Strangers in the Night (4 page)

“Forget
She Said, She Said
,” Tyrone intervened. “There are a few other specific things we think you can do to turn this around. One, you should fly solo from now on; the social media will grab onto that right away. When they ask you why, just say you’re tired of dating just
anyone
and that you’re too busy to look for that special someone because you’re married to the city.”

Jake nodded. He could do that, and it wouldn’t be a lie. He
was
tired of dating, he
did
plan on being married to the city, and if he had his way, he’d be too busy to find that ‘special someone’ for the rest of his life. “What else?”

“Two,” Cate jumped in. “We need to get a reporter to take pictures of you with the kids you play touch football with every day. Someone to ask those kids what you’re really like and how they feel about you.”

“You know I don’t want those kids to feel like they’re being used.”

“They
know
you, Jake, and they’ll understand — I’ll bet anything they’re all dying to talk about you and let the world know who you really are.”

Tyrone made a good point and Jake stifled a sigh. The kids would have a blast showing off. “I’ll think about it. Number three?” He looked up, and zeroed in on Cate.

“Right now you need advisors in two key areas. You should validate the communities you’re struggling in most by hiring people from within them,” Cate said.

He could do that. Jake needed someone with extensive business expertise to help him find ways to attract and retain small businesses and people to advise him on enhancing sports and music programs in the public school system.

“Let’s get to work then, and see if we can turn these numbers around.” He looked at his watch. Cate had scheduled an informal Q&A session with reporters, but that wasn’t for another two hours, and he wanted to play a little football or basketball, blow off a little steam.

“At least your looks are working for you,” Cate smiled, watching him. “Women twenty-four to forty-four absolutely adore you.” Jake smiled, not quite innocently, as he turned to leave. Tyrone rolled his eyes.

“Listen, Jake, before you go, I’d like you to block out half an hour sometime this week to meet a friend of mine, Keila Diaz. She’s a violinist with a master’s degree in music education, she helped successfully expand a music program in Pittsburgh, she just moved back to Chicago, she’s a third generation
Hispanic
Chicagoan from Belmont, with lots of family in Humboldt and Bridgeport, and spread throughout the city,” Cate’s voice was full of enthusiasm.

“Wait, I thought we were going to hire Julia Hamilton for that position. Her family is well-known, musically speaking, and that’ll bring attention and support to the program,” Jake reminded her.

“Julia Hamilton?” Cate repeated, her lips tightening into a thin frown.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Tyrone came up beside her.

“Didn’t you hear my friend’s qualifications? My friend is tailor-made for this. What does Julia Hamilton know about the public school system? She shouldn’t be hired just because her family is well known, that’s exactly the type of thing the voters are tired of. Like the voters you’re having trouble with, my friend comes from a working middle class background. Her mother is a teacher and her father was a police officer, killed in the line of duty.”

“Calm down, she sounds great,” Jake spoke up, knowing all too well how worked up Cate could become. “I promise I’ll give her serious consideration. Just have her come in as soon as possible so we can settle this. You know my schedule.”

“Fine, I’ll have her here as soon as possible.” Cate spoke under her breath as she walked briskly across the room, picked up her purse, and fished out her cell phone.

Keila enjoyed the ride on the L train that day, even though it was nearly an hour long and she had to switch lines at the Loop. Time flew as the train rumbled its way down to Chicago’s South Side. She leaned her head against the window, her face inches away from apartment dwellers and shopkeepers in some parts, and old, architectural details in others. She was so happy to be home.

Colorful ethnic enclaves she hadn’t been to in years passed before her, and her mouth watered as she remembered favorite dishes at some of those neighborhood dives.

At 1:15
P.M.
, she got off just a few blocks away from mayoral candidate Jake Kelly’s campaign headquarters. Septembers in Chicago were usually mild, but it had rained the night before and that day was particularly humid. Keila smoothed down the front of her hunter green pencil skirt and aired her blouse before beginning to walk, teetering a bit on the uneven cement sidewalk because she was wearing three inch heels; the only shoes she could find in a last minute search through her still-packed boxes.

It was Friday and she’d only just gotten back last night. But Cate had called to tell her that though the contract position as an advisor to Jake Kelly’s campaign was still available, she had better get her butt down to his headquarters because they were also considering, of all people, Julia Hamilton, for the very same reasons that Julia had been chosen over Keila last time they’d been up against each other.

Julia had her strengths, but Keila knew she was infinitely more qualified for this particular position than Julia. As she walked, she silently reviewed the material Cate had emailed her, feeling confident and pleased that she just might get the chance to help kids have better access to music education.

Then, a car swished by, spraying the dirty remnants of last night’s rain on Keila’s ivory blouse. She stopped, softly squealed, and hung her arms out in front of her. Closing her eyes and slowly letting out a breath, she slid the strap of her purse in front of her shirt, effectively hiding the damage, and marched on.

• • •

It was 1:20
P.M.
and Jake was back in his office. “Okay, Cate, do your thing.”

Cate reached up and deftly fixed his blond hair with her fingers. Jake had the habit of running his hands through his hair whenever he was reading, had an idea, or was deep in thought, and it happened often enough that his closely cropped, military-like haircut usually ended up spiking out in all directions. To the world, though, he was always impeccable. And he wanted to keep it that way, even though Cate argued that his messy hair humanized him.

“Listen Jake, I called my friend and — ” Cate began, but Tyrone walked through the door and at the same time said, “Jake, a few more things. Try to be more informal with the press, okay? Sit down with them — don’t stand behind the podium all the time, you’re not the mayor yet. Also, try and throw in a joke or two.”

“He’s right. Don’t treat them like the enemy when they can be your best ally, too. Be more accessible. In fact, go in alone,” Cate added.

She then proceeded to mess his hair up again. Jake breathed in, held the air for a moment, and let it out, deciding he had to learn to put more trust in his team.

By the time he entered the makeshift press room, his suit jacket was off, and his sleeves were rolled up, both courtesy of Cate. Glancing around, he saw there were two reporters from the
Tribune
, two from the
Sun-Times
, and one reporter each from two local TV stations.

He smiled and greeted each with a handshake. Instead of positioning himself behind the old podium up front, he pulled an empty chair out and sat down in front of them, joining in on their Cubs conversation, grateful they’d been talking about the Cubs.

Any worthy Chicagoan could talk Cubs.

As the sports conversation wound down and he waited for the reporters to gather their notebooks and recorders, he shifted his focus toward the end of the room where a gleam of light coming from the double doors caught his attention. He then quickly did a double take.

It was
her
. His pin-up girl. The one who’d been invading his thoughts, on and off, for the past two months. Hell, she’d even made her way into one unforgettable erotic dream, swaying and dancing for him.

Except now she was
here
: in his campaign headquarters, leaning over, fixing the strap on one of her heels, her hair half covering her face.

He looked away and took a moment to recover, feeling things he had no interest in feeling, all over again, the first of which was shock.

What the hell was she doing there?

His first thought was that she was a reporter, but that didn’t make sense. He distinctly remembered she was from out of town, and though Chicago was the third largest city in the U.S., a small press conference wasn’t news-worthy elsewhere.

His next thought horrified him. Was she a psycho stalker who’d spent the last two months hunting him down?

But the moment she straightened and looked his away, he dispelled that ego-stroking notion. She was every bit as shocked as he’d been, and, unlike him, she wasn’t hiding it. Her head tilted, her finger shot out, and she gaped. Jake schooled his expression into one of complete apathy and glanced at her as if he hadn’t recognized her.

The last thing he needed was this type of distraction. And at that moment, he was hit with the first difficult question of the day:

“How do you propose to offset rising fuel and energy costs in our public transportation system?”

But with the young woman standing at the door disturbing his ability to formulate thoughts, he decided to find out what she was doing there before answering. “Just a moment,” he said to the reporter, turning to the door. “Can I help you?” he then asked in a detached tone.

When she didn’t answer, he took in her dark green skirt and the purse strap resembling a sash across the front of her shirt. Grinning, he took the opportunity to joke around, as Tyrone had suggested, “Are you looking for your Girl Scout leader or are you here to sell cookies?”

• • •

Keila opened the door and stepped inside just as the back strap of her heel slid down. She quickly fixed it and got up, prepared to smile and ask a few people gathered around for Cate Nowak.

But the pair of eyes she met gave her such a jolt, she remained frozen on the spot, her mouth open, the words she was about to speak gone. It was
him
; her sexy stranger. But his eyes skimmed over her, empty of even the smallest glimmer of recognition. She shut her mouth, feeling an icy knot form in her chest, stung that he didn’t recognize her when he’d left such an impression.

Slowly gathering her wits, she looked about the room, taking in the details. Someone directed a decent question about the public transportation system her stranger’s way, and she realized there were reporters there. Cate had mentioned that she’d be meeting with Jake Kelly
after
a press conference. And that’s when it hit her.

Her sexy stranger was
Jake Kelly
. He turned her way again, and asked if he could help her, in a tone that implied she was interrupting. Her thoughts still running wild, she was about to just ask for Cate when he joked, “Are you looking for your Girl Scout leader or are you here to sell cookies?”

Everyone in the room turned to her and laughed. The icy knot in her chest slowly turned into a ball of fire. It wasn’t that he’d forgotten her. It wasn’t that he was making fun of her clothes, though any idiot knew not to mess with a woman’s outfit. It was that life had thrown her one curve ball too many lately and she needed a break. The ball of fire in her chest spread, and she struggled to contain it. She needed the money and she really hoped Jake Kelly was someone she could work for.

Shooting everyone a warm smile, she said, “Actually, the person I’m looking for doesn’t appear to be here.
But
, as someone who uses public transportation as their only means of getting around, I’d
love
to hear your answer to the question of how you plan on offsetting fuel costs.”

“One way around it is cutting the frequent user discount. There will still be a discount, but we’re going to have to lower it in order to keep up with rising fuel and energy costs. This will ensure Chicago Transit Authority covers their deficit, without having to recur to more government subsidies which ultimately come out of everyone’s pockets,” he explained, just as Cate and another man walked into the room.

Keila snapped. This man was obviously out of touch with normal everyday people
like her.
“You want to raise the cost of public transportation for frequent users?” she half-asked, half-accused. “If you do that, Mr. Kelly, I’ll hang a huge cardboard sign around my neck reading
Jake Kelly wants to raise the cost of public transportation for all of you
every single time I take the L or the bus, which is every day. Why don’t you raise taxes on the luxury car you surely drive, or on the premium gas you use to fill your tank? Why hit up those of us who can’t afford a car and are just trying to get to work to make a living? Honestly, Mr. Kelly, if I’d known
this
is what you were about, I never would’ve agreed to see you,” Keila finished, and boy did she feel inexplicably good. This was something she could speak up about. All of her bottled up frustrations from the last week eased out of her system.

But one look at Cate made her realize she’d also hurt her friend. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so great. Cate was trying to help her and this is how she thanked her?

• • •

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned
. A moment ago, when she’d shot him that stunning smile, he’d thought her insanely pretty. But now, he thought her pretty insane. Hang a cardboard sign around her neck? Never would’ve agreed to see him? What the hell was she talking about? They’d never agreed to see each other again. He hadn’t even asked for her name.