Page 101 of Dirty Politics

Chapter Forty

Liv checked her watchas she ran through the Capitol building. Her last meeting had run over, and now she was late.

She was supposed to meet with Representative Ray in five minutes - if she could just get there. They had rescheduled so many times; she couldn’t change it again. They had to squeeze this meeting in after her regular work hours as it was.

She hoped this meeting wouldn’t be...weird.

Ugh.

Stupid Will and his dumb jealousy. It was a work meeting to talk about work - nothing more.

She checked her watch again as she arrived in front of his office - one minute to spare.

A small miracle.She thought as she struggled to catch her breath

“Thought I was going to be late,” Byron said from behind her. She jumped a little - not expecting him to be in the hallway.

“Me too,” she said, breathing heavily. “My meeting with Palmer ran late.”

“Come on in,” Byron said. She followed him into his office. All of his staff had already left for the day.

What did you think of my proposal?” Liv said, after sitting down. She noticed that he’d shut the door to his office.

“Looks great,” he said.

“Any notes?”

“Hmmm,” he said, shuffling some papers. “No, I think we should go forward with it.”

“Ok,” she said, shifting in her seat.Well, this is going to be a short meeting.

He walked around to the front of his desk and stood in front of her.

“I should really be...”

“Liv,” he said, leaning against his desk. His foot brushed against hers. She moved it quickly. “We should get to know one another better since you’re working for me.”

She gripped the arms of her chair, her knuckles turning white.

“Aren’t we friends?” he asked, unbuckling his belt.

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