***
The day of the Speaker of the House vote, Matthew was still at my apartment when we got up and went to work together. We had spent the entire previous day in bed together and lounging around my apartment like an old married couple. Our comfort level together had grown and the privacy my new apartment allowed us was perfect.
“Are you nervous?” I asked as we left the building to walk over to the Capital.
“Nope, he’s getting voted in for sure.”
The confidence in his voice was unwavering and I also became pretty positive that Senator Masson was going to win the position. Senator Masson and I hadn’t even spoken since the day we got intimate in his office and he stole Alex away from Matthew. I felt like there was so much more to the story but there was no way either Matthew or George were going to fill me in on anything.
“I’ll catch up to you later, I’ve got to run and grab office supplies from downstairs,” I said as we entered the building.
I knew Matthew didn’t like for us both to arrive at the same time and I didn’t want to push that aspect either. It was better for me to have the established distance at work too; but I was really happy that he wasn’t so grumpy and agitated the last few days. Work would be great if he was in the same kind of mood he had been during the weekend.
Matthew made his way to the main voting floor just in time to join the voting, although it was pretty obvious he wanted Senator Masson as the House Speaker. I hoped his plan would work and that the other Senators would feel the same way he did.
I visited with Renee from the copy room for a while and then grabbed our supplies and made my way back up to my office. As I walked in, everyone was around the television and watching the voting. Even though the office didn’t know why or how badly Matthew wanted George Masson to be the speaker; it was still an exciting moment in Washington politics.
“How are the votes coming?” I asked.
“Masson is going to get it for sure,” Steven said.
“Good, he’s a good man,” Sarah chimed in.
I wasn’t about to add my opinion one way or the other. I was just happy that the chaos would be over for a little bit and we could relax. Matthew could let Senator Masson do his new job and then Matthew could move forward with his plan to be in the White House someday.
“Did you hear that Vice President Howard hasn’t been heard of for a few days?” Sarah said over her shoulder at me.
“No? I just saw him at that White House dinner on Saturday. That’s really weird.”
“Yeah, I guess his wife said he never came home from the party.”
“Super weird. Maybe he’s off with his mistress or something,” I laughed.
Everyone laughed as well. It wasn’t very unusual at all that one of the Senators were getting in trouble with their mistresses, but it would be very weird to have the Vice President getting in the same kind of trouble.
We watched as the final votes came in and Senator Masson was voted in as the Senate Speaker of the House. He seemed really excited when he heard he had won and I instantly wondered why. If he really hadn’t wanted the position why would he be so excited when he got it?
As we all went back to work I continued to try and process what was going on with Matthew’s real plan. It was becoming more and more clear to me that he had a different agenda than he was letting me in on. It was fine with me, I didn’t need to know everything, but I wanted to know the end game and something about what was going on with Senator Masson did not feel right.
The office door swung open quickly and we all turned to look and see who it was coming in so fast. It was Matthew. He didn’t look at any of us and instead went straight to his office and slammed the door.
“What was that about?” I asked Steven.
“No idea, but I wouldn’t bother him.”
“I’m the assistant; I’m supposed to support him right? I’m supposed to be the one that helps out when things get crazy. I think I should go in.”
Steven just shook his head at me as I stood up and went into Matthew’s office.
“What’s up?” I said calmly as I shut the door behind me.
“Nothing,” Matthew said as he calmed down enough to look up at me. There was that old distant look again, but I didn’t want to believe it.
“Anything I can do to help?”
“Nope. Go ahead and get back to work.”
He wasn’t rude about it, but he was pretty dismissive. I had no idea what was going on, but it was clear that Matthew had no intention of letting me in on the secret at that moment anyways.
“So what’s up?” Steven asked as I returned to my desk.
“I’m not sure. He was flipping through his cell phone and didn’t seem interested in talking at all.”
The phone rang and as the secretary answered it I saw her stand up. Her face was pale and she looked back at me and motioned for me to come up there.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“It’s the President. He said for the Senator to get over to the White House right away.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know?” She answered.
“Is he still on the phone?” I asked as I pointed to the receiver in her hand.
“Oh, no,” she hung up the phone. “I just forgot to move after I talked to him. Do you want to tell him or should it?”
“Well, I guess I can tell him,” I reluctantly said as I turned to look at Matthews’s door. “It’s my job right?”