by Combs, Sasha
William drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. Across the room he watched as Pamela laughed at something LaShawn had just shared with her. For nearly a year, their love had thrived and flourished in a bubble of their own making. During that time he’d cherished their private moments together but in a blink all that had changed. He would do anything to make this transition easier for his new bride, and that included going back on his word, if need be. William had never been the kind of parent who doled out empty threats. If he said that he would do something, he could be counted on to do it. He always wanted his words to be his guarantee because he disliked people who sent mixed messages. When Morgan left the dinning room, William had informed his daughter that a dialogue would take place in her bedroom tonight. Yet now he was being advised to do the exact opposite. His mother’s suggestion didn’t sit well with him and he wasn’t certain if he should follow her counsel.
“William...” she said in a soft voice. Mildred’s heart brimmed with warmth for her son. An emotion so pure, it can only be described as a mother’s love.
“Give Morgan until the morning to think about what she’s done. I’ll tell Greta that you’ll take your breakfast in her bedroom suite instead of your own. I think Morgan will like that. Remember what Pamela said dear. We need to build bridges over troubled waters.”
“That advice includes you and dad. Since you’re bringing it up, are you telling me that Pam and I have crossed over your waters? Have you forgiven me for keeping my love life a secret from you and dad?”
Mildred needed time to think about that but she didn’t allow a second to pass before giving him her answer. In the end, she knew that she would forgive him. So waiting until she had time to study the matter would be a waste of valuable time.
“My dear son, there isn’t a thing in the world that you could do to vex your mother. As for your father...he’s an old stick-in-the-mud but there is one person in the world capable of making him change. That person is you. Your father only wants happiness for you and he sees that Pamela makes you happy. So, I guess you have safely crossed over the bridge.”
He leaned forward to kiss his mother on her red cheek.
“Thanks mother. Really...thanks a lot.”
When William peered up, he spotted Frederick standing outside of view in the hall. He tilted his head, signaling for William to join him away from the others. All evening Frederick had been stashed away in his bedroom suite, working on only God knows what. William kissed his mother’s cheek again, before coming to a standing position.
“Excuse me mother, but I need to discuss something in private with Frederick.”
“You’re excused dear.” She said out of habit, even though they both knew that he could leave without her approval.
When William reached Frederick where he stood out of sight, the two men walked down the hallway away from the room.
“I’ve been putting out feelers and taking a few unofficial polls.”
Frederick had begun talking the moment they were a few feet away from the room. They turned down the first hallway leading to the east wing of the house. William wondered who had taken part in Frederick’s unofficial polls. The man was thorough and whatever he’d been doing, William knew it was an efficient use of his time.
“Here’s how I see the consensus... Over seventy percent of the voters would not have a problem with you remarrying. Of those seventy percent, they are evenly split over the timing of a marriage. Half say it doesn’t really matter when you decide to get married, while the other half believes there should be a formal announcement, followed by a public ceremony. When asked why the ceremony should be public, each person in one way or another cited that their decision had to do with the public funeral that you gave your deceased wife. They feel that by having a public wedding ceremony, the two services will somehow balance out these events in your life.”
“That doesn’t sound very promising Frederick. That means that less than thirty-five percent of my voters will favor the fact that a ceremony has already taken place. Your poll means that my voters won’t like that I had a private ceremony when I remarried.”
“That’s what I thought, and naturally I was equally troubled and puzzled by the results. Your voters love you and when I took on this job as your campaign manager, quite frankly at first I thought that you were over paying me for a job that was much to easy. Then you went and did a damn fool thing without telling me all the facts surrounding your relationship.”
“I’ve apologized for that Frederick and I also gave you the opportunity to walk away from your job with no hard feelings. You would be absolutely within your rights to leave because I did not live up to my end of the contract.”
Frederick waved his hand, while laughing.
“You misunderstand me William. I like the challenge. And believe me when I say...I’ve had much bigger fires to put out. Infernos would be a better word but those are private matters that I cannot discuss, so I won’t waste our time talking about them. Back to the problem at hand.”
Frederick switched his train of thought, much like wiping a chalkboard clean, and starting from the beginning. They were back on topic again, and William watched as his expression became stern.
“Like I said...after I analyzed the poll results, I was stymied. So, I stepped back from my preconceived notions to reassess the question and tailor the wording in another way. The purpose of a poll is primarily to find out information but to do that, the question must be worded in the right way. That’s where I think I went wrong. So, I took another poll. In the next poll the question went like this. If the senator’s family supports his right to have a private wedding ceremony, will the voters approve of this choice and not allow this personal matter to hinder them from reelecting the senator.”
They had reached the stairwell leading upstairs to the east wing of the house. Neither man climbed the stairs, because going to the second level wouldn’t give them anymore privacy than they already had. So, they just stood there staring at one another, while William waited to hear the results from the final poll.
When Frederick’s face beamed with one of his quirky smiles, William knew what the results would be.
“The numbers were much better the second go round. Your approval numbers soared to a whopping eighty percent. It would seem that the voters simply want to know that their favorite senator is happy and that his family is clearly supporting his choices.”
William wondered if Frederick had heard about the commotion in the dinning room sparked by his headstrong daughter. Since he was still smiling, he was sure that his campaign manager wasn’t in the know.
“Uh, there might be a problem.” William said.
After hearing Frederick remind him about not informing his campaign manager regarding his private affair, William thought it best to give him an abridged version concerning tonights events. Putting emphasis only on the important details; Morgan’s outburst and the adults vow of solidarity, William was finished telling his story in under three minutes.
With his hand cupping the lower portion of his face, William watched as two of Frederick’s fingers tapped his chin. He was thinking hard and long on this. Weighing their options, and when he stumbled on his conclusions, Frederick finally spoke.
“You know your daughter better than I do. Do you think her anger will blow over in a weeks time?”
“Why one week?”
“The longer we sit on this, the harder it will be to explain. Even if we have another ceremony, the original document for your marriage has been registered in Ohio’s records department. Legally, the document is officially unsealed and available as a matter of public record. The information can be scrutinized and viewed by anyone and that includes tabloid papers and news reporters. The best way to avoid any backlash is if we leak this news ourselves. I don’t want this information being hidden any longer than necessary. If Morgan weren’t the only holdout, I would sound the alarm tomorrow but since she is, my hope is that you can resolve this p
roblem by the end of the week.”
William didn’t have any answers and he didn’t know if he could meet Frederick’s timetable. The worse thing Morgan had ever done in her life, had been when she missed curfew at her boarding school. She’d allowed herself to be persuaded by her roommates to slip away for the weekend. They had traveled on the train to New York, for a girls shopping weekend. It wasn’t until that Sunday night that the house mother had noticed the four girls were mysteriously missing.
Except for that one foolish incident, Morgan had been a model child and she’d never given her parents cause for worry. With no measurable gauge to predict the future outcome of her behavior, William had no way to know if one week would be enough time.
“Frederick, I don’t know what to say. Morgan has never given me any trouble. My parents and I were both surprised when she without warning lashed out at me and Pamela.”
“This is important William. Polls don’t lie. If we get this news out to your voters no later than the end of the week; chances are they will be accepting. You will still be their Golden Boy.”
William hated that nickname as much as he hated polls.
“Frederick...in your polls did you mention the pregnancy?”
A dark expression came over him, and William didn’t want to know the reason for his downturn manner.
“I was hoping that you wouldn’t ask that question but since you did, I feel obliged to tell you my findings. In short...you can’t have it both ways. In other words... You can’t be the voters Golden Boy, plus impregnate a woman before she becomes your wife. Before I got started, even I knew the pregnancy issue would be a no brainer. The voters were dead set against that idea. No matter how I spun it, the answer came up the same each time. You will not be reelected if the voters know that Pamela was pregnant before you married her. Since she’s early in her pregnancy, I think we can fudge the due date and no one will know except for you and your family. I’m sorry William, but there it is in a hand basket. Your marriage simply has to many dangling issues and the voters will only bend so far. We can’t forget; Pamela is much younger than you and she’s your best friends daughter. You privately married her and she’s pregnant. We can sail with the marriage but the pregnancy is a sticky issue and we can’t avoid the topic of concealing her actual due.”
William never liked lying to his voters. The truth always had a way of surfacing to the top, submerging the person that tried to bury the truth.
“Frederick, I will not lie about the baby’s due date.”
“I know that William. But you won’t have to lie. I’ve already checked into this. Due dates are typically plus or minus two weeks. I know that’s still pushing it by as many as four weeks, but that still gives us some leeway. As long as you never say an exact date...instead you can say, that the baby is due around such and such date, thereby never committing to an actual date. You won’t be lying and you can also say that you would prefer to protect the privacy of your wife and your family.”
“I guess that will work.” William said doubtfully.
“Actually, I was hoping for a better solution.”
“What would that be?”
“If Pamela schedules a cesarean delivery, we can site medical reasons for an early delivery. Diabetic mother’s tend to have large babies.”
“That is out of the question Frederick. I would never subject Pamela to such nonsense just because I want to be reelected to the senate.”
“William...it was just a suggestion.”
“Well, wipe it from your mind because I won’t even consider that idea...not even for a second.”
“Okay...but you have your work cut out for you. Persuade your daughter to ease up on Pamela. I’ll work on a press release tonight. I’ll let you review it in the morning. I have a few more details that I need to streamline but nothing as important as this.”
Frederick noticed the worried expression on William’s face. He didn’t want William stressing out over this problem. He wanted him focused because soon they would be returning to the campaign trail. He could fix political roadblocks and he’d been known to tackle family matters. Yet, he quickly surmised that William wouldn’t want him sweet-talking his daughter.
“William...go back to your family. Take your bride to your private suite. After all...this is your wedding night.”
This is the side of Frederick that so few people had the opportunity to see. He could be a kind hearted man but most only witnessed him in shark mode.
“Deal with Morgan in the morning. She probably needs this time alone to blow off some steam.”
“That’s what my mother said but I wasn’t so sure she was right.”
Smiling, he laughed then said...
“Take it from me. I’ve dealt with many hotheads in my time and when you leave them to stew all alone, the steam has a way of seeping right out of them. Your mother is right. For tonight...the best thing to do would be to leave Morgan alone. She’s a good kid and more than likely, she’s angry at herself for losing her cool and disappointing her family.”
William nodded. “Thanks.” He said. “I will take your advice and as a side note...I didn’t need any reminders about the evening. However, this isn’t my idea of a honeymoon. Pamela deserves to be someplace better than Barn Wood Hudson.”
“She’s a lucky girl.”
“No, Frederick...I’m the one that’s lucky.”
With that said, the two men went their separate ways. Frederick climbed the east wing stairs, following the long hallway to the junction that led to his west wing suite, while William went back to the sitting room to join his family. As he traveled there, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Frederick’s poll results, and the implications. He would have one week to persuade his daughter to accept Pamela. A feat tantamount to him climbing Mount Rushmore.
When he crossed the threshold, taking him back to the sitting room, he returned to his seat and noticed that his mother and father had joined in on a conversation with Pam and her parents. They were laughing and talking like a united family. He wanted to join in but he liked witnessing their bonding from across the room; disconnected yet a part of the group. Even Pamela appeared to be relaxed, he felt an easy smile forming on his face at the sight of this. As he sat in his chair, he knew him sitting quietly had not fooled anyone. He’d been spotted but his return didn’t stop them from talking. Their conversation continued on without a lag or delay in phrases. It had been over a year since this house had known this kind of harmony and William would do all that he could to make his daughter an integral part of this new family. So much hinged on him accomplishing this. So say the polls.
_______________________
Chapter 5
Illusions
Honeymoon. William thought about that word for a moment, while he walked down the south wing hallway. He strolled with a lift in his step to the open juncture that intersected all the wings. His night with Pamela had been beyond spectacular. One moment they were in the shower bathing before going to bed, then in the next frame of minutes, they were pressed on the tile floor being bathed by the spray from the multiple nozzles. Jets of hot water sprinkled his back as he guided her down to the tile floor. Without missing a beat, he spread her legs wide, settling his body in the perfect position. Pamela had wrapped her thighs around him like a rope, making his entry straightforward and easy for him. He slid inside of her, and swiftly lost himself. Everything that made this moment special had not been taken for granted. They recalled their holding of hands, and every touch that marked the specialness of that day. Nothing seemed more important to them, in that moment. When William made love to her, with every stroke, every surge of his body; he wanted to possess her entirely. He wanted to be a part of her if that was even possible. His need grew at such a rapid pace, he had not been able to stop himself from coming.
William had rolled off of Pamela, completely spent and he thought that she would come to a standing position. Nevertheless she didn’t and in the next few sec
onds, she’d surprised him by crawling on top to mount him. It didn’t take long for him to stiffen again. She eased his semi-firm length between her folds, slowly rising and falling until he’d grown back to his fullness. A searing fire grew in her core. Pamela took control, riding him like a jockey. The water never eased up and it didn’t affect what they were doing to each other. This go round, it took William much longer to finally come. Pamela didn’t complain, but she noticed the water when it began to cool. Neither of them had been bothered by the shifting water temperature but somehow the cold spray did hasten their release. Their loud moans and cries of passion echoed in the bathroom, causing them both to burst out in amusing laughter.
After they turned the water off, dried themselves then finally climbed into bed, again the word flashed across his half closed eyes. This night was special and he wanted to mark it in a way that they each would never forget.
When they caught their breath and seemed reinvigorated, William made love to her for a third time, but this time his passion was slow and deliberate. He touched, licked and teased her until she begged him to stop, and when he did; that’s when he entered her. This went on all night, right until the break of dawn. William had not gone to sleep, he’d merely closed his eyes to rest them. But Pamela on the other had was practically dead to the world. William phoned down to the kitchen to inform the kitchen staff not to disturb his wife. He also reminded Greta about the shared breakfast for him and Morgan. His time with Pamela had made him lose his cares about his daughter, but now as he traveled to her room, he was beginning to think about how she would react to him suddenly knocking on her bedroom door. William had not wanted to slip out of bed, leaving his sleeping wife cuddled up with his pillow. He wanted to be the lucky one to have Pamela’s arms wrapped around his body, instead of his pillow. Muttering a curse as he passed the bedroom suite where his mom and dad were sleeping, William toyed with the idea of greeting them but instead he continued down the hall to Morgan’s bedroom suite.
