistake by serving her country as best shecould.

Chapter Twenty-one

Election Day

Hannah followed Stevie into her office. Where’s your sticker?”

“Sticker?”

“You know, your ‘I voted’ sticker? I thought you were going to goby your polling place on the way into work.”

Stevie forced a smile. She should be deliriously happy, like anyother liberal in the country that the Democratic candidate had a solid lead inthe polls, but she’d woken up today with a deep sense of melancholy. She waspretty sure it had something to do with seeing Meredith everywhere around her,but without any ability to make a connection. Pressing the button next toMeredith’s name was the closest she could hope to get. She sat down behind herdesk. “Trust me, I voted, but there was a line to get a sticker and I’ve got alot to do today.”

Hannah sat across from her and crossed her arms. “Right.”

“What?”

“You seem a little down lately. We miss having you at the house.You should come over sometime.”

Stevie nodded, but she didn’t have any intention of inflictingher bad mood on her friends, so she kept her response vague. “Sure, let’s plansomething.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Dave’s boss is a big Democratdonor, but he had to travel out of the country this week, so he gave us histickets to the watch party at the Ritz. We can celebrate together.”

“Yeah, no. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Tonight? The entire world’s going to be watching the results ofthe election. It’s history. No way are you going to work right through it.Besides this is the kind of experience you should share with your friends.There’ll be lots of rich and famous people there, and did I mention theseimportant two words? Open bar.” Hannah slowly nodded her head. “Say yes.”

Stevie didn’t want to go. Not because she had work to do, butbecause everything about today felt off somehow. Like she’d had an opportunityto be part of history and she’d let it pass her by. All the reasons she’dbroken up with Meredith had been valid at the time, but in hindsight, shewished she’d tried harder to get past her reservations. Meredith had been theone with the future of the Democratic Party on her back, not to mention thepressure to make history, but she’d been willing to try to make it work. Increasinglyover the past few months, Stevie wished she’d given their relationship anotherchance.

But the window had closed on rekindling anything with Meredith.She’d seen Meredith on the news this morning, smiling for the cameras andcasting her ballot in Manhattan. No doubt she was spending the day trying torelax while waiting for the polls to close, and likely failing miserably. Didshe have her family with her or had she chosen to spend the day alone? None ofthese things were any of Stevie’s business, but she was suddenly desperate toknow the details of Meredith’s life. She had to figure out a way to shake hermalaise and move on with her life. Maybe the best way to do that was to try toget some closure. If she couldn’t see Meredith in person, at least she could beon hand to witness her victory with a crowd of like-mind well-wishers. Beforeshe could change her mind, she blurted out what Hannah wanted to hear. “Okay,I’ll go.”

* * *

Meredith stepped into the back of the limo with Gordon closebehind her, muttering about the time. “Quit griping at me. We’re doing this,”she told him. “One hour tops and then you can pull me out of the room and getme on a plane to New York.”

That morning, she’d rolled out of her bed in Manhattan after afitful night full of memories of the last time she’d spent the night there withStevie by her side. She’d dutifully dressed in a navy blue suit with a flaglapel pin and walked to her polling place, flanked by her Secret Servicedetail. She cast her vote, smiled for the cameras, and returned home, wherethere was nothing left to do but wait. She’d called Gordon, who was handlinglast-minute details at her election office in DC, no less than a dozen timeswith suggestions and rumination about the campaign before it struck her thather restlessness wasn’t only because of the impending results, but a factor ofspending the day in her apartment where memories of the night she and Steviehad made love greeted her at every turn.

The only solution she could think of to stave off her melancholywas the tried and true solution of throwing herself into her work. Withoutgiving Gordon any advanced notice, she’d notified her Secret Service detailthat she’d be returning to the Capitol for the day, and she surprised thecampaign team when she’d strolled into the DC office, asking for something todo. She made some phone calls, preemptively thanking many of her large donors,and she was between calls when one of the interns asked if she was going backto New York for the results or if she was going to join the local Democraticwatch party. At first, she’d laughed off the naive question. Of course she’d begoing back to her home state in keeping with tradition, but then she corneredGordon and told him she planned to do both. He’d called the idea crazy atfirst, but she’d finally managed to persuade him to let her make a quick stopat the Ritz on her way back to Manhattan.

The convoy of cars pulled up to the service entrance at thehotel, and she tapped her foot impatiently while she waited for the agents infront to give the all clear. She sorely missed the days it was just her andErica driving around town, no advance planning required.

The ballroom was already filling up despite the fact the polls onthe East Coast wouldn’t close for another hour. The presence of the SecretService detail was creating a buzz in the room, and when Meredith waded intothe crowd, everyone burst into applause and cheers. She wasn’t sure what she’dexpected, but any idea she’d simply shake a few hands and wander out vanishedas the throng of high-dollar supporters started acting like high schoolstudents, snapping selfies with abandon. She smiled and posed and soaked up thegood will, relieved to feel a kinship with these people who supported her withunabashed enthusiasm, but it wasn’t until she looked across the room and lockedeyes with the last person she’d expected to see at a Mitchell for Presidentevent that she felt truly connected to anyone in the room.

Gordon whispered something in her ear, but she didn’t registerhis words. Her focus was entirely on Stevie, dressed in the vintage Dior suitshe’d worn to Addison and Julia’s wedding. Stevie raised the glass of champagnein her hand, a distant toast and a truce of sorts, and all the regret Meredithhad felt earlier that day came rushing back.

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