Conspiracy in the Capitol

by B Ivy Woods

  “No.” That was a lie.

  “You sure about that?” Liv jumped into the conversation like a barrel of dynamite.

  “Yep.” Still a lie.

  “Well, think about it now.” The glare that Rae was giving Liv could set snow on fire in the North Pole. “Do you have an answer now? Just admit that you want to see him again.” Liv met Rae’s glare with a stare of her own.

  “Fine. I wouldn’t mind getting a drink with Flint. For closure’s sake. But maybe it should happen after we finish this project together at work.” Rae saw Eve’s eyes light up. Jules let out a deep breath, while Liv’s mouth was agape.

  “I knew it. Now text Flint and tell him so. You don’t have any other excuses.”

  “Oh. I didn’t realize that moving wasn’t a good excuse.”

  “It’s a good excuse now. Won’t be an excuse in a couple of weeks. Doesn’t mean that you can’t text him now to set something up.”

  Rae couldn’t argue with that logic. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and scrolled down to the text message thread with Flint. Her fingers hovered over her screen as she thought about what to say. Taking a deep breath, she typed the message that Eve had been waiting for her to send.

  Rae: When are you available to grab drinks?

  Rae put her phone down on the kitchen counter and stuck her tongue out at Liv.

  “Mature.”

  Before Rae could respond, her phone pinged.

  “Well, that was quick,” Rae mumbled as she picked up her phone.

  Flint: Would tomorrow work for you?

  “He wants to go out tomorrow.”

  “Wow. Talk about moving fast.” Eve said as she stood up and moved toward another box in the corner. Jules made her way over to help Eve put her things away with Rae’s direction.

  “I can’t do tomorrow, but maybe next Saturday.”

  Rae: I’m moving into my new apartment tomorrow. How about next Saturday unless something comes up?

  She still needed that escape plan just in case.

  Flint: That works. Do you need any help moving tomorrow? I’m free.

  Rae: I think we can manage. I hired movers.

  Flint: It wouldn’t be an issue at all. I’m happy to help.

  Rae couldn’t find the words to get her feelings across to her friends. “He offered to help me move tomorrow. And kept the offer on the table even after I told him I’d hired movers.”

  “Another set of hands wouldn’t hurt.” Eve smirked and shared a glance with Jules and Liv.

  “What do you three know that I don’t?”

  “What? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Jules shrugged as Liv shook her head.

  “You’re full of it, but I’ll find out what y’all are hiding. One way or another.”

  Liv began singing that very song, which further drove Rae to the brink of insanity. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. When Liv stopped laughing, Rae chimed in, “Good attempt at changing the subject, but not slick enough. I guess I shouldn’t turn down extra help. But I want to know what you guys know that I don’t.”

  “Let’s just say; we might have made sure he was free tomorrow no matter what. He was keen to help.”

  Rae knew that her eyes would get stuck on the ceiling if she rolled them one more time was, in fact, true and not an empty threat that her mom used to say when she caught her rolling her eyes.

  Rae: Sure. Here’s the address to my soon-to-be old apartment. We’re starting at 9:00 a.m. sharp.

  Flint: I’ll be there at 8:55 a.m.

  The knock on the door stopped Rae midstep. It was moving day and she was already over everything. She turned around and headed back toward her front door. Looking through the peephole, she took a step back.

  “Right on time,” she mumbled as she checked the time on her phone. Taking a deep breath, she swung open the door.

  “Hey,” was the first thing that fell from her lips.

  “Hey, back at you.”

  She moved out of the way to let him into the apartment. He was wearing a black T-shirt and sweatpants, attire that she was sure would be comfortable enough to help her move in. As he walked by her, she got a whiff of his cologne. She thought it was weird to wear it when it was almost a guarantee that you’d be sweating, but whatever, it was his body.

  Rae didn’t try to be discreet as she scanned his body from head to toe. The way the shirt hugged his chest was a sin that she was willing to commit. The sweatpants were hiding his lower half, which was an immoral act too. They must have been having the same thoughts because she noticed that his eyes were sweeping across her body. Interesting.

  “Welcome to my humble abode. Can I get you something to drink? I’m planning on having beer and pizza for everyone at my new apartment.”

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  “Thanks for coming over to help me move.”

  “Happy to help. Anything new going on?”

  “Nope. Most of my life has revolved around organizing this move. Thanks for sending over that information I needed for the documents I needed to hunt down for you.”

  Flint paused and placed his hands in his pockets. “Don’t mention it.”

  Rae could feel the awkwardness as she walked to a stack of boxes and grabbed the spreadsheet from on top of them. She reviewed the information about which boxes went where at her new apartment. Looking at this spreadsheet served as a way to prevent Rae from having to make conversation with Flint and stop her from saying something she might regret.

  She could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Before Rae or Flint could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

  “Perfect timing,” Rae muttered. She took a deep breath as she opened the door. In walked Eve and Liv, the latter attempting to stretch her limbs as if getting ready to run a race. She stopped her movements once she noticed that Rae was not alone in her apartment.

  “Long time, no see, Flint,” Liv said, breaking the silence. Rae sensed the tension defusing and she felt a small weight lift off of her shoulders. She would get through this day. “By the way, Jules will be over in twenty to thirty minutes. She had to take care of something at home last minute.”

  “Yeah, it has been a bit, hasn’t it?” Flint said. He gave Liv a small smile and turned his attention to the apartment. Liv walked over to him and started a discussion as they walked around the apartment, analyzing how much stuff Rae had to move.

  “Thank goodness for Liv,” Rae said as she strolled over to Eve.

  “That’s an understatement. I got lucky and found a parking spot behind your car, but can move for the moving truck.”

  “Oh, they can just park near the divide over there. You know, Flint didn’t need to come.”

  “Well, that was a swift change of subject. We both know what was on your mind.”

  “I—uh—I,” Rae stuttered as she tried to come up with something to say that would make a good defense. Nothing came. “Yep, that’s on my mind. Especially because now I feel like he’s pushing himself into my life, and I’m not exactly denying him. And could you whisper? They’re only in the next room.”

  Rae’s phone buzzed, and she saw a text from Jules.

  Jules: Sorry, I am running late! I should be there soon. And I need to talk to you about Flint.

  “I’m glad you admitted it. Anyway, I completely agree. There is no reason for Flint being here besides the fact that he wanted to be here.”

  “Do you know why Jules would want to talk to me about Flint again?” Rae hoped her friends had talked to each other before they came over because she was dying to find out what was going on.

  “I hoped that Jules would be here to tell you because she’s the one who has all the information. I wanted you to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, or however, the saying goes. And this is not me calling Jules a horse, that was just me using a common phrase, but I might have gotten it wrong—”

  “Just tell me what’s up, please.” Rae kept the bite o
ut of her voice, even though she was getting frustrated with Eve’s stalling. Her phone buzzed again and she assumed it was Jules. She looked down and read the notification.

  Unknown Number: You will regret talking to Flint again.

  “So Flint has been contacting Jules and talking about you a lot. Wait that came out wrong. I don’t mean that he’s been doing it to be a creep. I mean, he’s been trying to catch up on what he missed, I guess?”

  Rae didn’t respond because she was stuck on the message she had just received. What was she going to do with this? Telling Eve might be the best bet, but what would happen? She could block the number, but the person would just find a new number and send her messages. Second-guessing herself too many times was about to lead her down a giant rabbit hole and she needed that to end.

  “Rae, are you listening to me?”

  “Sorry, I got distracted by my phone. What did you say?”

  Eve’s patience was wearing thin, but she repeated what she’d said. “Well, it’s more than just that. He’s been getting advice from her too.”

  “Advice about what he should do about me?”

  Eve nodded but said nothing.

  “Huh. Looks like Jules and I need to chat.”

  “Are you mad at her?”

  Rae thought for a second before shaking her head. “No, I’m not mad. Confused about why she didn’t tell me this was happening, but not angry about it. She’s also been very distracted lately and forgetting to mention things unless something else triggers a memory about it. I’m curious about that too, and I hope nothing is wrong with her.”

  “Understandable.”

  And with that, there was a knock on the door.

  “Bets on whether it’s the movers or Jules?” Rae asked as she put her hand on the doorknob.

  “Jules!” Eve said as Rae swung open the door. In walked Jules with a smile on her face.

  “Sorry I’m late, but I didn’t run into much traffic and the lights were on my side, so I’m here a little earlier than I thought I would be!”

  “I’m a better psychic than Liv. I’ll figure out my own lotto numbers.” Eve smirked at Rae.

  “Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that.” She ignored the glare from Eve and smiled at Jules and whispered, “We have a little time, but do you want to tell me about what’s going on with Flint? This might be the only moment we have today between the craziness that’s about to ensue.”

  “Sure. So, Flint has been talking to me about you ever since you decided that he could come and help with the move. I thought that was interesting since he didn’t text me after we saw each other at a couple of events over the last few weeks. Anyway, based on what he said, I think he thinks the door to getting to know you again has been opened a bit with you allowing him to help you move. Now he hasn’t explicitly said anything that confirms this, but his texts show otherwise.” As she was saying these words, Jules pulled out her phone and showed Rae the messages between her and Flint.

  Rae read through the texts and got the same impression that Jules had. He seemed excited that she wanted his help. This was a change from how she imagined he would have acted several years ago when he thrived on being cool, calm, and collected at all costs.

  “Thanks for sharing—” Rae’s words were cut off by Liv and Flint entering the room.

  “I can’t wait to see what Rae does with her new place. I’m sure it will look great. Oh, hey, Jules! Didn’t know you were here.”

  “Just walked through the door about a minute ago,” Jules said as Rae handed her back her phone. “Rae, have you heard anything from the movers?”

  Rae shook her head as she pulled out her phone to double-check if she had received a message from them. “Let’s see. They are about ten minutes late, so maybe I’ll give them another five before calling the company.” She had been keeping track of the time but got distracted when the conversation had switched to Flint.

  “Sounds good.”

  “Before I forget, thank y’all for coming and helping today. It means so much to me.” The group told Rae not to worry about it and she smiled at each woman before her eyes landed on Flint. When his eyes connected with hers, she felt an electric current run through her veins. She saw the past and present in his eyes. But was there a potential future there? The sound of her phone ringing forced her to break their eye contact.

  “Hello?” Rae breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was the movers she had hired to help her get to from DC to Arlington. But that relief was short-lived.

  “What do you mean you’re overbooked? You’ve got to be kidding me!” The anger was billowing off of her in droves. “Thanks for your time,” Rae said as she hung up the phone. She took several deep breaths before she could form the words to explain in more detail what she had just learned.

  “Well, it looks like I won’t be moving today. The movers overbooked themselves by mistake.”

  8

  “Overbooked?” Liv asked, not believing what Rae had said. All Rae did was nod. She took out her ponytail and let her wavy hair roam free. She was getting a headache, and removing her ponytail provided some temporary relief.

  “We’ll figure something out,” Jules said, forever the optimist. But Rae didn’t hear her. The deep breaths that she took earlier were for naught. Her anger was building once again, no matter how much she wanted to stay calm. She knew she would have to find a new moving company if there were any available and pay more in fees to get her stuff moved in today or tomorrow. Thankfully, her lease wasn’t up today, so if they needed to push it to sometime during the week, she could manage if she could book a bigger truck. She would just have to take off another day or two from work, which would be another pain. As she was about to research movers, Flint stepped forward.

  “Wait. I might have an idea.”

  Rae looked up from her phone and she was sure he could see the tears in her eyes. “What are you thinking?”

  “I need to make a few phone calls, but I might be able to get a few people to come down and help. We have what, four cars available? You would probably only need to book a U-Haul truck for the bigger furniture, but we could probably manage most of the stuff on our own. You would just need to hope that we can find a U-Haul big enough.”

  Rae’s gaze never left his as she realized what he was suggesting. Although it would be harder to move, and there were a lot of what-if factors involved, if everything worked out, she could still move today. She figured she owed Flint her life’s savings if they could pull this off. Not that there was a lot in her savings, anyway.

  Jules spoke up before Rae could. “That could work.” Jules turned to Rae and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know how disappointing it can be not to be able to do something that you wanted to do.”

  Eve leaned over and whispered in Rae’s ear, “I can see the internal debate you’re having with yourself about taking Flint’s help. Just go with the flow and try not to overanalyze it.”

  Rae pondered her options before she turned to Flint and said, “Okay. Please call in the reinforcements.” Flint beamed and walked outside to make a few phone calls.

  “I think you just made his entire year. It was kind of hot watching him take charge like that,” Liv said as she turned to look at her friends.

  “I don’t know about all of that, but it’s making me think more about grabbing drinks with him. Which is a shitty thing to think.”

  “What do you mean?” Jules asked.

  “So I’m still on the fence about this whole going-out-for-drinks thing even though it’s us just going to grab drinks…for old times’ sake.”

  “Or it could mean something?” Liv smirked at Rae and earned a glare in return.

  “Anyway, now I’m thinking about going to the bar with him because he’s offering to go more out of his way to help me move today. And that’s not how I want to view it.”

  “I know it’s hard not to view it that way, but you shouldn’t, and he probably doesn’t think that you should go out with him
because he is doing this for you either. He doesn’t seem to be trying to force you to do anything that you don’t want to do.”

  “I guess I’ll have to talk to him about it. But for now, we should relax a bit until we see if Flint can get reinforcements to help.”

  The friends chatted while they waited for Flint to return. The minutes felt like hours for Rae as she hoped he would have good news when he walked back through the door. To take her mind off of her impatience, she looked around her apartment and thought about all the memories she shared here over the last couple of years.

  “Hey. Do y’all remember when we all got drunk and tried to make a chocolate cake?”

  Jules’s eyes widened while Liv burst out laughing.

  “I try to forget about that night. The amount of alcohol that we drank was…whew.” Eve shook her head at the memory.

  “Didn’t we screw the recipe up by adding too much sugar?”

  Eve nodded, and Jules responded, “Yep. I think I was hungover for a week straight.”

  “Yeah. That was a lot of fun, but I can’t party like that anymore. But you know what I loved most about it? We were hanging out together in our yoga pants.”

  “She won’t admit it, but she was happier about being in her yoga pants.” Liv smirked at Rae, who gave her the one-finger salute.

  Before Rae and Liv could get into it, Flint opened the door and walked into the apartment. His eyes found Rae and he told her, “We are in business. I have a few friends coming to help. Two of them will head over and grab the U-Haul truck, so you don’t have to worry about that. We booked everything, and we’re ready to go.”

  Rae squealed and darted over to Flint. She hopped into his arms and gave him a huge hug before she could process what she was doing. When she realized what she had done, she had somehow ended up with her legs wrapped around Flint’s waist, and he was helping to hold her up by gripping her lower back. A few seconds later, she let her legs drop and took a small step away from him. His hands were still on her lower back, which she assumed had been instinctual.

  “I—I’m sorry about that. Thanks for doing that.” She stepped away from him, but Flint didn’t release his grip.