Page 40 of Presidential Bargain
“I saw that on the news. Veryclever.”
“Jameson, can we talk tomorrow? I’m just not ready to talk to you. I’m exhausted and cranky.” I feared that if we continued this conversation, I’d snap at him and say something I’dregret.
“I just wanted to hear your voice, Georgie. That’s all. Even if you’re mad at me, hearing your voice makes me feel connectedtoyou.”
I felt exactly thesameway.
I sighed heavily, my defenses crumbling. “I miss you too. I wanted to share what happened today with you. I wanted you to be therewithme.”
“I know. I have so much to explain to you after the debate. I promise, Georgie. Just stick it outthisweek.”
“Okay.” It was all I couldpromisehim.
DeWayneand I stood infront of the television in my hotel room watching the news, watching Georgie and Avon win over America. We both had identical stupid ass grins on our faces because the women in our lives were out making us, and our country, proud. I stared intently at Georgie’s figure on the screen as she talked about the importance of education and the sacrifice teachers often make in order to provide their students with the best possible education. She looked radiant when, just the day before, she was awreck.
Seeing Georgie on the news made me miss her. I felt a physical ache in my chest, like the tug of a string, and I knew that was our connection. No matter how much distance I tried to put in between us, we were now firmly connected. I rubbed at my chest, trying to ease the tension, but I knew the only thing that would help would be to hear hervoice.
I reached into my pocket and removed my phone. I smiled at the picture on my home screen; it was from our shoot with Sierra Simmons. I had asked one of her assistants to take a few photos with my phone, unbeknownst to either Sierra or Georgie. The photo was of the two of us sitting on the plush, white armchair, looking like patriotic perfection. Me, in my dark blue suit, and her in that decadent red dress, sitting on a pristine whitechair.
I shook myself out of the temporary trance and swiped to unlock the screen. I scrolled through my contacts until I found her number and hit “SEND”. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. I didn’t want to seem overbearing, so I waited a while before callingLewis.
I heard Georgie answer Lewis when he informed her I was on the line. I wasn’t exactly surprised to hear her reject my call. Lewis tried his best to be diplomatic. In the background, I could hear Georgie and Avon talking, and I knew Georgie was allright.
“I’m sorry, Senator Martin,” Lewisapologized.
“Don’t worry about it. She’s mad at me. I can handle it. How washerday?”
I listened as Lewis filled me in, providing me with whatever details I asked for, and even growing bold enough to express an opinion or two. I was troubled when he said there were moments throughout the day when Georgie seemed withdrawn, and I knew it was becauseofme.
“I’ll call back in a bit. Maybe she’ll talk tomethen.”
I called three more times and each time, she didn’t want to talk. Lewis was very forthcoming with information, though, telling me what Georgie and Avon were working on. I was impressed with her initiative to do more than just give a speech. The most important thing I learned about Georgie in the short while we’d been together was that she didn’t like being idle. She wanted to be involved, to be doing something. It was one her most admirablequalities.
When I was finally able to reach her, she hardly talked and when she did, she didn’t offer much in the way of conversation. Eventually, to get through to her, I was honest. I told her I missed her and when she told me she felt the same, I felt a tightness in my chest. She agreed to give me a week, but then she needed to know the truth. I needed to tell her everything we had learned about Russell Hunt a.k.a. Russell Atlee and his connection to the governor, but I didn’t want to tell her something that wasn’t one hundredpercenttrue.
I continued to watch the news, long after DeWayne left, just to catch glimpses of her. I imagined all of the filthy, deliciously dirty things I wanted to do to her. But I also pictured the normal, mundane things that made her special. The black yoga pants. Her addiction to dessert. The desire to still shop at Target, even though her closet was filled with designer labels now. America didn’t need a woman with a perfect political pedigree to be its next First Lady. America needed someone who knew their hardships and understood their sacrifice. That was Georgie and I was ready to put her in the WhiteHouse.
The next day, I wasglued to the news coverage of Georgie’s visit to a homeless shelter for women. She looked beautiful, dressed simply in a white blouse and navy trousers. Her mass of hair was swept back in a ponytail and she wore almost no makeup. I knew why she dressed this way; it was because she didn’t want any attention. Georgie and Avon gave short speeches before they surprised the women with the care packages. The press was asked to leave the event, but Lewis and Jenkins kept me updated. Not only had Georgie and Avon surprised the women at the shelter with the packages, they had also arranged for a local hair salon to come in and provide them withhaircuts.
“This is what we need to show America, DeWayne.” I was excited by what they were doing. “They need to see us doing things. We all talk a big game, but when it comes to actually doing things that help the American people, most politicians fail miserably. That has tochange!”
Politics was often ugly and truly only benefitted people, or corporations, with money. If you wanted something done and were willing to fork over the cash, then it was expected politicians would make it happen. I wanted to change that. Just one look at my campaign’s account and anyone could see that hardly any of the money came from big business. I let the PACs and super PACs deal with the businesses who wanted to donate. But our campaign was funded by the American people and I owed them. Georgie was making good on that through her selfless actions. I knew where the money came from, and it wasn’t my campaign bank account. She was paying for all of that from her own meager savings account, and from credit cards that were on the verge of reaching theirlimit.
I pulled up my own schedule and it was nothing but town halls and union halls and school gymnasiums. These were all opportunities for me to meet the average American voter. What could I do for them? How could I show them that I not only was the best candidate, but that I planned on keeping every single campaignpromise?
I started researching every town where we had scheduled events. What did they need? What could I provide them easily? Who had donated to my campaign from those towns? How could I help their family? Sean, DeWayne, and I worked tirelessly in the car, in between stops, to find the information I needed and to come up with a plan. We were headed to Ohio next and decided to invite some of the donors to my events. At each event, we would thank them and surprise them with whatever theymightneed.
“I want you to know that I intend to keep every one of my campaign promises. I look at what my gorgeous fiancée and DeWayne’s beautiful wife are doing, and I’m inspired to do whatever it takes to help the American people. Politicians talk a big game, but we know who is really pulling the strings. The donors who give millions in exchange for favors. Well, we’ve looked at our donor list and the American people are the ones giving us the most money. So, we owe you a couple offavors.”
The campaign event was held in the town hall of a city in northeast Ohio and the room was packed. I was sweating from the heat of so many people packed into one room. The sleeves of my white dress shirt were rolled up. My tie had been discarded in the back of the car. It was evening and I was exhausted after having spent the entire day working to identify donors, and then contacting them with the invitation to attend theevent.
For a few hours, I sort of felt like Ellen or Oprah, granting people’s wishes and requests. What a person asked for depended on their circumstances, but we were prepared. I wanted them to see my commitment to making their lives better, so if that meant paying for groceries or paying their rent, then I did it. A few attendees even surprised me by asking for help for others, like neighbors or family members. I stood in awe of those selfless people.When did politics get soselfish?
After the last person left, I stepped off the stage and immediately went back to work, arranging to have things done in each remaining town that we were scheduled to visit. I wanted the rest of this campaign to be about showing and not telling. Georgie had set the bar high when she delivered school supplies to theteachers.
In the car, I checked the news because I wanted to see how Georgie and Avon were doing. I could always talk to Lewis or Jenkins, but I enjoyed seeing the news reports because then I could see her. Today, Georgie and Avon visited another school, as well as a hospital. There was footage of Georgie sitting with a patient who had breast cancer and the patient’s family. Georgie held the hand of the woman’s daughter as they all talked. She had brought the woman a gorgeous bouquet of pink roses and half a dozen pink balloons. The rest of the news report indicated that several similar visits had been made to otherpatients.
Her selflessness filled me with pride and my ache to be close to her grew exponentially as the rest of the weekworeon.
