"But the image that's circulating in the public isn't a good one. We need to act quickly, Carter. My job is to get us back on track. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to speak with the Senator," Michele suggests.
"She’s right, Governor," a voice says. "You need some friends."
I turn to see Tina Ling. I grimace.
"How did you get in when I basically said no damn calls and no damn visitors?" I ask sharply. I look to Michele and she just shrugs.
Tina struts across the plush carpet of my office with her hands on her hips. I can't help but wonder what she's still doing here. Addressing me she says, "If your plan is to barricade yourself in this office and ignore the outside world like some child with his fingers shoved in his ears, I urge you to re-think your strategy. The world will eat you up, Carter. You have no idea."
Does she think I was born yesterday? I wave her off with a flick of my wrist and find myself clenching my jaw, but quickly relax it. I need to stay cool and calculated. I can't lose my shit right now. Between these two women trying to fill my head with what I should and shouldn't do, and the media hounding me day and night, I don't know what's worse. I need to shut them all out.
Right. One thing at a time. I stand up.
"I think you should leave whichever way you came in, Ms. Ling," I say coldly.
I look at the dark-haired Tina with a look in her eyes that says she's full of secrets.
"Are you sure?" she asks, taking a step closer to me. She doesn’t pay any attention to Michele as she places a hand and runs it down my bicep. Like she doesn’t exist. "It might be so much more enjoyable if we…collaborated?"
Don’t think that I’m not tempted. Take the easy way out. Sell out. A few favors here. A few strings there. And maybe whoever the puppet masters behind Tina are can help me make this all go away.
And I’d never be able to look at myself in the damn mirror again.
"Like I said, I think you should leave," I say coldly. "Quite frankly, I don’t trust you. And I need people around me whom I can trust."
There’s a flash of anger in Tina’s eyes. It gets past the affected sexual stare. But just as quickly, she suppresses it.
"You’ll remember this moment when you’re drowning, Governor," she says to me. "You’ll remember I offered you a life raft and you spit in my hand."
And then she turns and walks away.
There’s a pause and I look at Michele.
"Listen, I need to sort things out. So in the meantime, no calls," I say. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."
Michele nods. "What do you want me to do?" she asks me.
What do I want her to do?
What do I even want to do? Look out for number one? Protect my signature piece of legislation?
I need to reset. Before I ever let Liam get under my skin by telling me to go fuck myself.
But how?
I begin to think.
I set up a press conference, and within a few hours, I find myself standing at a podium in front of a crowd of attendees. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone's shifting their gaze from me to the crowd around them, and back again. I know I need to choose my words wisely.
"Thank you all for joining me today, especially under such short notice. I'm sure it's no surprise to any of you that there have been outlandish claims being made in the media against me. I urge you all to not fall prey to this fake news. I'm standing here today to set a few things straight."
I take a pause and look around the room for an added dramatic effect.
I continue, "There's something that I want to publically say for the record. I will not be making any deals with Mayor Liam Jeffries."
A reporter speaks, "But what about the 10,000 jobs? Are you saying that you won't be backing the five factories that Mayor Jeffries proposes?"
"That's correct," I say. "I care deeply about the people of New Kingston, and I feel that the best way forward is to not repeat the past. We need to think beyond factories."