Val had told me that Melanie Butcher, the leader of the Green Party and deputy leader of the council was having an affair with Ridley, the leader of the council. Their political relationship was an expedient because the Greens provided Ridley with an overall majority. Now it was a well established fact that Butcher was a lesbian, and known as a bull dyke to boot. So, I asked myself, how do we explain their personal relationship? There were rumours that two impending bye-elections could, if they went the right way for him, obviate the need for the coalition and Butcher was alleged to have said she'd castrate him if her tried to replace her as deputy.
I had always been extremely careful that nobody should know about my relationship with Val or that she sometimes helped me to understand the inner workings of the council.
Val, who worked in the Leader's office, was married (to Jake) and whilst her marriage was not entirely satisfactory, she had no intention of leaving him, mainly because of the kids, and I totally respected that.
~
We'd just had sex in my bed. It had been gentle, slow and sensual. We'd had supper together and then made our way to my flat and straight to my bedroom. There had been no artificial aids, just fingers, tongues, thighs, lips. She wouldn't let me at her though, at least not to begin with. She'd kissed me, bitten my neck, sucked my nipples, licked my navel (until I told her that if she didn't stop I'd wet the bed) and then gone down on me, a finger inside me, her tongue woking my clit. I went right over the edge when another finger penetrated my arse and that was me! That was also when she allowed me to reciprocate and I worked hard at it, despite my post-orgasmic languor. Her orgasm was quieter than mine, but also messier as it often was. Delicious.
I was lying with my chin on her belly, enjoying the scents of her, and toying with her chestnut pubic hair.
"How come," I asked, "that your tummy is so flat after having two kids?"
"They're not my kids, they're Jakes by his first wife."
"Right."
~
If I am brutally honest, I liked our covert liaison. Somehow the illicit nature of our meetings added to the excitement. And there was already a lot of excitement. She was a vigorous and inventive lover, with a pretty kinky side, a little dominant too and all of that appealed to me. So, I was not going to be rocking the boat. She also gave me good insight and that was why I had succeeded in getting an interview with La Butcher.
Melanie Butcher did nothing to hide her sexuality. She wore men's style suits, oxford shoes and her silver/grey hair was cut like a man's as well. I wouldn't call her attractive, but she was tall and slender and carried herself well. She seemed pleasant enough, but I'd seen her riled and, to be honest, it wasn't a pretty sight. So there was some trepidation in me as I waited outside her office for an interview. I was of course kept waiting. People in positions like hers think it adds to their gravitas. It's bullshit of course. I once interviewed a very, very senior Naval Officer and she was very powerful and the epitome of good grace and made me feel, for a few minutes, that I was the most important person in her orbit. Now, that's power.
Butcher's suit that day was clerical grey.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting." First lie of the interview. "Please, take a seat. Can I get you coffee? Is your hair naturally that colour?"
I decided to ignore the last bit. If we're going to be combative, we'll do it on my terms. "If Ridley wins both of the by-elections, he won't need a coalition so is there a chance he'd replace you with someone from his own party?"
I watched her closely and was impressed. She pretended to consider this as if she'd never thought of it, assessed the risks and then replied. "My relationship with the leader is not just based on political expedient. He shares many of my party's deeply held views and believes the council is stronger for our involvement."
I do love well-delivered bullshit. "If you were not his deputy, do you think he'd continue to fly in the face of all the opinion polls and create the incredibly unpopular Lw Traffic Networks?" I gave her some stats that suggested about sixty-five per cent of those polled were against the LTNs.
"The numbers are based on far too small a poll-base. And we both know that opinion polls can be structured to get the answer you want."
"The numbers are not only greater than your majority, they are greater than the number of people who voted in your constituency. Does that not give them legitimacy?"
Silent snarl. "We were elected on our manifesto and we intend to deliver."
"But you have only five seats in the chamber. If Mr Ridley had been able to form a coalition with the Lib Dems for example, or the independents, her wouldn't be constrained by your policies. His own manifesto made no commitment to LTNs."
I was a bit surprised when the door opened after a light knock and an aide walked across to whisper something in Butcher's ear. Aside from a slight frown, she said nothing and the aide withdrew.
The interview continued. Back and forth, evasion, a few small concessions, a lot of lies and an hour later we were done. As she courteously walked me to the door, she lightly held my upper arm. "Women like us should stick together."
"Like us?"
She did one of those 'you know exactly what I mean' looks and ushered me out into the care of her secretary to be led out to reception. My press pass allowed me into the building and into the chamber but all other areas I had to be escorted. I sat and thought about the interview when my phone buzzed and a message from Val appeared. 'Gina's in five?' I sent back a thumbs up and pulled my coat on and went to the coffee shop.
Val arrived and sat opposite me. We chatted while we waited for our coffee and then she broke her news.
"Ridley has announced a reshuffle of his cabinet."
"You thought he might."
"I did, but definitely not ahead of the by-elections." They were due the following week. "His Chief of Staff has told us that Butcher's definitely on her way out. She hasn't been told."
"But she'll know?" I told her I'd been with her when the aide whispered to her.
"Of course she'll know. Everyone has ears everywhere so someone in the Leader's office will have got the news to her. There are no secrets in the House of Fun."
"She told me that women 'like us' should stick together and it felt more like a threat than flirt."
"Christ!"
~
Later that day I was in the office of the deputy Press Officer. The Press Officer himself avoided contact with the press unless, of course, they were very senior or representatives of the nationals. Mere mortals like me got to see one of his deputies or, as they were known among the press corps, one of his playgroup.
Trisha Bellamy was prim. I'd never seen her in anything but grey. Her hair was drawn tightly back, her glasses had thick black frames and she sat rather erect behind a desk with absolutely nothing on it. Most of her colleagues would have met me in he council's (appalling) cafe, but not Trisha.
"There are rumours..." I said before she interrupted me.
"There always are. We don't comment on rumours."
