Compromising Positions (24 page)

“That’s right. She’s no Stacy.”

“Not at all. In fact, you know I’ve always said I’d like Michael to end up with someone with money of their own. That way, I would know the woman loved him for him and not his money. And even though she’s not wealthy, I think Jessie fits that mold. As a congresswoman, she has enough power that she doesn’t need anything from Michael.”

“I agree.” Gerald smiled and wrapped his arms around his wife. “They’re going to have some bumps when this comes out, and we’re going to take some grief from our friends. But all in all, I think they’ve got a great future ahead.”

“Yes.” Placing her hand on Gerald’s chest, she winced. “But I’m not sure I can agree with you yet on the last part.”

“What do you mean?” He furrowed his brow.

“I think their party divisions are going to affect them far more than they’re willing to admit.”

“They’ve had these discussions. It’s clear they’ve talked through their differences. You don’t think they can deal with specific issues as they come along just like every couple?”

“No, I don’t. They’re uniquely conflicted in their jobs.” Her mouth set in a hard line. “I think they’re being naïve.” 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Jessie

A few months later in July, I was rushing to get out the door. My grandmother’s pearls were around my neck I wore my black shift dress, and my hair was twisted up high, but what I really needed was a boost of caffeine before the fundraiser that night. With no Diet Cokes in my fridge, I ran out the back, up the stairs, gave an obligatory knock, and walked into Trish and Larry’s kitchen where cold soda was always available.

I grabbed one and just as I tipped my head back for a long drink, Trish walked in the room, her laptop in hand. She placed the computer on the table. “Good. You’re still here.”

As I wiped my mouth with my fingertips, I told her, “I’m here only for a minute. I told them I’d get there on the early side, so I need to leave soon.”

“We have to talk before you go anywhere.”

“What’s going on?”

Trish raised both hands as if she was making a grand statement. “Let me just preface this by asking, have I not been incredibly supportive of Michael since you two were outed?”

“Absolutely.” I took another drink and said, “But considering that, after the initial forty-eight hours of blowback, the press has only been good for me, I’m not sure how much of a burden it’s been for you to support us.”

“Fine.” Trish rolled her eyes. “The fact that it’s all played well has made it easier, but I would’ve stood by you regardless.”

“I know you would have, Trish. I didn’t mean it like that.” I smiled. “You’re my rock.”

She also smiled, but then took a breath. “And I’m trying right now to be a rock rather than—”

“Rather than what?”

Her voice rose, and her eyes blazed with fury. “Rather than going absolutely ape shit over what that man has said about you!”

“That man? What man? Michael?”

“Yes. The quote has already been picked up everywhere, and he only said it two hours ago.”

“What did he say?” Even though she was angry, it was hard for me to get worked up. Michael would never say anything negative about me.

“I’ll read you the story in
Hackster
.” Trish leaned down to look at her laptop and read aloud. “In a moment of humor at the Republican congressional retreat on Saturday morning, Colorado Congressman Gary Martin introduced Illinois Congressman Michael Grath by saying, ‘We all know today’s next speaker, Michael Grath, is from a good Republican family. Of course, he’s now seeing a Democrat, but we won’t hold it against him. I’ve spent time with Congresswoman Clark, and she’s good people. I doubt there’s any pillow talk going on between them.’ As the room politely chuckled, Mr. Grath took the stage saying, ‘I promise you when I’m alone with Jessie the last thing I want to do is talk politics.’ Mr. Martin asked, ‘So she’s not your esteemed colleague when you’re alone?” “Uh. No,” said Mr. Grath. To which Mr. Martin said, “I bet you’re not talking at all over those pillows.’ To which Mr. Grath said, ‘You got that right.’ The room then erupted in laughter.”

I was tongue-tied as I comprehended Michael’s stupidity. In my moment of shocked silence, Larry entered the room and declared, “I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s pretty funny.”

“For a locker room!” Trish glared at him. “You’re just backing him up because you’re a guy and it’s what you always do.”

Slowly, the situation took shape for me. “I know he didn’t mean any harm,” I said, shaking my head in a daze. “But, holy hell, what has he done to me?”

“It’s like he completely forgot who you were. You’re not his wife where it would be accepted. You’re his colleague. You work with these guys. You have constituents. He shouldn’t be making sex jokes about you.”

“Technically, he didn’t make the joke,” said Larry.

A soft knock on the door turned everyone’s heads as Michael entered the kitchen. “Hey. How is everybody?” He walked over to me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I just got back from the retreat and wanted to say ‘hi’ before you left.”

“Hi,” I mumbled.

“You didn’t come to apologize?” asked Trish, placing her hands on hips.

Larry calmly touched his wife’s shoulder. “Trish, let Jessie deal with this.”

“Deal with what?” asked Michael. He looked at me. “Apologize for what, Babe?”

“You don’t know?” I asked, my heart sinking.

“No. What?”

I pointed at the laptop. “Show him, Trish.”

Michael walked to the table and read the screen while the room silenced. In less than a minute, he said, “God damn it. That was supposed to be off the record.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The speeches were off the record today.” He stood up, his expression a mixture of anger and apology. “The leadership allowed reporters in for background information only.”

“Well, obviously the opening remarks weren’t considered part of the speeches.” I was becoming increasingly annoyed at his stupidity.

While I tried to keep my cool, Trish shut the laptop with a hard slap. She raged. “How can you speak about Jessie in that way? What do you mean she’s not your esteemed colleague? She’s not some floozy girlfriend who doesn’t care if you make a sex joke. She’s not your wife either where it’s sort of funny if you mention sex. She’s a member of Congress, just like you. She has an image and constituents and has to respond to the press, and she also has colleagues she has to work with, including those jerks in your party who you just belittled her to.”

“Trish,” said Larry with both hands on her shoulders as if to hold her back. “That’s enough. Let Jessie and Michael talk about this privately.”

I stared at Michael, who had lost all color in his face. He really did look genuinely contrite. “Jessie, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I never meant it like that. I would never want—”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the clock and I was now late. The growing knot of anger in my stomach hardened. “I’m late,” I said. “We can talk later.”

“No. Now,” said Michael, reaching out to me.

“I can’t.” It was a difficult situation because I was pissed, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Still, he needed to know the consequences of his actions. I shook my head. “I don’t have time. I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to say when I’m asked about this by fifty people in a few minutes.”

“You can joke about it, but your sex life is not an appropriate topic,” said Trish. “Say something like ‘You can imagine how much I enjoyed reading that today.’ That should work.”

“Jessie,” said Michael. “Please, just a couple of minutes, please.”

I knew this would all blow over, but at that moment it was too much. I couldn’t help but snap at him. “Can you please remember that I have responsibilities just like you?” I opened the door and looked him in the eye again. “I’ll call you when I’m done tonight.”

 
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Michael

As she walked away, I turned to Trish and Larry, though I wasn’t sure why. I’d completely lost my bearings, and couldn’t speak as I comprehended how much I’d hurt Jessie, both personally and professionally. I was a stupid asshole.

Trish gave me one last furious sneer, grabbed her laptop, and turned on her heel, saying nothing as she left the room.

Larry sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Everything will be okay. Just go have a drink or something. I’ll try and meet up with you later, but right now I need to calm Trish down.”

“Shit,” I mumbled and followed Larry out of the room and then downstairs in silence.

At the doorway, Larry patted me on the back. “So I’ve got an idea.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a good one,” Larry said, a smile forming. “It’ll fix this situation, and I think it has a lot of other benefits.”

“Really? Tell me,” I said, begging for a way out of my personal disaster.

Larry’s smile was now a huge grin as he seemed to think aloud. “Yeah… Jessie… you need to put a ring on it.”

I blinked a moment, making sure I’d heard him right.
He wanted me to ask her to marry me? After
this
?
I’d spent the last ten minutes realizing how crazy and stupid I was. Larry seemed to be asking me to do something that was both crazy and stupid. “Sorry, Larry. I don’t think that’s going to work.”

“Oh, come on. If you’re not ready to get married yet, that’s okay. Just have a long engagement.”

“I don’t think so…”

“Why not?

“That’s a desperate move.”

Crossing his arms, Larry eyed him. “You love her, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do.”

“See, I knew I was right.”

“You are right.” I leaned back against the wall of his foyer. Larry was this six foot four, two hundred and twenty pound black man, who could take on any guy who came after him, but here he was staring at me with a goofy grin and talking about love and marriage as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Maybe it actually was. I sighed. “I love her, and I want to marry her, eventually. I’m sure of that, but not right now. I need to get out of this mess with her first.”

“I’m just saying to start the process.” Larry waved his hand as he rattled off a to-do list. “You gotta get the ring, figure out how you’re going to ask her, get her there without her knowing it. These things take time, but when it’s all said and done, no one will ever remember you made a little sex joke about you two. You’ll just be this respectable couple, and eventually you’ll get married and everybody will be happy.” He nodded upstairs. “Including my wife.”

“I’ll think about it.” I smiled before also nodding to the floor above us. “Now go see Trish and see if you can convince her not to hate me.”

“Will do,” said Larry, as he opened the door. “I’ll call you later. Let’s grab a drink before you see Jessie again tonight. I’ll give you some of my tips on taming women.”

I smiled at the man who was always at even-keel. “You’re happily married to Trish. I’d say you’re an expert.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Jessie

Later that night, I walked into my apartment and kicked off my heels. I had a few minutes to relax and collect my thoughts before Michael arrived. Since the blow-up in Trish’s kitchen, he’d tried to talk to me, but I couldn’t do it. When I’d feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, signaling yet another call from him, I wanted to roll my eyes, but I couldn’t while talking to major party donors. Michael knew full-well that I was busy. I was so irritated with him that I sent a single curt text inviting him over later. I’d talk to him then, but after spending the night deflecting jokes about his dumb remark, I wasn’t in the mood to forgive so easily.

Other than that, I was in a good mood. Despite the ribbing, I’d been given the opportunity for a major career advancement. It was the sort of news that I’d normally share with Michael as soon as possible because he would do the same with me. With our little falling out though, I was confused about what to say to him.

Of course, when I opened the door and saw his repentant baby blues, I caved at once. Without any additional words, I sighed and ushered him in. After closing the door, I turned to hear him say, “I’m so sorry, Jessie. I really screwed up. I know it.”

“You’re a smart man. I bet you do by now,” I said and forgave him with a smile.

“It was so stupid of me.”

“It was.” Sitting down, I gestured to a place beside me. “Come on. You can grovel some more from here.”

Michael took his seat and reached for my hand. “You mean so much to me. I respect you so much—as the friend I found in this crazy place—as the woman I’m madly in love with, and my brilliant colleague.”

“Oh…” My heart melted at his obvious sincerity. “I respect you, too. You’re a good man and a sweet boyfriend.” Then I snickered. “But you’re still a man, and you say stupid things when you’re not thinking.”

“I suppose that’s true.” He wore a hopeful smile. “Do you forgive me?”

“I do, though I’m going to be hearing sex comments about us for the rest of my life.”

Michael pursed his lips as if he held his tongue, but after a moment his smile returned. “We’ll see about that.”

“What? Get real. It’s going to happen. Those are the kinds of things you never hear the end of.”

“No. I believe you. I just think that… circumstances change. You never know what’s going to happen.”

I leaned back, studying his coy demeanor. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” he said with a chuckle. He took my hand and kissed it. “I love you.”

“And I love you.” I gave him a light kiss on the lips before moving below his ear, where I kissed him and whispered, “Despite your silly male ways.”

“Aw, thanks.” He took me in his arms and pulled me tight. “I’m glad you’re taking me back. I thought you’d permanently thrown me away.”

“I´d never throw you away.”

“Well, it felt like it,” he mumbled, looking away like a chastened little boy.

Wanting to keep our connection strong, I gently turned his chin, so I looked straight into his eyes and maybe his heart. “I didn’t like the feeling either. I wanted to tell you some good news, but wasn’t sure I could.”