Page 5 of A Man of Power

“It’s fiesta time, bitches,” Whitney declares as she grabs her purse, and we follow her. I don’t know how I got so lucky in friendship, but I’m not even going to question it.

* * *

It takestwo weeks for my security clearance to go through and all my paperwork to be finished. I stare at my reflection in the glass of the giant doors as I enter the building. I went through at least ten outfits before I found the perfect one. Pants. I need to wear pants. The last thing I need is for my boss to look at me like I’m a woman. I channel my anger at the fact that I even have to think about this. Shaking my head clear of negative thoughts, I decide to put myself in a positive mood. I look fierce in my tightly cut trousers, gold belt, and a flattering white button-down shirt with the chunky necklace Whitney lent me. My hair is pulled up in a slick bun. My earrings dangle as I walk. Even my makeup is on point. Whitney and Erin bought me a new leather bag and I’m loving it. I feel good and ready to slay.

I go through security in a breeze with my new ID card and make my way up to the office. I find myself adding an extra skip in my step. I want to pinch myself. I’m being paid to work here.

I step into the office. “Morning, Tory,” I say to the receptionist.

“Alexis! I heard today was your first day. Welcome back. I brought in some bagels and coffee to celebrate,” she says with a warm smile as she rises and hugs me. I grin back at her. I made friends with all the office staff when I interned here. The only one who never noticed me was Congressman North. Of course, he was seldom around when I was. He practically walked through the room at my going-away party, shook my hand, posed for a photo, and then walked on out to attend a meeting. I shrugged it off at the time, but now I’m wondering if he sees anything or just what he’s told to see.

“Alexis, you’re here,” Harriet says as she walks out of her office.

“Morning, Harriet. I’m all set and ready,” I say as I hold up my ID card that is hanging around my neck.

“Great. You’ll be in here.” I follow Harriet into a shared office space that is down a short hallway past the congressman’s office. I smile when I see that I’m sharing an office with Maria Vasquez.

“Hey, you!” she says happily as she hops out of her chair and comes to greet me. I had done several research projects for Maria when I was an intern. She’s the youngest member of the staff, well, until I was hired. She’s awesome and I can’t wait to work with her. I look down and see an enormous engagement ring on her finger. I grab her hand.

“Oh my God! When did you get engaged?” I ask.

She laughs. “Alan finally popped the question last week.”

“I’m so happy for you!” I exclaim.

She grins as she pulls her hand back and motions to what I assume is my desk.

“Strap yourself in, because shit is about to go down,” she says.

I raise my eyebrows as Harriet looks between us.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“He’s going to announce his run for his father’s Senate seat tomorrow,” Harriet explains.

My eyes go wide. Well, damn, Maria is spot on about walking into a shitshow.

“Is Nolan still running communications?” I ask.

They both nod. “Sorry, I didn’t know until yesterday that we would for sure go live with the news tomorrow or I would have warned you. It’s been a little on the DL, if you know what I mean,” Harriet explains. I bite my lip to keep from laughing at her youthful slang. Harriet may be in her seventies but she’s way fucking cooler than all of us put together. I sort of want to be her when I grow up.

“OK, well, let me know how I can help,” I insist as I set my bag down.

“I emailed you a list of issues that need to be researched. We’ve fallen a bit behind on issue papers and briefing documents,” Harriet says. “He’ll need memos on all of it by next Tuesday.”

I turn on my computer and log in. As soon as I’m set up, Harriet leaves. I open her email and cringe. Thank God classes haven’t started yet because I’m going to be here all weekend doing research. I quickly send off an email of research requests to my contact over at the Congressional Research Service because there is no way I’m going to be able to get this all done by myself in less than a week. I’m grateful that I took the time to be friendly with a staff member over at the Library of Congress who supplies this research service to congressmen and their staff.

The staff divides up research topics. I’ve been assigned to health, education, and transportation. I’ll need to spend some time getting up to speed on what bills are being heard on those topics and what the latest is from the departments that cover those topics for the president.

What my new boss doesn’t know is that I’ve done my research on him. For one, an alum from his fraternity is now president. From what I can tell, they are friendly, so that could help us. The House majority member is also from this same fraternity, a coincidence? Nope. Not in this city. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

I get up to go and head over to the Library of Congress because I do my best research there. “Heading to the library,” I say to Maria. She looks up and pulls an earbud out of her ear.

“Have fun.”

I laugh. “Always.”

I pick up my bag and start down the hall but pause as I try to remember if I grabbed my phone. I open the bag, making sure it’s in the new pocket where I placed it. Closing my bag, I take a step forward when suddenly my body stumbles straight into a hard plane covered in a stark white button-down. A red and blue checked tie greets my vision as I focus. I realize that my hand is now firmly placed on the chest of my boss who is looking down at me. Oh fuck.

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