Page 46 of The Politician

“Oh, Christ,” Sarah said as the thought occurred to her that she’d need to speak to her parents.

“Your mum and dad,” he said, reading her mind.

“They’re not going to take it well.”

“I think they’ll be okay with anything if you’re the PM at the time.” He smiled.

Thoughts tumbled through her mind. “Sometimes I feel so bad,” Sarah said.

Mark poured himself a drink. “Why?”

“For not being honest from the start?”

He blew out a puff of air. “Things were different seventeen years ago. If you’d have come out then and we hadn’t had the children, if we hadn’t done what we’ve done together, who knows where you’d be or what you’d be doing.” He sipped his drink. “I’m glad we had them and this time together. I wouldn’t change a thing.” He frowned. “Well, I’d change one thing,” he said.

Sarah stared at him. “What?”

He smiled at her. “For you to be happy.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat and tears welled in her eyes. “I have been happy,” she said.

He kissed her forehead. “Not like I see you when you’re looking at Kendra.”

Sarah started to tremble, and his grip tightened around her. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she whispered, and already she could feel her heart breaking, because the niggle wouldn’t go away. She couldn’t run for PM with Kendra at her side. The trouble was, Kendra wasn’t just a fuck, and yes, she was sure she was worth it.

19.

KENDRA TOOK A WINDOWseat at Caffè Nero and sipped her coffee. Her heart raced as she thought about all the reasons why Sarah had wanted to talk to her so urgently as to call her on a Sunday when she was with her family. It was against the rules they’d agreed to, though not the first time Sarah had broken them. Something was wrong, she was sure of it. She rubbed her chest where the irritation niggled. If only she hadn’t seen the missed calls. If only she hadn’t forgotten to charge her phone overnight. If only the signal hadn’t dropped out on her way into work on the bloody train every time she’d tried to call. The ringing continued. Why wasn’t Sarah picking up? She looked out the café window in case she walked by. It was a long shot but since she couldn’t get hold of her, it was all she had.

The last of her coffee had cooled, and time was pressing, and with no sign of Sarah, she scooted quickly to the office. Jeremy was already at his desk, and her stomach lurched as he looked through her with that sour expression.

“I need a word,” he said.

She dropped her rucksack at the side of her desk and followed him into Sarah’s office. Her stomach tossed the coffee around, and her hands trembled. He was never in this early. This was it, she was sure, though she couldn’t think how exactly she’d fucked up. She’d done everything he’d asked of her and more. Her breathing tightened, and she battled the negative thoughts. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe he just wanted to talk to her about a confidential project. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken her into Sarah’s office to discuss work discreetly. It was the thin document in his hand that fuelled her doubts.

“Take a seat,” he said and sat on the chair next to the low coffee table.

Sarah’s seat was tucked in behind her desk, everything on the desk in its place, neat and tidy.

“You won’t see Sarah today. She’s asked me to speak to you as she has other engagements to attend to. Please, sit down.” He indicated the seat opposite him and set the paper on the table in front of him.

Kendra’s heart thumped as she read the title at the top of the page.Compromise Agreement.The weight of reality dropped lead into her stomach, and she clasped her hands together. “What did I do wrong?” she asked, fighting back the tears. Her lip quivered, and she bit down to stop it. She didn’t want him to see her vulnerable and looked away. She tried to take a deep breath, but the constriction in her chest tightened further.

“I think it’s more a matter of what you didn’t do, Kendra.”

She turned to him, shaking her head.

“You should have kept away from Sarah.”

She raised her eyes and huffed. “There’s nothing between me—”

“Save yourself for when the press come knocking on your door.” He pulled a slip of paper from the back of the document and slid it across the table for her to see.

She buried her hands in her lap and squeezed tightly. It was a transcription of a telephone call between her and Sarah. She closed her eyes. They’d only spoken a couple of times, and that was it. She assumed the press had listened in. She didn’t need to read it line for line to know the conversation would compromise them. “Bastards.”

“Kendra.”

Kendra looked at him, and he smiled.

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