Scandal

by Nicole Elliot

  “No, Colt. Actually, I was hoping to catch you before you got here. I’ve just spoken with Natalie. I’m not sure what’s going on, but she requested to speak with the head of the security team.”

  “Oh…” I’d said, my mouth having grown dry right on the spot.

  “Do you know what this is about?”

  I swallowed, not having the faintest idea what to say. So I lied. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, she sounded pretty upset. Now I’ve actually been contacted by the head of security, myself. Someone else has been sent on my detail for the day, and I’ve been told that if I spoke to you before your handler did, to let you know that you are to report to his office.”

  I swore in my head. “I see. Thanks for the heads up, sir.”

  “Keep me updated, Colt. I hope everything is all right.”

  But of course, everything was far from all right. And my time to figure out what needed to be done to make it all right was quickly vanishing.

  It had been a hassle to so abruptly change direction in order to head over to the security headquarters, but it’s not like I hadn’t know this was coming on some level. After all, that’s why I had left Natalie’s safehouse so early in the first place. I knew she would be ready to unleash pure hell on me for what I’d done to her. I had completely shattered not only her peace of mind, but her heart as well.

  As I continued to sit outside of the office waiting for Jared to see me, I began to hear him shuffling about behind the closed door. After a while, I heard him on a phone call. My heart began to race, intuitively knowing I was the topic of the conversation. I knew I was about to face unemployment very soon for the careless antics I could no longer deny or take back.

  Basically, I was about to get what I deserved.

  Fuck.

  The office door swung open. “All right, Colt. Come on in,” Jared said.

  I took a deep breath, rose from my seat, and entered the office. It too, felt cold and unwelcoming, just like the waiting area.

  My handler’s face lacked its usual friendliness. Although his act of optimism had annoyed me the last time I’d been in his presence, I now wished he would keep up the charade; it would have made the situation feel a little more tolerable. But then again, I didn’t deserve such comforts.

  “Take a seat,” Jared instructed.

  We sat down opposite of one another at the table, and proceeded to stare at each other for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Jared broke the silence.

  “Look Colt—you’ve always been one of my best, so I really don’t know what to make of this. Can you tell me what happened?”

  Another long silence occurred as I sat there, trying to put into words what I needed to say. Unfortunately, my mind was suddenly drawing a blank. Just moments ago, I had been prepared to tell the truth and face the consequences, hoping Jared would have mercy on me. I had planned to confess that I had indeed gotten a little too close to Natalie Finley, and that my professional judgment had momentarily been hindered as a result. I wanted to tell him that nevertheless, I still took my job seriously and didn’t want to be cut from the team—that I was invested in Speaker Finley’s safety, and that from now on, it was all I would focus on.

  Jones could remain on Natalie’s detail, as long as she was safe.

  But as I sat across from my handler, none of those words seemed capable of leaving my mouth. All I could think about was the night I’d spent with Natalie at the pool, the last time we had sex, and that fateful day in the library when I not only confessed my feelings to her, but had even acted on those feelings right on the spot.

  I thought about the first time we’d met, all the way back in Turkey…

  How last night, she had looked me right in the eyes and told me that she loved me, and how like an asshole, I hadn’t even responded.

  Jared cleared his throat, clearly not in the mood to be on the other end of the waiting game.

  I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “I guess you can say some things went wrong during my assignment at the safehouse with Natalie Finley. She would now feel more comfortable if someone else was placed on her detail. I think her wishes should be granted.”

  “Something went wrong like what?” Jared asked.

  I swallowed. “I think there was some confusion about…about the nature of…the work I was doing for her.”

  “I’ve also heard there was some confusion about the shifts between you and Jones. Can you tell me why Jones informed me that the two of you had occasionally been switching locations, after I clearly stated you were to stay with Speaker Finley? Jones stated that he was under the impression that you had been given official word that such switches were to occur. But that’s funny—because I certainly never gave any orders on such a thing. So where did you get these orders from, Mr. Jackson? And don’t tell me Speaker Finley put you up to it. Speaker Finley is not your handler.”

  I lowered my head, ashamed. “It was my idea, sir. I told Speaker Finley that I could switch with Jones to check on Natalie from time-to-time.”

  “Do you have any idea how irresponsible that was of you?”

  “I do. And I’m sorry.”

  “I’m afraid sorry isn’t going to cut it. Not only did you disobey orders, but you blatantly lied on the job to cover your tracks. And based on reports I’ve heard from people who have spotted you in the presence of Natalie—or should I say the way you behaved with Natalie—I have reason to believe that your lies had nothing to do with the seriousness of your job, did it?” When I didn’t answer, he narrowed his eyes at me. “If you do not speak up, I will have no choice but to take your silence as a sign of your confession.”

  I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Jared sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Unbelievable. I really cannot express how disappointed I am in you right now, Colt.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.”

  “If only ‘sorry’ could fix things. But it can’t.”

  Once again, a long silence stretched through the room. The sound of the ticking clock on the wall seemed to grow unnaturally loud. I swallowed again, despite my mouth being dry, as I waited to hear from him what my fate would be.

  But the longer the silence continued, the more I began to realize that I knew perfectly well what I wanted my fate to be. All the stress and frustration I’d been feeling began to dissipate with each passing second marked by the ticking of the clock on the wall.

  I thought about all the attempts that had been made on Speaker Finley’s life. Terrifying as they were, if anything, it had made me realize just how short life could be. None of us were promised today or tomorrow, and in reality, there was nothing anyone could do about it.

  And with life already being so short, didn’t we all deserve a shot at happiness?

  And if we knew without a doubt what would make us happy, it would be absolutely foolish to let it slip away.

  Fucking stupid actually.

  I didn’t want to be stupid anymore. I had already made enough mistakes in my lifetime.

  I cleared my throat. “Jared, I’m sorry for the inconvenience that I’ve caused. And after a lot of consideration, I want to make your decision easier. Therefore, I would like to let you know that from this day on, I officially resign.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Natalie

  “There you go,” I said, putting the finishing touches on the tie my father was wearing. He beamed and pulled me into a hug, which I gratefully returned. It felt like ages since I’d seen my father in person, and I had missed him.

  “So glad you could be here today, sweetheart. I know it’s been rough,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have some time to catch up once this rally is over.”

  “Yes,” I said with some hesitation. While I would have loved nothing more than to catch up with my father, I knew he still didn’t know the full story regarding what had happened with Colt, and why I had requested to permanently have another guard on my detail. It was a conversation I wasn’t looking forward to, to say the least
. “Are you nervous?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Dad laughed. “Not nearly as much now that you’re here! You know you’ve always been my good luck charm!”

  “Really? I was afraid that I’d lost my place with Ms. Penson here!”

  “Oh, you hush up now,” Dad said, a slight blush coming to his face. It warmed my heart to see it though. Ms. Penson was the waitress from the restaurant we’d been at before the gunman ruined everything. I hadn’t been aware that she and my dad had stayed in contact afterwards, but I was certainly pleased to learn that they did. Things had been so stressful for him lately; he deserved someone to help him unwind every once in a while.

  The backstage curtain cracked open, and a young woman poked her head through. “Speaker Finley, you’re on in two minutes.”

  “All right,” he said. “Thank you.”

  Not before long, we heard the polite applause from the crowd as the opening speaker finished delivering Dad’s introduction. “Are you staying back here?” he asked before preparing to take the stage.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’m not up for being in the crowd today.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you in a little bit then.”

  “Break a leg,” I said as my father disappeared behind the curtain and out onto the stage. His presence was greeted with thunderous applause, which made it overly abundant all of a sudden how popular he had become over these past few months. We didn’t want to celebrate prematurely, but all signs were pointing to him being in the lead as the vice-presidential pick. His popularity would undoubtedly give a much-needed boost to the presidential ticket, he connected with voters in a way that most politicians never managed to achieve.

  I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before we looked back to these days as the simpler times…

  It was a bittersweet feeling indeed.

  I retreated farther backstage, where various people from my father’s political team smiled and offered me warm greetings. I politely said hello back, and made my way to the television room, where I could watch the live broadcast of my father’s speech and see how he worked the crowd. I’d heard him practice this speech before, he had recited it in the car, so I would know when he was nearing the end of it. When he got toward the end, I would meet him out on the stage, and we would wave at the crowd and shake as many hands as possible before leaving.

  Settling onto the couch before the television, I couldn’t help smiling as I watched my dad pace the stage, speaking to his riveted audience. He was a natural, and his charisma just leapt off the screen. I knew he had to look even more impressive to those actually out in the audience.

  As I sat there watching my father’s speech though, I began to wish I had gone out to watch from the crowd when my mind began to wander in ways I didn’t want it to.

  If I’d been out in the big crowd, it would have been easier to keep thoughts of Colt at bay…

  But as usual, whenever I sat idly for too long, he popped into my mind, particularly the last time I had seen him.

  Every night, I’d been tossing and turning, thinking about him and convinced that he hadn’t truly meant those hurtful words he’d said to me. But I didn’t want to be in denial; I refused to be one of those girls who couldn’t accept what was right in front of their faces.

  Colt had openly resisted me that night. He hadn’t even wanted to be in my presence. And most of all, he hadn’t been able to say that he loved me back. After all we’d been through, he just didn’t feel the same.

  In his words—it didn’t matter.

  My heart broke a little more each time I thought about it, but I knew the only thing I could do was move on and wait until time mended my heart back together again.

  I just wished it wouldn’t take so damned long.

  “Natalie…”

  I jumped at the sound of someone calling my name in a sing-song voice. Turning around to the sound of clicking high-heels, a smile spread across my face. “Eden!” I cried out.

  She skipped toward me, her arms outstretched and ready for a hug that I gladly returned.

  “Girl, it feels like it’s been forever!”

  “I know!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “My dad and I flew over in support of your dad, of course!”

  “Well, I’m so glad you’re here. I haven’t seen you since Turkey!”

  “Well, you’ve understandably been busy—future…what would you be called? Second-daughter?”

  I laughed. “Let’s not count our chickens before they’re hatched.”

  “Your dad has this in a bag,” Eden said confidently, taking my hand as we both sat on the couch and turned to the television to continue watching the rally. Dad was now taking questions from the audience, explaining the ideas and policies he would like to someday see implemented in our government.

  “So…” Eden said, a grin on her face, “the last time I saw you, you were in the company of a very handsome stranger. Anything ever become of that?”

  I hung my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yeah—a headache.”

  Eden’s brow furrowed as if she hadn’t been expecting that response. “What do you mean?”

  “Things didn’t work out.”

  She pouted. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Would you believe he ended up on my dad’s security team?”

  “Hmmm…” she said, and then grew quiet, clearly waiting for elaboration.

  “Yeah…And uhm…Well…things started happening between us. My father ended up wanting him to be exclusively on my security detail. And we tried to keep things professional between us at first. But then, things grew into something more. Or at least I thought they did. I was wrong though. First, he claimed to have feelings for me and that he would basically be with me no matter what. But then, he abruptly changed his mind and said he wanted to keep things strictly professional between us.”

  “He said that?”

  “Yes. I…I was so angry. I thought that maybe he’d just been lying to me all along. Using me. That he was done with me after he managed to get what he wanted a couple times…I felt so used. So disgusted with myself for falling so hard for him. I should have known better. Guys like him are nothing but players and always will be. I don’t know why I expected him to be different. I made a fool of myself, Eden. I kept coming on to him, thinking that he privately must have felt the same way and that he was just resisting me to be noble. But now I see that he was resisting me because he was never serious about me to begin with. He just wanted to whisper sexy words in my ear until he was done with me.”

  A silence stretched between us. My eyes had gone out of focus, clouded with tears, as I stared at the TV.

  “Did you give him a chance to explain himself?”

  “There’s nothing to explain,” I said with a sigh.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Sometimes—like you said—you can’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”

  “I think those chickens hatched and ran away already,” I said. I thought I saw a secretive smirk on Eden’s face, but as I heard my father’s words drifting from the television, I didn’t have time to think any further about it. He had finished the question-and-answer segment, and was giving his final words. That meant it was time for me to report to the stage with him and put on my happy face to greet the crowd.

  I stood from the couch. “Well—it’s about that time,” I said, turning toward Eden. “Hey, what are you doing tonight? Do you want to hang out?”

  Again, as I looked at her, I got the feeling she was holding back on something. She tried to arrange her face back into a neutral expression, but I knew her well enough to know she was concealing a smile. I narrowed my eyes at her, confused.

  “Let’s take a rain-check on that, all right? You never can know what will be going on tonight. I’ll be in town for a while though, so trust me—we will definitely get a chance to hang out again soon.”

  “All right…” I said. “Text me.”

  Wit
h that, I turned around and headed back toward the front, until I reached the curtain. I stood there for a moment, waiting for my cue to go out on stage. Once Dad and said his last words, music would start playing, and that would be when I went out on stage with him.

  Approximately ten seconds later, that time came.

  Taking a deep breath to control the nerves that always arose in me at times like this, I pushed the curtain aside and stepped out, plastering a smile onto my face.

  The crowd erupted into even louder cheers at the sight of me, as they always did for some reason. My father had joked a time or two that I was popular enough to enter a career in politics myself. But I couldn’t imagine such a lifestyle; I much more preferred law.

  Dad turned toward me, holding his hands out. I grabbed his hand and together, we took a bow toward the crowd. The music continued to blare and the crowd continued to cheer excitedly.

  I was taken aback by the sheer volume of the crowd. It seemed that with each rally Dad gave, the turnout just kept growing bigger and bigger. This was certainly the biggest crowd he’d had to date. I glanced sideways at him, wondering if he found it as overwhelming as I did. But just as I should have expected, he was handling it all with expert poise. Still holding my hand, he headed toward the edge of the stage with me in tow, where he began leaning over to shake hands. Security guards followed behind us, and moved to the front of the crowd as well, making sure nothing got out of control.

  As I shook hands, I glanced around the crowd, spotting Ms. Penson toward the front. She smiled warmly and waved at me, and I waved back at her.

  I then began looking around at the various signs being held into the air. The signs were always my favorite part. Dad’s supporters were full of creativity and often came up with great slogans to show their support. I had mentioned to him before that if he secured the nomination, he should consider asking supporters to help come up with a campaign slogan.

  My heart stopped at the sight of one sign though. I stared, wondering if I was seeing correctly. It wasn’t a sign for my father. Instead, it read: Natalie For My Heart.