The Romance Vote

by Ali Vali

  “I thought you might want to go with me tomorrow. I’m Senator Roberts’s guest at the preacher luncheon in Alexandria.”

  Sam stared at her like she usually did, and as usual she felt dissected. “Are you sure? Lately I get the impression you’re done with me, like Bob’s family is with him.” Sam smiled and shrugged. “I thought you might think I’m unteachable.”

  “That’s truer of me than you, but I try to learn something new every day to balance out my ignorance.”

  “I’m not sure what that means, but I’d love to come. Do you mind finishing up here? I’ve got an appointment I couldn’t reschedule and was about to call Beth to fill in for me.”

  “Go ahead, and I’ll meet you at the office at eight. We’re taking Rooster’s plane from Lakefront to save us the long drive.”

  Sam nodded and shouldered her bag as if she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. “See you then.”

  “I thought the semi-silent treatment would be better than the constant questions about Paula,” Chili said softly as Sam practically ran from the room. The only time she saw Sam now was at their meetings at the office, and when she’d stopped trying to spend time with her, Sam seemed to have gotten the message and barely talked to her anymore.

  For someone who loved her job, it’d become a never-ending root canal lately, and the numbing shots were starting to wear off. She scrubbed her face with her hands and tried her best to pay attention to Virgil. “It’s not good to be wrong this much.”

  *

  “What in the hell did you tell Chili?” Sam asked her father after slamming her way into his office. “Don’t try to deny it either.”

  “Nothing she should’ve shared with you.”

  His answer was confirmation enough. The only other time she’d been this humiliated, her dance teacher was in tears after Huey hadn’t cared for her comments on her ballet moves. It wasn’t surprising that tutus still made her twitchy. “Spill it, Daddy.”

  “What, so you can compare our stories?”

  “No, I want to know why she acts like I’m a highly contagious leper. All that happened after the night we had dinner and you rushed the meal to run off somewhere.” Sam pointed at him and tried not to scream. “I ask a few lousy questions about some old flame, and you talked to her about me? What did you tell her? And I mean word for word so I can fix what you did.”

  “That’s nonsense…come on, honey. You’re imagining things. You’ve been busy with Virgil’s campaign, but that’s not the only thing going on. Chili’s been preoccupied with a couple of other races that’ll be important for us to be involved in. She doesn’t have time to hover over you, no matter if I think the whole world should.”

  “Don’t call me honey ever again, and that’s all you’re going to say? You know I’m going to find out, so why not admit to it now?” Her father never appeared rattled, no matter what, but he couldn’t look her in the eye, so he was totally guilty.

  “Nothing to admit to, so relax.”

  “Okay,” she said, and sighed hard enough to not be overly dramatic. “I thought you had enough faith in me to make my way here. It’s disappointing to know that’s not true.”

  Huey’s facade finally cracked a little when he stood and pressed his hands together. “You’ll be successful with or without Chili Alexander.”

  “If you don’t trust me to learn from the person you think has better instincts than you do, I’ll never get the opportunity to find that out.” She left after she said that, sensing that it was better to keep the conversation unfinished. He was standing in the doorway of his office when the elevator doors closed, but she ignored his raised hand.

  “Do you think my father would’ve threatened Chili into staying away from me?” she asked Maria when she answered her phone.

  “Yes, and probably more than once, but before you go off the deep end, let me ask you something. Do you think you’re a little obsessed with Chili?”

  “No, but I want to get to know her. Hell, I’ve heard about her from everyone we have in common, but no one wants to let me make up my own mind about her.” She sighed again and fell against the back of the elevator wall. “I’m not a simpleton who needs the world at large to keep her out of trouble.”

  “That’s why I haven’t answered all your questions, buddy. I try to get Chili on air whenever I can because she’s the whole package, but not without a few flaws. Are the flaws big enough to stay the hell away from her? Hell, no. I like her enough that if I didn’t have Danielle waiting at home, I would’ve made a play for her by now.”

  “That seems to be my father’s biggest fear, and whatever he told her made Chili back down so fast she left a chill in the air.”

  “Do you think she was interested?”

  “Any way I answer that makes me look pathetic.”

  “Sam, come on, be honest. Do you like her?” Maria asked compassionately.

  “She barely talks to me anymore so I can’t really answer that. Even though we’ve known each other for years, I can’t answer that truthfully since you know me better than to think I’d be interested in someone simply because she’s good-looking.” She unlocked her car and hoped she wouldn’t hit a lot of traffic on the way home.

  “Incredibly good-looking, you mean?” Maria said, and laughed.

  “Don’t make fun of me.”

  “Okay, sorry. If you want my advice, play the same game she is right now, and that’ll get her interested more than anything. You know the old sayings about distance and fondness. If this is something you want, then go for it no matter what Huey or anyone else thinks. All I want is for you to be happy.”

  Sam’s phone signaled another call coming in. “Can you hold up a minute? It’s Chili.” She took a deep breath and answered. “Hey, you need something?”

  “Think Maria would want to come with us tomorrow?”

  “You want me to call her?” This was a strange request, considering Chili knew Maria well and could’ve done it herself.

  “I’ll do it if you don’t have time, but I figured you two are close.”

  Sam detected plenty of innuendo in that statement, but now wasn’t the time to call Chili on it. “Sure, I’ll be glad to. Any particular reason you want her along? You don’t give me the impression you like any media around you unless there’s something in it for a client.”

  “And you say you’re unteachable,” Chili said, and laughed. “If it helps convince her, tell her there’s something in it for her, and I’ll be happy to do another interview whenever she likes. I’ll owe her one.”

  “Careful. She’ll definitely take you up on that.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “Okay.” She stretched out the word. “Hopefully you’ll trust me enough to eventually tell me what’s going on.”

  “Sometimes surprises aren’t such bad things, Sam, and I do trust you. Call me back if Maria needs convincing.”

  “How’s the dynamic Chili?” Maria asked when she came back on the line.

  “She wants you to come to Alexandria with Senator Roberts tomorrow. How about it?”

  “Did she say why?”

  “She said there’s something in it for you as well as another interview with her whenever you want.”

  “Now that’s an interesting proposition coming from Chili Alexander. I’m in,” Maria said, and hung up as fast as Chili had.

  “Let’s hope eventually I’ll be in too.”

  *

  Their flight was uneventful, and everyone on the plane pretty much spent the forty-five-minute trip with either their eyes closed or glued to a laptop. Maria looked between Sam and Chili but didn’t say anything to break the peace that lasted until they landed.

  “Do I get a hint any time soon?” Maria asked Chili when Chili pointed to the second car waiting in the hangar they’d pulled into. “Or are you busy putting up big hand-grenade cutouts on Virgil’s headquarters, and you wanted us out of town so we couldn’t cover it?”

  “You’re hilarious, a
nd I was thinking more like some big elephants waving little Confederate flags, but Virgil shot me down.” Chili opened the back door and waved Maria, her cameraman, and Sam into the backseat. “Believe me, by day’s end I’ll be your new best friend. Hell, you might even get me something nice for Christmas and my birthday.”

  “That’s a tall order, since I only have a week to shop.”

  They arrived at the large auditorium that reminded Chili of her high school PE days, but so far everyone had been very cordial. “They seem nice enough,” Rooster said, as if reading her mind.

  “They sure are, but believe me, right now they’d rather invite Satan over for Christmas dinner than vote for you. Remember what I’ve told you about thirty times now. Read that speech word for word, and no matter what happens, don’t get rattled.”

  “I trust you with my life, Chili, but what the shit does that mean?”

  “Like George Bush promised us at the beginning of his presidency, shock and awe is what will happen here today, and these guys will see the light, as it were.” She moved closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “If you really want this, today’s the day to take it away from the asshole who has that office now.”

  The lunch started, and Sam looked at her and raised her eyebrows when they were asked to stand for a prayer before the food was served and Chili glanced at her phone while the older man with a thick north Louisiana accent prayed for their salvation before the rubber chicken and bad potatoes were served. The text Chili had gotten simply said “takeoff.” She put her hand in Chili’s collar and pulled her head down so she could whisper in her ear. “Start praying before one of these zealots throws us out of here.”

  The soft breath along with the incredible dress Sam had on made Chili wish they had a few seats between them. All she could do was nod and say amen along with the large congregation. When the preacher finished, there was definitely no sense of separation of church and state here, and they didn’t pretend to care that the forefathers had insisted on that concept for the government they’d formed.

  “So, Senator Roberts, are you looking forward to retirement?” Reverend Buford Jones, the president of the North Louisiana Baptist Association, asked with what Chili thought was an insincere smile. “Surely you’re not thinking of becoming a daddy again?” Buford laughed, and the two other preachers at their table joined in with a bit too much gusto.

  The way Rooster glared at her, she could tell the piece of chicken he’d put in his mouth had turned to dust. Events like this were exercises in patience, because no matter how much you wanted to either punch someone or tell them to fuck off, you couldn’t. You had to take every insult with a smile and move on. She smiled and slightly shook her head to keep Rooster calm.

  Someone’s phone dinged close to them, and Chili almost spit out her sweetened tea when she heard the first wave of “holy hells.” She put her hand on Sam’s forearm when she reached in her purse for her phone and shook her head. The only person close to them she cared about checking the breaking news was Maria, and from her expression, Chili had put her in the perfect location to cover this story.

  “What in tar hill is going on?” Buford asked as the whole room seemed to forget about the bad food and sickeningly sweet tea and the murmurs grew louder.

  “Is there a television in here?” Chili asked, trying to help things along.

  Buford pointed to the man closest to him, and he went to the set near the stage. The local station had cut away to their national affiliates, and the pretty boy reporting the news couldn’t talk fast enough as the perp-walk footage played over and over. Usually a prostitution-ring roundup wasn’t national news, but then again, usually two of the men in handcuffs weren’t senators.

  Chili had known this was coming, but this was even better than she could’ve hoped for. She was anticipating only the mention of the asshole Billy Fudge’s name as a client of the DC ring, but seeing him in his undershirt handcuffed to a beautiful but skimpily dressed woman trying to shield his face from the camera was manna from heaven. He was trying to hide as they brought the twenty or so men and their paid dates into the police station, but there was no mistaking him and that usually primped hair that was now going in all directions.

  “This has to be a mistake,” Buford said as he clutched his chest. “Senator Fudge is a personal friend and a man of God.”

  “Seems he’s also a personal friend of the DC Madame Roxie Little and her working girls,” Chili said, as she smiled in Sam’s direction. She stayed quiet and let the anchor finish the story, spouting the scoop they’d had for days. Fudge wasn’t just literally caught with his pants down; he’d been Roxie’s client for over ten years and had made some of his dates from the hallowed floor of the United States Senate. She couldn’t have written a better scenario for the kickoff of Rooster’s Senate campaign than if she’d found a magic lamp and the genie inside had granted her three wishes.

  “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re not interested in talking to us today,” Buford said to Rooster, the color in his face going paler by the second.

  “I’m sure it won’t be as exciting as all this commotion, but I’d love to,” Rooster said, and patted the pocket where Chili’s speech was carefully folded.

  It was a blend of his positions, his vision for the future, and a smidgeon of scripture that would leave a favorable impact with the audience. Any more and it would’ve come across as insincere, even though Rooster was himself a man of God, as Buford had described Senator Fudge. The right had hijacked the Lord, gun control, and defense as their issues, and any Democrat trying to impinge on those holy grails was usually met with disdain, but Chili had done her best to knock some of those beliefs to the curb with the speech she’d personally written, something she rarely did anymore.

  “How in the hell did you know about this?” Sam asked when she followed Chili out of the room to the hallway that led to the bathrooms. “There’s no way you’re this lucky if Rooster really does want to run.”

  “He does want to run, and he needs a little more than a fourth of the voters from here to the Arkansas border to win. That’s all you have to know right now. It’s not like I set old Billy up with the stacked blonde he’s had a standing appointment with for years.” She pointed to the door so Sam would go back in. “Later on, if you want, you can ask questions, but right now we want all the talk to be about the senator with the paid girlfriends and not about anyone who came with Rooster.”

  Sam walked away, giving her a little privacy for the call she had to make. “Thank you,” she said, when Sophie Grossman answered.

  “I’m sure I owe you a few more favors, but are we close to getting even?”

  “You don’t owe me anything, Sophie.” The applause from the auditorium was more enthusiastic than she thought it would be, despite the story about Fudge, which was a good sign. A love affair as long as these guys had had with Fudge didn’t die in a day, but she wanted Rooster to make an impact. Fudge would win some of them back with Bible references and heartfelt apologies soon enough, but all Rooster needed was for some of them to doubt his word. “I told you that a long time ago, and I meant it. Thanks, though. If today had been a movie set, I couldn’t have written a better script.”

  “No matter what, you never heard about this from me. To pay me back, beat this prick and replace him with Rooster. I think it’ll be a night-and-day difference, and it’ll be a hell of lot better covering him in the Senate. At least Rooster doesn’t make me feel like I need a shower when I’m done interviewing him.”

  Sophie had started as the traffic girl at the NBC affiliate in New Orleans and had been promoted to the desk a year later. It took less than five years after that for the national folks to notice and steal her away. Before that had happened, Chili and Sophie had a really good time together, but Sophie had wanted the whole package, including a ring and everything that came with it. She’d run so fast after Sophie made that point clear, that Sophie’s decision to move on had been easy for her.

>   But before Sophie had moved she’d done a story and hadn’t had every fact verified, and the consequences had almost cost her everything. Chili had called in almost every chip she was owed, but she’d killed the fallout, and Sophie had been trying to pay back the favor ever since.

  “You’re doing good up there, so don’t take any more chances like this. Granted, this really helped, but I don’t want any of this to come back and bite you if anyone ties this to you.”

  “Unless you’re planning to tell on me, don’t worry about it.” Sophie sounded like she was in the car, and Chili hoped she was alone. “Have you made any progress in becoming an adult?”

  “Just because you’re engaged doesn’t mean the rest of the world has to be in love. I do appreciate that you still worry about that.”

  “You’re still important to me, and as hard as your cowardice was on my heart, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I might be down there in a month or less, so don’t think about turning me down for dinner, and I want you to take me some place expensive. Start saving up. We’ll discuss your love life over the best seafood you can find, and I’ll tell you how blissfully happy I am.”

  “You got it, so stay out of trouble until then.”

  Sam was waiting for her in the doorway, and she got back in time to see Rooster working the room with Carla at his side. These yahoos needed to remember that Rooster would never stray from the woman at his side.

  “Hopefully if you think of continuing your career, Senator Roberts, you’ll come up this way again. We’d be interested in helping you put together a platform we’d all be happy with,” Buford said as he shook Rooster’s hand.

  “I’ll hold you to that, but I still have some things to consider before I make my final decision,” Rooster said, and Buford’s entourage leaned in, listening. “I want to make sure my wife is okay with the idea, and I’d like to avoid a negative campaign. That’s not my style.”