by Avery James
The senator leaned back and looked at her for a moment, sizing her up. This is a test of some kind, Abby thought. In a situation like this, her best bet was to simply do nothing. Sit, smile, and pretend like everything is fine. If the situation changed, she’d have to adapt, but the last thing she wanted to do was panic. It wasn’t like this situation was unique. Maybe Abby had screwed things up in a way she never had before, but the long silence and the stare, this was something she knew well. It was one of the ways people in power remind you of their power, of the fact that you’re playing their game by their rules. The rest of the message was usually irrelevant. Abby watched as the senator’s blank expression transformed into a smile.
“That was some quick thinking,” she said, “offering him an interview. I hadn’t even heard of the man until he walked into my office this morning. I can’t imagine what you thought when you saw him walk over to my husband.”
“I was just doing my job,” Abby said. So he’d leveraged their night together into an interview for one of his new acquisitions. Abby wondered if this were his way of cultivating sources. How many women did he plan on charming before he left town? “What exactly did he tell you I promised him?”
“In exchange for overlooking my husband’s indiscretions, he wanted me to do an hour long sit down with one of his reporters, but he had one caveat.”
“Of course he did,” Abby replied.
“He wanted you to coordinate with him,” she said. “He admitted he was motivated in part by a crush on you.”
What the hell is he getting at? Abby wondered. He already had her number, what was the point of roping in a senator to get in touch with her again? There must have been some part of his plan she wasn’t seeing.
“If you want my advice, dear,” the senator said, “use it. A man like him could be a powerful ally for a woman like you. He’s not so bad on the eyes either. Keep him close. The election is under two months away, and I don’t need any surprises.”
Great, now the senator was giving her dating advice. Or career advice, she wasn’t quite sure which. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Abby said.
Ruth reached across the desk and held her glass up. “To avoiding disaster,” she said. She clanked her glass against Abby’s and took a sip. Abby downed her glass in one long gulp. Her throat burned and her eyes watered.
“To avoiding disaster,” she said. Of course, she was already in the middle of one.
***
Once she was back in the hall outside the senator’s office, Abby finally allowed herself to take a deep breath and exhale. So the world hadn’t come crashing down. She still had a chance to make everything work, and all she had to do was figure out what Nolan actually wanted. She listened to the sound of her footsteps echoing off the walls of the hallway as she made her way outside. She’d survived. Now she needed to figure out how to get a hold of Nolan.
It only took her one step outside the building before at least that problem was solved. Nolan was leaning against a stone column, looking down at his phone and smiling.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” Abby asked as she marched up to him. She wanted to pummel him for pulling that stunt with the senator.
“Waiting for you,” he said.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Her nostrils flared as she narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and thought of a hundred ways she hated him in the moment. She tried to ignore the fact that he looked even better in daylight than he had in the dim light the night they met.
“Have you been drinking?” he asked.
“Because of you,” she said. “And that’s beside the point. The point is…” She was getting flustered. She could feel the blush in her cheeks and the racing of her heart. She gritted her teeth. What was it about him that made her lose herself so easily? “The point is you don’t just spend a night with someone as a pretense to get a meeting with her boss.”
Nolan looked at her, perplexed. It was as if she’d been shouting at him in Mandarin. “What are you talking about? You think I was doing this for my own benefit?”
“Well, you certainly weren’t doing it for mine. What kind of game are you playing?”
Then a light of recognition lit up in his eyes. “You have it all wrong. Well, you have it mostly wrong. Yeah, I’m being a bit selfish, but I went to her to get to you.”
“Why would you do that?” Abby asked. She clenched her hands and opened them as she tried to convey her disbelief.
“I wanted to see you again,” he said.
“Why didn’t you just call like a normal person?”
“I lost your number,” he said. “I saw it when I got up, but I had to leave for a meeting, and when I got back to the room, it was gone. The maid must have thrown it out.”
“You didn’t tell me who you were,” she said.
“Why would I have?”
“Are you serious? I tell you that I’m keeping someone out of the press, and you neglect to tell me that you own several media companies?”
“You said you didn’t want to talk about work, and I was enjoying spending time with someone who didn’t care about my minor celebrity or my money. So, yeah, maybe I should have mentioned it, but I didn’t want to ruin what we had going. I wanted to see where things would go.”
“Well, now you know,” Abby said. “So what are you doing?”
“I want to take you on a date,” he said. “Given the choice between maybe making you hate me or certainly never finding you again, I chose the option with the small percentage chance of hate and the much larger percentage chance of you realizing why I did what I did.”
“What about my current demeanor makes you think I would go on a date with you after what you just pulled?”
“Because you know it’s in the best interest of your client?” he said.
“You wouldn’t,” she said.
“Blackmail you into falling for me?” he said. “You’re right. What happened the other night, every last bit of it, will stay between you and me. And what happened with your client’s husband… that’s not the kind of thing I want to get into. I’m in town for a few more days, and I wanted to see you again. So let me see you again.”
“I’m past the whole hookup thing,” Abby said.
“Hookup thing?” Nolan asked.
“I’m not interested in a guy who is incapable of a relationship.”
“What makes you think I’m incapable of a relationship?”
“For starters, you couldn’t even take care of a piece of paper.”
“Ok, you have a point there, but that’s hardly a reason not to get dinner with someone.”
“I’m just getting started,” she said. “As far as professions go, you’re basically my sworn enemy.”
“Or your greatest asset.”
“I’m not done,” she said. “You’re also leaving town. So there’s really no chance of this being more than a fling.”
“You misunderstand me,” he said.
“Try me,” Abby replied.
“The other night at the bar, your point about shouting sex in a crowded room, I think you were right.”
“About men having one track minds?”
“About it being a shame,” he said. “I think people have their heads stuck permanently in the wrong direction, and I want to do something about it. I couldn’t care less about some senator’s husband. Give me a chance to show you who I am, and if you don’t like it, that’s fine. What do you have to lose?”
I could fall for you, and things could get complicated, and I can open myself up to get hurt.
“Thursday night,” she said. “The Cheese Ball.”
“Is that a place or an appetizer?” Nolan asked.
“It’s an event, The Dairy Producers of America’s Annual Gala. It’s a lobbyist event, and I need a date.”
“And they call it the Cheese Ball?” he asked.
“Cross my heart,” Abby said. “It’s not like I’m the one who named it.”
�
�What’s the attire?” Nolan asked.
“Very formal.”
“So, tails?” he asked.
Abby raised a brow.
“On the tux,” he said.
“If you think that’s a good idea,” she said, “sure.”
“I’m not sure it’s ever a good idea,” he replied. “What time do I pick you up?”
“You don’t. Meet me there. Eight pm. You’ll be my guest, not my date.”
“Is that right?” he asked in a bemused tone. He was trying not to smile and doing a terrible job at it.
“We’ll see how you do with being a guest before we move on to date.”
“When is it again?” he asked.
“Thursday, eight,” she said. Had he really already forgotten?
“It’s a date,” he said.
“So that’s how you want to play it?” she asked. He just nodded. “Give me your phone,” she said.
“Why?”
“Just do it,” she replied. He handed it over and watched nervously as she started typing something. A moment later, her phone buzzed. She answered and handed his back to him. “Hello?” she said as she turned away.
“Hey,” Nolan said.
“Who’s this?” she asked.
“Your date to the ball,” he said.
“Ah this must be the phone call I was waiting for but never received.”
“Well, we’re talking now,” Nolan said.
Abby continued on her way and gave a wave goodbye over her shoulder. “Ok, charming, start talking,” she said.
“My pleasure,” he replied. And just like that, her morning wasn’t so bad anymore.
Chapter 6
In order to draw out his stay in D.C. for a few more days, Nolan decided to put off his next meeting with the reporter until the morning before the Dairy Gala. For his meeting with Erin, Nolan found a café around the corner from the hotel. He liked the casual energy of meeting somewhere outside an office, and he liked setting the terms of meetings. It meant he could control the little details to his benefit. After ordering a coffee, Nolan found a place by the window and decided to text Abby.
You around?
His phone rang a moment later. He smiled as he saw Abby’s name. “Wanted to hear my voice?” he asked.
“I thought maybe you wanted to hear mine,” she said.
“How about in person?” he replied.
“I’m working,” she said. “Some of us have jobs and bosses.”
“That second part sounds dreadful.”
“What’s going on?” Abby asked.
Nolan had enjoyed their few seconds of conversation so much that he almost forgot why he was reaching out to her in the first place. “I wanted to talk about that date you owe me.”
“I don’t think I worded it quite like that,” Abby said.
“I was wondering if we can take a raincheck. I’m getting roped into a charity thing tonight, and I was wondering if you could come with,” Nolan said. “I promise I’ll have you back by tomorrow morning. Two days from now at the latest.” He couldn’t help but grin as he talked to her.
“As tempting as that is,” Abby said, “I can’t. I have plans. Where is it?”
“New York,” he said.
“Then I definitely can’t make it.”
“Playing hard to get?” he said.
“Playing detective for a bit,” she replied. “I had fun last night, though.”
“Me too.” Nolan looked up to see Erin walking into the café. “You sure you can’t make it?”
“Certain.”
“I have to go. We’ll figure something out soon.” He hung up as Erin reached the table. He’d been hoping Abby would take him up on his offer. The thought of another night with her… well, it was the only thought in his mind. “Morning,” he said as Erin sat down across from him. “I’ll get right to it. I have a contract right here that solidifies everything we talked about, but I need you to do one favor for me before you sign.”
“And what would that be?” Erin asked, squinting in what seemed like mock skepticism. She crossed her legs and bit her lower lip in that affected way women do when they’re trying to be coy.
“I’m not even sure you’d be the one doing me the favor. I told Senator Ruth Heck that we’d run a feature on her sometime in the next week. Naturally, I thought of you for it. Strong females and that whole thing.”
“You want me to write a puff piece,” she replied. Her eyes rolled and her shoulders slumped. “Are you serious? Just a few days ago, you were lecturing me about integrity and change, and you want me to write a puff piece?” Her voice got louder as her disbelief grew.
“That’s not what’s happening.”
“So you want me to see what I can dig up?”
“No,” Nolan said. “I just want you to do an interview. The whole thing is a bit convoluted, but you’ll have carte blanche after this.”
“I thought I was going to have full control from the start,” she replied. She looked down at the contract Nolan had laid on the table. “We’re setting the tone here, and you asking me to do PR for someone I should be holding accountable isn’t exactly a good precedent.”
“I’ll owe you one. Let’s just say a mildly favorable profile of the senator will solve a few problems for me.”
“You’ll have to do better than that,” she said.
“So what do you want?” he asked. For a moment, he wondered if he should explain the whole reason he got himself into this situation to begin with, but he wasn’t going to do that. He could have waited until she signed the contract and told her to do the interview anyway. This was just his way of showing a little good faith in an unfortunate circumstance.
“Visibility,” she said. “I want to be someone who matters, and people like me don’t get there by plugging away behind a keyboard writing puff pieces. You got where you are now by being in front of the camera for years and leveraging that exposure.”
“Do you want a photoshoot?” Nolan asked.
“I want a date,” she said flatly.
Nolan scoffed. “A date?” This was taking an unexpected turn. He wondered how to break it to her that he just wasn’t interested, or rather, that he was much more interested in someone else. “I think you misread my intentions.”
As if she were reading his mind, she added, “It doesn’t have to be an actual date. I don’t need that kind of drama in my life, but I need to raise my profile. You’re one of the most eligible bachelors in the world. I’m no slouch. If people see me out with you, there’ll be more interest. Whether I like it or not, my looks are part of my brand, and I intend to leverage them until I lose them. You, me, a few pictures in one of your tabloids, and suddenly my footprint starts getting bigger than D.C. I’m not asking for a sex tape. Dinner, a gala, something like that.”
“And then business as usual,” he said.
“I didn’t think you’d say yes so quickly,” she said. “You must be in quite the situation. Does this have anything to do with you and the senator’s husband?” Erin asked.
“What?” Nolan asked. “How do you know about that?”
Erin winked. “I have sources,” she said. “So what’s it going to be?”
Nolan wondered what those sources had told her about anything else that happened that night. He’d known she was ambitious, but he was starting to wonder if that was going to be a problem. Then again, he’d just been turned down by Abby, and he needed a date that night. Might as well take care of both problems at once. Nolan shook his head and held out his hand. “Deal. I’ll have a car pick you up at five. Wear something camera ready.”
***
“So what’s the deal with you and Nolan Ross?” Maggie asked as Abby stepped into the break room. It was eleven in the morning, and Maggie was still nursing her morning smoothie. Or maybe she was on her second. It was hard to tell. She was also staring intently at her phone.
“One of these days, I’m going to slip some bacon into one of those things.”
“What isn’t on your list of ‘no-nos’?” Abby asked. She made a beeline past Maggie to the espresso maker.
“Gossip,” Maggie said.
Abby laughed. “Why do I think I’m not going to like where this one’s going?” she asked.
“So what’s the deal with you guys?” Maggie asked. “You said he was chasing after you.”
“He’s coming to the thing tonight,” she said.
“Did you see the pictures of him?”
“Do I want to see the pictures of him?” Abby asked.
“It depends, Maggie said. “Are you threatened by leggy blondes?”
“I’m more worried about what they’ll do around a certain gray fox in his sixties,” Abby said.
Maggie held her phone up. “Looks like he went on a date last night.”
Abby felt a twinge of jealousy as she looked at the picture of Nolan with his arm draped around another woman. This is why you don’t get your hopes up. This is why you trust your head instead of that fuzzy feeling in your chest that tells you this guy is different.
She shrugged. “It’s not like we’re going steady,” she said. “He’s a fling. You know how guys like that are. It’s all flash. They fall fast and hard and then they disappear as soon as they get whatever it is they want.”
“So what does he want?”
“Besides me?” Abby asked. “Let’s find out.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m going to ask him,” Abby said nonchalantly.
“You’re not,” Maggie said. She had that slightly panicked look she got whenever Abby pushed a boundary. It wasn’t like she said she was going to go streaking down K Street. She was just going to text a guy.
Nice pictures, she wrote.
Jealous? he asked.
Of you?
Of course, he said.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to date a blonde. Maybe you can give me her number.
