Chapter 6
"I didn't know that you were still here," Sheila said frostily.
Priscilla opened the door wide and escorted her into the living room. Sheila gave Bob a hug.
"I'm so sorry about Maggie," she said.
"I know Sheila and I thank you. I've decided to go back to work tomorrow. I'm going crazy just sitting around here thinking."
She looked at Priscilla, "Could I talk to Bob privately?"
Priscilla started to leave the room, "That's Ok Sheila. She can stay. She's been a great help to me the past few days."
A strange look came to Sheila's face but she continued, "I've been talking to the International Energy Alliance for a while now and they've offered me a position as a lobbyist. It's a real nice increase in pay and a lot of travel, which I like and..."
"That's Ok Sheila, I understand. I'm probably a dead man in the Senate now anyway."
Sheila leaned forward in her chair, "No Bob, it's not like that. I've been talking to them for quite a while now. I've turned them down a couple of times. This time they said it's the last offer. It's a great opportunity. The money is great and I get a car and an expense allowance and the retirement plan is one of the best in Washington."
Sheila left out the part of her spending a few weekends on the French Riviera with the Chairman of the Alliance. She also left out the part that the President played in getting her the job.
He knew that she wasn't telling him the whole truth, "When will you be leaving?"
"They'd like me to start as soon as possible, but I told them that I'd have to stay on until you found a replacement."
"The Senate recesses in a few days. I probably won't need you for the short time we have left. It's Ok with me if you need to leave right away. I doubt that I'll be re-elected next time. You'd be out of a job in three years anyway."
"Thanks Bob. I really appreciate your understanding. This is too good an opportunity to pass up. If it's Ok with you then, I'll clean out my office and start my new position next week."
They continued to talk for a few minutes and Bob saw that she was getting antsy to leave. He stood up and told her that he wanted to lay down for a while. She shook his hand and thanked him for all he had done for her and left the room without saying a word to Priscilla.
After Sheila had closed the door behind her, Priscilla snorted, "Barracuda."
"That's Ok, she just saw the hand-writing on the wall."
Priscilla got a concerned look on her face, "What now? There's a lot of important legislation coming up in the next session. You're going to need a Chief-Of-Staff."
Bob paused for a minute, "What about you? Would you take the job? You'll be out of work in three years even if you stay as my secretary."
She started to shake her head, "No be serious. I'm not qualified for that job."
"Like hell you're not. I've seen what goes on in that office; you're the driving force in that office. Sure you're qualified. There's healthy raise that comes along with the added responsibility. All you have to do is convince everybody that I'm never wrong and keep the people away from me that I don't want to see."
"I don't think that the other Senators and aids would take me serious, Bob."
"That's your job to make them take you serious. Even I had to prove myself in the Senate. Just walk into the job and let everyone know that you're in charge and if they don't like it to step outside. Now, end of discussion. I'm going to announce tomorrow that you're my new Chief-Of-Staff. Now I won't have to keep watching my back."
"Sheila was an ambitious bitch, wasn't she?" Priscilla grinned.
"Let's go into my office and go over what still needs to be done in this session. So that you can hit the ground running tomorrow. By the way, I did tell you that this isn't a nine to five job didn't I?'
They began to go over the bills that still had a chance for passage and what would need to happen for them to come to a vote. When they got to the Amendment she became quiet and just listened as he talked.
""What's wrong?" he asked.
"This Amendment bothers me. It just doesn't sound right."
"We don't have to worry about this one. The votes are already there. I couldn't stop it if I wanted to. When this is ratified by the states it will give the President the power to push through all of the programs that he has been proposing. This Amendment will propel this country into the twenty-first century. The world is getting so complex that we need intelligent voters."
"Aren't a lot of people going to lose their right to vote?" she asked.
"I haven't seen any figures on it, but I guess some people will."
I just don't think we should be able to take the right to vote away from people. They're taxpayers, they deserve the right to vote."
"Like I said, we couldn't stop this if we tried."
They continued talking and Bob discussed the various people that she would be working with, their likes, dislikes, idiosyncrasies, and importance or lack of importance. They stopped talking about ten o'clock.
Priscilla looked at her watch, "I have to get home and get ready for tomorrow."
"Why don't you stay tonight and leave early in the morning?"
"No, I think that I need some time to think about this job you've dumped on me."
"Don't go worrying about the job. You'll do fine."
She gathered up the things that she had brought over to the house and started for the door. When she got to the door Bob put his hand on her arm and took the suitcase out of her hand. He pulled her to him and kissed her softly on the lips. They held each other for a while in silence.
"Priscilla, I want to thank you for all you've done for me. I'll never be able to repay you. Stick with me for a while and let's see just what happens to us."
She quickly kissed him and opened the door and walked to her car.
On the way home she began to think about all that had happened the past few days. Although he didn't seem to know it, she had fallen in love with him almost as soon as she started working in his office. She knew that there was no chance to have him for herself, as he was married. She knew the realities of politics. The electorate would not put up with him divorcing his wife and marrying a younger woman.
She sensed that something had happened between them since Maggie's murder but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was too much to expect that he could ever love her, so she would take whatever piece of him that was available to her.
She parked her car in the underground parking garage and walked up to her apartment. As she put her key in the door she heard the phone ringing. After she had the door open she ran to answer the phone.
""Hello," she said breathlessly.
"I just wanted to tell again you how much I appreciate your help."
She grinned, "That's Ok. I was glad that I was able to help."
"The house seems so empty tonight. I wish you'd have stayed."
"You'll be Ok Bob. I got to go. I've got a big day tomorrow."
He said goodbye and they hung up the phone. She clasped her hands together and held them in front of her mouth to hide the wide grin she had on her face.
"He misses me." she said to the room.
She closed the door to her apartment and started to lay out her
clothes for the big day tomorrow. She resolved to herself to do
everything in her power to help him become the best Senator in history.
She took off her clothes and crawled into bed naked and was soon asleep
with a smile on her face.