by Vivian Wood
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Elijah rushed to get inside his SUV, ignoring the swarm of reporters all thrusting microphones into his face and shouting questions regarding his affair with Meredith Fields. He was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was see and talk to Meredith.
But he couldn't afford to do that.
He didn't want to make things worse for her. He'd heard she'd left her parents' house early this morning and gone into hiding somewhere.
Plus, he was worried about what her father would do to her.
When the car pulled away from the curb, he looked at Sosie, who was busy checking her phone. It was evident that she was repressing a self-satisfied smirk.
Clenching his hands, he looked away with his jaw tensed. He awoke late last night to a story about him and Meredith coming up as an alert on his phone. At first, he thought that Sosie was behind it. But when he burst into her hotel room, she was fast asleep and as confused as anyone.
With twenty minutes until the press descended on him, he decided that it didn’t matter whether or not Sosie had planted the story. He needed someone to spin this for him.
And Sosie was the only person who could do that.
Looking out the window, he wondered where Meredith was. She must have been a complete mess.The news was everywhere.Press were still camped outside her house, going crazy whenever someone came or went. Still, there was no sign of Meredith.
He was so worried.
If he could only talk to her…
Election Day was almost here, and for once, he couldn't care less about the results. All he knew was that he wanted to see Meredith safe and sound.
“I’m done with campaigning,” he spoke, glancing at Sosie again.
“You'll be on CNN and MSNBC, and then we'll make a stop where you shake hands…”
“No. I’m done,” he stated firmly, cutting her off as she started scrolling through notes on her phone.
Sosie shot him a defiant glare.
“You’ve worked so hard to get here. You deserve to be president, Elijah. Hell, if you aren’t president, who's going to look out for soldiers like your brother?”
His jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth, unable to argue with the woman’s remarks. But damn her for being so honest about things!
“I want you to bring Meredith here. I need to know she’s okay,” he muttered helplessly.
“You need to look out for your own interests first. The election is in two days. After the election, you can do whatever you want.”
He smiled bitterly, then frowned. “If I lose, you mean.”
“No, I didn’t mean that,” Sosie said defensively.
“If I win the election, it’ll be a miracle. And then everyone will be so busy gearing up for the White House, romance will be pushed aside until god knows when,” he said sarcastically while shaking his head.
Sosie scowled, but after a moment she cleared her throat.
“Well, I won’t lie. I certainly hope that you do win. For a thousand reasons.”
With an eyebrow raised, he looked out the window, stewing.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Meredith woke up with a heavy heart the following morning. She didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with her life now that she was trying to avoid the media. She wished all of it was just a dream.
Rolling over to one side of the bed, she suddenly felt that she wasn't alone in the room.. Startled, she sat up, and saw Bonnie and Lily staring at her.
Meredith groaned, wanting to think that this had all been some nightmare and soon she'd wake up.. The mere sight of Bonnie and Lily reminded her that she was in a hotel in the suburbs, desperately trying to escape the commotion back home.
“What a nice way to greet a friend who’s traveled around the globe just to see you,” Lily said.
Meredith pursed her lips, got up, and hugged her best friend. Tears started forming in her eyes as she sighed on Lily’s shoulder. She was happy and relieved. She'd been starting to think that she was alone, and had forgotten about her best friend who was always willing to help..
“It's going to be okay,” Lily said.“How do you know? This isn’t exactly like when our friends broke up in college. This is a huge scandal.” Meredith was not the least bit enthusiastic about arguing with Lily.
While Bonnie called for room service to get breakfast, Meredith washed up to feel a little better. At least, she wasn't going to eat alone now that she had her sister and best friend with her.
She was still blessed, after all.
While enjoying breakfast, Lily and Bonnie pestered her to tell them everything about her and Elijah. And she was more than willing to tell her story. She just missed him so bad, to the point where she thought it wouldn’t be so bad to spill all the beans now that everything was out in the open.
“Did you call him?” Bonnie asked. She sipped water from her glass.
“I did. But his campaign manager answered the call. She said he wants nothing to do with me,” Meredith responded glumly, taking a bite of bacon.
Lily let out an exasperated sigh.
“Do you love him?”
Meredith fell silent as she played with the sliced tomato on her plate, wondering what to say. She thought they’d find it stupid if she said that she’s in love with a man she just met two months ago.
“Meredith?” Bonnie prompted.
“Do you?” Lily asked again.
With pursed lips, she nodded her head in hesitation. There was no point in denying it when Lily and Bonnie knew her like the back of their hands. And she'd never been good at lying anyway.
She felt Lily squeezing her hand, reassuring her that it was okay.
“Do you think he feels the same?” Bonnie asked curiously.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure,” she spoke in almost a whisper as the memory of Elijah making a move on Sosie the night she went to his house flashed through her head.
Up until now, she'd still been trying to convince herself that her eyes were just playing a trick on her that night. Despite the fact that they'd fought over the most trivial thing – about her being just another fling – she could feel the sincerity in Elijah’s words.
She knew that he really cared about her. And if she could only get one more chance to ask him, she wouldn’t hesitate. But as things were, it would be impossible.
She needed to stay as far away from him as possible.
“Oh,” Bonnie and Lily chorused, making her smile.
“C’mon guys, it wasn’t that bad,” she spoke softly. “I mean, I was happy when we were together even though it was just for a short time. And I really enjoyed it…”
Meredith wiggled her brows, making a naughty expression on her face, knowing that it was the best way to lighten the mood of their conversation. She was relieved that her sister and Lily were by her side. She didn’t want them to get dragged into her pitiful situation.
“Did you really?” Bonnie asked, wide-eyed. That made her laugh for the first time in days.
Just like her, Bonnie believed that giving up her virginity was a serious thing and that her first time should be with someone special. It should be memorable.
“Of course! He’s hot!” Meredith replied, piercing the last piece of sliced tomato.
“Looks like someone’s going to get naughtier,” Lily said giggling while shaking her head. “Don’t worry, you’ll forget about him after a couple of yacht parties. You got me.”
Meredith leaned in to hug Lily as tears started welling in her eyes. She wanted to get away from all the stress. But she didn’t think she was ready to forget about Elijah.
But she had to…
Maybe going back to her original plan for the summer – spending a year partying – would be a good start to forget about the things she didn’t want to think about.
And maybe, she could fall in love with someone else, too.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
It was late, and Meredith would be flying with Lily to Ibiza to get away from
all the reporters. She'd called her parents and reassured them that she was just doing fine. And that she’d call them more often using Lily’s phone.
She sighed, staring blankly at the plane that was waiting on the tarmac.
It’d been days, and Lily had made her promise to never check the internet. They'd been on media lockdown – no phones, no internet, no social networks, no data whatsoever. It was Election Day and she was dying to know the results, but she was sticking to Lily’s rules.
She had to do it because she believed it was the best thing to do.
Wearing sunglasses and a cap, she gritted her teeth as anxiety devoured her.Lily handed Meredith a bag of gummy bears, which was usually an effective distraction. But she found them unappealing this time. Meredith grimaced and shook her head.
“Nah, thanks,” she murmured apologetically.
“It’s going to be okay, Mer. We’ll meet a lot of hot guys. You know, I heard Ibiza was a whole lot better than Bali. And I’m telling you, Bali is crazy. Imagine Ibiza!” Lily screeched excitedly.
She tried to smile, but not hard enough to actually make it happen.
She didn’t want to spoil Lily’s excitement, but she just couldn’t feel it herself. She was about to leave everyone and everything she knew. She’d be leaving the one man she loved.
Meredith and Lily fell in line when the gate called them to board for first class. Every step felt like she was walking on a pile of nails.
“Relax, it’s going to be okay. You’ll be okay,” she heard Lily whisper.
“Yeah,” she agreed, releasing an exasperated sigh and hoping to placate her friend.
When they boarded the plane, she noticed that several flight attendants were pointing and smiling at her. Her stomach plummeted, and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. She pulled her cap lower and bit her lip, hoping that they would stop acting rude.
She felt a light squeeze on her shoulder.
It was Lily, smiling at her.
“None of this will matter anymore once we get there,” she said, fixing her seatbelt the moment they settled in their seats.
“Yeah, I know.” Meredith couldn't stop the tears that began to well up in her eyes..
She wanted to slap herself in the face for feeling so emotional. It wasn't like she was going away forever. It was just for a couple of months.
Lowering her head to hide her tears, she grabbed a magazine and started flipping through the pages. She could hear passengers getting onboard, filling the plane. She was not in the mood to talk when a flight attendant walked up to her suddenly.
“Meredith Fields?” asked the brunette woman in uniform. She had a nice smile on her face, and she held an iPad in her hands.
Meredith looked up. “Yes?”.
“I think you should see this before you fly across the ocean,” the flight attendant said, turning the screen of the iPad to face Meredith..
“What are you doing?” Lily said. “She’s not supposed to ”
Lily’s protests were left hanging in the air when a video on the iPad started playing. It was a recording of Elijah’s TV appearance, confessing his feelings, saying that he was willing to give up being president just to be with her.
The tears she was trying to swallow flowed freely down her cheeks. She raised her head and looked at the smiling cabin crew, who were clearly delighted and giddy.
Meredith bit her lip and took a quick glance at Lily who was frozen, still looking at the iPad.
“Do you think… it's too late for me to get off the plane?” she asked the flight attendant.
The woman smiled then shook her head.
Meredith looked at Lily who was already on her feet, looking more energetic than ever.
“Well, what are you waiting for? I think there’s a man you need to track down.”
Lily made it sound like a manhunt. Yes, she was out to hunt down the man who had stolen her heart.
Dropping the magazine, she grabbed Lily’s wrist and they ran down the aisle of the plane together.
She was in pursuit of her happiness.
And it was to be with Elijah.
Chapter Forty
Eli paced back and forth in his office at campaign headquarters with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the election coverage. He grew more and more anxious with every passing minute. He hadn't even bothered to try and look good. He hadn't shaved, but at least he'd taken a quick shower this morning. He just felt like there wasn't any need to make the effort..
He doubted his chances of winning after what he'd done on television.
When the results started rolling in, he was shocked when he saw that people were responding positively to his message of love… or they were voting for him out of pity, one of the two. He didn’t know.
The campaign staff and volunteers had gathered in the main room, watching the bank of televisions to monitor the results of voting. He joined them for a couple of minutes then retreated back to his office and ended up staring at the photos lined up behind his desk – one of him and Henry, another of him with Ellie and their mom.
Eli breathed in and out slowly.
Soon he would be surrounded by people. Time to put his slightly-scruffy game face on..
There was only an hour left before people started gathering. And that’s when he would really start sweating bullets. Though he had already stated that he was willing to give up the presidency, he couldn't help but feel weary.
He had worked so hard for it, after all.
His eyes traveled to the door of the headquarters, wondering if Meredith even saw the broadcast – silently hoping that she would magically appear in front of him somehow.
It’d been hours since the broadcast. It was all over the news and social media sites. How could she have missed it? She had been out of touch since the scandal broke out. And he had been waiting for her call. If she would just call him…
God, he missed hearing her angelic voice.
But of course, if their positions were reversed, he would have fled the country by now.
Is that what she did?
The mere idea of being miles apart from Meredith made his heart sink. He sat on his swivel chair and rested his head in his hands, leaning over. He closed his eyes, trying to enjoy the peacefulness of his office. Hopefully people would stop bombarding him with questions now that the election was almost over.
When he heard the tapping of heels on the floor, he opened his eyes immediately… it was just Sosie. He looked at her without hiding his disappointment, then turned away.
After his confession on air, Sosie had turned ice cold. She was extremely displeased with what he'd done. And he was almost certain that she'd been the one who leaked the affair to the press.
He turned away from the door to face a TV screen which silently replayed a clip of him. It was an ad he'd made for the campaign. The image was replaced with several people clustered around a table, talking about their take on what he’d said.
He sighed, feeling suffocated and claustrophobic even though he was alone in his office.
His fingers rested on the handset of his office phone impatiently. He had considered calling Meredith a million times. But no… his pride was stopping him.
He had made a heartfelt plea on national TV. And calling her from a landline just to get around Sosie who had his mobile phone would be dumb.
He was desperate, yes. But he hadn’t considered begging – not yet.
Because if Meredith felt the same way, she would come back to him.
And he was blindly hoping that she would…
He groaned in frustration, putting his head on the table. He was so damn tired, but couldn't rest. Everything was just getting more and more intense and complicated.
And a nap was a luxury he couldn't afford, not yet.
He closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them again, things would be a little better.
“Hey…” said a familiar voice. His eyes snapped open.
He straightened
up in his seat to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Before him was Meredith, looking at him with her deep blue eyes. She was panting heavily like she had just finished a marathon. There was an uncertain smile on her lips as she walked toward his desk hesitantly.
Elijah blinked, getting up from his seat, meeting her halfway. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked over her beautiful face. His heart skipped a beat when she reached out to touch his face.
“You… you’re here,” he murmured softly, putting his hands on either side of her face, feeling the warmth of her touch – making sure she was relaxed.
Meredith nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m here,” she spoke softly, her breath touching his face.
“I –“
“Shh…” she shushed him, putting a finger on his mouth. She smiled at him, wiping away the tears that had escaped his eyes. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“No. I’m sorry for being a coward,” he muttered, grinning back at her.
He pulled her in for a tight hug, soothing them both after missing out on each other for the past few weeks. Having her back in his arms had brought so much happiness to him, he couldn’t stop tearing up.
So, this is what it means to love..
When Meredith looked up at him, he leaned his head lower and gently brushed his lips on hers before planting a kiss on her temple.
“I love you, Meredith Fields, my princess,” he whispered.
He didn’t understand why, but it felt like a thorn had been removed from his heart when he said those words. He felt lighter because finally, he was able to be honest with her.
He'd finally told her the words he had always wanted to say.
She nodded, then smiled.
“I know. I love you too, Mr. Scott. Or should I say, Mr. President?”
The presidency was the furthest thing from his mind. “You realize that I’m going to hold you forever?” He pulled her closer to his body, their chests pressed against each other.
“Forever?” she leaned her head on his muscled chest, inhaling his scent.