"Tell her I'm busy," I say, shaking my head, "I'm not taking any calls from Vivian right now, and that's final."

I turn to look at my Press Secretary, Michele Von Cannon with her curly hair bouncing back and forth, exposing her emotions. They stare at me blankly before Michele decides to break the silence.

"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."

The reporter asks again, "But if you cared so much about the people, you should care about their jobs, shouldn't you?"

"There will be other jobs," I assure the reporter. "The bottom line is that laws are set in place for our protection."

There are few inaudible mumblings and I continue, "What is law needs to be respected and followed. How do you suppose the world would operate if everyone viewed themselves as rogue cowboys? Well, I'll tell you. It would be chaos. Legislation shields us from that pandemonium. And the environmental legislation was set up to protect not just the current citizens of New Kingston, but all of the people of this state. Because of this undying belief, Mayor Jeffries' factories will not be built."

Just then a voice interrupts me. "That's not the deal we had."

Now everyone is talking and the room is in disarray. Liam Jeffries is approaching the podium and he continues, "Why don't you tell everyone what's really going on?"

There are audible gasps coming from the audience. The room is now filled with shocked faces, mouths opening and closing like fish caught on a line. What the fuck is Liam doing here? It figures that he'd come here and try to steal the publicity.

"You talk a big game, Mayor," I snap. "It's just too bad that you don't give a shit about this city."

Liam throws his arms up in the air in an exaggerated pose. "Oh come on, Carter. Is that the best you've got? It's amazing how quickly you change face. Publically, you tout the law, but behind closed doors?" He pauses and looks around the audience for emphasis and addresses them now. "Behind closed doors, Governor Andrews was making deals with myself and Senator Hawthorne."

More gasps erupt from the audience. One reporter chimes in, "Governor, is this true?"

"Of course it's true," Liam responds before I can even speak. "Governor Andrews was making deals well before he decided to sabotage me here, in front of all of you."

"Ridiculous!" I shout. Enough is enough. Liam's had his say, and now I'm going to shut him up for good.

"For all of your altruistic talk," I say into the microphone, "You're one of the most anti-humanitarian people I've ever encountered. Here you are, poised to ruin our city with smog and toxic run off, ultimately bringing more harm than good to the people of New Kingston."

With that, Liam's entire body language changes and he charges the podium, running at me full speed. One security guard steps in front of him. "I can't let you go beyond this point," he says, waving one hand up. Liam slaps his hand out of the way and proceeds. A second security guard places his body in front of him, and Liam pushes him. The security guard stumbles back, tripping under his own weight, and just as Liam approaches me, a third security guard gets in between us. "Sir, I have to ask you to step back," the security guard commands. "Step away from the podium."

The guard looks intimidating. His neck is as thick as a fire hydrant, but Liam doesn't give a shit. He barrels through him and gets right in my face. I can practically feel his breath on me.

"Fuck you Carter," he says. Before I can react, he cocks his arms back and releases it into my face, which is the last thing I'm expecting. His fist smashes into my left eye; it leaves a white-hot searing pain, and while I'm shocked, my immediate reaction is to kick his ass. Fuck him. If he thinks he can storm in here and push me around, he's mistaken. Enough is enough.

I don't say another word and I reach back. Now I have momentum and I hit him in his jaw. Maybe that'll shut him up, I think. But he's furious and it only spurs him on. He tries to hit me again, and I dodge him, swinging at him another time, and then another. I feel like I can't stop for a moment. Before I know it, we are a tornado of arms and legs, swirling around the podium. I feel a seam in my coat rip, and that only pisses me off more.

As we are tumbling—knees and elbows hitting the floor—our bodies bump into the podium and it topples into the audience with a crash of the wood against hard floor. You can hear the static of the microphone pop and give off a squeal of static feedback. I vaguely hear some people scream, but my focus is on Liam. Every muscle fiber is poised to take him down. My pulse is racing and my entire body feels like it’s on fire, from the anger coursing through my veins, to the thumping pulse in my temple.

"Admit it," I say, through gritted teeth.

"Admit what?" Liam asks. "Admit that you're going to fucking lose this battle?"

"No, admit that you and Vivian were conspiring against me!" I yell, swinging for him again and connecting with his shoulder.

"Ha! Is that what you think, Carter?" Liam snaps. "You're the one with conspiracies. Why are you making things so much harder than they need to be?"

Just then, two police officers jump on the stage.

"Break it up," one officer says, spreading his arms between Liam and I. "Step away from each other!"

We're still breathing heavy, but we've stopped fighting. Another officer steps behind Liam and places his arms in handcuffs.

"We're taking you in," the officer commands.

I step back and brush the hair from my eyes. Liam looks at me with a gaze that flashes pure anger.

"Not this again," Liam mutters, lifting his gaze to the ceiling. He turns to me and asks, "When will you learn, Carter?"

As I watch the officer escort him out of the building I wonder, learn what?