The Perfect Candidate (25 page)

Michael was fighting a frown as he and Ashley stepped outside.  He didn
’
t want one of Ashley
’
s photographers to catch him coming out of the jewellers looking unhappy, but he couldn
’
t help but feel that a little black cloud had just settled over his head.

“Ideally yes,” he said, after thinking over Ashley’
s question for a couple of minutes. 
“
But I can
’
t help remembering that the whole reason we find ourselves in this
…
unusual position
…
is because Norm decided that my politics and love life
couldn
’
t
be separated,
”
he murmured.

“Well, yes that’
s true,
”
Ashley nodded, dragging her eyes away from her hand so that she could look up into Michael
’
s face.  She flushed guiltily. 
“
I
’
m afraid I don
’
t know how helpful I
’
ve actually been in that respect,
”
she muttered. 
“
I don
’
t know if you wouldn
’
t have been better off simply staying single,
”
she sighed.

“You sound like you’
re regretting ever getting involved with me,
”
Michael said gently, trying to sound like he was joking, but he was unable to account for the heavy weight that was suddenly hanging around his heart.

Ashley smiled again, and then looked innocently back at her hand. 
“
Well I wouldn
’
t say
that
,
”
she giggled, admiring her ring. 
“
There have been one or two benefits for me.
”

“Is that so?” Michael grinned, thinking of the ‘
benefits
’
that he had enjoyed
…
 
“
So, lunch or no lunch?
”
he asked, unwilling to admit to himself how much her answer meant to him.

“Oh, lunch I suppose!” Ashley laughed, not catching Michael’
s sigh of relief.

21

Michael spent the rest of the day working to get his politics back at the forefront of everyone
’
s minds, (as opposed to the fact that an unmarried women was known to have spent the night at his house). 

He and Ashley parted company halfway through the afternoon, and she had begged off from having dinner with him that evening.  Michael didn
’
t know why
…
and it troubled him.  She had seemed a little unlike herself ever since they had gone to get her ring at the jewelers
…
and then after Val had phoned she had made such and effort to appear
fine
that it was blatantly obviously that she
wasn
’
t
fine
.

Confounded by it all, Michael ordered himself a pizza for dinner that evening.  He had a mountain of reading to get through, so perhaps it was for the best that Ashley hadn
’
t been able to make it out for dinner?  All he knew was that he wanted her with her
…
but for whatever reason, she didn
’
t want to be with him.

Everything was just so complicated at the moment!  Michael wasn
’
t even sure if what they had was real- or if Ashley thought that what they was real- and even if they could build something that might last, what about the plans that Norm had set in motion?

“How do you get yourself into these messes, Michael?” he muttered into his pillow, resigning himself to a night of tossing and turning, and very little rest.

Michael couldn
’
t know it, but that was exactly the same question that Ashley woke up asking herself the following morning.  Although, she did lie in bed feeling queasy for an hour before it occurred to her
.

“Oh no!” she cried, sitting up in shock, and immediately regretting doing anything so quickly.  She clapped a hand over her mouth and breathed deeply through her nose until the worst of the wave of nausea had past.  “Oh God, I
can
’
t
be,
”
she moaned, as the notion that had just occurred to her refused to be banished.

She eased her legs out over the side of the bed and reached for her purse.  She rooted through the contents until she found her diary, and then she flipped back to the previous month to see when she had last had her period
.

Ashley gave a small sigh of relief when she saw that it was less than three weeks ago. Still, that didn
’
t stop her from fretting.  She and Michael hadn
’
t used
any
protection during any of their lovemaking
…
she didn
’
t know how soon a woman started showing symptoms of
…
well- pregnancy, but surely it was too soon at the moment?

“It must have been something I ate,” she whispered, as she tried to convince herself of this fact, but did really manage to succeed.  She could get herself tested?  That would put her mind at ease.  Well, unless the result came back positive.

Why had she been so stupid?  Ashley could have screamed!  She never, ever took these kinds of risks! Why was she such an
idiot
where Michael was concerned? 

Ashley was heartily ashamed of herself. The issue hadn
’
t even occurred to her until this very moment!

The fact that she was still feeling queasy an hour later, when her chauffeur arrived to drive her to work, made Ashley hope that was she was experiencing wasn
’
t a bout of morning sickness after all, but a mild case of food poisoning or simply a bug that was going around.  She was sure that she had heard that morning sickness came and went more quickly than this
…
and besides she still wasn
’
t convinced that it wasn
’
t too early for her to be presentation symptoms.

None of her rational thoughts helped very much when it came to staying calm however.  Ashley was petrified.  She
couldn
’
t
be pregnant!  There were so many reasons why it would be a disaster.  It would ruin Michael!  Really ruin his chances of ever becoming president.  More than that though- they didn
’
t even have a real relationship, it was all supposed to be pretend!  How was Michael going to react if she went to him and told him that she was having his child?

“Can you stop here, please?” Ashley blurted, speaking to her driver.  She knew that there was a little pharmacy just at the end of the block, and she couldn’
t imagine waiting a second longer before she activity did something to discover her fate.

Ten minutes later, she returned to the car with a pregnancy test hidden away in her bag.  She had been
super
-careful that no one saw her buying it.  After all the bad headlines she had had a hand in making, she didn
’
t need this to blow up in Michael
’
s face too!

Ashley stomach did a funny little flip flop every time she thought about Michael
…
she was scared it was because the thought of having his baby wasn
’
t wholly repulsive.  It was just as she had felt when buying the engagement ring. She glanced down at her hand and sighed sadly.  If only all of it was real!  She was a fool for feeling that way, but she just couldn
’
t help it.

Seeing Michael at the staff meeting that morning was torture for Ashley, especially with the pregnancy test sitting in her purse like a ticking time bomb.  She tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but Michael
’
s eyes kept seeking her out and smiling secretively at her.

After the meeting was over, Ashley wanted to run immediately to the bathroom and take the test
…
but there were one or two things she
had
to make a start on and couldn
’
t put off, not even for five minutes.

Once she started working she got swept along by it.  It was lunchtime before she even had a chance to pause and catch her breath.  She was just going to nip out and buy something to eat when her telephone started ringing just as there was a knock on her office door.

“Come in!” she called, picking up the phone as she did so.

Michael smiled and mouthed a silent hello when he saw that Ashley was busy taking a call.  He walking into her office, intending to wait until she was finished and then see if fancied having lunch with him.  He was still slightly hurt by her refusal to dine with him the previous night.

He sat down on a chair in front of Ashley
’
s desk, accidentally kicking her purse over as he did so.  Seeing that she was too busy dealing with the caller to have noticed, Michael bent down to set everything to rights
.

Michael picked up Ashley
’
s wallet and her house keys, and then he reached for a rectangular box that had also tumbled out onto the floor.  His hand was on it before he realized what “it” was.  Michael froze, literally, for at least ten seconds as he stared in horror at the pregnancy tester kit that he was holding, and then he jammed it back into Ashley
’
s purse so fast it was as though it was burning his skin. 

He sat back in his seat, slowly, as if by moving carefully and guardedly he could concoct an explanation for Ashley possessing a pregnancy test that didn
’
t end with her being pregnant
…
  Perhaps he had imagined it
…
or maybe
…
maybe Ashley had picked it up for a friend
…
?  Anything was possible!  Only
…
it was
probably
that she was having his baby
…
that thought sent another jolt shooting through Michael
’
s body.