DC Affairs (5 page)

Peter’s thoughts drifted off to Sigourney and he smiled, albeit reluctantly. She knew the score, and maybe she could help him figure out his situation, if only to give him some much needed advice.

There were problems with that scenario though. She was a good girl, the type who might not be attracted to someone who had a wife and children. He’d never taken his relationship status into consideration when thinking about his attraction to her but this was a mistake on his part.

Not only was there a vast age difference between them but it might not seem very professional for a politician to be courting a woman who was so much younger than him. She’d barely graduated from Harvard at the ripe age of twenty-six. What the hell had taken her so long? What kind of demons was she hiding? Was she the gold digging type only looking for a man to marry her? He wondered if this was the reason why she wanted the campaign aide job so badly.

Women like Sigourney were dangerous for a reason. She made Peter feel young and inspired him to long for a future that might not have any part of his life. Perhaps he should wonder what his chances were with the two ambitions that clouded his judgment: the Presidential race and risking it all for a one night with one of his campaign aides.

Chapter Five

Sigourney

A
djusting to my new position of campaign aide was easier than I thought it would be. I was lucky because at least I was older than the average age of the people who worked around me and I also had a very good friend in Andrea.

I didn’t see much of Governor Coburn the first few weeks I worked in the office due to him spending most of his time in Annapolis. Occasionally, he would fly to Washington on a Friday and visit the campaign office but those times were few and far between.

Kylie and I became closer than I thought we would but eventually, I got the hang of her personality and I began to like her. She was prickly but her strength and will to succeed had gotten her to the position she held. I respected that a lot.

The last Friday of June came around quicker than I expected. Governor Coburn planned to stop by and Kylie’s assistant, Russell, who’d been conspicuously absent up until that time finally breezed into work.

I didn’t really consider him my type since he was too tall at almost six feet four and extremely fit with an athletic build. With his dirty-blond hair, blue-green eyes, lightly tanned skin and casual wear attire, I could see how other women in the office found him attractive and swooned accordingly.

“So, that is the infamous Russell Berkeley?” I asked another campaign aide, Claudia, while we stood in the break room. “I thought he was made up since I haven’t met him the whole time I’ve been working here.”

Claudia glanced at me before she added two percent milk to her coffee. “His mother died in a freak car accident. I think she almost had her head decapitated or somethin’ grossly macabre like that. It was gory. Kylie let him take some time off so he could fly back to Manhattan to help his dad settle her estate.”

“Oh, don’t I feel stupid? Open mouth, insert foot.”

“You didn’t know, after all, no one bothered to tell you. He’s a nice guy but once you have a chance to talk to him, you’ll understand perfectly why he’s Kylie’s assistant. You know that sayin’, ‘The apple never falls too far from the tree?’ Well, it makes a lot of sense where
those
two are concerned.”

“I’m confused.” I sipped from my black coffee and grimaced before I added two percent milk.

“Kylie and Russell are half-siblings. Their mom ran off with some investment shark that worked on Wall Street. Anyway, Hugh Berkeley
is
Russell’s dad. She
refused
to attend her own mother’s funeral.”

I tried not to show my displeasure with office gossip. Instead, I smiled at Claudia and walked back to my desk. Unfortunately, Kylie sat on my desk and glanced at my open laptop.

“Nice to know you lock your Mac when you walk away. Can you drill that into everyone else’s heads around here?” She greeted casually.

I smiled brightly. “I could try.”

“Good. Russell would like to take you to lunch.”

The look on my face must have been priceless. “Excuse me?”

“Not on a
date
, Sigourney. Do I
look
like a pimp to you? He merely wants to go over some more sensitive information. As my number three after him, you are very important. I expect you to supervise all the aides as we grow and expand. That means you can’t chat with them like they’re your equals when they aren’t. You must maintain a certain…professional demeanor with them at all times,” Kylie further explained as she stood up.

“Fine. Just so you know, I’m not all that close to anyone in this office. I keep to myself and I live with my best friend,” I offered as an excuse.

“Interesting. How long have you known this best friend of yours?”

What the hell did this have to do with my job?

“Since we were in grade school, why? We also attended Georgetown together.”

“I thought you attended Harvard for your undergraduate degree in Political Science?”

“I
did
.”

“Why did it take you six years to get a four year degree?”

“I took two years off and bummed around Europe. My mom is Norwegian and although they aren’t part of the European Union, they’re part of the European Economic Community. I have a Norwegian passport. I lived for a year in Spain and a year in France. What’s your point with us playing
Twenty Questions
?”

Kylie smirked. “So you know Spanish and French fluently?”

“I never said that,” I replied. “Quiet as it’s kept, you don’t need to know a language fluently to live somewhere foreign, especially when there are expats, Canadians, Brits, Aussies and Kiwis about…they all speak some form of English you know.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I’m intermediate in both Catalan and French. I spent most of my time in Catalonia when I lived in Spain and divided my time between Paris and Nice when I lived in France,” I elucidated.

“You see? That wasn’t so hard.” Kylie checked the cell phone in her hand with sudden interest. “Governor Coburn was concerned about the two years you were off the radar. Anything we should know about? A child you secretly gave birth to or a scorned boyfriend?”

Now it was my time to smirk and I did so with gusto. “No, I’m actually pro-life when it comes to myself, and if I had a child, he or she would be in my life right now. I had boyfriends in both places but they aren’t scorned as far as I know. Ramon is now married to a French Canadian and I don’t know what happened to Daniel. We didn’t end on exactly friendly terms but neither of us hate one another either.”

“What if Ramon approached you now? Still married and with children? Would you have one last fling with him?”

I sometimes didn’t understand Kylie’s motivations though this particular time wasn’t one of them. Her inquisition of me could be seen through so easily, I had to bury a laugh I wanted so badly to express.

“No, I
wouldn’t
. I wasn’t raised particularly religious but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about a relationship. Sleeping with someone who is married just
seems
wrong to me.”

“If you say so.” Kylie walked off and I breathed out loud before unlocking my laptop.

I wanted to believe the Governor had put her up to her questions but at the same time, they felt so perverse, I had a sneaking suspicion she would have asked them whether he asked her to or not.

Time was not on my side that day. I’d barely gathered my thoughts and began working again when Russell came by and smiled brightly in my direction.

“Sigourney Stewart? I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Russell Berkeley, Kylie’s assistant. How are you?”

He held out his hand and I shook it firmly. “I’m doing well, thanks. How are you? Please accept my condolences. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you for your kind words.” He pulled out his cell phone and glanced down at it in a distracted manner. “Listen, I know Peter should be here by three. Would you like to break away for a working lunch before he arrives here in DC? I could really use you to catch me up about what’s been going on. I would also like to bounce some ideas off of you.”

I stood and grabbed my handbag. “Yeah, that sounds great. Would you like to go now?”

“Yes, if you’re hungry.”

I smiled instead of confessing I’d only had coffee and water since I arrived to work. My nutritional regime didn’t really seem like anything I needed to concern a virtual stranger about.

We walked outside together and Russell had parked near the entrance of the campaign office. I sized up the late model Chevy Avalanche thinking the vehicle didn’t suit Russell at all. Somehow, I thought he would be a latte-drinking, liberal east-coaster with a Toyota Prius. He was almost effeminate in his looks and certainly looked like he could have easily been bisexual. His truck, rugged and middle-class, certainly didn’t fit the image he’d cultivated.

“What’s the matter?” He smiled in my direction, making his blue-green eyes light up. “Something wrong with my mode of transportation?”

“Well, it’s a massive truck that uses up loads of fossil fuels. I don’t know, excuse me for thinking you would give a fuck about the environment. Then again,
maybe
that’s just me,” I snapped.

Russell stole a glance from me with bright aquamarine eyes though he was more bemused than pissed off per se. “Gordon Biersch okay? For lunch I mean? There’s one not too far away from here on F Street.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Oh. My. God. What the fuck was wrong with me and why was I snapping at a guy I barely knew? I truly didn’t care what kind of truck or car he drove so why was I making a mountain out of a molehill?

He disabled his alarm before he walked over to the passenger door and opened it for me. I thanked God I’d worn a pair of jean capris instead of a skirt or shorts. Russell still stood behind me as I climbed into the truck. He closed the door behind me before he walked over to the driver’s door and joined me in the truck.

“I’m glad you approve of the restaurant,” he mused once he pulled into traffic.

I studied his profile. “Sorry about earlier. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with me.”

“What kind of car do you drive? Let me guess…either a Smart car or one of those ultra tiny Fiats. They are rather girlie cars.”

I laughed out loud. “No. Actually I drive a Mini Cooper. It was a present from my parents for completing law school.”

“Have you taken the bar exam yet?” Russell inquired.

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t. I’m not sure if I’m going to stay here in DC yet. No use taking the bar somewhere you’re not going to call home. I might end up back in Silver Spring…I haven’t decided yet what I plan to do.”

He glanced in my direction with a coy smile. “Aren’t you just a ball of fun? Are you always this prickly with every guy you meet?”

“No, just assholes who think they know me after five fucking minutes.”

I didn’t know why I was treating Russell so bad. Shouldn’t I have shown him some sympathy since his mother recently died? He didn’t deserve this kind of treatment from a bitch who didn’t know her ass from a hole in the ground.

My companion grabbed my shoulder closest to him. “Hey, look at me.”

I glanced at my shoulder with his hand on it to his face. “Yes?”

“Listen, I don’t know what Kylie told you but this is merely a ‘getting to know you’ lunch. You’re a gorgeous woman but it’s obvious you’re the type who falls for powerful men like the governor. I know I’m out of my league tryin’ to get anything started with you. Hell, I
only
went to Yale.”

My eyes automatically rolled. “Right. There you go judging me again and you don’t
know
me. I didn’t bring my kneepads to Washington, Russell. You think I ran up over twenty grand worth of debt to be some politician’s kept woman? You’re dumber than you look if that’s all you think of me and the type of person I am.”

Russell didn’t say anything and I stole a glance at his face. He certainly was easy on the eyes with a strong Roman nose, sculpted features, full kissable lips and those gorgeous eyes, which looked almost completely blue, drowning out the green in them.

“Is this your idea of foreplay because I want you to know it works for me. Your green eyes light up when you’re annoyed.”

I smiled although I didn’t know when that stupid expression had worked its way into my features. “They’re hazel. Sometimes they look yellow-brown, other times yellow-green, sometimes green-brown. They change colors.”

“They suit you.” He reached over and tucked a lock of my sable brown hair behind my ear. “You have the most gorgeous face and even if you’re the biggest bitch in the world, I truly think it would be worth putting up with your shit attitude. Do you look as good naked as you do clothed?”

I glanced in his direction again. “Are you sexually harassing me?”

“Well, is it really sexually harassment if you enjoy it?” he questioned back with a smirk on his face.