Page 23 of The Politician

Audrey shook her head. “I served you all a little of everything, so as not to disturb the game.” She handed Sarah a plate and cutlery. “Sit where you like.”

Sarah thought about the couch but if Kendra sat next to her, she’d probably struggle to eat her food. “It smells fantastic.”

“Mum’s curries are amazing,” Kendra said.

She took her plate and sat on the couch and indicated for Sarah to sit next to her. Sarah perched the plate on her lap. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. Her mum had bought her a set of lap trays that had a cushion underneath them, but this was far more fun. She took a mouthful of food. The chicken melted as she bit into it, and then the rich complex flavours captivated her stomach’s attention. “It’s delicious.”

“One of Vik’s grandma’s old recipes. You can’t beat the original tastes. We can’t be doing with those jars of sauce, can we, Vic?”

“Definitely not. Fresh ingredients all the way.”

Sarah finished her plate and couldn’t agree more. “If I need catering for an event, I know where to come,” she said.

“Audrey does a charity event every year. An Indian banquet. Goes down a storm, it does. Every year.” Vikram polished off his plate. “Seconds, anyone?”

Sarah relaxed back in the couch, her stomach tight from eating too much too quickly, and her mind pleasantly numbed from the drink. Kendra’s arm and thigh touched hers, and the feeling in her core kept a slow pulsing rhythm. “I’m stuffed,” she said.

“Do you concede?” Kendra asked.

Sarah covered a yawn with her hand. “I do.”

Kendra jumped to her feet, and a chill slid down Sarah’s arm and leg. She took Sarah’s plate and cleared the Monopoly away. Sarah should have offered to help, but she was too comfortable, and she suspected by the speed Kendra had taken Sarah’s plate from her that Kendra wouldn’t let her. She shouldn’t be thinking of fucking Kendra, but as she watched her, she couldn’t think of anything else. She closed her eyes for a moment, and the image rooted in her brain and sent messages to her core that really weren’t helpful. She might be well practised at compartmentalising her desire for fifty-one weeks of the year and had learned how to admire from a distance while taking care of her own needs in private, but colleagues had always been strictly off limits. But with Kendra, the desire was intense, and right now, much stronger than her will to resist. But she would have to control herself or she would be in danger of making a mistake she’d made once before. Only this time, an error in judgement could cost her everything. The words held no sway against the deep longing. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She’d head back to the station as soon as possible. The cool air would wake her up to her senses, and they would get back to normal business tomorrow.

10.

“I’D BETTER GET GOING,” Sarah said.

Audrey jangled a set of keys. “I can drop you at the station.”

Sarah smiled. “I need the exercise after all that wonderful food.” She held her stomach.

Disappointment tightened around the woozy, happy, entranced feeling that spending the evening with Sarah had elicited. Kendra would rather snuggle up on the couch with Sarah than head out into the cold but not in her parents’ house. “I’ll walk you to the station,” she said.

“You don’t have to do that.” Sarah shook her head.

Kendra averted her gaze to stem her rising self-consciousness. “It’s okay. I need some air.” What she really meant was, she didn’t want to see Sarah go just yet. She’d had fun outsmarting her at Monopoly, though luck had also played a part. The intense look of concentration on Sarah’s face as she’d plotted, and the indignation of having to pay fines and fees on the back of turning Chance cards had kept Kendra quietly amused. She’d daydreamed about how the game would have panned out had they been alone in the room together, and it had been far more interesting undressing Sarah rather than having her pay the fines. She’d envisioned Sarah naked long before they’d stopped for dinner, making concentrating more challenging and curbing her appetite for food. A tingling wave of desire moved though her, and her core responded. Sarah glanced at her and smiled, and the pulse grew stronger and more in need of attention. She thought about Abi, and wondered about Sarah’s son and husband, and hated herself for wanting Sarah the way she did.

Why the fuck did Sarah have to be married with kids? Why did Kendra’s heart ache for her, nonetheless? She should keep her distance and stop imagining touching her, but her sense of reasoning wasn’t listening, and morality was a distant notion that applied to others. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.She’s my boss. Nothing more, nothing less.She repeated the mantra a few times, continued the clearing up, and finished her whisky. Sarah was putting her coat on, and her libido reminded her it was going to take a few more repetitions of the mantra for her to start believing the words. She’d have to battle against the uninhibiting effects of the alcohol and dampen her desire. That was never going to happen.

Sarah thanked Kendra’s parents and shook hands with her sister who looked Sarah up and down and then shook her head at Kendra.

Kendra was glad to get out of the house and into the obscurity provided by the darkness. Cold air stung her cheeks, but the warmth in her belly as she ambled slowly to maximise their time together was like a furnace out of control. In her mind’s eye, she watched the words of the mantra going up in flames. Forgetting Sarah’s status, both family and political, was preferrable to acknowledging the truth, and she had the whisky to thank for subduing her conscience.

Sarah stared up at the sky and around and glanced at Kendra. “Thank you for this evening,” she said. “Your family are so welcoming and wonderful, and the food was exceptional.”

“Dad can be a bit much sometimes, like an over-excitable puppy.”

“He has a big heart. And it was fun. I even enjoyed being beaten at Monopoly.”

Kendra laughed. She rammed her hands inside her coat pockets and hunched her shoulders forwards. “It was funny when you realised you were going to lose.”

“Ha, that was a tactical decision on my part.”

Kendra nudged Sarah. “Yeah, right.”

“Everything is.” Sarah brushed her arm against Kendra’s as they walked.

Including that contact?The silence between them fizzed like rain on the overhead electric cables, and every cell in Kendra’s body vibrated with anticipation. She wasn’t going to tell herself there was nothing between them because there was something. She knew Sarah felt it too. The looks they’d shared, the fiery vocal exchanges, and the softness behind their laughs. They’d been in sync with each other from day one, probably both denying what they felt because of circumstances. Sarah looked even more beautiful in profile, under the light of the half moon and smattering of stars. It was romantic and foolhardy, but she’d pushed the latter to the back of her mind after the second whisky, and even as it raised its voice now, she dismissed it swiftly. Sarah turned to her and smiled, and her desire flooded Kendra with a current that would have provided enough power to light up the Christmas lights on the high street for a week.

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