Page 12 of A Man of Power

Alexis

“Didyou see the look on that guy’s face?” I laugh as Maria and I turn the corner to the hallway by our office. We met at the metro this morning and watched as a vacationing toddler dumped grape juice all over her dad.

“He was way more chill than I would have been,” she teases. “That’s all the birth control I need for today, thank you very much.”

I giggle. “I don’t know. He looked like a DILF to me.” I watch as Maria’s eyes widen, and I follow her gaze.

“Who’s a DILF?” Sebastian asks as he approaches us from the other direction.

I can feel the heat creeping up my neck. I clear my throat. “Uh, no one.” I quickly turn toward the office door that’s only a few feet away and go to pull out my key from my bag when Sebastian’s arm comes out in front of me.

“Maria, go get the officer down by the entrance.”

Maria takes off running as I look at Sebastian with confusion. His eyes aren’t on me though. I turn back to the door and gasp.

“Oh my God!” I yell as I realize that the glass in our office door has been broken. It’s only when I step back that I hear the crunch of glass under my feet.

“Careful,” Sebastian says as he lifts me and sets me back down in the middle of the hall as though I weigh nothing. I’m too shocked to contemplate his actions.

An officer approaches with Maria in tow. I watch as the officer leans down to the mic on his radio and speaks into it about a possible break-in. The rest of our staff begin to arrive and a crowd forms as three more officers arrive and secure the area.

Sebastian looks to all of his staff who have now congregated in the hallway over the few minutes it has taken for the police to arrive. “Let’s wait over in Congresswoman Bailey’s office,” he directs. Nolan, David, Maria, Tory, and I follow him. I hear him on his cell phone.

“Harriet, it’ll be fine. Yes. All the staff are with me right now. Yes.” He hangs up and looks at all of us.

He opens his mouth to speak but an officer walks into the room. “Congressman North, a word, if you please.”

Sebastian follows him into the hallway and returns a moment later as we all stand around a conference table, none of us speaking.

“The officers want to interview each of us. Congresswoman Bailey has volunteered her office. Maria, you can go first.”

Maria nods and follows the officer into the adjoining room. Sebastian looks back at the rest of us, running a hand through his hair. “Let’s all give statements and then we can work from home today. I’ll get the door fixed and I’m sure there’ll be some added security. I’ll keep everyone abreast of what’s going on as soon as I know more.”

Folks nod their heads.

“This is crazy,” Nolan whispers to me and I nod.

An officer calls me into the room next. I feel Sebastian’s eyes on me as I cross the room and shut the door behind me.

“Hi, Ms. Martin, yes?” the officer asks.

I nod.

“I’m Sergeant Franks. We just need to get statements from everyone. Maria said it was you, the congressman, and her who found the door like that?”

I nod again. “Yes. I—I didn’t realize it was broken until Sebastian stepped in front of me.”

“What time was that?”

I look at the clock on the wall, trying to figure out how much time has passed. “I’m not sure. Maybe twenty minutes ago?”

He nods and makes a note. “And what did you see exactly?”

“Just the glass is broken. Sebas—I mean, Congressman North, he pulled me back from the door so I wouldn’t step on the glass. And then the officer and Maria were there. He had sent Maria to get an officer. It all happened rather quickly.”

“I understand. Did you notice anything else?”

I shake my head. “No. I’m sorry, I didn’t see anything else.”

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