Obsession, Deceit and Really Dark Chocolate by Kyra Davis

We’re all very casual here.”
    I nodded and tried to pretend to be okay with Anatoly’s latest little maneuver. I looked around the rest of the office and examined the other occupants. People were definitely dressed more casually than they were at Fitzgerald’s camp. However, they did seem more frazzled if that counted for anything. Dark circles seemed to be in vogue and everyone had a phone glued to their ear and a keyboard under their fingers (except for a few who were writing the old-fashioned way).
    Anne was the only one of the lot who looked at all collected. Her blue suit was neatly pressed and managed to f latter her fit figure without being too clingy or in any way risqué. Her hair was done in a perfect French twist, and the pearl-and-sapphire drop earrings matched her bracelet. I suspected that she had the same dark circles as the rest of her team but she was much more adept at covering them up. She led us through two adjoining rooms (all filled with workers) and then into a private small conference area. She gestured for Anatoly and me to take a seat in two padded folding chairs and then pulled up a much more inviting-looking office chair for herself.
    “So you’re here for Tikkun, ” Anne said. She chose to sit next to me rather than across the table, thus sandwiching me between her and Anatoly. The move was probably intended to reinforce her I’m-just-one-of-the-people image but it made me a bit uncomfortable. “I love that magazine.” She gave me a curious look. “Are you Israeli? Sephardic, right? I find the Sephardic traditions to be so beautiful. Very spiritual. I once visited a kibbutz.”
    “I’m not Sephardic,” I interrupted. “My mother’s family is Ashkenazic of Eastern European decent. I owe my dark skin to my father, who was African-American.”
    “What a wonderful combination!” Anne said, clearly happy with this information. “I always like to point out to people that if we were truly an integrated society we would all be multiracial.”
    Yes, that’s why my parents slept together, they were trying to improve society. But I kept my sarcasm to myself and instead tried to redirect the conversation. “Actually,” I said slowly, “I was more interested in how your campaign works. You see—”
    “The campaign Fitzgerald has been running has been very negative, and it seems that this is a new trend among Republican candidates,” Anatoly said, totally cutting me off. “I think Tikkun is interested in hearing how Democratic candidates are handling the attacks and what they think of them. Isn’t that right, Sophie?”
    I glared at him.
    “Ah, the attacks.” Anne nodded her head solemnly. “Here’s the reason Fitzgerald is playing dirty—he doesn’t have anything positive to say about himself. He wants to keep all the focus on alleged, and frequently false, accounts of my past indiscretions. He thinks it’s his only chance of winning, but the voters see through it. That’s why I’m ahead in the polls.”
    According to yesterday’s Contra Costa Times she was ahead by four percentage points. It was that kind of lead that lost Al Gore the presidency.
    “I’ve read some of the transcripts from his speeches,” I said carefully, “and while he does talk a lot about the importance of character and high moral standards, he keeps most of the focus on himself. In the speech he made at the Antioch senior center last week he didn’t mention you at all.”
    “No, but he’s been more than happy to comment on my personal life when the press brings it up to him, ” she replied. “And how do you think the press got that information? I’ll tell you how. It’s been leaked from his camp. He won’t admit to it but it’s common knowledge that he hired someone whose only duty was to tarnish my reputation!”
    “Do you know specifically who in his camp has been investigating you?” Anatoly asked.
    “It was Eugene O’Reilly. You’ve probably heard of him, he was killed in a