The Perfect Candidate (7 page)

“
Oh I don
’
t know, obviously none of his previous women have been able to keep Mr. Reese
’
s interest, perhaps he
’
ll appreciate a woman who can hold up her side of a conversation?
”

“Thank you,” Ashley sniffed.

“
Well, I don
’
t know about appreciating a woman who can hold up her side of a
‘
conversation
’
, but if today
’
s papers are anything to go by then the lady in question can certainly hold up her side of a kiss
…
”

“A…
what?
” Ashley squeaked.  She almost ran into the car in front of her.  Oh no… there hadn’
t been any photographers hanging around when Michael- when he kissed her!  Had there?

Ashley turned off the radio.  It was doing nothing for her nerves!  There were pictures of Michael kissing her in all of the morning papers?  Ashley ran a hand over her forehead, unsurprised to find that she had a headache coming on.  Was this good or bad news?  Michael had obviously wanted people to find out about them
…
but maybe not like this?

Worrying about it really wasn
’
t helping her at all though, so Ashley determined to put it out of her mind
…
and go back to worrying about whether or not she still had a job
!

There
were
reporters waiting for her when she reached the offices where she worked.  They shouted such a jumble of questions at her that Ashley honestly couldn
’
t decipher one from another.  She smiled as undauntedly as she could manage, and was almost immediately rescued by a couple of burly security guards who got her safely inside.

It was once she was
inside
and away from the reporters that the snide little comments started
…

“Late night, Ashley?” 

“Putting in some overtime were you?”

“Were you hoping to
work
from home today?
”

Ashley pretended not to hear them.  She held her head high until she reached her office- and the she shut herself inside.

“Why did I agree to this?” she sighed, walking over to her desk to see if she had any aspirin in the drawers.

Well, she had got one very nice kiss out of the deal
… she couldn’
t help but remember that, and smiled as she touched her fingers to her lips.  Of course, she didn
’
t know if Michael was angry with her now, but she decided not to go looking for trouble.  She sat down at her desk and prepared to start work.

Ashley had been a very industrious little bee for at least a couple of hours, when there was a knock at her office door.

“Come in?” she called, not looking up from her computer screen until she had finished typing the sentence she was working on.  When she did look up, she gasped.  “Oh!  I didn’
t realize it was you!
”

“Why?  Would that have made a difference?” Michael grinned.  He had shut the door behind him, and now that he had Ashley’
s attention, he walked over to her desk. 
“
I missed you at the staff meeting toady.
”

Ashley flushed. 
“
Yes, I
’
m sorry I- um- well, I sort of slept through my alarm.  I
’
m
so
sorry I-
”

“So you were in bed?” Michael chuckled, eyes glittering devilishly. 

Ashley
’
s blush deepened, which made Michael
’
s smile widen.  He supposed that he should rap her over the knuckles for missing the staff meeting that morning, but in all honesty he had been half expecting it.  He had dropped her off rather late the night before, and she had still be rather drunk
…
even if Ashley
had
made it into work on time he hadn
’
t been sure that she wouldn
’
t try to avoid him after their kiss
.

Ashley cleared her throat. 
“
Well, as I said, I
’
m sorry.  It won
’
t happen again,
”
she assured him, speaking in her most no-nonsense voice.

“You’
re wearing your glasses again,
”
Michael murmured, leaning against the edge of Ashley
’
s desk.  She glared at him through the lenses.

“I’
m at
work!
”
she snapped.

“I have to say that I like what you’
ve done with your hair though,
”
he grinned, reaching for a long strand and winding it around in his finger.

“Michael!” Ashley gasped breathlessly, but she slapped his hands away.  “Can you please stop behaving so…strangely?” she begged, which caused Michael to burst out laughing.

“I’
m sorry,
”
he said, and composed himself.  He stood up and straightened his suit. 
“
I just came to let you know that the papers this morning hadn
’
t jeopardized the plan at all.
”

“Did you think they were going to?” Ashley asked nervously.

“I thought someone might had overheard us as dinner,” he nodded seriously.  “It probably wasn’
t incredibly wise of us to have some of those discussions in such a public arena.
”

“
That
’
s
what you were worried about?
”

Michael frowned. 
“
Of course, what else would I have been worried about?
”
he demanded, but Ashley shrugged her shoulders and smiled up at him disarmingly. 
“
Oh, there was one other thing that I had to tell you,
”
he added, before he forgot.

“What’
s that?
”

“A few people from the press want to interview you.  Norm and I have already decided on the newspapers that you’
re allowed to speak to,
”
he informed her, glancing at his watch. 
“
He should be along in a minute to prep you.  I
’
m afraid I have to run.
”

“You’
re going?
”
Ashley asked, obviously without meaning to, because she instantly bit her lip.

“I have an election to win, sweetheart,” he smiled gently.

“I- of course you do!  I didn’
t mean- I only meant- I was just curious as to where you were going,
”
Ashley muttered and stammered.

“I’
m going to speak to some unemployed auto workers  in Detroit,
”
he told her, deciding not to mention that this had been planned for quite a while now, and she had to already be aware that was where he was going.

“Oh yes, of course you are,” Ashley flushed.  “I’
m sorry, I don
’
t know what
’
s wrong with me today,
”
she laughed weakly.

Michael opened his mouth, but then he shut it again, deciding that it would be cruel to fluster Ashley any further. 
“
Well I
’
ll leave you to carry on your work,
”
he nodded. 
“
But I
’
ll call you tonight.
”

“You will?” Ashley blurted.

“I will,” he nodded innocently.  “Bye, Ash.”  He considered, dropping a kiss onto her lips, but decided not to risk it.

“Goodbye, Mr.- Michael,” she smiled.  “And good luck in Detroit!”

5

Michael left Detroit much later than he had anticipated.  He had scarcely been able to believe the level of suffering that he had encounter among the families he had seen that afternoon.  It was truly heartbreaking.  He had found himself giving up more of his time than he had scheduled, because at the moment it was the only thing he did had to give to these people.  So Michael had spent an extra few hours listening to their problems, and promising to find a way to help them if he was elected as President in November.

It really didn
’
t matter to Michael that he had been delayed.  This was his vocation.  He wanted to make a difference at the roots of society, and so he couldn
’
t help but feel a pang of guilt when he did leave and got onto a chartered plane.  He wasn
’
t missing anything that he lamented giving up, just dinner with a few big business delegates.  It just meant that the early night he
’
d promised himself wouldn
’
t be happening.  Surely that was the very least he could do for these people? 

Michael stopped the mental guilt game by trying to decide which of his local fast food restaurants he fancied giving his business to when he got home.  He was nearing a decision when his cell phone rang.

“Hi Norm, phoning to check up on me are you?”