Seduced By The Candidate (The Candidate, #1) (13 page)

“John, I-”

“No Bill. Shut the fuck up and for once in your Goddamn charmed
life listen to what someone else has to say. Charlotte is lovely, she really
is, and I like her a lot, but she’s just your P.A and she’s only been here for
a few weeks. This isn’t exactly the first time that this has happened and she’s
definitely not the first woman to move from the
dictaphone
to your dick is she? The last time it very nearly ruined you and I had to move
heaven and earth to stop that bitch Madeline from permanently fucking up the
whole thing.

This entire campaign has been built on honesty, trust,
transparency, decency and clean-living. You’re the war hero that only has eyes
for Mother America and anything you can do to make her happier and more
prosperous. If this gets out—you become the pussy hungry deviant that only
wants America so that you can pull her panties down and fuck her for all she’s
worth. You know how the fucking Evangelists feel about sex before marriage and
you know how important the Evangelists are to the Republican candidacy.

I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was to get a young,
single man not only trusted by these people, but cheered, cherished and loved
by them. Even for me it was a fucking impressive bit of swing! I want you to
take a second and think with the head on your shoulders and not the one in your
pants…do you want me to handle this and get rid of the problem?”

Goulding sat for a long time and John was beginning to wonder
if he would ever answer him. When he finally looked up at the little man, his
voice was barely more than a whisper.

“No. I trust her. She’s not like Madeline. There’s something
about her…something that makes me come alive when I’m with her and I can’t just
throw that away without seeing where it might go.”

“In that case you two need to have a very long, frank and
extremely honest chat Bill. That little lady holds the presidency in her hands
and I hope she knows how many people need her to handle it with care. She’d
better be worth it Bill…she’d better be worth it.”

With that he got up and left, leaving Goulding staring at the
empty chair.

“She’s worth it,” he said to himself and was a little surprised
to realize that he believed it completely.

* * *

With the office door closed, the rest of the election team
were
aware that a pretty heated argument was taking place,
but they couldn’t make out anything that was actually being said.

“I bet he told John that Lennon was queer,” said the accounts
manager with a smirk.

“Could be.
Then again he might just
have told him how much the room service tab was for his hotel suite.”

This inspired a fresh round of laughter, but it was abruptly
cut off when the office door swung open and John Lyndsey emerged. He strode
quickly across the room, gathered his jacket without breaking stride and disappeared
out of the door. Eyebrows were raised and smirks exchanged, but no one said
anything as they had learnt from past experience that a pissed-off John Lyndsey
was more often than not followed out by a pissed-off Senator Goulding and no
one wanted to be subjected to a rebound bollocking. Funnily enough, the raised
voices and the obvious argument had settled the team. Normality had returned to
their lives and as they all resumed their various tasks, they silently breathed
a sigh of relief.

Only one person had heard the specifics of the argument and
that was the same person that had chosen not to join in the criticism of the
two men. As a personal assistant, Charlotte’s desk was just outside of
Goulding’s office so that she was on hand whenever he needed her.
Unfortunately, it had also meant that she had heard a slightly muffled, but
still completely coherent version of the argument. Although she hadn’t
understood a lot of what had been said, she understood enough to be hurt and
angry.

She swallowed her reserve and marched into Goulding’s office,
closing the door behind her. His eyes shot up.

“Charlie I…”

“Don’t Charlie me you bastard. What the fuck is going on?”

Goulding looked at her, desperately trying to read her mood,
assess just how much she had heard and work out how best to pitch his response.
When he saw the steely resolve etched on her features, his flawless smile
faltered and he felt a cold pang of fear.

“Ah, you overheard what was being discussed then.”

“All of it,” she said icily. “I think that you owe me an
explanation, don’t you?”

“I…yes, you’re right. It’s the least you deserve.”

She settled herself into the seat only recently vacated by John
Lyndsey and desperately hoped that her nervousness didn’t show on her face. She
regarded him with cold determination.
  

“I’m not exactly sure where to begin,” said Goulding swallowing
hard.

“At the beginning is usually a pretty good place,” replied
Charlotte refusing to give him an inch.

“Okay…okay,” he sighed. “Madeline Carter joined my team almost
at the same time as I made public my intention to contest the presidency. She
was extremely efficient, good at her job and accommodating…pretty much
everything you want in a P.A. We naturally worked very closely together and in
the course of time, we…er…we grew close.”

“Sounds familiar,” said Charlotte bitterly.

Seeing that it was best to ignore Charlotte’s comment, Goulding
continued.

“We didn’t plan for it to happen. It was just one of those
things and we were both so wrapped up in each other that nothing else mattered.
Clearly, I was committing political suicide and if the public ever found out I
would have been finished. For her, she had made her position as part of my team
completely untenable and it was only a matter of time before someone found out
and it all fell apart.

For months we kidded ourselves that we were enough for each
other and that the risk was worth taking. We were careful to conceal our
feelings from anyone else and for my part. I was completely committed to the
relationship and I was even making plans as to how I could successfully
introduce her as my girlfriend and still maintain my position within the race
for the presidency. No one knew, not even John. I truly believed that she was
as committed to the relationship as I was.”

Goulding rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. He would have
preferred to have this conversation at a later time, but he also knew that it
was best to get everything out in the open. He had come to truly care for
Charlotte, maybe even love her. He pushed on, spilling out the painful truth.

“Unfortunately, that simply wasn’t the case. Madeline was a
very ambitious woman and had decided that she had no intention of being a P.A
forever. She had aspirations for a much loftier position and I guess that I was
merely the vehicle that she used to make that become a reality. Almost
overnight she started talking about how it wasn’t working and how we needed to
call it all off. I was naturally devastated and did everything I could to try
and change her mind, but she was adamant. Worse still, she decided to blackmail
me, telling me that unless I made it worth her while, she would go straight to
the press and sell her story to the highest bidder.”

Goulding got up and began pacing behind his desk. Moving seemed
to help him say what needed to be said.

“I was upset at losing the woman I loved and crushed that she
could possibly be so cruel and heartless. None of it had been real for her. I
was merely a means to an end. Irrespective of my feelings, she was happy to
turn the screw if it resulted in her own personal gain. I confided in John and
naturally he was furious, telling me I was ridiculous for ever having conceived
of the idea when we were so close to Election Day.

Unable to concentrate on mending a broken heart as well as the
actions necessary to manage Madeline’s requests, I left it all to John. He
talked to her and together they worked out a deal where she would leave my
employment and move into a more senior position elsewhere in the party. In
return, she agreed to never mention the affair again and even signed an
official non-disclosure agreement to that effect.”

He walked to the window and looked out without seeing the rain
pouring down.

“I threw myself into my work and refused to acknowledge
anything or anyone that wasn’t intrinsically linked to my career and my
campaign. I know I was a complete bastard to everyone that I came into contact
with, but I didn’t care. I had no intention of ever opening myself up to that
kind of let-down again and it was the only way that I could be completely sure
that I was safeguarding myself.

When you came into my life, it was on the understanding that
you were a suitably qualified replacement that would join the team and get us
across the finishing line. What I never expected was to feel the way I do about
you, to be so caught up in your charm, your personality and your beauty. I’m
not a womanizer or a playboy who gets his kicks out of bedding any available
woman that works for him. I know it might look that way, but I really am
genuine and sincere. Perhaps I wear my heart on my sleeve a little too much and
disguise the fact by hiding behind a façade of bullshit and fluster, but what I
felt…feel for you is completely genuine.”

He turned back to her, pleading with his eyes that she would
believe him.

“That night in Memphis was amazing and every bit as incredible
for me as it was for you. I told John that I don’t want you to go. I told him
that when I’m with you I come alive and nothing else matters and I meant it. I
just hope that I haven’t fucked it all up by not being completely honest with
you.”

Charlotte was awash with conflicting emotions and had no idea
what she was going to do. On the one hand, she desperately wanted to believe
that the man that had so entranced her and made her feel things that no other
man ever had, was genuine and honest and that he had merely made a few mistakes
along the way.

After all, who hadn’t made mistakes, the only difference was
that he was in such an elevated position that even the smallest discrepancy was
pounced upon and scrutinized to within an inch of its life. On the other hand,
he had lied to her. Even if he hadn’t exactly lied, he hadn’t been completely
honest. What if what he had just said to her was just the latest in another
carefully constructed and expertly delivered speech?

“I need to be alone Senator,” she said quietly. “I’m going home
and I’m going to decide exactly what I want to do and how I really feel about
you.”

Goulding looked utterly crest-fallen.

“But Charlie, how will I…”

“Miss Turner, if you don’t mind, Senator,” she said firmly.
“Until I decide exactly how I feel, I think that it’s probably best to keep
this strictly professional. I’m going to go home now and I don’t want you to
contact me. If I’m not here on Friday morning, ready for the visit to
Mississippi, you’ll have my answer. I heard everything that you had to say. At
the moment, the only thing preventing me from telling you where to stick your
job and your emotions is the sincerity I thought I heard in your voice. Don’t
spoil that impression now with pleas and bullshit.”

Unable to say anything, Goulding merely watched her collect her
belongings and leave the hushed office. Almost before he had reluctantly closed
his office door, the ping of emails landing in inbox’ began as the election
team considered the latest in a string of events that had made this a very
interesting day indeed.
    

* * *

The rest of the afternoon dragged by with
monotonous regularity.
Despite being snowed under with paperwork and the
responsibilities of a Senator and a presidential candidate, Goulding couldn’t
concentrate on anything other than the conversation that he had recently had
with Charlotte. Yet again he had been found out, but what was it that made this
any different from the countless other times that he had been left to manage a
disaster of his own making? What was so special about this woman that he would
willingly risk it all merely to spend another day at her side?

He couldn’t find a rational reason for his apparent devotion to
the reclusive blond that had so recently come in to his life. Yet again, he
couldn’t merely cast her aside as he had done with so many others before her.
Charlotte was special, of that he had no doubt and he would do everything in
his power to protect what they had…assuming that he hadn’t already fucked it up
beyond all reasonable chance of repair.
 

Lost in a daydream, Goulding realized that his eyes had yet
again drifted to the antique carriage clock on his desk as they had done so at
least a dozen times in the past half an hour. He groaned, scarcely believing
that time could tick by so slowly and actually checked the mechanism to make
sure that that it hadn’t merely wound down and stood dormant. It hadn’t and the
attractive clock face proudly displayed nineteen minutes past four as if it was
deliberately taunting the Senator, willing him to find a fault that simply
wasn’t there.

“Fuck it,” said Goulding, shutting his laptop and getting to
his feet. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing while she slips away. If she doesn’t
want me, then so be it. But I’m not about to give her up without a fight.”

With the decision made, he marched into the main office and was
greeted by the meercat-esque sight of a dozen heads popping up from their
computers and workstations.

“Finish what you’re doing ladies and gentlemen and then get
yourselves home. It’s been a tough day all round and you deserve to finish a
bit early for once. We’ve all put in a hell of a lot of late nights lately and
it’s about time I cut you a little slack.”

Bemused faces carried on staring as if awaiting a punch line
that would never come, but eventually they realized that he was being serious.
The musical punctuation of a dozen computers being shut down filled the air. No
one really knew what the hell was going on with the Senator at the minute, but
they weren’t about to look this particular gift horse in the mouth! With a man
like Goulding, it paid to take any positive that presented itself as soon as possible,
no questions asked. Within five minutes the office was empty of everyone except
for Goulding himself.