Page 109 of Power
I stand and begin to pace in the living room. “This is never going to go away, is it?”
May smiles sympathetically. “You’re going to have to face this eventually, because there won’t be a corner of the world where you can hide. Besides, do you really want to?”
“All I want is for everyone to forget my name, and leave Emily and me alone.”
May shakes her head. “I’m afraid that ship has sailed, my dear Reece. Bennett Adams is a widower, young, very easy on the eyes, and a damn good president. He’s a hot topic for so many reasons.”
I walk over and kneel in front of May. “Do you think this’ll hurt his chances of being reelected?”
May tenderly cups my cheek and gently runs her thumb across my skin. She drops it and sighs. “All I know is you’re a good person, and that buffoon needs to get his priorities straight and come after you.”
I grasp her hand in both of mine and softly squeeze. “Well, I don’t know. It’s not like we can be together.”
“Why? Because you’re an escort?” I nod slowly. “That’s a load of bullshit if I ever heard any. If you love each other, this whole presidency thing is merely a temporary obstacle.”
“That everyone has an opinion on.”
May pushes up and reaches for her cane. “Pffft.” She waves her cane at me. “I never would’ve taken you as someone so concerned by anyone’s judgement.”
“I’m not,” I say in a small voice. “But I have to remember, it’s not only about me.” I look down the hallway, gesturing toward Emily. “I don’t know what to do.” I feel the start of a tension headache creeping up. “Would it be okay with you if I head back down to the retreat and crawl into bed...forever?” I whisper the last part.
“Emily can stay here for as long as you like. She can sleep here through the night, though I do believe she’ll be awake reading to all hours.”
“Probably.” I lean down and give May a small kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”
She flicks her hand at me. “Go, and don’t worry about Emily. She’s in good hands. I’m sure Hope will pop around, she’ll feed her sugar and bourbon.”
“Bourbon?” I ask. May smirks and nods. “As long as it’s top-shelf, and not that cheap nasty stuff.”
“Only the best for us,” May calls and adds a chuckle.
I walk down to the room to find Emily completely engrossed in Little Women. “Emily, I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to go back and take a nap. Are you okay to stay here with May?”
Emily jumps to her feet and carefully places the book on the bed. “Are you okay, Mommy? Do you want me to look after you?”
I wrap her in a warm hug and kiss the top of her head. “I’ve got a headache coming on, that’s all. I’m going to have a shower and try to sleep it off.”
Emily tightens her arms around me. “I’ll stay here.”
“If you need anything, either ask May, or come down.”
“Okay.” She breaks the hug first and turns back to the bed. Eagerly, Emily picks the book up and resumes her reading.
I walk out to find May has thankfully switched off that awful interview with my mother. “Emily’s engrossed in Little Women.”
“She’s perfectly safe here,” May says, easing my worry.
“Thank you.” I leave May’s and head back to the retreat.
I’m not sure I can handle too much more of this.
Who am I kidding? I have no choice but to handle whatever is thrown at me.
