by Aviva Gat
The Longer The Fall
By
Aviva Gat
Text copyright © 2021 Aviva Gat
All Rights Reserved
This work is protected under the Copyright Act of the United States. No part of the publication may be used, copied, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or mechanical, except with the permission of the author, except for brief quotations included in critical reviews and articles.
This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, events in this book are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Epilogue
A note from the author
Acknowledgments
The
Longer
The
Fall
Prologue
“She’ll be the first female president.”
“And to think the first female president will be a Republican!”
“We’ve been waiting for someone like her.”
“She’s our Obama, our very own Rockstar politician.”
“She’s too pretty to go all the way.”
“And too perfect. No one’s life is that perfect. Just look at her husband and kids. Don’t they just make you jealous?”
The members of the crowd couldn’t stop themselves from commenting during the applause. They were in awe, in full admiration. Some allowed themselves to wonder if she were too good to be true, but most shook their heads and smiled while thinking about how history was being made right there in front of their eyes. There was no question about it, Madeline Thomas had something special about her. A star quality. A twinkle in her eye that quieted all your nerves and made you believe. Even the most ardent skeptics couldn’t ignore it. Even they would have followed her wherever she went.
But of course the higher you are, the longer the fall. And Madeline was still climbing higher and higher, straight to the top. And she could have made it there. She could have made it all the way into the history books. She had lived her life with her eyes at the peak, knowing that every step that didn’t bring her closer was a wasted stride. Every move was carefully calculated to help her achieve her ambitions. Except… except one. A misstep, a falter. If you closed your eyes you may have missed it. Or it’s possible it never happened at all. The misstep could have been fabricated by the forces trying to bring her down. Because there were many forces against her. People jealous of her image, people who resented a woman of her ambition and promising future.
The problem is, ironically, that when there are so many eyes on you, the truth is harder to see. And once people think they see something, it’s almost impossible to convince them otherwise.
Chapter 1
Madeline stepped into the wings gracefully after finishing her speech. The roar of the crowd followed her, possibly getting louder as she disappeared from their view.
“Madeline, that was wonderful, just perfect, you nailed it,” Jane said, holding her bluetooth at her ear as though she were afraid it might fall out. “Now we have exactly 27 minutes to get to midtown where you are meeting with the Israeli ambassador. We need to hurry.”
“Thank you, Jane,” Madeline responded calmly, obviously not feeling the urgency her chief of staff was trying to transmit. “What about staying to mingle for a few moments? I’d like to talk to the students.”
“The students?” Jane’s could not have been more surprised had Madeline suggested they ride an elephant downtown to their next stop.
“Well, this is Columbia University, isn’t it? There must have been some students in the auditorium. When I used to go here, the CRNC would always meet up after these kinds of events to discuss our thoughts. We always appreciated it when the speaker would come say hello. Surely the CRNC reserved one of the classrooms here.”
“We don’t have time for the College Republican National Club!”
“We should,” Madeline responded. “They’re the new generation of voters.”
“Madeline, we can’t keep the ambassador waiting,” Jane said while forcefully putting her hand on Madeline’s back to guide her out. “You remember, Mr. Zahavi, so impatient. It’s imperative we’re on his good side.” She leaned in a little closer and continued in a whisper. “People don’t become presidents without support of the Israelis.”
Madeline smiled at Jane, giving a look that Jane immediately understood. It was the look that meant Madeline had made up her mind and while she respected Jane’s hard work and difficult planning, Madeline’s desires trumped all. “It will just be a few minutes,” Madeline said, making her way from the wings into the halls of the auditorium building. Spectators filing out of the auditorium already filled the walkways. Madeline smiled at each one, causing jaws to drop and conversations to silence as the spectators gleamed in her presence.
Lucky for Jane, none of the spectators approached Madeline, allowing the senator to easily weave her way through the parting sea of people as she headed down the hall lined by empty classrooms. Madeline peered inside each room, absorbing the echo of debates, lectures and heated discussions that surely had taken place just hours ago. In one of the classrooms at the end of the hall, the echo was less faint. In fact, it wasn’t an echo at all. Rather it was the enthusiastic speech of inspired students, who still carried ideals and believed the world could be changed.
Madeline went straight to that classroom. The noises reminded her of her own days as the president of the CRNC. Of the time when her own eyes were filled with ideals. It was then that Madeline knew she would be a politician. She would join a corrupted system, she knew, but her ideals were stronger than most, and she believed changing the system would have to come from the inside. Twenty years later, she still held her ideals tight, although now behind layers of thick skin and transactions that she knew were necessary on the path to change.
Walking into the classroom was like walking into the past. Madeline could see her own college colleagues standing and recounting the evening. There were the students whose hearts stirred with desire to do something, who were ready to become disciples. On the other side were the skeptics, the ones who said the speech was too idealistic and change like that could never happen—not in a hundred years at least. Even the skeptics had ideals, they just weren’t strong enough to pursue them through adversity.
“Well, what did you think?” Madeline said as she made her way into the room. The heated debate that had already been kindled, quie
ted momentarily.
“We’re behind the New Republican movement!” a young blonde woman said. “I think it’s exactly what this country needs. There isn’t a party for people with our beliefs, and the Republican Party will surely die out if it doesn’t change with the times.”
“I’m sure there are enough bigots in the country to keep supporting the Republican Party,” a young man with a crew cut said. Surely he was one of the skeptics. “We would need all the young people of this country to unite behind the New Republican movement in order for it to take over.”
“Our generation must ensure those bigots aren’t taking over our party,” said another young man. “The New Republicans will make the Republican Party the party for young people again. We’ll stop being the party associated with old white men.”
Madeline smiled as the students volleyed their views back and forth. These students were the reason her movement had gained traction, the only chance for the New Republicans to survive.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Thomas, we didn’t offer you anything to drink,” another young woman stepped forward offering Madeline a paper cup.
“Oh, we don’t have time for a drink,” Jane yelled from the doorway. “We really should get going. Thank you so much for your support!”
“Thank you,” Madeline said to the girl who offered her the cup. “What do you all think about the SAVER Bill that I am proposing?”
“It’s very controversial,” the first woman who had spoken up declared. “But I think it’s exactly what this country needs right now.”
“I agree this country needs to change on this issue,” said the skeptic. “But you can’t legislate away racism.”
During Madeline’s speech that night she had introduced a new bill that she was sure she could push through congress: the Sensitivity and Volunteering to End Racism Bill. On paper, it was a bill that Republicans and Democrats could support: it didn’t increase government regulations and it proposed a solution to one of the country’s biggest issues right now. Although politics was much more than about what was on paper. Madeline knew she would have to fight tooth and nail to get the support the bill needed. Under the SAVER Bill, police department that applied for federal grant money would need to undergo racial sensitivity training and complete 100 hours a month of volunteering in uniform in schools where the students were mostly minorities. Madeline believed that if police officers and minority students got to know each other in a classroom setting, then some of the animosity between these two groups could be settled.
“Well something has to be done about it,” said the young woman who had given Madeline the water. “We can’t just sit back when the country is rioting every time a minority is killed by a police officer. I think it is a very brave bill to propose.”
Brave was right. Madeline had spoken to a few of her colleagues in the Senate about the bill. Many were afraid to support something so controversial. Senators with vast support from the police unions knew this could harm their reelection; while others believed police departments needed more funding, not more hurdles to getting the limited funding they were already receiving. But Madeline wasn’t worried about police support. She had spent months thinking about what she could do as a Senator to help resolve this conflict. She believed in her solution and she believed she could make others see the benefits of it too.
“Very brave, indeed,” Jane said. She had entered from the doorway and had her hand on Madeline’s shoulder. “We really must be going! Thank you again for your support!”
This time, Madeline gave Jane a quick nod before turning back to the students. “Thank you all for your support. It truly means a lot to me. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the support of students like you.” After shaking a few hands and smiling for several pictures, Madeline allowed herself to be led out by Jane. The two women almost sprinted through the halls to the back entrance of the building where Madeline’s Lincoln was waiting to take them downtown to the meeting with the Israeli ambassador.
“Brandon called during the speech,” Jane said once the car had begun moving.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Madeline responded, grabbing her personal cell phone from the pouch that Jane carried for her.
“I’m telling you now. It was something about Noah, I think his school called again,” Jane said. Madeline had already dialed Brandon’s number. As important as her politics were, a call from her husband took top priority.
“Madeline,” Brandon said when he answered the phone. “How was the speech at Columbia?”
“Fine,” Madeline responded. “Jane said something happened with Noah? His school?” She could hear Brandon sigh that she imagined went along with him brushing his hand through his thick brown hair.
“He got in a fight again,” Brandon said. “Mr. Kendrick called. Molly picked him up.”
“Oh, he is at home?”
“He’s been suspended again.”
“He needs to be in school,” Madeline responded angrily. “They can’t just suspend him every time something happens.”
“I think they don’t know what else to do with him.”
“I’ll talk to him when I get home,” Madeline said curtly. “Are you still at work?”
“Yes, I told Molly I would try to make it home for dinner today, but it is going to be tough. We have that big release coming up and I expected things to be in better shape by now.”
“I understand.”
“When are you coming home?”
“We’re meeting the Israeli ambassador now and then we’ll fly back to California. I’ll be home late tonight. But I’ll have breakfast with the kids.”
“All right, love you,” Brandon said. Madeline repeated his sentiment before hanging up the phone.
“Now, regarding the meeting with Mr. Zahavi,” Jane started as soon as the phone was away from Madeline’s ear. “He wants to discuss you visiting Israel with your family.”
“We’re going to a meeting to discuss me going on vacation?”
“It’s not a vacation,” Jane responded. “It means the Israelis believe you to be influential and they want to create strong ties with you.”
“I’m a first-time Senator from California,” Madeline said. “I’m hardly influential in Middle Eastern politics.”
“They believe you will be,” Jane said. “And if you want to be, it’s also good to have their support.”
Jane began listing possible discussion topics for the meeting with the Israeli ambassador as their car weaved through the crowded streets of Manhattan. Madeline was listening with one ear while she looked out the window, recognizing the streets she used to run down when she lived in Manhattan. She starred closely at the brownstones, studying the ones with beautifully trimmed rose bushes and shrubbery out front. The perfect shape of the greenery made Madeline smile, putting old memories into her head. But she couldn’t let herself get lost in those memories. They were from so long ago. Before she had made any mark on this world. Before she had so much to lose.
Chapter 2
A full three hours of sleep in her own bed was enough to leave Madeline feeling refreshed. She’d slept on the plane the previous night after her meeting with Mr. Zahavi, but that sleep was just about bodily needs. The three hours in her own bed, next to Brandon’s rhythmically breathing body, refreshed her mentally. When she woke up, though, Brandon was gone. He had been going to the office early those days. He said the few hours before the employees came gave him some time to get his real work done.
She walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Molly, their nanny, was already flipping pancakes. “Good morning, Mrs. Thomas,” Molly said. She never called her Madeline, no matter how many times Madeline invited her to.
“Good morning, Molly,” Madeline responded while grabbing herself a cup of coffee from the pot that Molly had already brewed. “Are the boys up?”
“They’ll be down in a few moments,” Molly said. “Noah didn’t want to get up, saying he didn’t need to if he wasn’t going to
school, but I made him understand that suspension is not vacation.”
Madeline smiled at Molly. She wasn’t just a nanny; she was a member of the Thomas family. She’d been with them part time since Noah was born 10 years ago. She moved in full time when Adam came two years later.
“Mommy!” a chorus rung out when the boys came hurdling into the kitchen. Noah and Adam ran to hug Madeline just as Molly placed two pancakes on each of their plates on the table that was already set with cut fresh fruit, syrup, and glasses of orange juice.
“How was New York?” Adam asked. “Can we go with you next time?”
“It was a busy trip,” Madeline said, kissing her sons on their foreheads. “We’ll all go together one day when I’ll be there for more than 24 hours.” The boys each sat at their spots at the table and began to eat their breakfast. Madeline also helped herself to a plate of Molly’s delicious pancakes. She made it a point to eat with her boys as often as she could, even though that was usually just a few times a week.
She spent her weeks flying back and forth between Washington DC and California. When she was elected, she and Brandon had discussed moving to the DC, but together they decided that it would be too difficult on the family. The boys had friends and were studying in a good private school that would prepare them for the Ivy League educations they were destined for. Brandon’s company was doing well and needed its CEO at the office full-time. They agreed to discuss their location in the future should Madeline get elected a second term.
As they ate, Adam told Madeline about how they were learning about the California Gold Rush in school. “Do you think there is still gold in the water here?” he asked his mother. “Or did they already find all of it? Maybe we can go look for some on the weekend!” On Madeline’s other side, Noah sat quietly, eating his pancakes and rolling his eyes at his younger brother’s excitement.
“All right, boys, it’s time to get in the car,” Molly said. “You too, Noah, even though you aren’t going to school, you’re coming along for the ride.” Noah let out a big sigh and rolled his eyes for the tenth time that morning.