Page 36 of The Politician

Kendra laughed, and Sarah felt lighter and more alive for seeing her.

“Good point.” Kendra sipped her beer. “I’ve left their presents in the pile with the others.”

Sarah brushed off a speck of pollen that drifted onto her blouse. “I didn’t invite you just to get presents out of you.” She locked eyes with Kendra, and her core ached with the desire to be touched and held.

“Afternoon, Sarah,” Jeremy said.

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned towards him. “Thanks for coming,” she said.

Jeremy nodded towards Kendra. “Not talking work, I hope.”

Sarah’s stomach tightened. If she hadn’t known him well, she would have thought he was being affable and looking after their interests by encouraging them to be sociable rather than business-like. Instead, his pinched expression said she’d better be talking about work, or she shouldn’t be speaking with Kendra at all. But she wasn’t about to be bullied by his paranoia and sarcasm.

She’d realised a few things about herself and her happiness during her conversation with Mark. This was her house, and she’d do what she liked with whomever she liked. She smiled a tight smile that told him to mind his own business. “We were talking about the Northwestern rail works, and the carnage they’re causing for travellers this weekend.”

It wouldn’t affect Jeremy, because he lived in the city and would take the tube or bus.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.” He made his way towards her father and Donald.

“Is he always so…engaging?” Kendra asked. “I mean, he seemed fine when I first met him, but he seems hyper-stressed now.”

Sarah bit her lip as she pondered how to answer the question. She would have to be honest with Kendra at some point, but not now and not here. It required a longer conversation. “It’s complicated. I’ll talk to you about it another time, but yes, it’s stressful now with the press looking over our shoulders all the time. We’re into smear-campaign territory, and they won’t rest until they find something. They’re always on the hunt but not quite as aggressively as they are on the lead-up to an election.”

Kendra raised her eyebrows. “Your world really is savage.”

Sarah nodded. It was worse than that. When the “public’s right to know” extended to gleaning the intimate details of her personal life because the press deemed it was in the interest of the public, it was an infringement of her right to privacy. But there was little she could do about it. She’d taken on the job, and that came with a load of grief she’d rather do without. She stared at Kendra, and her heart ached. It would be easy to blame her for getting in the way of Sarah’s career, but it wasn’t her fault. “I work with one nice person,” she said and smiled.

“Nice,” Kendra said and scrunched up her nose.

“Hm,” Sarah said and held her gaze. “Are you okay if I leave you for a bit?”

Kendra nodded and glanced around the garden. “I like a bit of Spiderman, and I haven’t seen this one.”

“Help yourself to drinks and food. Much as I would rather stand here chatting with you, I’ve got to do some hosting. Abi will be thrilled to see you.” Reluctantly, she headed to the back door where new guests had entered the garden. Mark smiled at her knowingly as if he’d read her mind about what she’d like to be doing with Kendra right now. The throb of desire pulsed between her legs. If only.

16.

ABI AMBLED BAREFOOTED TOWARDSKendra with another girl at her side of about the same age. She looked every bit the trendy adolescent she now was in her tie-dyed crop-top and shorts that were too short. Kendra felt old next to them.

“Hey, Kendra. This is my friend, Sam. Sam, this is mum’s coolest friend by a million miles. She used to be an eco-warrior.”

Kendra laughed.

“That’s sick,” Sam said.

“Then she started working for my mum.” Abi shrugged.

Kendra caught Sarah’s eye, and a gentle fizz stirred in her stomach.

“Did you do any protest marches and shit like that?”

Vivid memories of standing in the rain freezing to death came to mind. She and Malee had protested against the inappropriate use of an unofficial landfill waste site which was being advertised as a new golf course in development. They’d traipsed across the land and discovered all sorts of unsavoury items, batteries, oil cans, and paint pots that should have been processed through the official disposal routes. Instead, the items would have stayed beneath the course if it had been completed. “A couple of times.”

“That’s so dope.” Sam grabbed Abi’s arm and shook her. “We should do this shit.”

Kendra smiled. “It’s not as glamourous as it sounds.”

“It’s about making a statement, getting people to listen,” Abi said.

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