Sex and the Capital

Bruce was walking towards the senate chamber when his cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number. He stopped and said, "Hello."

"This is Kathy, how are you?"

Surprised, he asked, "Where are you?"

"I'm in Mississippi. I didn't want to take the chance of calling you at home and didn't know your flight schedule. I knew I'd catch you now. My father had a stroke a week ago. He's better now but I'm going to have to stay here and run the business for a while."

"God Kathy, I'm sorry to hear about your father. You say he's on the mend?"

"Yes, but he still has some paralysis and the doctors aren't certain of the prognosis. Right now it's just wait and see."

"I thought about calling you last night, but I got in late."

"I was looking forward to seeing you again. You're all I thought about until my father's stroke."

"I know, I had a hard time keeping my mind off you at home."

"There's some fantastic chemistry between us, you know. I get wet just thinking about you."

He chuckled. "I know, I have a similar reaction when I think about what happened between us. You're remarkable."

"My father had just agreed to let me get an apartment by myself and to go to Georgetown for my MBA. I was going to get an apartment near you. I'm so disappointed. That's not going to happen now. I can't leave."

"I'm going to be terribly depressed as soon as this sinks in. I don't know what to say." He knew that was a lie but it was the right thing to say under the circumstances.

"I don't know," she said, "Maybe it's kismet, our fate. Maybe it wasn't meant to be."

"No, we'll see each other in the future, I'm sure of that."

"I hope you're right. Look, I'll let you go, I know it's time."

"Okay, I'll be in touch."

He looked for a chair and sat down, relief overwhelming his senses. He shook his head, not believing his luck. He didn't know what he was going to do once she got back here. He knew he had zero resistance to Kathy. She was right; the chemistry was fantastic.

Smiling now, he got up and continued on his way; feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

* * *

He walked into his apartment and went straight to the kitchen, mixing himself a drink.

Thirty minutes later, he was staring at a blank TV screen, an empty glass in his hand. "God, I miss Kathy," he said aloud. Then felt guilty. He knew he had to put her out of his mind. He just had come back from a fantastic weekend with his wife—and kids.

Don't jeopardize what you've got at home.

He picked the telephone and punched in a number. His daughter answered on the second ring. "Hi Sonia, how was school today?"

After a short conversion, he got his wife on the phone. "I miss you."

"Hi darling. I miss you too. Why don't you come home this weekend?"

"I was just thinking about that."

"Well, just do it."

"You think you might wear that little green outfit?"

She chuckled, "That, or something even better."

"I don't know how it could be better, but you can try."

She laughed, "I'll try."

"Okay, sweetheart, Friday night. I'll have Debra e-mail you the flight schedule. I love you."

"I love you, too."

He hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that's what he should be doing; going home whenever he had the chance.

Feeling better about himself now, he made another drink and turned on the television. He did a double take.

That's her dress!

He didn't even know what show was on but there it was, Kathy's gray and white dress with the X pattern across the chest. He stared at it, remembering what was underneath

. Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Quit letting the little head think for the big one.

He switched channels but couldn't get her out of his mind.

What did she say this morning? Get an apartment here and go to graduate school at Georgetown? Yes, that's what she said.

He emptied his drink and shook his head. The apartment next door was vacant. He hadn't seen anyone there for at least two months.

What if she moved in next door?

He exhaled loudly and thought about fate. Had her father not had a stroke, she might be his neighbor. They might be together right now. He glanced at his watch.

We'd be fucking right now and every night after this.

He felt worse now. He had just been with his wife and shouldn't be thinking about another woman. But he knew what happened might happen again. Kathy was dangerous. He had been alone with lots of women since he had been here; a few of them were interested in more than just talking with him. Resisting them wasn't a problem. Kathy was. Their relationship, had it continued, would have jeopardized his marriage and perhaps his senate career. He exhaled and shook his head.

I've been saved. Fate put an end to a dangerous situation.

He laughed at himself.

Talk about fate. What happened to Lynne?

He thought about being home now, forcing Kathy from his mind. Sex with his wife was good.

No, it was great.

Her reading those explicit romance novels probably saved their marriage. He smiled.

A blowjob?

That was the last thing he expected to get at home. Had their sex life not changed, he's sure he would be calling Kathy, arranging a trip to Mississippi for the weekend.

* * *

"Hey Fred, c'mon in. Coffee?"

He nodded and took and sat down on the sofa in Bruce's office.

"Deb, bring two cups of coffee, please."

The secretary put the two cups on the coffee table and smiled at Senator Waring, "How was your break, Senator?"

He returned the smile. "It was good to get away from here for two weeks. Bruce told me you and your husband went to Florida. How was it?

Debra glanced over at Bruce before answering. "It was great. I kept him smiling."

"I'll bet you did," Fred said.

He watched her walk out and turned to Bruce once she closed the door. "That's one of the most sensual women in this place. I'm glad she's your secretary and not mine."

"What? Are you an expert on secretaries too?"

"I'm an expert on women. Just ask me anything about any of them."

Bruce shook his head. "You didn't come over here just to see my secretary, did you?"

"No, I got some information on Gary Harris."

"Really, what?"

"He belongs to a group called

Environment First!!,

with two exclamation points. Their goal is to return everyone or most people anyway, to the land."

"What? What do they mean? Subsistence farming?"

"Exactly," Fred said. "Except they call it "Self-Sufficient Farming." They've got quite a few in the central valley of California, several more in other states. No fossil fuels. Use no-till farming methods. Raise their own stock."

"Huh," Bruce said and then chuckled. "Not vegetarian, that's interesting."

"Yeah. They raise chickens, hogs, a cow or two for milk. Make their own cheese."

"So, they get us all back to land and then what?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Just moving us back to the land takes care of everything else. No factories, no offices, no cities, no vehicles, no pollution, no nothing except trying to survive on your five acres."

Bruce laughed. "This is like Cambodia under Pol Pot except that the individuals have plots instead of working on collective farms. Pot called it Year Zero. They were starting over, a new agrarian society. Harris can't be serious."

"Oh yeah, he's a believer, thinks this is the wave of the future. He hasn't made a decision yet, but he's considering running as a Green next time. Believes he has the votes to win."

"Right," Bruce said derisively. "Even in California he won't get more that ten percent of the vote. They may lean to the left, but they're not fools. Turning the clock back one hundred and fifty years. What an idiot. How big is this group?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know the numbers. They seem to work behind the scenes. From what I've gathered, there're a lot of idealistic young college students involved philosophically with a hard core like Harris that drive the organization. My source said they were nationwide; loose-knit chapters in every state, mostly around university towns. They have some influence among migrant workers and some urban poor."

"Universities and interns," Bruce said. "Do you think that's possible? Harris controlling the interns that we've seen with Spencer?"

Fred nodded, "It's possible. There're a lot of interns. Hey, I heard we're one less in the committee, Karen Ahern left."

"Yeah, I heard that," Bruce said. "Her father had a stroke."

"Too bad," Fred said. "She was always real helpful."

Bruce smiled at him. "How did she rate among the interns?"

Fred thought for a moment. "Pleasant face, not beautiful; hard to say about her body, her clothing didn't reveal much, kind of small breasts; seemed innocent, might even have been a virgin."

Bruce laughed and shook his head. "I don't know about you."

Fred got up to leave and Bruce said, "Don't be leering at Deb on the way out."

"I have to," Fred said. "She expects it."