huge sigh.
"This is crazy."
Mike smiled as he eased himself into the chair next to her. He
handed her a plastic cup filled with water from the room sink. "Maybe now
we're finally free for a while"
"I hope so. I never had reason to think about how precious
it is to simply feel secure."
Kathy stretched out in the chair, slouching and getting as
close to horizontal as possible. The comfort looked pretty good to Mike – he
stood up, pulled the tie out of his collar and shrugged his way out of his suit
coat.
Once he sat down, he spoke. "My staff is probably
wondering what the heck happened this afternoon in my office, but since they're
all on the team, hopefully they won't talk to the press." He harrumphed
ruefully. "After all, if I go down, several other budding political
careers will end along with mine. But they're all good people and good team
players, so I figure they won't try too hard to hurt me."
Kathy straightened up a bit on the chair. "Is it really
like that?" she asked. "Is every single move you make a potential
scandal?"
Mike shrugged. "Stuff about me winds up in the papers or
on the blogs back home. That’s just the way things work. The wrong rumor would
dramatically affect the re-election campaign. This is political life. This is
how you learn to think."
"Seriously, Mike, I don't know how you live like that. I
guess I never thought about it, but the idea of every little thing I do being
fodder for reporters isn't a positive one for me."
"I control it. I keep a tight leash on information about
myself. You have to."
"So you keep asking me out. Is that going to be a
headline? Congressman dating coed?"
Mike blushed and looked away. "Coed sounds so … well… I
don’t think there’s anything wrong with a single guy wanting to get to know a
woman better."
She gave him a smile. "The past couple of days qualifies
as getting to know someone better."
"Not exactly the way I wanted it to happen," Mike
replied, grinning. "We never did get that cup of coffee I wanted."
She laughed. "We could go out and get one."
They settled for sending for room service, and opted for a
bottle of wine instead of coffee, since both had hopes of eventually getting some
sleep. When the bottle came, Michael looked over his glass at Kathy and said,
"Confusion to our enemies."
"I’ll drink to that," Kathy replied, and drank much
more than a dignified sip.
"So let me ask you a question. Why Georgetown? I’d think
that for acting and performing classes you’d go somewhere in New York or
LA."
Kathy sighed. "I wanted to. But my Mom was pretty set on
me coming here. Most of my family are seriously into being Catholic, and they
like to come here to school. Every discussion of college was always accompanied
by her saying something about ‘what your father would have wanted.’"
"You father’s…"
"Dead. He died when I was very young, I never even knew
him. But boy oh boy has he managed to be an influence."
Mike didn’t know what to say. He settled for, "An
influence on you? Or your mom?"
Kathy shrugged. "Both. Dad was super into church
activities, and when he died Mom carried that on. Fundraisers for the hospital,
on the board for the private school, etc.
"It's probably not surprising that an 18-year-old kid from
a home like that became a rebel when she got to college."
Kathy looked away. When she spoke again, she was staring at the
wall. "But I was stupid about it. I really did a lot of stuff I wish had
never happened. My freshman year… well, regret is too weak a word. You ever
wonder how John and I got to be friends? It's not because he's a bouncer and
I'm a waitress. We met when both of us were a lot more messed up. He started
trying to get himself cleaned up, got a real world job at the Neon, and then
got me one too."
She looked back at Mike and smiled. "That's when I learned
that God isn't about buildings or events. God is about second chances. God is
about forgiveness."
Before Mike could even start to reply to that,
"This is crazy."
Mike smiled as he eased himself into the chair next to her. He
handed her a plastic cup filled with water from the room sink. "Maybe now
we're finally free for a while"
"I hope so. I never had reason to think about how precious
it is to simply feel secure."
Kathy stretched out in the chair, slouching and getting as
close to horizontal as possible. The comfort looked pretty good to Mike – he
stood up, pulled the tie out of his collar and shrugged his way out of his suit
coat.
Once he sat down, he spoke. "My staff is probably
wondering what the heck happened this afternoon in my office, but since they're
all on the team, hopefully they won't talk to the press." He harrumphed
ruefully. "After all, if I go down, several other budding political
careers will end along with mine. But they're all good people and good team
players, so I figure they won't try too hard to hurt me."
Kathy straightened up a bit on the chair. "Is it really
like that?" she asked. "Is every single move you make a potential
scandal?"
Mike shrugged. "Stuff about me winds up in the papers or
on the blogs back home. That’s just the way things work. The wrong rumor would
dramatically affect the re-election campaign. This is political life. This is
how you learn to think."
"Seriously, Mike, I don't know how you live like that. I
guess I never thought about it, but the idea of every little thing I do being
fodder for reporters isn't a positive one for me."
"I control it. I keep a tight leash on information about
myself. You have to."
"So you keep asking me out. Is that going to be a
headline? Congressman dating coed?"
Mike blushed and looked away. "Coed sounds so … well… I
don’t think there’s anything wrong with a single guy wanting to get to know a
woman better."
She gave him a smile. "The past couple of days qualifies
as getting to know someone better."
"Not exactly the way I wanted it to happen," Mike
replied, grinning. "We never did get that cup of coffee I wanted."
She laughed. "We could go out and get one."
They settled for sending for room service, and opted for a
bottle of wine instead of coffee, since both had hopes of eventually getting some
sleep. When the bottle came, Michael looked over his glass at Kathy and said,
"Confusion to our enemies."
"I’ll drink to that," Kathy replied, and drank much
more than a dignified sip.
"So let me ask you a question. Why Georgetown? I’d think
that for acting and performing classes you’d go somewhere in New York or
LA."
Kathy sighed. "I wanted to. But my Mom was pretty set on
me coming here. Most of my family are seriously into being Catholic, and they
like to come here to school. Every discussion of college was always accompanied
by her saying something about ‘what your father would have wanted.’"
"You father’s…"
"Dead. He died when I was very young, I never even knew
him. But boy oh boy has he managed to be an influence."
Mike didn’t know what to say. He settled for, "An
influence on you? Or your mom?"
Kathy shrugged. "Both. Dad was super into church
activities, and when he died Mom carried that on. Fundraisers for the hospital,
on the board for the private school, etc.
"It's probably not surprising that an 18-year-old kid from
a home like that became a rebel when she got to college."
Kathy looked away. When she spoke again, she was staring at the
wall. "But I was stupid about it. I really did a lot of stuff I wish had
never happened. My freshman year… well, regret is too weak a word. You ever
wonder how John and I got to be friends? It's not because he's a bouncer and
I'm a waitress. We met when both of us were a lot more messed up. He started
trying to get himself cleaned up, got a real world job at the Neon, and then
got me one too."
She looked back at Mike and smiled. "That's when I learned
that God isn't about buildings or events. God is about second chances. God is
about forgiveness."
Before Mike could even start to reply to that,
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