The Advisor
Page 16
“Sure.”
“Well,” Katie sighed, her arms falling to her sides, “I think we’re about to have a new crisis. I didn’t know how to tell Nathan, and I didn’t know if I should tell anyone else, not even Margaret, but I felt I could tell you.”
“Okay. Let’s hear it.”
Twenty minutes later, after hearing what Katie had to say, and expressing to her how things should be handled, I was walking down the hallway to Nathan’s suite once again. My knees didn’t feel like jelly anymore—they felt like steel rods, propelled by determination and anger. Of course, I knew that I had to get my mind off of what Katie and I had discussed, but I was enraged. As I drew closer to the agents outside of Nathan’s door, I did my best to present a friendly smile and look unconcerned with what I had just been told.
“Agent Nash, Agent Bronson.” I nodded to them as I approached.
“Timmy!” Agent Nash, the less strict of the agents—the one on the right—reached out to bump my fist. “Here for Dinner with Nathan Reed?”
Agent Bronson smiled at me, but he was trying to be a serious Secret Service agent.
“Nah,” I said. “Just needed to talk to Nathan really quick.”
“Go on in.” Agent Nash waved me in. “He’d be expecting you for the Q&A anyway.”
“Thanks.” I smiled and entered the suite.
Upon opening the door, I was a little taken aback by the aura of the room. Most of the lights were off, with only a few lamps illuminating the large main room. The small table by the windows was set up for dinner, as though Nathan had expected an intimate evening between the two of us.
I fucking knew it.
Don’t get distracted, Timmy.
As the door came to a close behind me, announcing my arrival, Nathan came out of the bedroom of the suite, adjusting the sleeve of his shirt, looking expectantly at the door. When our eyes locked, a smile bloomed on his face, and he headed over to greet me.
“Hey, Timothy,” He said. “Ready for dinner? Can I call you ‘Tim’ by the way? Timothy is a little formal, isn’t it?”
“Sure, whatever,” I answered quickly. “About dinner—”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered for you. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so—”
“I have to leave, Nathan.” I stopped him. “I have to go back home.”
“What?” Nathan recoiled, as though slapped.
“Yeah.” I tried to be casual. “I’ve got some things I need to attend to, so I won’t be able to make it through Super Tuesday. I know we agreed, but—”
“Why are you leaving early?”
“—you can dock my pay or something if you need to.” I finished. “I just really need to get back to Tuniverse and my own life, Nathan.”
“This is so abrupt.” His face was going through a rotation of looks, as though he wasn’t quite sure how to feel or react. “Can’t you have dinner first? A good meal before you get on the plane? Have you got a ticket? Do I need to have someone—”
“I’m good.” I stopped him again. “I’ve got everything worked out.”
No, you don’t. But he doesn’t have to know that.
“But I have to be home in the morning, so I have to leave tonight.” I continued. “I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. It’s been, I guess, intriguing.”
“Of course.” Nathan was shifting from foot to foot, unsure of what else to say. “I wasn’t expecting to eat two dinners tonight, but I guess I can.”
“I believe in you,” I said.
Nathan smiled.
“Again, thank you so much.” I started to back away, though I had wanted to at least give him a handshake, but preferably, a hug. I refused to do that. It would be a bad idea. “I appreciate everything. I’m sure Margaret will handle getting me paid, right?”
“Right,” Nathan said. “We won’t dock you anything. You’ve done more than enough to earn your fee.”
“Great.” I smiled and turned towards the door.
“Tim.” Nathan stopped me.
“Yeah?” I asked over my shoulder as my hand connected with the doorknob.
“Sure you can’t stay?” He said. “Or want to? I’d love to have you for longer.”
Fucking Nathan Reed.
“I’m sure,” I said. “I’d love to stay, but life, ya’ know?”
That wasn’t the truth. Life had nothing to do with it.
“All right.” He relented with a sigh. “Well, you have my number. Keep in touch, will you? I’ll, I guess, watch Tuniverse if I ever miss you.”
He chuckled, and my heart sank. I hadn’t imagined that there was something between us.
“Of course.” I nodded. “Yeah.”
Then I exited the suite and let the door close behind me. Again, I addressed Agents Nash and Bronson, then hurried down the hall, though not too quickly to make the agents worry. Inside of my room, I quickly packed my things, not caring if items got crushed or wrinkled, straightened up the room the best I could, then grabbed my bags and headed to the elevator. When I exited my room with my bags, I could tell the agents by Nathan’s door were confused, but they said nothing, nor did they try to stop me. So, I made my way down to the lobby, checked out, asking the front desk clerk to let Margaret know, even though I knew Nathan would fill her in, and I opened the Uber app on my phone. It was time to get to the airport.
The sun was just threatening to peek over the horizon when another Uber deposited me on the doorstep of my apartment. Without another thought, though I hadn’t slept all night, and my eyes were threatening to slide shut and send me off to dreamland at any moment, I whipped out my phone. Though I hadn’t taken time to check myself out in a mirror and brush my hair or teeth, I opened the camera app and started taking a video as I stood before my apartment building. It took me a moment to find an angle that captured me, my apartment building façade, and the LED display on the store at the corner that had the date and time. Still, I finally found just the right way to film.
Hey, Tuniverse! It’s ya’ boy, Timmy! Miss me? Of course, you did—and I missed you, too! It’s early in the morning here, and I just got off a red-eye flight, so my behind is draggin’! While I was taking a step back from Tuniverse for a bit, I went and helped set up the social media for Nathan Reed’s presidential campaign until a permanent employee could be found—so exciting! Unfortunately, it was just a temporary gig, though I learned a lot. Some of which I’ll be sharing with all of you in videos to come on Tuniverse. Maybe we can all work together to figure out how we can take what I learned and figure out how we can explore all of those amazing things on Tuniverse? Don’t worry, though. We’ll still have plenty of laughs, plenty of food, and plenty of good times here. If you’re watching this, I’m probably sleeping since I’m about dead now. However, I hope you’re all ready for the next chapter of Tuniverse and are as excited as I am. I also want to give a special thanks to Marty Goldman for headhunting me for the job on Mr. Reed’s campaign, though her time there came to an abrupt end. Also, thank you, Mr. Reed, for the opportunity to see the inner workings of a presidential campaign. Though we really didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other, what I learned made me realize I have to give you my vote in November. Best of luck on Super Tuesday, the following primaries, and the general election! For now—Timmy out!
I smiled to myself after the video stopped, and I quickly saved what I’d recorded. The time to post the video to social media hadn’t quite arrived yet. I’d have to wait another hour before I released the video to my viewers and the world at large. Just the thought of what a single video could do for a campaign made me smile evilly.
Instead of stewing in my juices and fretting over watching the clock, I slipped my phone into my pocket, grabbed my bags, and climbed the stairs to my apartment. Another elevator ride up, and I was pushing through my front door, bags banging into the door frame as I entered my home. Larry was still alive, giving me the evil eye—as only fish can do—wondering where I had been for so long.
�
�Oh, calm down, Larry.” I chuckled. “Cheri obviously has kept you fed.”
Blub. Blub.
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
My suitcase and carry-on bag got thrown on the bed, and I went about putting clothes that could be washed at home in the washer and started it. Then I took the clothes that would have to go to the dry cleaner and put them in a different bag and stuffed it into my closet. That could wait. Next, I went about putting away my toiletries and other personal effects I had taken on the road with me. By the time I was moving my clothes from the washer to the dryer, the time had come to post the video. With a gleeful, wicked grin, I opened Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and uploaded the video to each social media site. When I looked at the clock on my phone, I had completed everything with five minutes to spare.
It was time to strip down and crawl into bed. Who cared if the sun was out and I’d miss all the fun?
Chapter 17
Nathan
Super Tuesday
We had been in our morning meeting for nearly an hour when every staff member’s phone started to go crazy with alerts. Margaret had been standing at the other end of the table, speaking about what our strategy was going into Super Tuesday, so it was disorienting. At first, everyone was unsure if they should be checking their phones or paying attention to Margaret. However, when her phone started to vibrate on the table, with a resigned sigh, she picked it up to see what was going on. When her eyes grew wide, everyone at the table scrambled for their phones. Unfortunately, I did not have mine in the meeting room. We were now in Texas, and Super Tuesday was in less than twenty-four hours. We didn’t have time for any major developments.
“What is it?” I practically demanded as everyone stared at their phones, their fingers rapidly scrolling. “What’s going on?”
“Holy shit,” Katie murmured, though she was smiling.
“What the…?” David was smiling as well.
“Nathan.” Margaret looked up from her phone. “Come with me. Everyone, wait here.”
Slowly, I stood from my chair and waited as Margaret rounded the table full of staffers and led the way out of the meeting room. As soon as I had followed her out of the double doors, Margaret turned and closed the doors gently behind us.
“What is it?” I asked, dread filling my stomach. “Why are everyone’s phones blowing up?”
“You’ll want to see this,” She said, holding her phone out to me.
“What?”
“Just look.” She pushed the phone towards me once again.
Quickly, and with a bit of annoyance laced with dread, I grabbed and brought the phone up to look at the news headline on the screen.
Governor Ledbetter Attempts to Sabotage Nathan Reeds Campaign Once Again. Immediately Backfires.
“What the—”
“Just read it.” Margaret chuckled. “God, I love that boy.”
“Who?” I looked up at her.
“Timmy. Read it.”
My eyes went back down to the screen to figure out what Margaret was going on about. It took me less than ten seconds to get the jist of the article. My eyes went back up to Margaret quickly, and I found that she was barely containing her laughter.
“That jerk just made a damn fool of himself.” Margaret held a hand to her mouth.
“I don’t get it.”
I did get it. I was just astounded.
Before Margaret could say anything else, Katie came bursting through the doors of the meeting room, quickly shutting them behind her.
“The video’s online now!” She announced, shoving her phone at me.
With a confused frown, I handed Margaret her phone and took Katie’s. I tapped the arrow with my thumb to play the video she had paused and waited. I could immediately tell the footage had been taken at a press conference where Governor Ledbetter was standing behind a podium behind a horde of press. A second later, the video began.
Governor Ledbetter: Thank you all for coming here today. Marty Goldman—the former Campaign Manager for Nathan Reed—and I called this press conference to make you all aware of a grave problem with Nathan Reed’s campaign. The other day, in my debate with Mr. Reed, he insinuated that Marty Goldman was let go of his campaign for feeding my campaign information about his. However, we’re here to tell you today that this is not true. Marty Goldman came to me to clear the air about what actually happened and why she willingly—by her own choice—left Nathan Reed’s campaign. She had serious misgivings about Nathan Reed’s relationship with one of his employees. His so-called Crisis Manager, Timothy Long. You may all know that name from YouTube or other social media sites.
Journalist #1:
Governor Ledbetter: Of course, he is! Marty Goldman is here to tell you—
Journalist #2:
Governor Ledbetter: No! That’s not true! Marty Goldman—”
Journalist #1: Is a liar? We’re not here to help you disseminate lies about your opponents, sir. This has been a total waste of everyone’s time. Good day, Governor Ledbetter.
“I—I don’t understand,” I whispered to myself.
“Governor Ledbetter and Marty Goldman tried to attack again.” Margaret crowed. “I guess their timing was off, right? If they had done this yesterday, we’d have another scandal. Thanks to Timmy uploading a video to Tuniverse when he got home, proving he doesn’t even work here anymore, and announced that Marty Goldman was the one who hired him, Ledbetter and Marty proved they’re nothing more than snakes. They called a press conference to launch a malicious attack against you, built solely on lies—and the press saw right through it. Better yet, they were pissed they’d been bothered!”
“Timing is everything,” Katie said vaguely, a smile on her face.
I handed her phone back to her, confused as to what had just happened with Marty Goldman, Governor Ledbetter, and Timothy. The timing was definitely suspect.
“Yeah,” I said to her. “That was really interesting timing.”
Katie smiled tightly and simply turned around and went back into the meeting room, closing the doors behind herself. I turned my attention to Margaret.
“Does this mean what I think it means?” I asked her with slight caution.
“Super Tuesday is yours, Nathan.” She winked.
Margaret wasn’t wrong. Super Tuesday arrived the following day, and we won every state except Utah. I wasn’t all that surprised. Even a lying, manipulative jackass like Governor Ledbetter was favorable to the state as compared to an openly gay man. However, the damage was done. Margaret immediately called a meeting at midnight in our hotel after our celebratory press conferences for the media and the American public. Ultimately, she said that the nomination was ours to lose. Governor Ledbetter wouldn’t try any more attacks because he’d lost all credibility—all we had to do was keep our messaging clear and consistent, make our presence known, and pick up state after state in the remaining primaries. It was only a matter of time before Governor Ledbetter simply conceded and went back to his mansion on the h
ill to lick his wounds. A mansion he’d likely be voted out of in his state’s next election.
As Campaign Manager, she advised that we needed to start traveling to other states to have rallies and speak with the general public. Get on the ground, stay on the ground, and our campaign would charge full steam ahead. Polling showed that the American public was sick of Governor Ledbetter’s shady tactics in his attempts to win, and word reached us that Marty Goldman had basically gone into hiding—a disgraced and reviled former political insider. It made me smile to think of what Ledbetter and Marty had essentially done to themselves—without any interference from my campaign. We all came out smelling of roses while they plummeted. Of course, I knew I had one person to thank for that—and I knew it wasn’t a coincidence.
So, I told Margaret where I wanted to hold my first rally following Super Tuesday’s big wins.
Chapter 18
Timothy
Welcome Back to Tuniverse!
Being back home just felt right. Instead of wallowing in the fact that I had been on the campaign trail with Nathan Reed, possible future president and all-around hot-dad type, but couldn’t stay for obvious reasons, I threw myself back into work on Tuniverse. I recorded some Q&A videos about my time on the campaign trail, though I always made sure to downplay my role. I clipped together some more “Best of Tuniverse” videos to fill some posting days quickly, and began working on some videos about the best restaurants within walking distance of my apartment. I met Cheri for coffee each day, and we brainstormed some ideas about how to make some content about politics and social issues that wouldn’t be too boring. My first idea—the way politicians use misinformation and rumors about each other to win elections. It seemed timely and appropriate.
Not that Governor Ledbetter had been completely off base with his accusation that Nathan Reed and I had an inappropriate relationship. I mean, if I had stayed on the campaign trail, something told me that it would have gone that way eventually. There was that thing about Nathan Reed—the thing that made him such a great politician—that just came naturally to him. A magnetism that drew people in and left them wanting more with each encounter. Of course, unlike other people, I didn’t want to just be in his orbit because of the power and clout—I actually liked the guy. The worst part about liking someone you know you just can’t make the moves on is that you know you have to make a choice. Swallow every thought and feeling you have—or get the fuck out.