by Janae Keyes
Broken Politics
JANAE KEYES
Broken Politics
Copyright © 2016, Janae Keyes
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. References to real people, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely fictional and not meant to be considered real.
Cover Design: Courtney Cannon
ISBN-13: 978-1-329-89936-0
ASIN: B01AIPH4LE
To My Olivier
You will always be my forever
BROKEN POLITICS
100 Days of Failure
This isn’t the least bit surprising to me at all. 100 days have passed since President Matthew Von Hansen was sworn in and as predicted nothing significant has happened in the first 100 days. These 100 days are supposed to show the country what this president is made of and we get nothing. Of course what do you expect from a rich boy whose campaign was paid for by the friends of his grandfather former Republican Connecticut Senator Harrison Von Hansen. It’s all a big joke, but that is no surprise. President Von Hansen’s entire campaign was a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Of course he was going to get the youth vote being the youngest man to ever run for President at the minimum age of 35 and then of course the women flocked to him, he’s the first single President in the last 130 years and good looking (Yes I will admit that, but good looks don’t make a President). The country was captivated and intrigued on how a single man could be President. Then to add a spin and get the minorities he added an Asian female to his ticket to be his VP. All smoke and mirrors. Goodness who could forget his campaign slogan “Keeping America’s Purpose”…a joke. This frat boy knows nothing about politics and how to run a country. 100 Days of pure failure… the dude still has 4 more years in office… kill me now.
Until Then,
K
Chapter One
Kayla
I LOOKED AT the clock and gasped. I quickly closed my laptop and shoved it into my bag. I was for sure going to be late. There was no doubt about that. I dragged myself from the coffee shop where I had a pretty sweet setup. I threw my bag over my shoulder and started swiftly up the street. I was happy that the weather seemed to finally want to get warm. I was really sick of bundling up everyday and walking through the slush that lined the streets of Washington D.C. The warm weather was definitely welcome in my book.
I came to an office building and walked inside. Going to the elevator I pressed the button and stood waiting for the doors to open. I’d spent way too much time in this building over the past four years. When the doors opened I stepped inside and went to the fourth floor. Once I arrived on the floor I was greeted with a sea of pink. The walls were pink. There were pink flowers and pink couches, pink clocks. It was like the Pepto-Bismol factory exploded in this very room. Coming in here every single day made me want to vomit. I took a deep breath and started down the hall. I passed a window and could see 15 people sitting around a table in a room. I made it to the door of that room and walked inside.
“How nice of you to join us Kayla.” The woman at the head of the table said.
“Sorry Kizzy.” I said as I made my way to the only empty chair at the table and sat down. I pulled out a notebook and pen from my bag.
“As I was saying. Our next issue will be about being single in D.C. We’ve got a nice line up of single D.C. girls that we will be featuring and I want to get a street team out there to ask normal D.C. girls about what it is like to be single in the Nation’s Capital.” Kizzy explained. I simply rolled my eyes. I’d gone to school to be a serious journalist and here I was writing for some rag-mag. I’ve been at MetroGirl magazine for far too long.
“I might have an interview lined up with Camille Andrews.” Said the girl sitting next to me. She seemed very proud of herself. The whole room seemed to be captivated with this and they Oooo’ed and Ahhh’ed. I rolled my eyes.
“She’s perfect for this coming issue. She is D.C.’s ultimate single girl and a couple months ago she went on a date with the President. She has so much insight it will be amazing. I want her to be our cover.” Kizzy said, her eyes seemingly glowing with glee. The girl next to me beamed with delight.
“This is going to be fantastic. We should weed out any girls who haven’t dated major D.C. power players. It should be all about single girls who date D.C. power.” Another girl then piped in. “The President is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Perfect!” Kizzy purred with such satisfaction.
“I thought the original concept was the typical single girl in D.C.?” I questioned. Everyone looked at me as if I’d spoken blasphemy. “I mean who cares if this chick banged the President. Our readers are normal D.C. girls so why not appeal to them?”
“Kayla…Kayla… yes our reader is the typical and normal D.C. girl, but those girls want to know what it is like to date power. They want insight into that life. And most of them would love to know what the President is like in bed.” Kizzy said. Everyone seemed to nod their heads in agreement.
“Not I, said the typical D.C. girl.” I said. Everyone sort of laughed at me.
“Well we are going with the single women who date power issue.” Kizzy said as if it was law. I simply shrugged. “Now we do have some news that involves you Kayla.” I sat up in my seat and looked at Kizzy. I was puzzled what any news had to do with me. “MetroGirl has been petitioning forever to get a reporter into the White House. Well, we get our chance. We want to do a series of articles about the life of a single President in the White House. The White House has agreed and Kayla I want you to write the series. That means you will be spending a lot of time in and out of the White House with the President himself. You’ll also be doing other articles and sitting in with the Press corp.” My eyes widened.
It was like my dreams had sort of come true. My dream was to be in the White House and to interview whomever was there running the country. My dream did have me working for an actual news publication with clout, but I guess that could be fixed later. For now I was going to be in the White House interviewing the President himself. He wasn’t my favorite President alas, but he would do. I could now make my mark in history.
“Wow.” Was all I managed to say. I was still trying to believe what my ears were hearing.
“You will be our political eyes and ears in there. We want to know what the President is wearing, who he’s dating, who he wants to date. We want all the insights on all the juiciness going on behind those White House gates.” Kizzy said her voice laced with intrigue and excitement.
“Wait…wait.” I said. “You don’t want me in there to report actual news when with the Press Corp?” I questioned.
“That is news to our readers. You aren’t some powerhouse reporter from the Washington Post… you are a Political Lifestyle reporter from MetroGirl.” Kizzy said. I shrugged. This was better than nothing and if I was going to get my foot in the door this was going to be the only way. “Come to my office after the meeting. Your security clearance went through and I have your ID badge.” I nodded in response. I was really going to be working at the White House, still for MetroGirl, but this was a start. I felt like things were getting better or at least would get better in the near future. I had to have a little hope.
I STOOD IN a restaurant bar sipping a cocktail and watching the door. I’d invited my best friend out to celebrate with me. I was bursting with excitement. The first people I called when I could were my mom and my best friend. I was still in shock. I was going to be working in the White House. Of course my articles wouldn’t be the distinguished news that I wanted, but it sure was a start in the right direction.
; Looking towards the door I saw it open and a tall girl with milk chocolate skin and big curly brown hair walked in. She gave me a smile and a wave before weaving through the crowd and making her way to me at the bar. She quickly grabbed me into a big hug. I could feel the excitement radiating from her. If anyone besides my mom or me were going to be this excited about my opportunity it would be my best friend, Simone.
“I have been freaking out since you called me. I cannot believe you are going to be working in the White House and personally interviewing President Von Hottie!” Simone bubbled.
“Did you really call him President Von Hottie?” I questioned as I rolled my eyes. Simone like every other woman in the country had been captivated not by the political achievements of Matthew Von Hansen, but by his good looks. I swear 4 out of 5 women who voted for him only did so because of his looks and soft green eyes.
“Duh! Yeah I get that he isn’t your favorite president and all, but you can’t deny that he is smoking hot and single. Maybe you can hook me up with him.” Simone said. I rolled my eyes once again. I was not setting up my best friend up with a failure of a president that was for sure. Simone deserved much better than that.
“Yeah…no.” I said before taking a sip of my drink. “I’m excited about the job though. Maybe this will get me much further than I am. I mean I get to spend time with the Press Corp so that means I will get to meet some of the top writers for the top publications. This can help me get my foot in the door.” I explained to her.
“What they don’t have and what you do is that you get personal access to the president.” Simone said, her voice laced with so much excitement. I was more excited about the possibilities than meeting the president. Of course I was honored, but this whole thing meant my life could take a dramatic turn. “As you can tell, I am jealous. You get to spend your days with President Hottie and I’m still stuck interning for Senator Boring-Face.” Simone had landed a great internship at the Senate working under the Senior Senator from Wisconsin and she hated every moment of her job.
“Well you can keep being jealous. I hope by next year I’ll be working at the Washington Post or the New York Times. Maybe by then you could be full time staff on The Hill.” I said to her. At this point I felt like we both had to be optimistic about any possible opportunities. I needed to believe that there was better for me. Believing was going to be the only thing keeping me going.
“Well cheers to optimism.” Simone said as she raised her drink in the air. I also raised my drink.
“Optimism!” I said happily. I could feel the change coming. I could feel success flowing through my blood. There was definitely more for me and this was going to be an introduction to it.
I WALKED UP to the gate of The White House that my instructions informed me to go to. There was a security guard at the gate checking ID badges. When it was my turn I walked to him showing my ID badge and he simply gave me a nod to keep walking. My heart was pounding quickly and hard. I was about to go into The White House for the very first time. Everyone around me also walking in seemed to be going about their usual business like this was normal. For them it was normal going to The White House, but for me this was out of the ordinary and it was simply a dream come true. I followed the crowd of regulars and made my way inside where there was more security going through bags and putting everyone through metal detectors. It was similar to going to the airport. I waited my turn and put my bag on the conveyor belt and stepped through the detector.
“Ma’am is there a laptop in your bag?” a security guard asked me.
“Umm…yes…there is.” I said nervously.
“Alright, just remember to take it out of the bag next time.” He said giving me a smile. I think he could tell it was my first time.
“Yeah…sorry.” I muttered as I quickly took my bag and gave him an apologetic smile.
I then rushed down a hall towards the sign I saw for a public restroom. I went into the restroom and gave myself a glance in the mirror. I wore a dark purple and black color blocked sheath dress with a simple pair of black pumps. My very curly dark brown hair was pulled into a clean bun with a couple curly strands left out in the front. I took a deep breath and gazed at myself. I knew I looked perfectly fine; I needed to calm my nerves. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
“You’ve got this. You’ve got this.” I repeated a couple times before I opened my eyes. I then looked to see a young, plump, and blonde girl standing at the door staring at me.
“First day?” she questioned in a thick southern accent.
“Yeah. I’m trying to calm my nerves.” I answered. I then extended my hand to her. “I’m Kayla Johnson from MetroGirl.” The girl then took my hand and shook it.
“Julie Smith from Conservative Daily.” She said. She then walked to the sink and grabbed a piece of paper towel and handed it to me. “Wipe the sweat away. You don’t want the big boys to see you sweat.”
“Thanks.” I said with a kind smile as I dabbed at the beats of sweat on my forehead.
“You’ll do fine. Just don’t let the big boys scare ya. It can be cutthroat in there, but us little guys stick together and try to hold our own.” She explained to me. I was happy to have met someone who seemed to be on my side.
“How long have you been here?” I asked her.
“About three months now. I still shake in my boots the moment I walk through those gates.” She said with a small laugh. I then looked down at my watch. I only had a few minutes to find the office of the Press Secretary if I was to be on time.
“Oh crap I have to go, but we should get lunch.” I said to her as I quickly threw the piece of paper towel away.
“For sure. There aren’t many girls in there and we’ve got to stick together.” She said to me. I went to quickly leave the restroom and realized that in this moment Julie would be a great help to me. I quickly turned back to her. “Julie where is the Press Secretary’s office?” I asked her.
“When you exit go left and up the hall. You will see the Press Corp offices on the right and on the left the office of the Press Secretary.” She said to me.
“Thanks so much.” I said before I quickly left the restroom.
I followed Julie’s advice and there I’d made it to the office of the Press Secretary. This was going to be the first moment of many. I was about to meet the Press Secretary to the President of the United States. I felt like this moment couldn’t be real, but I knew that it was real. I took a quick breath before I knocked on the door.
“Come in.” shouted an angry sounding female voice. My nerves then hit me again. I did my best to shoo them away. I couldn’t be nervous. I opened the door and walked inside of the office. Sitting behind the desk was a woman who looked to be in her late 50s. She had greying black hair and very prominent forehead wrinkles.
“Umm Mrs. Kingston-Plank…I’m Kayla Johnson from MetroGirl.” I said trying to sound as confident as possible.
“MetroGirl?” she questioned.
“Yes the Contemporary DC Women’s Lifestyle magazine.” I said trying to sound like I had confidence in the piece of crap magazine that I wrote for. “I’m doing a series on the President and sitting with the Press Corp. My packet of instructions told me to be at your office at 8.”
“Oh yeah that sex mag.” She said. I tried to hold back a laugh. She said what I simply thought about the magazine. Whenever you saw MetroGirl in the checkout line at the grocery store the cover always had headlines like, Get the best Orgasm in 2 easy steps, How to give him an A-MA-ZING Blow Job, Getting the BEST out of SEX… and the list went on. It could be very embarrassing telling anyone that was the magazine I wrote for. “I have some documents for you to sign.”
I was still in shock that I was standing in the office of Nora Kingston-Plank, she was renowned for her work as a political reporter in the early 90s and now she was the Press Secretary to the President. She was seriously my hero. I watched as she searched through some folders before pulling out one of them that ac
tually had my name on it. There was a folder in The White House that had my name on it. I honestly couldn’t believe it.
“Sign these. They are non-disclosure agreements. You will be spending a lot of time in the Oval Office and you might hear things that should not be discussed outside of the Oval. You speak a single word that you should not speak and you can be jailed and charged with treason.” She spoke firmly and looked me straight in my eyes. I felt fear then take over my body. This lady meant business. She then handed me a pen. I quickly signed the multiple papers and sat the pen down on top of them. “Alright Ms. Johnson I will give you a quick tour of the offices down here and take you to meet the President.” She then said. I felt my heart beating out of my chest.
I followed her from the office. She showed me the Press Corp offices and where my official MetroGirl desk was. I saw Julie whose desk wasn’t far from mine. Julie gave me a smile and a small wave as I passed her. She then took me to the Briefing Room and showed me my assigned chair on the very last row, but then again I was right next to Julie. I felt like I wasn’t going to be alone in here. I then followed her once more until we entered into an ornate hall. I looked up at the decorative ceiling that had beautiful crown molding around the edges of the walls. I’d seen this hall on television and I couldn’t believe that I was here. She walked me down to a small waiting area where a receptionist was poised for our arrival.
“Kayla this is Karen the President’s Secretary. Karen this is Kayla Johnson a reporter from MetroGirl who will be shadowing the President.” Nora said to Karen who gave me a smile as her phone rang. She quickly answered it.
We then walked to a door. I knew what was behind that door. I felt a rush of excitement and nervousness rush through my veins. I was about to go into the Oval Office, the main office of the President of the United States. I did my best to calm my breathing and act as chill as possible. There was a black man in a black suit and black tie standing outside of the office.
