Matthew
Someone had been outside my home when I was making the deal. I couldn’t be sure what they had or had not heard. I really couldn’t be sure they were even trying to listen in on our conversation. It could have simply been a person walking by at the same time we were talking. But I had to take all the precautions that I could.
The stakes were getting higher and I was only a few steps away from becoming the next President of the United States. There were a lot of individual plans that needed to work out perfectly in order for me to make it to the Presidency. I wasn’t the only one involved, but I had to do my part and ensure my tasks were completed without fail.
I made my way over to Kayla’s house the next morning because we had to talk. Things were heating up and I needed to know if I could count on her. I had intended to go into the presidency as a single man. But the positive welcoming I had had over dating Kayla made me think that it might be better to lock her down before things got too crazy.
People hadn’t been as much of assholes as I thought they would be, but that was probably because Kayla actually had skills as my chief of staff. She knew a lot about Washington politics even if she had only learned those things in the few short months she had been there. Sometimes people were just naturally born politicians.
I wasn’t sure marriage was what I was looking for, but I simply needed to know if she was interested in sticking things out with me as a couple. It would help in my strategic planning.
Things between us had become so rigid and office like, I needed to get us back to the fun and carefree times. Or at the very least I needed to feel like Kayla and I were a team again. We certainly hadn’t felt very much like a team in the recent days.
“Coffee delivery,” I said as I waited for Kayla to come to her door.
When she opened the door, she held it tight and didn’t want to let me in. Kayla looked like she hadn’t slept all night long. Her appearance was shocking to me. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought she was up drinking all night long, but that wasn’t her thing.
“Hey,” Kayla said as she looked at the coffee.
“Hi, I brought coffee. Can we talk?”
“Um, I’m not really feeling well; can I just see you at work or something?” Kayla asked.
There was something wrong with Kayla, but I had no idea what was going on with her. She didn’t seem interested in talking to me or even looking at me. I filed through my memory of our day at the White House and tried to think of what it was I had done to make her feel like this. I really had no idea, when I had dropped her off at her house the night before she seemed alright. She certainly didn’t seem angry with me when I dropped her off.
“Kayla, I’m coming in. I’ve brought you coffee. We should talk,” I said as I pressed pass her and into the dining area of her kitchen.
She allowed me in, but she didn’t look like she wanted to talk very much. She looked angry, or sad, I didn’t really know which one it was. I sat the coffee down and took my coat off. I wasn’t leaving until I figured out what was going on.
“Thanks for the coffee, I’m still coming to work today, don’t worry.”
“Ok, well I was wondering if you wanted to go for wine and dinner later tonight. Does that sound good?”
Kayla hesitated and I saw her look toward her bedroom and then back toward me. For a moment, I thought that there was someone else in her room. Jealousy swarmed my body and I couldn’t resist getting up and taking a look around the apartment.
“What are you doing Matthew?” She asked as I walked into her bedroom and looked around. I even made sure to look in the closet, as I remembered all too well that I had been stuck in there naked before.
“What’s going on Kayla? Are you still afraid your apartment has been bugged? I hired a guy to go through the place and make sure it wasn’t. I’m very confident we can freely talk here.”
“You did what?” Kayla said as she suddenly stopped being quiet and decided to be angry.
There was no confusion at all about what emotion was going on, Kayla was pissed off. I knew that having someone come into her home and sweep for bugs might not have been the best choice I made. But I had hired him to do the office and my house and it seemed like a good idea to have him check Kayla’s apartment as well. I honestly had meant to tell her earlier, but it slipped my mind.
“I had the apartment swept for bugs and cameras. After the other day, I didn’t want us to feel so worried about it. I had both our places and the office searched.”
“Who gave you permission to come into my apartment?” She said with anger that filled her eyes.
“Well, you did. You gave me a key. Remember?”
I sat down on the couch and waited to see if Kayla was going to calm down. She was acting totally strange and not like herself at all. She seemed so angry with me. Angry over something that I thought would have helped put her at ease.
“I need to get ready for work now. Can you please go?” She said as she stood near the door.
“What the hell is going on? If I did something you are going to have to tell me what I did because I have no idea.”
“Nothing, I just need to get ready. Please leave.”
I obliged her and moved from the couch toward the door. I was going to lean in and kiss her on the cheek, but I could tell she didn’t want anything to do with me.
“Kayla,” I said as I stood in the doorway. “I wouldn’t do anything that would hurt you. Whatever you’re angry about I’d like to talk about it.”
She just stood there and looked away from me. Her arms were crossed and I could tell that nothing I was trying to say was getting through to her. Whatever had upset her wasn’t going to easily be gotten over.
“I’ll see you at work. I’m not angry. I just need to get ready,” Kayla said calmly.
Her words said she wasn’t angry, but I could tell there was something majorly wrong between the two of us. I needed to get it fixed and right away. She was the woman I wanted as my partner for the upcoming plans I had. But I relegated myself to the hallway and decided I could work on making things better between us when she got to work later that morning.
Kayla slammed the door behind me and I saw her body slide down and sit in front of the door. I went a few steps down the hall and waited to see if I could hear anything that would give me a clue as to what the hell was going on.
Then I heard Kayla’s sobs coming from under the door. She was sad. I hadn’t made her angry. I had made her sad. Now I really had no idea what I had done.