The Perfect Candidate (27 page)

“I’
m
…
fine,
”
she said, trying not to think about the little drama that had just unfolded in her bathroom. 
“
Why?  Is something wrong?
”
she asked. 

Ashley had known that Michael was meant to be out of the city on business all evening.  She hadn
’
t expected to hear from him at all until at least the following morning when he got back to Chicago.  She wasn
’
t complaining!  She loved the fact that he had called her for no other reason than to see how she was, apparently, but she
was
curious.

“I ugh- well, I just-” Ashley listened as Michael cleared his throat.  She couldn’
t remember ever hearing him sound uncertain before- it was a little unnerving!

“Michael?” she said.  “How are
you
doing?
”
she demanded, baffled by his behavior. 
“
Is something the matter with the campaign?
”
she asked anxiously.

“Well…” there was a slight pause.  “Not exactly, but I do think that we need to make some revisions to our plans,” he said, all of a sudden falling back into his natural, easy rhythm of conversing.

“Plans?  What plans?” asked Ashley.

“Our wedding plans.”

Michael held his breath and waited to see what sort of a response his statement would provoke from Ashley.  She was silent for a few seconds, before echoing him uncertainly.

“Our wedding plans?  What do you mean?  What kind of ‘
revisions
’
do you want to make?
”

Michael cleared his throat again. 
I want it to be real
, he thought to himself, but couldn
’
t yet make that confession aloud. 
“
I think we should move the ceremony forward,
”
he revealed, wondering if this might help prompt Ashley into making a revelation of her own. 

It didn
’
t.

“Move the date of the wedding forward?” Ashley gasped.  “But- but what for?” she demanded. 

Thankfully, Michael had come up with a way to explain away his suggestion if Ashley didn
’
t confide in him about the baby.  He
was
rather hurt that she still showed no inclination to tell him the truth about things, but he was determined not to show it.

“I just think we need to be concentrating solely on the campaign when we get closer to the election date,” he said easily.  It wasn’
t a foolproof reason, but he hoped that Ashley would buy into it.

“I… see?” Ashley said doubtfully.  She didn’
t exactly sound convinced.

“Do you?” Michael sighed.

“Yes, of course.  You want me out of the way sooner rather than later,” Ashley murmured, her voice was oddly neutral.  Michael couldn’
t tell what she was really thinking- or feeling, for that matter. 

“What?  No!  That’
s
not
what I mean!
”
he barked.  He couldn
’
t manage to be quite as unaffected as his lover; this was the mother of his child he was talking to- of course he didn
’
t want her out of the way!  He wanted to marry her
.

“Well, I don’
t see how else to interpret what you
’
re saying,
”
Ashley said quietly. 
“
I
’
m not angry!
”
she added quickly. 
“
It
’
s better if people elect you knowing that you won
’
t have a real First Lady.  They are liable to be rather put out if they find that out only after you
’
re made President,
”
she said, adding a small, humorless little laugh to the end of her sentence.

Michael was scowling on his end of the telephone.  How was he meant to make Ashley aware of the fact that the rules had changed?  He didn
’
t want a sham engagement any longer.  He didn
’
t want to be jilted at the altar.  He wanted Ashley to be his wife.  He wanted them to bring up their child together.

“Michael?  Are you still there?”

“I’
m here,
”
he murmured. 
Why couldn
’
t she just tell him that she was pregnant,
he wondered bitterly.  Surely she knew him well enough to know that he would do the right thing by her?  But then again, he could imagine that Ashley would think that she would be a burden to him
…
foolish woman
. 
“
I
’
m going to talk to Norm about all of the arrangements that need to be changed,
”
he added slowly.  Surely Norm would be on his side?  The campaign manager would see the sense in making Ashley marry him as soon as possible.

“Oh, okay,” said Ashley sadly.

“It’
s going to be okay, Ash,
”
Michael blurted, wanting her to realize that things had changed- that he
knew
what was wrong and was willing to take care of both her and their child.  Their child
…
something warm and powerful spread through Michael
’
s body, starting in the center of his chest and moving outward
…
he was going to be father.

A slightly lopsided smile spread across Michael
’
s face.  He was going to be a father. 

It was completely impossible for him to thinking about anything else at the moment!  He couldn
’
t even concentrate properly on the campaign.  He just wished that Ashley would come clean about the baby so that he could be excited about it all out in the open.  Well, possibly not
too
obviously excited to begin with at least.  Ashley might take that the wrong way.  It seemed to be rather clear to Michael that she was reluctant to tell him that she was pregnant.  Perhaps she was afraid of what his reaction would be?

“Michael?  Michael, have you gone again?”

“No!  Sorry, I’
m here,
”
said Michael quickly.  He would have to stop letting his thoughts wonder.  However, it seemed that that was no longer going to be a problem, as Ashley told him that she should be going anyway.

“It’
s getting late, and I have to be up early tomorrow,
”
she explained.

Michael frowned.  He glanced at his watch.  It wasn
’
t
that
late, but then, hadn
’
t he read something somewhere about expecting mothers being tired a lot of the time?  And morning sickness, he wondered if Ashley was suffering from that.

“Okay, well I’
ll let you go then,
”
he said gently. 
“
I
’
ll see you tomorrow.  Take care of yourself, Ash,
”
he added huskily.

“I- um, yes?  Okay, Michael, well goodnight!”

Ashley put down the phone and stared at the receiver with a puzzled frown etched across her face.  Michael had sounded so odd.  Not at all like his usual, confident self, he had seemed so very distant and distracted.
Maybe he was bored with her already?
  Ashley thought miserably.  That would explain why he wanted the sham marriage ceremony brought forwards.

Ashley sighed heavily and slowly got changed for bed.  She felt weak and battered- even though she now knew that there was nothing physically wrong with her- well, nothing more than a mild touch of flu or the like.  She feared that was
why
she felt so bad however. It had given her a guilty thrill to imagine carrying Michael
’
s baby.

Now it seemed that he was in a hurry to disentangle himself from her completely. Of course, she had always known that it was all only pretend!  In her head at least. Her heart had been having problems since the very beginning of their phony relationship.

She had thought that Michael felt it too, but she must have been mistaken.  It was all just sex and politics to him.  Ashley didn
’
t have a clue how she was going to be able to carry on working for him once they were back working together strictly professionally. Was she even going to be allowed to stay?

Panic swept over Ashley.  She hadn
’
t asked Michael what was going to happen to her once their public affair was over.  If she was to jilt him though, it hardly made sense for her to keep her job as his speech writer
.

“Damn,” she whispered, reaching for her phone.  She toyed with it for a moment, contemplating phoning Michael immediately, but first she needed to come up with some sort of a plan.

Anything would do. It just needed to ensure that she didn
’
t lose her job!  Ashley was disgusted with herself for becoming so swept away by her own passion and not realizing that there was a very real risk of being dismissed after everything was over.  The position that she found herself in, because of her special
“
relationship
”
with Michael, was precarious to say the least!

She didn
’
t suppose that Michael would treat her unfairly. He would undoubtedly help her to find a different position- that or pay her off handsomely.  Ashley suppressed a distasteful shuddered at the latter idea.  It made her feel dirty.  She wouldn
’
t accept any extra money from him, she decided.  She was very loathed to give up her position as the (with any luck, next) President
’
s speech writer though, even if it would be hard to continue working with Michael.  Why hadn
’
t these consequences occurred to her before?