Dissident (6 page)

Caroline

February

Caroline had a meeting for the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues in ten minutes but she’d left something at her desk. She hadn’t assumed a leadership position and never planned to, but as one of the highest profile female Democrats in Congress she was expected to take a larger role at meetings anyway. Which was why she was running down the hallway in Rayburn instead of popping in somewhere near the Hill for a nice, relaxing lunch.

She flung open the main door to her office. “Late,” she huffed, as her receptionist Laura gave her a look. “Forgot something for the meeting.”

“Caroline, wait-” Laura called, but Caroline had already burst in. Jen and Kathleen were standing near her desk, near an enormous bouquet of flowers. Jen had a small card in her hand.

“Sorry.” Caroline stopped short of them both. “Did Eric send you flowers?”

Jen appeared guilty, and Kathleen wouldn’t look at her.

“Um, no,” Jen said softly. “They’re for you.”

Caroline felt a surge of dread. “Are they-?”

“No.” Jen smiled uneasily. “Read the card.”

Caroline took it out of Jen’s hand.

A woman like you deserves flowers on Valentine’s Day.

Jack

“Oh,” she said.

“I’m sorry.” Jen looked extremely upset. “I know I shouldn’t have opened the envelope but-”

Caroline squeezed Jen’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Jenny.” She laughed. “I’d forgotten what day it was.”

Kathleen walked over and put her arm around Caroline. “I told her not to do it.”

“You would have done the exact same thing,” Caroline told her. “Don’t blame Jen.”

“I probably would have,” Kathleen said. “A lot faster than she did, too. You give me more latitude than her so I wanted to be the fall guy.”

“It’s fine, you two. Really.” Caroline scooped some papers up off her desk. “Shit, I’m going to be so late now.”

Jen gave her a pained look. “I really am sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. They’re flowers from a friend. You can pretend that some other man gave them to you, if you want to make Eric jealous.”

Jen laughed uneasily. “Okay. I won’t do it again.”

“I can’t make any promises, though,” Kathleen interjected.

“It’s not a big deal, Jenny.” Caroline squeezed her chief of staff’s shoulder again then turned to Kathleen and puckered her brow. “I know better than to trust you.”

Kathleen shrugged. “As long as you know the score.”

Caroline grinned. Katie really was impossible sometimes. “I’ll see you later. Gotta go.”

She texted Jack on the way to the meeting.

Thank you for the flowers. That was very sweet.

He texted back a few seconds later.

You’re very welcome. May I buy you lunch?

Caroline smiled as she wrote.

Sure, since you’re buying. I’ll call you when I get back from the Women’s Caucus.

He again responded almost immediately.

It’s a date.

Caroline blushed and dropped her phone back into her purse.

*              *              *              *              *

“You freaked the hell out of my staffers,” Caroline said, after they’d settled in for a quiet lunch at an Italian restaurant near Dupont Circle.

“How’s that?” Jack asked. “They didn’t think those flowers were from a stalker, did they?”

“No, but they did read the card.”

“Why would they do that?”

“It’s okay. It’s not like you put anything weird in the note. Flowers from a friend. It was a nice surprise.”

“No, really. Why’d they freak out?”

Caroline bit her lip. “I shouldn’t have said anything.  I was trying to be funny and I failed.”

“Caroline, come on.” Jack’s tone was persistent.

Her throat tightened. She really didn’t want him to feel bad. “Nicky died a few weeks before Valentine’s Day last year. He must have ordered me flowers before…you know.”

Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “Jesus, Caroline. I didn’t even think-”

“It’s okay.” She tried to smile at him, but the unpleasant memory creeped into her thoughts anyway. “It was only a few days after I’d gone back to work and when I walked into my office the flowers were on my receptionist’s desk. I could tell that my staff didn’t know what to do with them. They were staring at them, then at me, and Jen tried to hide them. I grabbed the card out of her hand, read it, flipped out and…well, it was bad. Really bad. I was quite awful to all of them, even though they didn’t deserve it.”

“I feel like an asshole,” he said quietly.

“You had no way of knowing what happened, Jack. Please don’t feel that way. It was very thoughtful of you. I don’t want to discourage you from doing things like that. I’m sure most women appreciate those gestures.”

“But you didn’t?”

“I told you, I thought they were lovely.” Her forced smile faded. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad you told me. You can tell me anything you want.”

He really was a nice guy. Caroline was starting to wonder why people were so reluctant to speak well of him. “Poor Jenny and Katie. They looked so guilty when I walked in. But if it helps, I think they know not to open cards addressed to me anymore.”

Jack laughed. “Good to know. Should I apologize to them?”

“That’s not necessary. You might want to send Jen some flowers, though. I get the feeling her boyfriend forgot what day it was.”

“I’ll do that.”

Caroline could tell that he was serious. “You don’t have to do that. I was kidding.”

“I want to,” Jack said. “She’s a nice woman. Just like her boss.”

“She might have a different opinion of my personality than you.”

He picked up his menu. “I highly doubt that.”

“How’s your new townhome?” she asked.

He looked up at her. “It’s not bad.”

“I’m sorry, you probably want to figure out what you’re having for lunch.”

He put the menu down. “I’m in no hurry.”

“Are you settled in yet? I imagine living in a hotel the past few weeks couldn’t have been all that much fun.”

“Sadly, I spent a lot of my early career traveling a lot, so I’m used to it. But I’m glad I got that house when I did. It was a steal.”

Caroline choked back a laugh.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Nothing around here is a steal. I checked the listing after you gave me the address.”

“I got a great deal on it,” he insisted.

“I’m sure you did.”

“You saw the selling price, didn’t you?”

“Yep.”

Now he looked a bit uncomfortable. “You think I paid too much?”

“I know how much historic townhomes cost, Jack. Most government workers couldn’t even dream of living in DC proper. Why do you think I live in Rockville? I hope you know how lucky you are to live the way you do.”

Jack sounded defensive. “I needed a place to stay.”

“I know you did.”

“Does my wealth bother you?” he asked.

Well, he was nothing if not direct. She stared down at her menu.

“I don’t want you to feel that way,” he said.

Caroline brought her head up. “I’m sorry. I brought it up. I shouldn’t have said anything. You have every right to spend your money as you see fit. I shouldn’t pry into your private affairs.”

“I mean it. I really don’t want you to feel that way, Caroline. I-” Jack looked down at his hands.

“What?”

His discomfort was growing. “Remember when I did all that research on you before coming to that party?”

“Did you find something bad? What kind of rumors are floating around out there? This is why I don’t Google myself.”

“It wasn’t bad,” Jack said.

Caroline gave him a hard look. “Honestly, Jack. Just say it.”

“
Roll Call
might have listed the net worth of members of Congress in an article I read about you.”

She blew out a hard breath. “So you figured out I’m near the bottom, relatively speaking.”

“For those who aren’t carrying around massive amounts of debt, yes.” Jack smiled. “You’re just a regular middle to upper middle class woman, I guess. Who happens to be in Congress.”

Caroline had no desire to return his grin. “I’m not destitute, Jack. And my relative lack of affluence compared to many of my colleagues is not something I’m ashamed of.”

“You shouldn’t be. A lot of politicians with much more money than you have been very irresponsible with it.”

“I mean, I had a hard year with only one income but-” 

“Do you need help?”

She glared at him.

“I’m sorry.” Jack sounded upset. “I should not have said that.”

Caroline rubbed her forehead. This was easily the most difficult conversation they’d ever had, even more so than the first time they’d met, and it was not getting easier. “I should not have brought this topic up. All you wanted to do was take me to a nice lunch and I’m wrecking it.”

“You’re not wrecking it. Tell me what’s really bothering you.”

She was more than happy to drop it all but he apparently wanted her to dig in her heels. “You bought a house in Georgetown at the drop of a hat for five million dollars. And I bet you don’t have a mortgage. Am I right?”

“I don’t like debt.”

She assumed that was a yes. After deciding it was safe to tell him the truth, Caroline now wanted nothing more than to change the subject. Immediately. “This isn’t fair to you. You shouldn’t be made to feel bad for what you have. A lot of people can make do with less. And I’m not in the poorhouse. Not even close.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that.”

“I was probably one of only a handful of members of Congress who got a raise when I was elected. For the first time, I made more than Nicky. And I’m still in the upper tier of income earners in this country, even without him. So I have no self-pity. And it’s not as if I don’t have friends who have much, much more than I do.”

“I know. I was in Christine’s house, remember? Does her money bother you?”

“Sometimes. She has a tendency to buy me extravagant presents.”

She did it much too often. Christine had to have plunked down close to four figures on all the random items she’d gotten for Caroline and her daughters that past Christmas. Fortunately Caroline picked out a far too expensive gift for Chrissy in return, but she still felt guilty about it. Maybe this year she’d ask Christine to exchange charitable contributions instead.

“She and Tom worked very hard to get to where they are,” Caroline said. “Neither one of them had a lot growing up. Tom has a huge family and Chrissy just didn’t have a lot.  I don’t know too many details but she had a very rough childhood. And I appreciate every thoughtful gift she’s ever given me, because I know why she behaves that way.”

“That’s not envy. That’s gratitude.”

“I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe it.”

“Caroline, you are very down to earth. Very, dare I say, normal.”

She tried not to snicker. “I don’t think anyone has used that adjective to describe me. Ever.”

“You know what I mean. If extreme wealth didn’t make you a little uncomfortable, I would be shocked. I don’t want
my
extreme wealth to be an issue for you.”

“It’s not. It’s just…you have a lot. At least from what I can tell.”

“You haven’t researched my net worth?” Jack looked a little surprised. “I’m flattered that you might actually be spending time with me for the right reasons.”

She assumed that was a reference to all the women he dated, including while he was running for office. Christine told her a few tales when she reamed Caroline out for her endorsements the past fall, probably to make her feel less guilty.

“I wouldn’t want to guess how much money you have,” she said. “I assume you’re quite comfortable.”

“Comfortable is the understatement of the year. But you at least know I’m a millionaire. A playboy, even.”

Caroline stared down at the table. She knew from his tone that he didn’t mean to wound her, but she hated to be reminded of what she’d said about him.

“I read your biography on your campaign website but not much beyond that.” She felt her cheeks burning as she remembered some of her dreadful conduct during the previous election cycle. “As you might have figured out, I did not do proper fact checking before blasting most of my victims.”

Jack’s eyes were suddenly dark. “I’m sorry I made that comment. That speech is so far removed from where we are now.”

“Where are we now, Jack?”