The Politics of Love (A Romantic Comedy)

by Ines Saint

  "Well, if that candidate had taken the time to find out what the heckler's problem was, they might've come to an understanding. Can you imagine the amount of positive press he would've gotten if they'd put aside their differences and had instead worked together for the good of the city? If Jake hires Kayla, it'll show he's not surrounding himself with yes-people and that he's willing to listen. It'll also show some humility, which will go a long way toward countering his reputation for being arrogant."

  Marcus looked incredulous. "You can't honestly think Jake wants to work with someone who threatened him, do you?"

  "Wearing a cardboard sign hardly counts as a threat!"

  Marcus and Jess continued to have it out, while Kayla and Jake remained silent, never once looking at each other.

  "Jess, Marcus, don't you think Jake and Kayla should be allowed to discuss this, too?" Filip Nowak's soft, authoritative voice spoke out from across the room.

  Jake stifled a sigh. This was turning into a sticky situation. Filip and Jess meant a lot to him, and they would be disappointed if he didn't give Kayla a chance. He glanced over at her. Hopefully, she disliked him too much now to want to work with him anyway. The thought caused a strange spasm in his chest, aggravating him and convincing him that working with her would be a bad idea.

  He looked away, but not before he'd caught the splatter of mud on her shirt. "I'm sorry you came all this way only to walk in and have me poke fun at you." And pretended I'd never seen you, he didn't add. "I was trying to be friendly, and it didn't come out right."

  Kayla signaled her acceptance of his apology with a nod. "And I apologize for not waiting until after the press conference to share my thoughts with you."

  Jake nodded, and Jess clapped her hands. "Good! Now that we've got that out of the way—" she began, but was interrupted by both Jake and Kayla, who in near unison said, "But I don't think we'd work well together."

  "And I agree," Marcus added.

  Jess was about to protest, but Filip, who had been leaning against a window, keen and aware, raised a hand to stop her and said, "Kayla, Jake, as someone who knows you both well, I'm surprised you're giving up so easily." He turned to Kayla. "Despite your difference of opinion regarding CTA, working with Jake might very well result in more inner-city schools having music programs, an important goal of yours. And Jake, Kayla is the right person for this. She's bright, experienced, talented, and passionate, and although I'm not into optics, I am into showing people who you are by your actions. Jess is right, hiring Kayla despite your differences will show people you're willing to listen."

  * * *

  Kayla closed her eyes. Filip was right. Expanding music education in public schools was a passion, and the opportunity to have a positive impact should outweigh other considerations. After all, wasn't she always complaining about how politicians couldn't get past their differences to work for the greater good?

  She took a deep breath and held it. When she opened her eyes, it was too see Jake Kelly watching her, his gaze cool. It made her wonder if she'd somehow made a mistake and he wasn't the man she'd danced with after all. "How about we start over, Mr. Kelly?" she asked. "As if we're just now meeting for the very first time." Because that's what it felt like. She'd built up the man she'd laughed and danced within her imagination. The man before her now was the real one. She offered him her hand and a warm smile anyway, the kind she'd give any friend of Jess and Filip's who she'd just met. "It's nice to meet you. I look forward to exchanging ideas."

  He shook her hand and smiled back. A politician's smile. "It's nice to meet you, too. I can tell you're a passionate person, and I admire that, but I don't work well with passionate people. I'd hate for this to end badly. Jess and Filip would feel like they need to choose sides, like today. For their sake, I think it's best if we quit while we're ahead."

  Kayla felt both her smile and patience shrivel up and die. "Jess and Filip are adults. And I'm not a girl scout selling cookies. I read your ideas, I spent half the night looking up data and coming up with proposals, and it took me over an hour and multiple modes of transportation to get here, but if you won't give me the time of day because you think I'm too passionate, then be prepared to lose by a landslide because the people of Chicago are notoriously passionate about their city and you, by your own admission, can't handle the heat!"

  Something flashed in the back of his eyes as they locked onto hers. "Allow me to prove you wrong."

  Kayla's traitorous heart beat faster, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of looking away. Filip, Jess, and Marcus were there, after all—there could be no innuendo behind his challenge. "Willingly," she forced herself to say.

  Amusement softened his gaze and leaned against his desk. "Tell me your ideas on establishing a strong music program."

  She straightened her back. There was no way she'd allow him to know he'd rattled her. "I looked over your proposal for reforming Chicago's school system, and I understand the weighted school formula you're proposing. It's smart. The same model can be adapted to fund music education. We'd need to come up with a base allocation tailored to the cost per pupil and assign additional funds to certain students using the very same criteria and percentage points you are using."

  He pushed off the desk, his eyes bright. "You read the entire proposal, and you understood the formula?"

  "Great, Jess told her about his numbers fetish," Marcus muttered.

  Kayla heard it, and it told her she had taken a step in the right direction. Talking about his proposal also reminded her that she really had liked the gist of his ideas. "There's a complex but proven connection between math and music, and I'd be happy to go over it with you during our first meeting." She took the opportunity to fish her CV out of her portfolio and hand it over to him. "I'm the right person for this," she added, looking him in the eye. He reached for her CV, and their eyes held for a moment longer than necessary. It left her feeling confused, but she couldn't determine why.

  The room went silent as Jake took his time looking it over. "When can we start working together?" he asked. Kayla smiled. He did not.

  They agreed on meeting early Monday morning—her only day off—for the next three weeks. Aside from the meetings, Kayla agreed to attend The Endowment for the Arts Ebony and Ivory Charity Dinner the first Friday in October as Jake Kelly's guest so she could assist him in explaining the program to important and influential patrons of music and art.

  By the end of their negotiations, he was back to being cool and distant. A man who could laugh and smile and hold her, his eyes never leaving hers, and then forget her completely. When she got to the door, she turned to look at him one last time. A need to see his eyes flash again overtook her. To remind herself that he was human, too. "By the way, I read you're a budget-conscious independent." She scrunched up her nose, as if in thought. "Isn't that a closet fiscal conservative? Because, speaking as a voter, I think you should own it, even if no one with that label has won here since 1927. Be true to yourself, Mr. Kelly. People respond to courage. You should take the heat."

  "I'm a mixed bag. Someone with an open mind. Many people will find something in my platform to disagree with because of political divides, others will have independent concerns, but hopefully, most will understand that what matters is what's best for the city’s people. It’s what most people say they want the country to focus on, and I think we should start with our cities." He met her eyes, and she saw the glimmer of a challenge there. "You and I are bound to disagree, and you're bound to get worked up over more than just CTA. I can take it, can you? Can we make it about people?"

  "I wouldn’t have it any other way. And you're bound to get worked up, too, you know, and, trust me, I can handle it," she replied. The double entendre that could be read into her words hit her an instant later, and she quickly turned and left because she didn't want anyone to see her cheeks were aflame. Maybe clever comebacks weren't her thing.

  Chapter 3

  That evening, Kayla snuggled into the worn
brown couch in the middle of her mom's living room, wearing the "They Should've Let the Goat In" Cubs shirt Robbie had given years before, with her legs tucked underneath her, and a dessert dish with a hefty serving of flan nestled in her arms. It would be her last piece she promised with an indulgent sigh. Her mom was such a good baker. Feeling a need for mindless entertainment, she hit play on a Mexican novela her mother had recorded and quickly became engrossed in the worn storyline she usually mocked.

  Maria, the main character, had been shoved off a cliff by Yesenia, the evil ex-lover of Mariana's one true love, Gustavo. And though Mariana had broken every single bone in her body, and her face had been crushed beyond recognition, she'd gone through numerous plastic surgeries over the last six months and now looked beautiful again. In fact, she looked exactly the same as she had before. But when she came back to wreak havoc on the lives of everyone who'd wronged her, nobody seemed to recognize her. Not even her one true love.

  Kayla sighed as a delicious piece of flan slid down her throat. "Maldita!" Mariana cried at Yesenia.

  "Maldita!" Kayla repeated loudly, picturing Julia Hamilton.

  "Kayla, don't curse in front of la Virgencita!" her mother's voice scolded from the doorway. She turned to see her mother, Graciela, standing at the front door and pointing to the Virgin Mary statue placed prominently in the center of the mantle underneath the TV. Her sister, her niece, and Robbie all marched past Graciela through the open door.

  "Perdón." Kayla covered her mouth, feeling like a ten-year-old again. It was one of the few negatives of living with her mom. Tania walked up to her and snatched the flan from her hands before heading toward the kitchen in the back of the house.

  "Maldita!" Kayla imitated Mariana's dramatic, piercing cry as she scrambled up off the couch and followed her.

  "No, no more sweets! Our hips weren't made to take this type of abuse." Tania held the plate just out of reach, her sleek, fitted black suit and stern expression in strange contrast with the cute red checked curtains and cheery yellow walls behind her.

  Robbie came up behind her and pretended to slap her butt, throwing her niece, Mia, into a fit of giggles. "I think you ate the whole pie," he said.

  Kayla glared at them. "I'm going through a tough time, okay? No more full-time job. No more boyfriend. Try to understand instead of body-shaming me in front of an impressionable twelve-year-old." It was hard to hide her grin when she saw her words had the desired effect. Ha! Who was ashamed now? Tania reluctantly slid the plate her way, and Kayla swallowed her last bite lovingly. The last spoonful was always the most satisfying. "Why are you all here?" she asked.

  Her mother pulled a bottle of sparkling cider from a paper bag, "We came home to celebrate this position Jake Kelly offered you. Jess called Robbie and Robbie called us."

  "Jess's so excited, she already sent out a press release. She even mentions I'm your sister!" Tania, a meteorologist with the Chicago Weather Bureau and the weather woman for a local channel, had a healthy following of smitten fans.

  "Mr. Kelly sounds like a very generous young man," her mother said as she tore the foil off the bottle's throat. The pay was generous, but it wouldn't be for many hours. Did her family understand that she would still be dead-broke? Probably. But it was in their nature to celebrate even the smallest piece of good news.

  "Yeah, great pay. Ask him if he needs a meteorologist to predict the weather for him," Tania joked, as she served herself the biggest piece flan. Kayla took one look at the way her sister's perfectly tailored suit hugged her perfectly toned body and shot her a disgusted look.

  "Or a dance instructor to teach him to really connect with people." Robbie smiled. That's when Kayla remembered Robbie's role the night of the dance festival.

  "Robbie, did you know Jake Kelly was the guy you forced me to dance with that night a couple of months ago, at Chicago SummerDance?" she asked, walking up to him and watching his face.

  "Yes." Robbie watched her just as closely.

  "Why didn't you tell me last night, when I told you about this interview with him today?"

  "I thought you knew." Robbie's eyes glittered, and Kayla knew he was lying.

  "Well, I didn't."

  "And what's the problem?" Robbie asked with a grin.

  "Yeah, what's the problem?" Tania asked with a frown.

  Kayla shrugged and looked away. "No problem. But he didn't recognize me, and my pride has taken enough of a beating lately."

  At that, Robbie laughed. "I saw the way he was looking at you that night, and I doubt he didn't recognize you."

  "How was he looking at her?" her mom asked with sparkling eyes.

  "Yeah, how was he looking at her?" Tania repeated with narrowed eyes.

  "I can't describe it in front of minors." Robbie winked.

  "So not fair... I want to know how he was looking at her, too." Mia took the dessert dish from Tania and had a spoonful of flan.

  "I swear he didn't recognize me. He drew a complete blank." Kayla gestured over her face with her hand.

  "So what? I don't remember anyone I danced with that night. He must've made quite an impression on you if you remembered him." Tania raised both eyebrows.

  "Well, I'm not sure I'll vote for him if he forgot my daughter." Their mother crossed her arms, and Kayla laughed.

  "Let's just toast to Kayla's success and order some pizza already. I'm starving." Tania changed the subject.

  "Pizza?" Kayla perked up. "From where?"

  "From anywhere you want. It's your celebration." Tania came around and kissed her cheek.

  "Lou Malantis'?" She salivated.

  "Okay, anywhere you want, within a five-mile radius," Tania clarified.

  "Giordano's," she decided, and a chorus of mmmms followed.

  "Giordano's it is."

  An hour later, they all sat around the living room, watching the end of the novela, each with a spoon in their hand, passing around another pan of flan.

  "Can Mia and I stay over tonight?" Tania asked. "I'm too stuffed to move, let alone drive. And we want to spend time with Kayla."

  "Of course," their mother agreed, and Kayla squeezed her sister's hand.

  "By the way, how's Carrie?" she asked Robbie, thinking about his younger sister. Robbie and Carrie shared their late mother's house, which was right behind theirs.

  "I barely see her anymore, and she gets mad if I ask her where she's been. She comes home really late and sometimes not at all." Robbie stifled a sigh, his concern palpable.

  "Hm. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her much, either. Is she still in school?" Graciela asked.

  "Yes, that much I know. She switched her major to marketing, and she seemed pretty excited about that."

  The credits for the novela rolled, and Mia clicked back to local television. She Said, She Said was wrapping up, and with not much else to do, they all watched Gretel, Tess, and Samantha, a fun, a mismatched trio who hosted the popular local talk show. Today they were talking about politicians' personal lives, and a picture of Jake Kelly came on. Kayla squirmed in her seat. He really was handsome. In a cold, calculated kind of way.

  "Madre mia, no wonder you remembered him," Graciela remarked.

  "Why do you suppose mayoral candidate Jake Kelly has refused to come on our talk show, even though we've repeatedly invited him?" Gretel, the most serious, asked. With her sleek, slate grey pin-striped suit, she looked more like a high-powered attorney than a TV host of a popular show.

  "I think he's afraid of us, and we just want to get to know him a little better." Samantha shrugged innocently. She was dressed in a pink sundress and sitting perfectly straight.

  "Oh, I think he's terrified," Tess, the oldest and the most outrageous, agreed. With her feet curled under her long skirt, her wild, long silver hair falling over her shoulders, she was the youngest in spirit. "And since it appears he's decided to stay the heck away from us, I guess we'll just have to piece his personality together with what little details we have." She fake-sighed.


  "We received a press release about him today." Gretel held up a piece of paper, "A paragraph about him hiring a musician to help him with one of his crusades. And while we admire his zeal for the city's public school system..."

  "That's me!" Kayla enthused, surprised and delighted.

  "We didn't really finish reading it," Gretel continued. "Just more black and white mumbo jumbo when what we want is to hear him describe his love for our city right here, in his own words." She crumpled up the press release, and Graciela gasped, indignant.

  "But, we were then emailed photos of him and this musician, and boy did that catch our attention." Tess pretended to fan herself, and every muscle in Kayla's body tensed, wondering what in the hell they were talking about.

  Then, full-screen pictures of her and Jake Kelly at Chicago SummerDance began to play. "Holy Mary Mother of—" Tania began.

  "Tania, don't—" Graciela's stern voice began to interrupt, but less than a second later she was transfixed by the images on the TV. There Kayla and Jake were, looking deep into each other's eyes while holding each other close. The air stuck painfully to Kayla's lungs, and she struggled to breathe as she watched. In one particular picture, it looked as if he were getting ready to kiss her, and like she was just begging to be kissed. She shot up off the couch, feeling hot and uncomfortable.

  "So that's how he was looking at you. It's got to be at least PG-13." Mia breathed out, her spoon halfway to her mouth.

  Dizzy from not breathing, Kayla managed to tear her eyes away from the TV to look at Robbie. "Was it you?" she sputtered.

  "No!" Robbie's hands shot up, eyes wide.

  "Jake Kelly, we didn't know you had it in you to run hot! Care to come on the show and tell us a little more about these photos? Chicago just wants to get to know you," Samantha said with a smile.

  "Well, viewers, you know we always end the show with a bang but be sure to stay tuned to your local news next. We hear Megan Cull has some interesting footage she recorded during a press conference today at Jake Kelly's campaign headquarters. You'll never believe who stole the show." Tess singsonged the last sentence.