Writer's note: While based on real events, the sexual nature of this story is entirely fictional. Still, I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know if you do and I will continue the story with other members of the NUS' elected bodies.
I've fancied her for ages. Her smile, her strength and the way she can make the butterflies dance in your stomach just by touching your arm when she says hello. Yes, she was special – and normally way out of my league – but in April I managed to get lucky with Gemma Tumelty, then-President of Britain's National Union of Students (NUS).
It was April and I'd been elected as a representative to NUS' Annual Conference in Blackpool. It's a large bureaucratic affair that goes on for three very long days – it's much like Labour or Tory party conferences in Britain (although, Gemma does have the star power of Barack Obama).
After signing in and milling with the crowds, I decided to take my seat in the hall. It's a very large ornate room at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool; there must have been a couple of thousand student representatives in there. Britain's student movement is a broad church – there's one or two tories, a hundred or so trots (whom I detest...bloody commies) and then the rest are a mix of Labour or Liberal Democrats. There's one or two average Joes, like myself, who really doesn't care that much about organised politics but who do care about students and the university system and who are therefore prepared to go for three days with very little sleep in order to try and make a difference in the national movement.
Everything's voted on. It's ludicrously democratic (don't get me wrong, I love democracy, but I think it should achieve something – democracy is not an end in itself) but it's NUS' way of doing things...for now. The first vote was on reforming this structure – offering a new way for all students (not just the trots and political hacks) to get involved. It wasn't perfect, but then no political system is...it was far better than the three day shouting match we were currently beginning (my first conference was last year – it was about as useful in helping students as an umbrella is at helping someone in a hurricane).
Before the vote took place, representatives for and against the reform had to take the stage to say why everyone should vote their way. Gemma Tumelty was first up. I knew she'd be good but I was still surprised and in awe at her first rate performance. This was Gemma's last conference as NUS President (it's a two term thing like in the States) and she spoke of how she wanted to leave NUS in a better shape than she found it – creating a union that all students could join. She had my vote.
The trots were the main opposition to the reform, along with the 'black' students' campaign (apparently, according to NUS, Chinese and Muslim students are also 'black'....it's a badly named team within the organisation if you ask me). There main concern was that there wouldn't be enough black people on the new structures. Personally, I really couldn't care less about how many black people are in an organisation...I don't care what colour someone's skin is....all I was worried about was whether those people would help us get a better deal for students...but, hey, what do I know...as long as there's someone of African-origin on every team in the organisation – whether or not they're any good –then NUS must be doing a good job, right?!
The trots called for Hind Hassan to speak. I'd never met her before, but wow, she was hot....not enough to change my vote, but I sat up and listened (partly because she herself was a good speaker and partly to hide my growing erection). Maybe I'd try and speak to her at one of the evening events.
Several more speeches followed. Dave Lewis and Wes Streeting spoke for the reform and some crazy commies spoke against it (I stopped listening when they referred to me as a 'comrade'....seriously, fuck off to Beijing if you're that left).
The atmosphere in the room was tense. The chair of the conference, Kat Stark (who was the national women's officer at the time), called for quiet and said we were going to vote. It's a 'hands in the air for' and 'hands in air against' type-ofaffair. The room fell silent. NUS staff milled around counting the votes. I looked around. It was going to be tight.
The votes were counted. Those against the reform won...a cheer from there side went out. I looked to Gemma. She looked lost...I think I could see a tear in her left eye. The chair said we were going to take a twenty minute break. Gemma ran out crying, followed by a couple of the other national officers.
I strolled out of the hall, feeling defeated. I walked outside for a cigarette but the outside doors were surrounded by the trots patting each other on the back. I felt too sick to stand by them so I walked round the corner and found an ally. I lit up and started smoking. I was alone – I seemed to have found the only quiet place for solitary thinking at the conference (two thousand student representatives take up a lot of space). But it was then I heard a noise, damn, someone else had found this spot. I couldn't see anyone but then I heard it again; it sounded like crying. I walked round to the other side of one of those large rubbish bins and there, sitting on the floor crying her eyes out was Gemma.
"Are you okay" I said. She looked up, "I'm fine, it's nothing...nothing at all."
I sat down next to her, lit her a cigarette (I wasn't sure if she smoked, but she looked as if she could use one to steady her nerves) and passed it to her.
